Shanghai, bad farmland — Oct/22, 25 and 26
Visit Shanghai outskirts to Pong Pu County (|| Commune ||). More than 12,600 people; 4,044 households, roughly 8,000 labor.
Cultivated land 4,016 ha — 180 species of vegetables. 75 tons of vegetables / day to the city.
Raising chickens, pigs and milky cows.
Last year (1985) 34,000 pigs and 270,000 chickens.
382 cows with about 220 liters of milk.
22 factories: agricultural machinery, clothing, home appliances, machine parts.
Total value of production in 1985: 90 million yuan. Agricultural production within this total 5.4 million yuan. Agricultural mechanization level has increased. Trucks: 149. Small tractors: 320. Irrigation pumps: 650. Planting and hand harvesting. Plowing, transportation, spraying, mechanical irrigation.
Annual income of each family: 4,000 yuan.
Per capita income: 1,000 yuan.
Health and hygiene have improved. Free medical treatment. Retirement: 60-year-old men and 55-year-old women. They receive 45 to 78 yuan. Compulsory school up to high school. Stimulus to study high school and university.
High school (top tier) government gives 100 yuan / semester. Receiving more than 90 points in the semester the student receives 200 yuan. 30% of the workforce in agriculture, 55% in factories and the rest in the animal breeding. It has shops, transportation companies, hotels, collective services, but workers are paid according to their production, both in agriculture and cattle raising.
1951: Land reform ended in this region.
1953: Mutual production aid.
1955: cooperative superior — 50% of the landowner and the rest is divided.
1958: commune — distribution according to time worked.
During the cultural revolution wrong way to expand collectivization. Income distribution was badly done. Workers were not actively working, to be slacking off on the job and production fell sharply.
1980: change of the working system with pig breeding. Profit distribution according to the weight of meat produced, also according to the profit obtained.
The cereal planting system is different from others; fruit trees, etc.
Market needs low price, medium price and high price vegetables. If we distribute the land, everyone wants to plant high-priced vegetables. The meaning of work must be explained to workers.
80% of the work is determined by the government and 20% by the market.
We have already visited four different areas of vegetable crops: Beijing, Dazhai, Taiyuan, Chongqing, all of which are produced under family responsibility.
How and why did they achieve this feat of not using this method here?
“The fundamental reason is, first that here the collective force is stronger. The youth strength is big, the technique is good, has good quality and good market. Per capita income is higher. Each year the government occupies 800 mus (52 ha) — our area decreases, they lose farm workers to industries. ”
All over Shanghai county, five counties only grow vegetables. We visited each other. Others also tried to beat production. However, land with different fertility. Disgruntled families with worse quality of land.
“So we divided the land into groups. Each year in one place, each year a different product, which brings no general problems. It’s called the team production responsibility system. We work on the principle of socialism. Those who work more earn more, those who work less earn less ”.
Each larger piece receives equal treatment of plowing, composting, spraying — manual labor is evaluated at harvest for greater or lesser productivity from each other in its larger portion of land. Tractor driver receives by plowed hectare, then goes to transport and receives too. It pays a certain amount to the collectivity. The rest is his profit, but the tractors are from the collective that rents them to the tractormen who pay this rent and keep the rest as a profit.
Production management: The state vegetables company of the municipality reports the quantity and type of vegetables they need. District management summons the direction of the production brigades that distribute these tasks.
County convenes meeting of production brigade chiefs two to three times a month depending on need. Each time with a production sector: head of industries, crops, livestock, etc. Two annual meetings to decide the productions, the others are to check if the application of the works is going well. Almost a thousand people in every meeting. The same piece of land gives, depending on the qualities, up to 4 and ½ harvests / year.
Children’s Palace
October 22, 1986
This afternoon we went to visit the Children’s Palace (|| very nice old big house, in the area of French influence in the city, formerly owned by rich family ||). It is an organization where children from 6 to 15 years old go after classes to develop their artistic inclinations. It’s amazing what they do: a seven-year-old girl plays the piano like big people, a group of eight to twelve playing the violin, another accordion group (one girl was the same size as the instrument), another group classic ballet , another group choir, where a girl made mouth movements when singing like a “prima donna”. Designers, calligraphists, electricians, chemists, naturalists, computers, etc. From there will come phenomena in this China.
Director: Fan
Student: Sen Mong Yun (10 years)
32 Children’s Palaces (after schools)
This was a rich family home of four people.
After classes are over, they come here for cultural, ideological and recreational / sporting activities, preparing the most talented in the various sectors. There are 38 different skills distributed in 80 groups. Teachers visit these children’s schools to assist in mentoring. There are smaller ones on small streets as well. It has over 50 specialist teachers with an average of 600 children per day. In the morning children and in the afternoon to elementary school and part secondary school, from 6 to 16 years.
There are volunteer teachers from other technical schools who are there to contribute after normal working hours. In general this organization operates from 9am to 9pm with alternating classes.
There are piano class, violin, accordion, classical ballet, singing, drawing, Chinese calligraphy, electricity, chemistry, computing, research in various sectors.
