Narrator: As ancient as
the great wall, and as enduring.
The story of china
is the story of food.
(Farmers talking)
narrator: From the master chef
seeking the ultimate meal...
to the student who defies his
father to follow his heart,
in this booming nation,
nothing rocks like a wok.
But some can barely fill theirs,
as drought and desert
stalk the country.
A rebel lawyer fights
the factories and filth
chewing up precious farmland...
an old saying proclaims
"food is heaven".
But in its rush to riches,
is china devouring its
ability to feed its own people?
Narrator: Of all the bustling
places in this awakening nation,
none is as busy as a cantonese
kitchen just before noon.
Food crazy guangzhou is
a booming city of 10 million
people and 10,000 restaurants.
Wizard of the wok johnson wong
makes sure his 40 chefs
stay on the cutting edge of
the city's exotic cuisine.
Narrator: This southern
metropolis is the home of
china's most famous export:
Cantonese food.
Although some of it might be
a tough sell on
the international market.
Johnson: Anything that flies in
the sky or walks on the ground,
as long as its back is
facing the sky, you can eat it.
We attach great importance to
the freshness of food.
Cantonese people love to eat.
Narrator: Translation,
they eat practically anything,
and the closer it is
to being alive, the better.
Goose web, fish lips,
all manner of bugs...
wong is kept busy
dreaming up dishes for his
affluent and demanding patrons.
Johnson: I'll try anything.
Like stuffing insects
into bean sprouts... bees...
bee pupas.
If you don't eat them,
they will fly away.
Narrator: And when he's not
r5nning his restaurants,
he's wokking on his weekly
television show.
Johnson wong: Ok, ready.
(Banging skillet)
narrator: For wong,
food is entertainment...
literally.
Producer: Okay, okay, okay.
Narrator: A tv series,
radio call-in shows, newspaper
columns, food seminars...
have made wong
the ultimate celebrity cook.
Narrator: Wong's grandfather
was a kung fu master,
his mother sang chinese opera,
and his show is
part jackie chan...
part tom jones,
part julia child.
It's all gobbled up by
the newly prosperous chinese...
those who have more food
than they know what to do with.
Johnson wong: People are looking
for new taste sensations.
We no longer see food as
something to appease hunger...
appeasing hunger is
an old story.
Narrator: On the other
side of china,
appeasing hunger is not
an old story.
Mrs. Gao was only 15 when
she came to this tiny village
to marry a man
she had never met.
Their lives have been
unending hardship,
with barely enough to eat,
and even less water.
Mr. Gao: People living in
towns or cities can have a bath.
No facility, no bath here.
Narrator: The gaos live
far away from the prosperous
coastal regions,
in china's northwest.
High in the parched and barren
hills of the loess plateau.
Spectacular, forbidding,
the loess plateau was
once a vast and verdant forest.
But over the centuries,
demand for lumber and cropland
stripped the hills
of their trees.
Now the fertile soil, and
the farmers who depend upon it
for survival,
are at the mercy of
the sun and wind.
As drought and development
claim precious farmland,
china may be losing it ability
to feed itself.
At the gao's village,
the fields of corn and beans
that cling to the hillsides
hardly produce enough
to keep them alive.
Unless it rains soon,
they will produce nothing.
Mrs. Gao: The sun is so hot that
the crops all dry up and die.
But if it rains,
the soil turns soft,
and the plants grow well.
It all depends on the rain here.
Narrator: Inside their
traditional cave dwelling,
mrs. Gao prepares dinner.
Here, deciding what to have
is not a problem.
Dinner is noodles, every night.
1 out of 8 chinese
still lives in absolute poverty.
Just getting enough to eat
is a daily struggle.
Mr. Gao: The day before
yesterday, we had more than
enough to eat.
As for the most delicious food,
it's noodles... with meat.
For people like us,
that's as good as it gets.
Narrator: Even in what some
are calling the chinese century,
many people's biggest fear
is still the fear of hunger.

