What is this site?
Crossing the River by Feeling the Stones shares my experiences exploring the less-covered corners of China’s economic transformation. The topics I will cover here include poverty alleviation, small-city economic trends, countryside solar deployment campaigns, rural rejuvenation, and ethnic tourism, among others.
As much as possible, I want to put the voices and perspectives of Chinese people at the forefront of my writing, with my own observations, commentary and opinions serving to supplement and contextualize. I’m no reporter, just a traveler and observer, but I do hope the stories I discover and share from my travels will inspire more people to get out of their big-city bubbles to discover the myriad complexities and nuances of Chinese development, especially the bits that can only be discovered by going to see for yourself. What you do with those discoveries is up to you, but I hope you’ll feel wiser, more thoughtful, and more open-minded for it.
I may occasionally write about other China stuff too, particularly things related to the Chinese power/energy sector.
When I am fixed in one place, my writing here will probably slow down. I’m assuming I’ll be much more likely to find compelling topics for content while actually out on the road, so updates will be periodic, but hopefully not too periodic.
What does the title mean?
“Crossing the River by Feeling the Stones” is a literal translation of 摸着石头过河, a famous political slogan often (inaccurately) attributed to Deng Xiaoping. It metaphorically captures the essence of China’s state-led programmatic approach to economic development: Take a single step on your journey across the river, empirically evaluate the results, and then carefully reach out with your foot to identify the next (nearly-hidden) stone, slowing making your way toward your ultimate goal: the far bank (and a prosperous Chinese society).
As for who actually first used these words in a political context, it was likely Chen Yun back in the 1950s, during his stints as First Vice-Premier and Party Vice-Chairman, when he was considered relatively liberal (and quietly critical of many of the economic policies of the period, particularly during the Great Leap Forward). Disgraced and sent to work in a factory for three years during the Cultural Revolution, Chen eventually was rehabilitated and even became a powerful economic advisor to Deng during the years of reform and opening up. In the new Party dynamics of the 80s, however, Chen was now considered a conservative, even becoming quite critical of Deng in the later years of their careers.
Who am I?
I’m David, originally from the USA. I’ve been in China for over a decade now, first doing an MA at the Hopkins-Nanjing Center and then starting my career in Shanghai in the Chinese power sector, where I continue to work and live today. At this point, I’ve now spent nearly my entire adult life as a migrant in China and consider it my home, so perhaps immigrant is the right word instead? I don’t know when, if ever, I would return to the USA, but for the foreseeable future, this is my life, and I’m very fortunate and thankful to be living it in this way.
When I’m not lucky enough to be out traveling and commenting on the things I see and the people I meet, my real job is working with The Lantau Group, helping multinationals make smart investments into energy infrastructure and procure green power, a field which I also count myself very lucky to be a part of.
I tweet at @pretentiouswhat.
