In Search of China

Since Chairman Mao's death in 1976, the Chinese people have, it often seems, experienced a century's worth of economic change in a mere 25 years. Coupled with the earlier economic and social disasters of China's "great leap forward" in the late '50s and the "cultural revolution" of the mid-'60s, recent decades have left the people yearning for stability and prosperity, but while the nation's leadership embraces the free market with enthusiasm, the government still resists basic political reforms. Clearly, China is at a crossroads. In Search of China interviews students, factory workers, investors, CEO's, and deal-makers, all of whom discuss China's problems and promise with a frankness unimaginable in Mao's era. The "iron rice bowl" of guaranteed employment and benefits has been forever broken, leaving many without jobs or marketable skills; the rural poor are migrating to the booming cities, facing an uncertain future; and the gap between the newly rich and the newly poor continues to widen, shredding China's social fabric. Viewers will learn that 50 years of Communism didn't kill China's entrepreneurial spirit: would-be investors seek advice from a stock market winner simply known as "Yang Millionaire" and students at China's universities explore the Internet to promote business start-ups. In fact, the dual promise of burgeoning high tech opportunities coupled with young people unburdened by the nation's Communist past offers the best hope for China's future. While the program is overlong, and one segment on rural women meeting men in the big city belongs in a completely different documentary, this is a strong optional purchase, especially for academic collections. Aud: C, P. (S. Rees)