A chinese legend tells of
the artist who painted a cookie.
When he was finished,
he wasn't hungry anymore.
It's li jin's favourite story.
The passion for food has shaped
china's culture,
its history, its soul.
It's a passion
born of deprivation.
Li jin: Being short
of food gives you
a specal awareness of it:
The look of it, the smell of it.
The pleasure of
preparing a meal... the sounds,
e aroma of cooking,
the anticipation of eating,
the pleasure of tasting.
Hunger feeds the imagination
about food.
Narrator: For li jin,
food is a source of creativity
and inspiration,
as a painter and as a cook.
Li jin: Carp represents
the chinese ideal of beauty
in a fish.
It has the typical
beautiful shape, full and round.
Narrator: He believes china's
magnificent cuisine
is a cultural treasure that must
be preserved and celebrated.
Li jin: For chinese people, fish
is associated with lucky things:
A prosperous life, abundance...
I love fish.
Narrator: Food has always been
central to the life and
character of china.
So too has the problem
of too many mouths
and too little land.
Li jin: People were
short of food for long periods
in our history,
because we have
such a large population,
so food has always been a way
to measure wealth in china.
Only the rich had
good food to eat.
>> Announcer: Flower power,
revolutions, and rock 'n roll,
a cbc big ticket.
>> I was trying to put a little
mythology into the whole thing.
>> Announcer: The evolution of
canadian music from the '60s.
>> It was numbing at the time.
>> Announcer: Shakin'
all over...
watcha eating?
Golden oreo.
They're vanilla.
When I was a kid, an oreo was
chocolate.
And that's the way we liked it.
And when the power went out
we had to play battery-operated
video games
with screens only this big.
Want one?
Ok.
Vanilla-flavoured golden oreo.
A surprising twist on your
favourite cookie.
Ahh, the ol' t-ball shoulder's
actin' up again.
You were great!
Two a's, so far so good.
A c, not bad, not bad!
G, it's got to be your outfit.
An L.
We're still having fun.
An r?
Way to go mr. Artistic
expression!
Calgary?
You won! You won!
For a chance to win a trip to
calgary for the world figure
skating championships,
get a mosaik mastercard
worth $2,500
and meet elvis stojko.
Leap onto bmoskating.Com
come on.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah!
Yeah, yes!
Yes!
Oh, yes!
Oh, man,
what did we ever do
before
racetrax?
[Scattered applause]
[Whistling from crowd]
I forget.
Me too.
[Bugle playing "first call"]
[Starter bell rings]
Racetrax
place your bets at the bar
[Rapid hoofbeats, crowd cheers]
Narrator: For generations,
fish brought good fortune to
the people of the guo river.
Now their fish nets sit empty,
their houseboats lie rotting,
the water they live on poisoned,
polluted by industrial waste.
For years, they've been fighting
in vain to get compensation.
Now they are waiting for
their last hope...
a crusading lawyer from beijing.
The spectacular economic boom
that has created riches
for so many
has ravaged much of
the countryside.
Lawyers wang canfa and
zhang jing jing
fight for the farmers
and fishermen
whose crops and catch
are being destroyed.
Narrator: They're headed south
to anhui province.
Even in a country
where over 60% of the rivers and
lakes are heavily polluted,
anhui has achieved
environmental infamy.
The lethal discharges
of its factories
have killed crops, animals,
even people.
As the train arrives in the
ancient city of bozhou,
wang canfa knows there are risks
to their mission.
More often than not,
local authorities
side with the polluters,
and do not appreciate his
interfering.
But to the poor and powerless
in china's countryside,
this tiny man is a folk hero.
Narrator: Gong huailing
hoped for a good life
when she married
one of the gou fishermen.
Hope has turned to hopelessness.
Narrator: Hu xuede
farmed fish all his life.
Then adversity
turned him into a fighter.
He tells wang
the fishermen believe

a leather tanning factory
upstream is illegally releasing
highly toxic waste,
but the local
government is protecting it.
Narrator: Surprisingly,
this man would agree.
Pan yue is at the centre of
power in beijing....
but he talks like no other
member of china's government.
Pan yue: Most officials got
their high positions
through pushing growth.
So it's very difficult to get
them to change their approach.
,
Narrator: China's vice minister
of the environment
is as outspoken as he is
exasperated that on his watch,
china is becoming the world's
biggest polluter.
Pan yue: Let them choose
the environment
or a mercedes benz car,
they choose the mercedes
for sure.
They want to be rich first.
The environment
is their second choice.
Narrator: Growth is what china
has been all about
for the last 20 years.
But it comes with a cost.
China must feed over 20% of the
world's population with only
7% of the world's arable land.
And that land
is disappearing... fast.
Paved over by progress.
Now, progress is moving west.
In mountainous sichuan province,
arable land is concentrated
in the large basin around
its capital city and latest
boomtown, chengdu.
This export processing zone
is one of
scores of industrial parks
springing up like mushrooms
on the flat and fertile plain.
But unlike mushrooms, you
can't eat what's produced here.
Computer chips made by
multinational giant intel.
It's sophie fan's
pride and joy.
She returned to china
from canada two years ago
to help sell her hometown
to foreign investors.
Chengdu: International hotspot.
Narrator: The better sophie
does her job,
the more land will be lost.
Narrator: Her pitch is simple...
and successful.
Sophie fan: I will convince you
that your business
will make money.
It is the first thing
i will tell you.
Narrator: Over the last 10 years
development has swallowed up
10% of china's arable land.
Sophie fan: I personally feel
losing land to factories
is a sacrifice.
If the benefits of developme
to the public are greater,
I think people will understand
that sacrifice is necessary.
Our life is better than before.
We have to sacrifice
when we make progress.
Narrator: In the bustling
restaurants of chengdu,
deals are done and development
is celebrated.
Narrator: Sophie and her team
are there to enjoy sichuan opera
and the local specialty: Hotpot.
Narrator: The fiery dish of
duck broth and animal parts
was originally a simple meal
for the poor.
Now, a feast for the winners in
china's development boom.
Zhen tian: What can I do?
What can I do?
To stay alive, you must eat.
Narrator: Zhen tian ren is
one of theeosers.
One of 66 million peasants
forced off their land
by development.
His peach orchards were
gobbled up by one of chengdu's
new industrial zones.
But he's come back
to his old neighbourhood,
squatting in an abandoned
farmhouse and surrounded
by factories.
Even a stay in jail
didn't deter him.
Zhen: They forced me
into the car.
They took me to the police
branch office.
They detained me
for 12 days there.
It's unfair.
I am an old man, I don't lie.
And I am also an idiot
if I just wait for
the government to be fair.
Narrator: He knows
it's only a matter of time
before the bulldozers,
and the police are back.
Zhen: This whole
development thing
is only for the government,
it has nothing to dowith us,
the regular citizens, nothing.
It even makes us poorer.
The government gets richer,
while the citizens get poorer.
I am telling you the truth.
Narrator: Now all over china,
protests, and even violence,
against land seizures and
pollution erupt almost daily.
Under china's rise,
5the losers eat bitter
while the winners eat well.
Pollution fighter wang canfa
knows all about eating bitter.
It's why he became a lawyer
and a rebel.
Narrator: A visit to
the world's biggest market
for herbal medicine
unexpectedly becomes a journey
into his past.
If it grows, blooms or crawls,
it's here.
The thousands of dealers would
never let you doubt for a second
that centipedes can
beat a bad rash,
or that dried human placenta
can stop a headache.
Narrator: Wang knows some of
the exotic merchandise here
only too well.
He grew up
as one of five children
in a poor peasant family.
There was never enough to eat.

