what are our expectations? which of the things we desire are within reach? if not now, when? and will there be some left for me? i took a walk through this beautiful world felt the cool rain on my shoulder found some something good in this beautiful world i felt the rain getting colder sha la la la la sha la la la la sha la la la la sha la la la la china s younger generation is driving a growth in consumption. this is where the real power is china. if you live in manhattan like i do and you think you live in the center of the world, this place, shanghai, will confront you with a very different reality. turn down a side street, it s an ancient culture. a centuries-old mix of culinary traditions, smells, flavors. a block away, this. an ultra modern, clanging cash register, levels of wealth, luxury, the sheer volume of things and services unimagined by the greediest, most bourgeois of capitalist imperialists. the city split by the
Shanghai is one of the biggest cities in the world right now. a global financial center and transportation hub and the world s busiest port. you can smell the money. but maybe the real story is the newly emerging participants in global capitalism. the middle class. the working class. who also want flat screen tvs and cars and vacations and the promise of better for their kids. take this couple. typical working class chinese from the worker s paradise. mei ning, a bus driver, and dong nyang, his bride-to-be. today is their wedding day, and custom must be observed. when it comes to weddings, the chinese have always gone big.
Cities amounts to some $7.2 trillion or 40% of the country s economy. frozen. it includes shanghai with a population of 25 million people, home to the world s busiest port. china is the world s biggest commodity buyer and shanghai the gateway for the raw materials that are heading into the country. it s also a financial hub. the city of shandong 101 million residents china s biggest agricultural exporter. it is a global source of fruits and vegetables. or how about hebei, home to 74 million people a massive producer of wheat, maize and millet. its other key industries, iron processing and steel production. it gives you just a flavour of why the zero covid policy that china continues to follow affects all of us. is already. ..affecting all of us. joining me now is china analyst, isabel hilton.