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Young China: The Face of the Future
The generation that has grown up since the Cultural Revolution is a country- within- a- country, one that faces new possibilities, new fears—and a wide world that it will surely change

Big Numbers: The statistics that define a nation

Then and Now: A catalog of hip through the generations

Speaking Out: In an online poll, kids tell us what they like

Our Contibutors to this special issue

To Our Readers: A letter from the Editor
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OCTOBER 23, 2000 VOL. 156 NO. 16

To Our Readers
ADI IGNATIUS, Editor, TIME Asia

Statistics from China can be mind boggling: 1.2 billion people, 1.73 trillion cigarettes smoked in a year, 7,000 different species of woody plants. But amid all of these staggering sums, one factoid stands out for both its audacious size and for what it says about China's future: there are 630 million Chinese under the age of 24. That's a lot of youthful energy to burn. Materialism may be the dominant preoccupation among China's young these days, but just beneath the surface lies a feeling of wounded nationalist pride and an ever-deepening spiritual hunger. It isn't clear where China's young people are headed. But this is a generation that, by its sheer size and certain talents, will shape the world's destiny.

Here's another sobering statistic: this is Terry McCarthy's 22nd, and final, cover story for Time Asia—he's leaving the region after three years to become Time's Los Angeles bureau chief. McCarthy, who has indefatigably crisscrossed Asia out of his twin bases of Hong Kong and Shanghai, was the main driver behind this week's superb special report on Young China. He developed the story list, guided much of the reporting and wrote some of the articles. All while planning a swank black-tie masked ball last weekend in Shanghai. "I was amazed by the willingness of individual Chinese to write for us or talk about their lives," McCarthy says about the special report. "These are the guys who are going to be running the country in 20 years." If we're lucky, McCarthy will be back in the region long before then.

There are many other gems in the Young China special. Check out Hong Kong reporter Isabella Ng's account of her adventures looking for love online and Wendy Kan's encounter with a country girl who has made it to big, bad Shenzhen. And be sure to read Susan Jakes' piece on the school in Beijing that has a near monopoly on getting kids into universities in the U.S. and showing them how to behave once they arrive. Jakes found it nearly impossible to generalize about China's young. "That wouldn't have been hard in 1968 or even in 1989," she says. "It seems to be strong evidence of just how much China has changed."

Hannah Beech, our new Beijing correspondent, contributes several articles, including a telling look at nationalistic fervor and the love-hate relationship that many of China's best and brightest young people feel toward the West, particularly the United States. Beech was impressed by how remarkably well-informed Chinese kids are about the outside world—even those who have never been abroad or who don't get cnn. Most get their information from the Internet, participating in chat rooms and downloading news from various sites. "Chinese are surprised that others don't know as much about news events as they do," says Beech. "This anxiety is shaping the way they look at themselves and the way they view the world."

The special look of Young China is a product of skillful collaboration between John White, Time Asia's art director, and photo editor Lisa Botos. White and his team—led by Cecelia Wong and Yuki Endo—styled the report with trademark elegance. Botos arranged the arresting photography, including essays on the life of a fashion model and a close-up look at a Beijing punk rock band. Assistant photo editor Judy Tan helped locate the many fresh, hard-to-find images that make the issue sparkle. Brian Bennett contributed a bit of everything, from reporting to writing to digging up the best statistics (like the 7,000 woody plants). The editor who made the trains run on time was Nisid Hajari, who earns credit for notching up yet another spectacular special report. And none of this would have happened without the versatile talents of our Beijing bureau assistants, Guo Baoqi and Huang Yong.

As with our special report on China's Amazing Half-Century a year ago, we have tried to tap top outside talent. The cover was created for us by Wei Guangqing, whose paintings and installations have been displayed around the world. Wei says he is trying to present contemporary concerns against a backdrop of historical imagery, to capture the cultural dislocations that many Chinese are trying to sort out. "In an era of abundant hedonism and consumerism," says Wei, "people must retain a sense of awe toward unknown objects." We also are showcasing five young artists, whose works are displayed inside. Their styles are varied, but they're all dealing with questions about their own and the nation's identity.

We also enlisted many fine outside writers. Be sure to read the English-language excerpts of the controversial (banned in China!) writings of Mian Mian and Wei Hui, who are publicly clawing each other for recognition as China's true literary bad girl. Kaiser Kuo, meanwhile, writes of the nation's troubled rock scene. He should know: he's the former lead guitarist of Tang Dynasty. Tang Haisong, who founded Web portal Etang.com, writes of the aspirations of what he calls "Generation Yellow," the rising middle class in China who tend to work for dotcom startups or Western joint ventures.

Wen Bo, an ecological activist, finds hope for China's environment—because so many young people are taking up the cause. A Shanghai musician writes about what it's like to be gay in still-hostile Chinese territory. And, in adjacent essays, a father-son pair of film directors, Zhang Huaxun and Zhang Yang, explore China's generation gap and find that the divide that exists between them isn't as wide as they had feared. The essays and other pieces were turned into elegant English by Steve Guo, a gifted (and speedy) translator. Among non-Chinese contributors, Geremie R. BarmE writes of a resurgence in intellectualism, while Howard Goldblatt critiques the nation's best young writers.

Lastly, to add a few more numbers to what's out there, we cooperated with Sina.com, the big Chinese Internet portal, to produce an online poll. Nothing on woody plants, but telling stats, nonetheless, on love, politics and the Internet. Read up on the generation that will change your world.

Write to TIME at mail@web.timeasia.com

home ALSO IN YOUNG CHINA
Young China: The Face of the Future
The generation that has grown up since the Cultural Revolution is a country- within- a- country, one that faces new possibilities, new fears—and a wide world that it will surely change

Big Numbers: The statistics that define a nation

Then and Now: A catalog of hip through the generations

Speaking Out: In an online poll, kids tell us what they like

Our Contibutors to this special issue

To Our Readers: A letter from the Editor


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