Closed captioning is
brought to you by:
The 2006
east coast music awards...
more than just fiddles.
Live from charlottetown:
February 27th on cbc television.
Hey, I've got your pizza...
would you mind bringing that in
for me.
Yeah, we're really not supposed
to do that...
come on...
well...
now that's what I call delivery
it's not delivery, it's delissio
and you're not a delivery
guy...dad.
No wonder I don't have any
friends.
With it's fresh baked taste and
delicious toppings.
It's
i love you.
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And you're not mad?
I'm not mad.
Okay.
[]
When it's just about the money,
you can always tell.
With credit unions,
it's people before profits.
See us
for all your financial needs.

>> This week on the mercer
report, I play basketball with
the carleton ravens.
They're about to experience
"the mercer curse".
Stu!
Oof.
>> The rick mercer report...
>> I had a horrible dream
that stephen harper was
prime minister.
>> Announcer: A young
canadian girl killed
for a forbidden love.
6 years later,
her mother and uncle
are still suspects.
Why is the investigation
dragging on so long?
The fifth estate documentary
that inspired a movie:
Murdered bride ii...
(gongs sounding)
(playerselmeng)
(drums beating)
narrator: Relief from the bitter
struggle against hunger
has been a constant dream for
china's peasants.
For centuries they've beseeched
the powerful river dragon to
bring abundance and prosperity.
(Yelling)
(drum beating)
narrator: But li zhifu
and his parents are just here
to enjoy the races...
they no longer need to pray for
a better life.
They are part of the largest
mass migration in human history.
More than 100 million peasants
wh9ve abandoned the land
for jobs and opportunities
in china's cities.
The li family 5ed to call
the miuo valley home.
Life here may seem unchanging,
but most of the adults
have gone.
The villagers who remain are
either too young or too old
to leave.
When the li's make a rare visit
to their family home,
zhifu's father declares he's
proud that he and his children
no longer farm.
Li father: For sure I am
proud of it.
Working with physical stsngth,
blue collar work,
is not as good as working
with knowledge,
white collar work.
Narrator: As a farmer's son
with a university degree
in computer programming,
zhifu is living his
father's dream.
But here zhifu spends his time,
as he did as a child,
in the kitchen
helping his grandfather.
Computers are not where
zhifu's heart is.
Zhifu: There is a saying
in china, "food is heaven".
Eating is the most
important thing in our life.
We say this at the dining table:
"No matter what kind of
emergency happens, eat first,
deal with it later".
Narrator: Cooking is
in zhifu's blood.
His grandfather became the
village chef
by helping his neighbours cook
what little they had
during times of hunger.
Narrator: Risking his father's
disapproval,
zhifu has decided to follow
in his grandfather's footsteps.
He will become a chef.
For him, preparing food is
a link to the land and
the village he's left behind.
Li zhifu: I still miss
the old life.
When I go back home
to visit my grandparents,
we celebrate the festivals
together.
Those times are warm and joyful.
I miss those joyful times.
It's hard to find this closeness
in the city.
People there are cold
and detached.
Li father: I worked a lot
on zhifu to get him
to give up being a cook.
But he told me nothing
is more important than food.
Finally I said
if that's your decision,
then try your best
and do it well.
Maybe it is what
he was born to do.
Narrator: Zhifu will need more
than inborn talent
to succeed in a place that
takes its cuisine
as seriously as china does.
He'll have to struggle.
On the gou river,
wang the lawyer is
in pursuit of the polluters.
Born in the year of the dog,
he has the inborn tenacity
of a terrier.
He needs it.
Narrator: He and
ms. Zhang have traveled
to the village
closest to the leather tanning
factory.
The two lawyers must prove
that pollution from the factory
is killing the fish.
Zhang is videotaping evidence
to be used in court.
Narrator: A few years ago,
the farmers could swim
in this river.
Not anymore.
Narrator: Wang wants to get
the silt tested
for chrome and cadmium,
two toxic heavy metals
used in tanning leather.
Narrator: But wang and zhang
need hard proof.
For that, they must
get closer to the fqctory.
Far to the south
in guangzhou's fish market,
singing chef johnson wong is
tracking an elusive quarry also.
Something special,
something wild and live.
But there's a downside to
the economic prosperity
that's madthim so successful.
One he's about to discover.
Narrator: Pollution is
taking its toll
on canton's most sought-after
delicacies.
Johnson: River fish are very
popular.
But as pollution is increasing
and water quality
gets worse and worse,
many fish are becoming
inedible or even extinct.
Narrator: China is already
the world's largest producer
of fish and seafood.
But the surging economy means
china's enormous appetite
for fish,
and the money to pay for it,
is growing even faster.
Johnson: This is creating
a serious problem.
Now demand for fish
is exceeding supply,
and so the quality of the
fish is getting worse and worse.
Narrator: China is discovering
the limits of
its natural resources.
Narrator: And johnson?
He may have met his match in
that feisty big garoupa.
In this place of plenty,
it's hard to believe
that china has any problem
growing enough food.
If food is heaven,
the guangze u wholesale
vegetable market
is heaven's ate.
Food from all over china is
meticulously cut,
peeled, and readied for sale.
The volume is overwhelming,
the variety stunning.
But here again, prosperity
threatens china's ability
to feed itself.