It is amazing the development of these children in various activities. From this place, we are convinced, the phenomena of future China will emerge.
Yesterday after dinner we went to visit a cultural center of Shanghai. It is a huge building where workers, industrialists, etc. come after work to have fun and perfect some penchant. We were led by the director who was waiting for us at the door, with photographer and two assistants, to visit the outside where there is an artificial lake, soccer field, baseball, swimming pool and a restaurant that, on this day, had been taken by a Wedding party. He brought us in and introduced us to the newlyweds. Then we gathered people around (the guests themselves) and the bride and groom offered us cigarettes (they come with a pack in hand, they take a cigarette that they extend us), the bride made sure to light (already came with the matches in hand) and made a matter of taking pictures with us. Unfortunately we did not have our cameras with us to record this. Then they filled our hands with packets of bullets, effusive shake hands, accompanied us to the door, and also mothers with small children, whom they waved to us. It was funny.
The director is another sniffer. He coughs up his nose like a person we know, skinny, smart, about 60 years old.
Helo’s Chinese Friend
In the evening before dinner, we asked Guo to locate Helô’s friend Zhou Dalu. He called and he came to the hotel at 8 pm. When we got back from the cultural center he soon arrived: nice, handsome, shy, but happy. He found Lian very similar to Helô and was very happy to meet us. We chatted even though his English is not very good. We showed family portraits, talked about his possibility to go to Brazil. He is very hopeful. He works as a designer in a car factory. He wanted us to go to his house today to meet his wife and son and have dinner with them. He would make dinner himself. But “our” Chinese had already arranged a dinner with a local leader of the Association for International Understanding we are traveling on. So, unfortunately, it was not possible for us. Maybe on the 25th or 26th when we will return to Shanghai, because we are going to Hangzhou tomorrow and return the 25th.
Vale a pena ficar mais tempo aqui. Como o mal tempo em Chongqing nos fez perder um dia e meio previstos para Shanghai resolvemos cancelar Guilin e voltar para cá para mais dois dias.
We passed in front of Helô’s ex- hotel (|| in the months she spent here in 1983–84 studying acupuncture ||), remembering her a lot. Our chauffeur is the same as every Chinese driver in driving: he honks nonstop, dodging a thousand bikes, buses, other cars, pedestrians, etc. It’s crazy !!!
We went to dinner with the leader. Our surprise: She was a woman in her 70’s who looks a lot like Maria Furtado. Cheerful, calm, quiet, intelligent, active to this day, works as a counselor, she is Christian (was called Protestant). She speaks english well. She has traveled all over the world except South America. It was a very nice dinner. She offered to help Helo whatever she wants if she returns to China. She gave us her address. She is called Phoebe (in english). We ate baked sparrow with sweet sauce. Good way to finish them off. There was a campaign here too.
HUAQIAO HOTEL — NAN JING Rd. — Most famous shopping street in Shanghai (about 3km).
We went to a bookstore (|| Lian wanted to see Marxist books, very few ||), we bought movies and came back for lunch at 11am because the train leaves at 12:20 pm for Hangzhou and Guo can’t be without eating. We had lunch in a hurry because traffic to the station is like that way. We arrived at 12pm. Train leaves on time. Airplane is not.
October 26, 1986
Celebrating a birthday and sailing down the Huangpu River
Sunday, October 26, Guo’s birthday. We gave him a cashmere sweater and a cloisonné canister with a lid (for his house). He was happy. We left after coffee, in the rain, to take a boat trip along the Huangpu River to the mouth.
We wondered: what an “Indian program” (I’d rather stay at home): boating in a cold, rainy and windy day. Guo smiled when Lian commented if he would not feel cold on the boat. When we arrived it was a huge three-story boat. They took us to the third floor, private room with upholstered sofas, mirror mural with pandas, balconies with wicker chairs, peanut service, fruit, tea. Cool. Then they distributed Shanghai shields and handkerchiefs with writings up the city and the boat trip.
In the afternoon we went to Nanjing Street, very crowded and raining. It’s a mess. Lian wanted to go to a Chinese-only bookstore and interview the bookman. She got it. From there we went, on the way from the airport, to a very fancy hotel, where at 5.30 pm we had Guo’s birthday celebration dinner (49 years old). Delicious, even french fries. We toasted about three times with Chinese drink that looks like genipap liqueur. Little goblet, but as it is strong, we all become flushed and hot. Then, airport from where we take off at 7:30 pm to Guangzhou.
At the airport, a couples was waiting for us. They are darker here than in the north or inland. On the plane is incredible the rush of the Chinese to get in. It’s that bunch of people, in a damn push and shove. Hand luggage is a barbarity. Every huge suitcase, which they put on the shelf above their heads, that if the plane swings I don’t know what it would be. The flight attendant is then rearranging to see if anything will fall. Between one chair and another, people behind, the space is very small. Barely fit our legs (female), big man I do not know how they can accommodate. The plane has not yet stopped running, on landing, they are already standing, flustered picking up luggage. Few checked bags. We were only about ten out of 138 passengers, waiting for luggage.
