Big Changes in Pangliu Village

(Michael)

The ride to Pangliu followed the tend of most of our other travels in China, complete with picturesque fields and blood-churning traffic maneuvers, but with two exceptions; Patricia was not with us due to an unfortunate run-in with some rather suspect dumplings, and “Coo,” our most… unique guide thus far, was replaced temporarily by the infinitely more cordial and informative tour company owner, Richard. The remaining members of our group learned about the recent history of Pangliu, Richard’s life, and how the two were closely intertwined.

Forty-some years ago Pangliu and its inhabitants were dirt poor, literally. The houses and other buildings were made from compressed gravel and sticks with thatched roofs and its inhabitants were without a good school building, paved roads, or basic medical care.  Richard had just finished high school and was a university freshman a double exception as a Pangliu native where a middle school education was the norm, and was an orphan with the added responsibility of having five younger brothers as dependents. Then the Cultural Revolution happened and Mao, in his infinite wisdom, closed the universities and forced the students, including Richard and his mostly urbane classmates, to the countryside to work and learn from the peasants they were ‘oppressing’ by receiving an education. Richard, being one of the most locally learned people, luckily escaped the hard labor that filled his youth and was instead assigned to work as a teacher for the better than average salary of fourteen cents a month. When the madness gripping the country lifted somewhat and the universities reopened to students who were selected not on academic merit, but by popular vote of their peers, Richard returned to university and continued on a path of success until today. Richard never forgot the opportunity the local people provided him with when they selected him to return to university and has provided, with some help, a clinic, the best library in the region, and much more promising prospects for the village that raised him.

 
The results of Richards efforts were immediately clear to us as we approached Pangliu and saw the massive changes taking place. The people still worked the land as they had, but new construction was everywhere. Moving through the streets it was quite powerful to see newly constructed brick buildings with high, somewhat ornate gateways decorated for the new year, sometimes with a modest car parked inside, neighboring decrepit dirt and wood based dwellings that the inhabitants of the brick buildings used to occupy.

 
After a bit of exploring we made our way to the primary school complex that included the aforementioned library, air-conditioned three story classroom building, and administration building complete with a computer lab. Because of the development in the village the assets of the school did not come a huge surprise to me, but Richard assured us that this school was truly exceptional compared to the standard rural village and that even with the much larger than average role of private money in funding and recent government investment, it still had trouble competing with the urbane schools that received nearly all of the government funding.
Funding aside, the children of the school were as wonderful as anywhere in the world; they were attentive when we taught our lesson in a foreign language, English, and were much better behaved than the average group of American 5th graders. After our lesson, we made our way to one of Richards younger brother’s houses for the most delicious meal of our trip so far. Then, we headed back to the city to visit the largest mosque in China and a bazaar near our hotel where we made some highly legitimate purchases to finish out the day.