The city of guangzhou
lies at the head of
the sprawling pearl river delta
in southern china.
It was here on this massive
flood plain that china's
economic miracle began.
The delta is one of the most
fertile places in the world.
Now it is also one of the most
industrializst.
Sandched between
the factories and highways
are the remnants of
ls agricultural past.
Tiny markengardes that must
feed the appetites of the huge
industrial cities of the delta.
Here, as everywhere in china,
more and more food must be
wrung out of less and less land.
The intense production is
fuelled by chemicals.
Staggering amounts of pesticides
and fertilizers.
At least twice the amount
the west uses to grow its food.
On top of that,
there are heavy metals.
In the air, in the soil
and in the water.
Fields are often irrigated
with the untreated wastewater
of thousands of factories.
These vegetables will end up in
the markets and woks of china,
along with their chemicals
and contaminants.
Tasty as they might look,
many of china's crops
are not edible by
western food safety standards.
It's a long way from heaven,
according to the
chinese government's environment
chief pan yue.
Pan yue: China's economic
growth looks like magic from
the outside, but it can't go on.
It's creating huge problems.
These problems are leading us
to disaster.
Narrator: Pan yue doesn't flinch
from the truth,
even though his government
isn't always happy to hear it,
and has demoted him in the past.
Pan yue: Sometimes I feel alone.
I paid for what I did,
I'm prepared to pay more
in the future.
I don't represent the mainstream
of the government.
Still, I have hope.
Narrator: Pan yue believes
neither he, nor his country,
has a choice.
Pan yue: If we can't solve
the problems,
then all of us will be finished.
We can't import water,
we can't import air.
We live under the same sky,
we are all chinese.
I cannot survive
if a fisherman dies.
>> This week on the mercer
report, I play basketball with
the carleton ravens.
They're about to experience
"the mercer curse".
Stu!
Oof.
>> The rick mercer report...
>> I had a horrible dream
that stephen harper was
prime minister.
>> Announcer: Flower power,
revolutions, and rock 'n roll,
a cbc big ticket.
>> I was trying to put a little
mythology into the whole thing.
>> Announcer: The evolution of
canadian music from the '60s.
>> It was numbing at the time.
= Announcer: Shakin'
all over...@v
hey. Psst.
Thank you very much.
Thank you?
Hey! Ey, thank you!
Thank you!
Without your support,
many athletes wouldn't
be able to compete.
Thanks canada.
Together we've helped thousands
of athletes reach their dreams.
Ladies, I made nachos.
The perfect munchies for girl's
night !
Mmm...
I used kraft texmex shredded
cheese.
Kraft texmex ? That's your
secret ?
It's not a secret. It's a blend
of mozzarella,
cheddar and monterey jack,
already shredded...
...with "jah-la-peh-no peppers"
!
Actually in spanish, the "j" is
pronounced more like an "h".
Sorry - with "hah-la-peh-no
peppers".
The perfect blend of
with jalapeno peppers.
People call it fast food?
I beg to differ.
Why m&m? Uhmm...
well, they're just so helpful.
Yeah...
you know, unlike some places.
Excuse me.
Can you help me?
Aahh...
I'll have to go ask someone.
At m&m,
they suggest things.
They're...
they're not afraid to help.
Well, they're just not afraid.
[Laughter]
[]
When it's just about the money,
you can always tell.
With credit unions,
it's people before profits.
See us
for all your financial needs.
>> Winter, there may be no
bigger reminder of what
it means to be canadian.
Watch the snow fly and
our athletes do the same.
This february, torino 2006.
The olympic games on cbc,
canada's olympic network.
Narrator: As china's growth
continues,
it seems almost impossible that
disaster can be averted.
Yet china's history is the story
of impossibility surmounted.
The southern loess plateau
is where chinese history
began 5,000 years ago.
Now china's agricultural future
is beginning again
on these terraces.
Market economics has come
to fields where, for centuries,
peasants harvested only
wheat and sorrow.
This is the face of
china's future.
Dr. Xu wenbin doesn't know
anything about farming.
But he doesn't see that
as a drawback.
Dr. Xu: China is changing,
its farmers are changing too.
Narrator: The head of
the local hospital
in the city of luochuan
took his life savings and bought
3,000 apple trees.
They've made him rich.
Dr. Xu the only thing
you have to worry about
is taking good care of
the apple trees.
There is no worry about
making money.
(Leaves rustling)
narrator: That rustling is
the sound of china
taking over the world market
for apples.
It's taken them only a few
years and an awful lot of bags.

In early summer, thousands of
workers put every single fruit
in a paper wrapper that protects
it from disease and pollution,

