Anyone interesting in China, trade and/or globalization should buy a copy of today’s WSJ, and read the article entitled “_Min’s Return: A Migrant Worker Sees Rural Home In a New Light_”:1. This story is one in a series of articles that follows Lu Qinjmin, known as Min to her friends, who is typical of the millions of migrant workers in China today. China’s 114 million migrant workers form the largest group of people transitioning from rural to urban living in history.

These two paragraphs summarize the huge changes that are occurring in China’s culture:

bq.. Homecomings may be happy, but they also highlight the rapid changes in Chinese society that can lead to clashes and discord. In the countryside, a family eats and farms together and sleeps in one big bed. Older people, especially men, traditionally make decisions. The eldest children discipline younger ones, and younger ones obey. Guests visit unannounced and stay for days, easily absorbed into communal routines. There are no secrets in village life, and interactions between any two villagers are predetermined according to the kinship ties between them.

In cities, this way of life is already dead. In the countryside, migration is putting an end to it. Young people return home with modern ideas and money — and secrets from a city life their parents don’t understand. They have lived among strangers, competed for jobs and promotions, and dated whom they pleased. The village can’t easily take them back.

p. This series of articles contains lots of other insights into Chinese culture and the changes going on within their society — as well as illustrating the dramatic improvements in the living standards of millions Chinese thanks to globalization.

[1(WSJ article on Mins return)]http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB111818776639053518,00.html?mod=todays_us_page_one