Some economists predict that China could overtake the United States as the world’s largest economy within 25 years. And for the first time, women are playing a vital role in the country’s financial growth.
China is the world’s largest start-up, now at full throttle, its gigantic population, 1.3 billion people, matched only by its aspiration.
Emma Lio is a Chinese-language teacher. Only a couple of decades ago, she would have been banned from speaking to the same students she’s now paid to teach.
And as China’s doors swing open to change, Lio is getting her first view of the future.
Back then, “we didn’t have McDonald’s. We didn’t have those big supermarkets, shopping malls,” she said.
But name a designer today, and it’s sold here. New housing developments boast names like Park Avenue and Palm Springs, providing a whole new existence for a girl who grew up without running water.
“Before, people didn’t have so many dreams because they’re not exposed to the outside world,” Lio said. “Yeah, they’re dreamers now.”
You can go home again
Cilia Shi, by contrast, was exposed to the outside world. She chased her dreams to Chicago to study interior design. As it turned out, the real business boom was back home.
“I rushed back to Beijing ... for the Chinese dream,” Shi said.
Shi runs 26 furniture and interior design stores, putting Illinois on the map in China. She’s able to live it up in three homes: a 24-room mansion with an indoor pool and two luxurious apartments downtown.
“Even when I was a child, I couldn’t think today I’m already, you know, like this success,” she said.
Shi’s wealth means she can afford to raise three children in a country that still demands one child per family. But success is not without sacrifice.
“Three hundred sixty-five days, no holidays, no Sunday, and that’s why my kids always complain,” she said.
But for Kathleen Chang, life in Beijing isn’t much different from her days in Dallas, which she left for excitement overseas and a chance to witness the awakening of an ancient world.
Chang, 30, is the face of America on China state TV, anchoring a culture and entertainment show by day and toasting modern China at night.
“Yeah, this is the new Beijing,” she said.
Changing the face of China
Chang hangs out at the Ice House, a bar that could fit alongside any Los Angeles hot spot.
“I really want to change Chinese lifestyle,” she said. “I think we are like a human being — we should take joy in the life like the other people, like American people.”
Realistically, most Chinese could never afford a drink here. But the middle class is growing by a million people a month.
“Sometimes when I'm taking the same route, I won’t even notice the building that’s gone up,” Chang said. “I’m like — all of sudden I’m like, ‘Wait, what is that?’”
There is plenty of evidence that it is women like Shi, Lio and Chang who are helping fuel China’s transformation from closed-off communism to superpower.
I think if you can combine the best things in the West or the best in China, that’d be great. Right? Yes,” Lio said. “But who is going to do this?”