and helps meet
international standards.
Apples can generate
10 times the income wheat does.
So instead of growing
so much wheat,
china is buying it abroad,
and exporting high priced fruits
and vegetables.
If dr. Xu has his way, his
apples will be coming soon to
supermarkets around the world.
Narrator: You can also glimpse
the future at this small
provincial cooking school.
These young men are the carriers
of the flame of
china's great cuisine...
if they pass today's test.
Narrator: Among them is
li zhifu,
the young man who left computer
programming for cooking.
Today he may regret that.
Narrator: They've got one
hour to prepare four dishes.
Narrator: Ju hua fish is a feat
of cutting, breading and frying.
Done properly,
it blossoms like a chrysanthemum
when dropped into the hot oil.
Narrator: Cooking in
his grandfather's kitchen
was never like this.
The finished dishes
are run across campus
to the waiting judges.
Narrator: He hasn't done as well
as he would have liked,
but zhifu is undaunted, his love
for china's food undiminished.
Zhifu: I am happiest when
i'm creating wonderful meals
for others.
I think about how much joy
my food will give them.
That is what will make me happy.
Narrator: Lawyers wang and zhang
intend to be part of
china's future too.
As crusaders nipping at
the heels of runaway growth.
When they finally reach
the tanning factory,
they find piles of toxic
leather waste.
Narrator: They also find what
they've been searching for.
Narrator: But there's a problem.
Narrator: It gets worse...
there seems to be
as much pollution
above the factory as below.
Wang realizes that may
let the factory off the hook.
Narrator: The gou fishermen's
long wait is not yet over.
But wang will not give up
easily... he's won almost half
of his 70 cases.
He believes that too many
factories polluting too much
may be hina's present,
but not its future..
>> Narrator:
It's party time in the
birthplace of chinese communism.
Welcome to 21st
century shanghai.
With its science fiction skyline
and hyper-scaled building boom,
it's an imposing symbol
of china's phenomenal growth.
"It's glorious to be rich"
is the party's new directive.
A new middle class is
creating a surge of wealth;
a surge that is
leaving millions behind.
Narrator:
In an abandoned theme
park on the edge of town,
film director ma liang is
selling dreams to the new china.
And in the heart of the city
designer jenny ji prepares
to conquer the fashion world.
But the shanghai
dream comes at a price.
Wei qin has lost her home,
her job, and maybe
even her son's future.
Nearly two million
residents have been forced
from their neighbourhoods.
Jiang meili's husband
tried to fight the system.
Now he's in jail.
She's harassed by
police and destitute.
Hu yang captures a
city of vaunting ambitions
and wrenching despair;
a world he fears
could self-destruct.
These are some of the lives
caught up in one of the most
stunning human transformations
in the world today and nowhere
is that transformation more
apparent than in shanghai.
[Whistle blowing]
Narrator:
In the streets and
neighbourhoods of the old
city the new dream for china
is being turned into reality.
A generation of chinese now
live in a style that would not
look out of place in
new york, berlin or toronto.
A quarter century ago the
chinese government concluded
that their survival depended
on creating something
they once tried to crush:
A prosperous middle class.
In 1921, the communist
party was born here.
Today, that once hallowed
birthplace lies hidden
behind a starbucks and
an upscale shopping plaza.
State controlled television
is pumping out consumer
dreams for the more than
one-hundred million members
of china's new middle class.
These ads have propelled
director ma liang into the
top ranks of shanghai's
booming advertising industry.
These are exciting times
for the 33-year-old director.
He is part of the first
generation in 50 years
whose lives are not controlled
by the communist party.
Ma liang owns a downtown condo,
runs a successful business and
travels anywhere he wants.
It's an astonishing
transformation from his
impoverished youth when
he and his family all lived
together in two rooms.
Ma liang:
In those days, we all wore poor
clothing, very simple clothing.
There was no complexity
in our lives, everything
was just ordinary.
Back then, when I was a
teenager, I could never imagine
what I'd be like when I hit 30.
The way the country was
going I couldn't see that
there was any future for me.
Now I'm always dreaming.
Dreaming about
what I'll do next.
Dreaming about what
i might do tomorrow.
And now look at me.

Narrator:
Ma liang makes good money
directing commercials for
something that didn't
exist even a decade ago:
China's yuppie generation.

Across t country women
e determined to be part of
the hip, new urban lifestyle.
Nearly half of all post-graduate
degrees are earned by women,
and women now make
up 20 per cent of the
country's entrepreneurs.
Jenny ji started out
studying economics.
Today, she is one of shanghai's
hot young clothing designers.
She's the only female-designer
in the city to be invited
to shanghai's upcoming
international fashion show.
Jenny ji:
I'm a designer from the new
generation, and I feel great.
I don't have the
old restrictions
and boring attitudes.
Even though there are
lots of problems to solve,
I feel positive about
what's happening to me.
The old pessimism has gone and
i can embrace the new changes.
I'm always dreaming of
the choices available to me.
Narrator:
The communist party likes to
call the creation of its new
middle class "socialism with
chinese characteristics".
Everyone else
calls it capitalism.
But this is capitalism with
a centrally planned roadmap.
[Over loudspeaker]
Dear visitors, what you see in
front of you is the planning
model for shanghai
central city covering an
area of 100 square kilometres.
Narrator:
Shanghai's master plan for
the future has its own building
complete with a
detailed scale model.
It depicts a city with 4,000
new steel and glass skyscrapers,
and a network of roads
and highways that has
doubled in just ten years.
This massive construction boom
is bursting out of the city.
The countryside is being
paved over with suburbs that
now stretch to the horizon.
Suburbs like forest manor,
one of the pricier estate
developments, 40 minutes
from the centre of the city.
In housing deprived shanghai,
gated communities are the status
symbols of the newly rich.
Family farms are being replaced
with tree lined streets,
manicured lawns, and monster
homes that would not look out
of place in any upscale
suburb in the west.
Even though only a wealthy few
can ever afford to live here,
forest manor helps feed
the dream that in the new
china anything is possible.
Shanghai's redevelopment
is being called the largest
construction project
in the world.
The jobs and the wealth
it generates attract
nearly a million people
a year swelling shanghai's
population to over 20 million.
Narrator:
But there's a price to be paid
for these towers of progress.
Half of shanghai's old
neighbourhoods have disappeared.
For the city's poorer residents,
shanghai is a city of despair.
Narrator:
Over the past 10 years more
than 600,000 families have
been forced to move as their
neighbourhoods are destroyed.
The chinese government
expropriated all land after
the 1949 revolution and
is now making a fortune
leasing it to developers.
Thousands refuse to move
saying they haven't been
fairly compensated.
Fighting eviction means living
holed-up in a demolition site
often without electricity
or running water.
All across the old
downtown, small ground
wars a being fought.
Even though they could
be harassed by the police,
these protestors are
preparing to hoist a banner
that will be their battle flag.

Residents accuse developers
of paying them a fraction
of what their property is
worth then trying to sell
them expensive apartments
in distant suburbs.
When the demolition crews arrive
there is little anyone can do.
[Shouting]
Resistance is seldom successful.
Workers, some armed with sledge
hammers, await orders to begin.
Wei qin:
There was no other choice.
They had so many
workers surrounding me.
If I had stayed in my
house how could I fight
with them and hope to win?
The only thing to do was leave.
Narrator:
When wei qin's little
flat was destroyed,
she lost the only thing
of value she'd ever owned.
She'd already lost her
job at a state owned
factory when it downsized.
Now she barely survives on
a small pension, still wears
her old work clothes,
and scrapes around for bargains.
It's been a hard life.
She lives with her son in a
single room with only one bed.
The apartment she once owned
was the key to her son's future.
Yongkang's grades are
poor and wei qin knows
that without a tutor he
will continue to fall behind.
Wei qin:
If the developer had offered
me more money, my son
would be better off.
First of all, I would
have some money to pay his
tutorial fees and settle
my housing situation.
Narrator:
And because of her
son and her fears for him,
wei qin will take a giant step.
She will join the growing
protest against city hall;
but in china this
can be dangerous.
>> Announcer: A young
canadian girl killed
for a forbidden love.
6 years later,
her mother and uncle
are still suspects.
Why is the investigation
dragging on so long?
The fifth estate documentary
that inspired a movie:
Murdered bride ii...
>> Announcer: Flower power,
revolutions, and rock 'n roll,
a cbc big ticket.
>> I was tying to put a little
mythology into the whole thing.
>> Announcer: The evolution of
canadian music from the '60s.
>> It was numbing at the time.
>> Announcer: Shakin'
all over...
metamucil presents
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Take metamucil
and...
watcha eating?
Golden oreo.
They're vanilla.
When I was a kid, an oreo was
chocolate.
And that's the way we liked it.
And when the power went out
we had to play battery-operated
video games
with screens only this big.
Want one?
Ok.
Vanilla-flavoured golden oreo.
A surprising twist on your
favourite cookie.
Ahh, the ol' t-ball shoulder's
actin' up again.
Woo hoo, thank you, yeah,
thanks, thank you!
Excuse me, sir. Thank you.
I just want to saythank you.
Hi! I just wanted
to say thanks.
Hey I'm glad I found you,
thank you very much.
Thanks again for all your help.
Don't be a stranger now.
Without your support,
many athletes wouldn't
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Woo hoo! Yeah! Woo!
Thanks canada.
Together we've helped thousands
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>> Announcer: Winter, there may
be no bigger reminder of what
it means to be canadian.
>> Man 1: Sakic scores!
>> Man 2: Catriona lemay doan
has won the gold!
>> Man 3: Lee gartner
has taken the lead!
>> Man 4: Jamie and david skated
the ultimate performance.
Simply amazing.
>> Announcer: Watch the snow
fly... and our athletes
do the same.
This february, torino 2006.
The olympic games on cbc,
canada's olympic network.
Brought to you in
part by yoplait.
>> Announcer: How would you like
the nhl to visit your town?
If you love the game,
and have great community spirit,
then your town could win
the chance to host
an nhl exhibition game.
Sign up today for the kraft
hockeyville competition,
and ask yourself:
Are you hockeyville?
>> This week on the mercer
report, I play basketball with
the carleton ravens.
They're about to experience
"the mercer curse".
Stu!
Oof.
>> The rick mercer report...
>> I had a horrible dream
that stephen harper was
prime minister.
>> Announcer: Canadians want
the whole story, that's why
every evening peter mansbridge
and cbc's team of trusted
journalists take you to
the frontlines of the
day's top stories.
Cbc news: The national...
millions of chinese
feel they have been
betrayed by the government.
They'd been raised on
the promise of security
and jobs for life.
But in just one, four-year
period, factory shutdowns left
24 million workers unemployed.
Shanghai, china's industrial
giant, has been hit hard.
Hu yang, a former factory worker
himself, knows what it is like
to be unemployed in a city
brimming with prosperity.
He's a struggling photographer
who has published a book
portraying the widening gap
between the old shanghai
and the pampered
new middle class.
He's photographed nearly 500
people living in shanghai.
Like zhu min who once
worked for a large state
owned clothing factory.

[Laughing]
He owns a small tailor
shop that just makes enough
to support his family.
And in an upscale suburb
hu yang documents the lifestyle
of one of china's
new entrepreneurs.
Hu yang:
The gap between rich
and poor is huge, huge.
Right now shanghai society looks
like a weightlifter's barbell.
We have the rich and the poor
like large weights with a narrow
band of middle class
like the bar in between them.
This is creating a
lot of problems.
It puts the
distribution of wealth
and even the stabilityr
of our society at risk.
Narrator:
Wei qin is taking the
bus to visit her mother.
Buses keep arriving, but she
won't take the expensive ones.
It's just another reminder
that she's stuck at the bottom,
with the millions of
unemployed who have little
to offer china's new economy.
Wei qin:
When I worked at the factory,
I was never given any training.
They were not interested
in teaching us anything.
So now I have no useful skills.
This means I'm not able
to find a job, so I'll
have to star
all over.
Narrator:
Wei qin's mother is a pensioner
living in a small
apartment a half hour away.
Narrator:
Then there is that part
of the visit wei qin dreads.
Wei qin:
I have this helpless feeling,
but I don't have much choice.
My mom can save a
little here and there
but her pension is very
small, so it's not easy
for her to save much.
Narrator:
You don't have to be poor
to be caught in the whirlwind
of change in china.
Even winners find
themselves bewildered
by the speed
of transformation.
Ma liang directs commercials
to pay the rent,
but his real love is
photography, and he's trying
to capture the unease
he sees around him.
Ma liang:
The series of photos I'm
taking is called my circus.
I'm not just going out
and taking pictures;
I'm trying to create
something more artistic.
I want to use
dramatic techniques
to try and tell a story.
It's really more like drama.
Each picture of mine is a
kind of tragedy about how
fate seems to control
so much of what is going on.
It's really about
how unpredictable
life has become today.
I'm using a kind of black comedy
to dramatize these feelings.
It's confusing just like life:
Unpredictable and full
of hints but no answers.
Narrator:
Many of china's young artists
are experimenting with themes
found in peking opera,
art that was once banned by
the communist government.
One of those artists
is designer jenny ji,
who's preparing for the shanghai
international fashion show.
She's exploring designs that go
back more than two centuries.
Jenny ji:
This year we are using the
peking opera,
those uniquely painted faces.
I'm adapting those patterns.
I want to capture the
expressions and emotion of
peking opera using colours,
patterns, bead work,
and different combinations
of material.
Narrator:
With two boutiques in shanghai
and a growing international
reputation,
jenny's work is her life.
Jenny ji:
I'm content with the
way my life is going.
I'm not worrying about
when to get married or when
to have children.
And my family is not
pressuring me either.
Narrator:
So many are postponing marriage
that the government is now
worried abouethe sudden
decline in the birth rate
among e new middle class.
But right now, the onlyp
thing on her minis the
big shanghai fashion show.
It's only two days away.
>> Announcer: Da vinci's back,
with an all-new episode...
>> We're gonna have to
sit down on this!
>> Da vinci's city hall...
>> Just name the time.
I see you're sending
a message
I'm falling back to you
we live for something special
the rules of the road might
differ from place to place.
But wherever you go,
this is a stop sign.
Right now there's a new reason
to come in.
The delicious bacon ranch
mcchicken.
Yeah!
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before
racetrax?
B-r-o-w-n, brown.
Number?
Mm, two.
One, two. Number?
One.
"You're the best."
Anyway,
it's not important.
No.
[Bugle playing "first call"]
[Starter bell rings]
Racetrax
place your bets at the bar
[Rapid hoofbeats, crowd cheers]
>> Announcer: Torino 2006...
the olympic games.
Cbc's got it covered.
From every medal,
to every broken record...
from glory to broken dreams,
don't miss a moment with
cbc television...
cbc newsworld...
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and now for the first time,
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Torino 2006,
the olympic games on cbc.
>> Announcer: A cbc big ticket!
>> Woman: Poison pen letters.
It's our first murder,
terrific excitement.
>> Miss marple: I've never
believed there's such a thing
as a perfect murder.
>> Announcer: An all-new
miss marple in
"the moving finger"...
narrator:
Like jenny ji, ma liang has
also put off having a family.

He enjoys sunday dinners with
his parents, 90-year-old
grandmother,isister
and young nephew.
But ma liang admits that
finding time for family
is getting harder.
Ma liang:
Fewer and fewer people
will be able to live
close to their families.
Today, there's more
opportunity for young people.
For example, I've got nine
employees working in my studio,
with the exception of one or
two who were born in shanghai,
all the rest come
from other provinces.
They want to pursue their
dream, so they've had to
leave home and now can
only visit their families
at the most maybe
once or twice a year.
[Laughing]
Narrator:
Ma liang's father was once
shanghai's leading
opera director.
He and his wife were banished
to the countryside by the
communists at the height
of the cultural revolution.
[Laughing]
Narrator:
Ma liang was conceived on a
farming collective where his
parents were forced to work.
[Laughing]
They laugh about it now, but his
parents say it was their family
that helped them
survive the trauma of
the cultural revolution.
[Laughing]
Today, the chinese tradition
of families living
close together is gradually
disappearing.
Ma liang's marriage is worlds
apart from his parents'.
When he talks to his wife
it's through the internet.

Ni hua is in france
studying fashion design.
And while they eventually
plan to have a family,
right now they're
just enjoying life.
Ma liang:
We've just started
to save some money.
We are young and healthy and can
do interesting things,
like travelling, buying a car,
decorating our home.
There are lots of
fun things to do.
I told my wife that because
we're young and have the money
there are other things to do,
more things we should do,
like improve our education
and develop our careers.
Narrator:
The new economy is also
changing jenny ji's family.
At the traditional qing ming
festival, jenny, her mother and
cousin are paying respects
to her grandparents.
She remembers their
disappointment when the young
generation began moving away.
Jenny ji:
My grandparents wanted
our family to stay together.
Traditionally, the more
people in a family the more
prosperous you become.
Nowadays we have different
ideas about this.
But even though I'm not
living with my parents,
I still feel very close to them.
The relationship is just
the same as it always was.
Narrator:
But jenny believes that these
cultural traditions help
keep her family together.
Jenny ji:
Qing ming is a good festival.
It allows the family to
gather together and remember
those who have passed away.
Even though we are the
younger generation, we want
to preserve this tradition
narrator:
A rording session jenny
is checking the sound track
for her fashion show.
She moves easily between the
traditions passed on from her
grandparents and the
exhilaration of the new china.
She has the money,
the education and the talent to
be comfortable in both worlds.
Education, and the
money to pay for it,
that's what it takes to
compete in the new china.
And that's what worries
hu yang when he thinks
about his daughter.
He and his family live in
rkers' apartments built
when mao zedong was leader.
A slogan in his honour is
slowly fading above the door.
He and his wife li lili and
their daughter hu yizhe rent
one room and share a kitchen
with two other families.
It's how millions
still live in china.
The cheap rent allows them
to pay for something their
generation was denied during
the cultural revolution:
A good education.
Hu yang:
We are typical of many
chinese families.
Parents invest a lot
of time and money on
their child's education.
They all expect a lot
from their children.
We expect them to be the very
best in everything they do.

Narrator:
But a first class education
is expensive.
Private schools are very costly,
and now, even the better

public schools are
charging big premiums.
Hu yang:
Right now our country
has changed the rules
governing high schools.
This has lead to
the commercialisation
of the education system.
I don't agree with this policy!
We can privatise any other
industry but not education.
Education should be
completely funded by the state.
A commercialised education
policy is going to have
a lot of bad side effects
for the country.
I worry about her a lot.
She is only in grade
nine but already she is
under a tremendous strain.
Her test results show that
she has the ability to get
into an elite school later on.
Even now the teachers
are pushing her to get
perfect marks.
That's the expectation!
And that's what is putting such
an overwhelming pressure on her.
Narrator:
Hu yizhe is anxious
to get going.
It's saturday, but she is
not off to meet her friends.
She's going down the hall to
study for the rest of the day.
>> Announcer: An intimate
portrait of an emerging
super power,
witness the most extraordinary
transformation of our time,
china rises,
the ground-breaking documentary
series available on D.V.D.
Order your copy today,
call toll-free or order online.B
watcha eating?
Golden oreo.
They're vanilla.
When I was a kid, an oreo was
chocolate.
And that's the way we liked it.
And when the power went out
we had to play battery-operated
video games
with screens only this big.
Want one?
Ok.
Vanilla-flavoured golden oreo.
A surprising twist on your
favourite cookie.
Ahh, the ol' t-ball shoulder's
actin' up again.
Announcer: Ever wondered
if winter tires
are worth the investment?
Let's brake -
for a safety
demonstration
held by canada's home, car
and business insurers.
The dark car in this
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with all season radials...
the silver car,
with winter tirfs...
so let's compare
performance.
First, braking.
Now watch howlong it
takes each car to stop.
Now let's look
at acceleration.

Champion race-car driver,
richard spenard knows
the advantages
of winter tires.
An all season tire is not
going to work very well
on cold pavement -
even if it's dry.
You'll get greater traction
with the winter tire.
Announcer: This slalom course
tests maneuverability.
Richard:
We have a slalom to show
the ability of the car
to turn left and right
and change direction.
It's much much better
with winter tires.
Announcer:
Finally, let's look
at avoiding hazards.
Richard: ...And the ability
to avoid an obstacle.
Changing rapidly and slowing
down at the same time,
the car will respond
a lot better.
It's evident in any
of these exercises
that winter tires are
a winner - by far.
Announcer:
If winter tires can improve
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think how they could
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Be smart. Be safe.
A message from canada's home,
car, and business insurers.
Come on down to white spot
and try our exciting new dishes.
We'll save some room
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>> Announcer: A young
canadian girl killed
for a forbidden love.
6 years later,
her mother and uncle
are still suspects.
Why is the investigation
dragging on so long?
The fifth estate documentary
that inspired a movie:
Murdered bride ii...
narrator:
One of wei qin's
favourite pastimes is
window-shopping with
he son yongkang.
She likes to show him the
promise of the new china.
But she worries that he'll
never be a part of it.
Wei qin:
When I see all this i
feel some bitterness.
It makes me unhappy.
The main reason for this is
cause I don't think society
treats people like me fairly.
Narrator:
A few times a year,
when, she can afford it,
she likes to buy yongkang
his favourite treat...
a mcdonald's hamburger.
But she buys only one
that they share.
It wasn't supposed
to be this way.
In the old economy she
was a proud homeowner
and a believer in the party.
Then the developers,
backed by the government,
offered her a fraction of
what her apartment was worth.
It was then wei qin decided
to join the rising tide of
protest, and sue the government.
Wei qin:
I knew the odds were
stacked against me.
In 100 trials there might be
three or four successful cases.
If there were even 10
positive verdicts it
would be a huge victory.
I knew I would lose.
Narrator:
Unterred she looked for
a lawyer to represent her.
Wei qin:
To sue, you need a lawyer.
But they'll tell you no
matter how much money you
offer, they won't take the case.
Narrator:
Like so many of
shanghai's protestors,
wei qin was left to petition
the courts on her own.
These women know first hand why
so many lawyers refuse to get
involved in property disputes.
Jiang meili and mo zhuojie
don't look the part
but theyqe considered
to be subversives.
Their phones are tapped,
and the are routine
harassed by police.
They've been warned not to
speak to the foreign media.
So they come to shanghai's
famous waterfront,
crowded with tourists
and performers.
Here, the two
women can blend in
and cautiously rendezvous
with foreigners.
When they see the police
they've learned how to
quietly disappear.
But they're determined
not to be silenced.
Jiang meili's husband was
the only lawyer who agreed
to help her friend mo zhuojie
and more than 2,000 other
evicted residents.
Jiang meili:
They were trapped so they asked
my husband to take
up their case.
After reading the documents,
my husband found many
suspicious transactions.
A lot of things were being
done under the table.
He told her this was going
to be very dangerous
for him to take on this case.
Narrator:
As events unfolded,
he was right to be afraid.
Lawyer zheng enchong's
investigations uncovered massive
corruption involving the
shanghai city government
and a powerful
land developer with
close connections to
the communist party.
When details hit
the hong kong media,
shanghai officials reacted
and made an arrest.
Incredibly, it was zheng
enchong, who was imprisoned,
not the developer.
In a secret trial lawyer zheng
was found guilty of revealing
state secrets and sentenced
to three years in jail.
The developer was eventually
convicted with evidence
uncovered by zheng enchong
and other investigators.
But the government continues
to keep jiang meili's
husband in prison.
Jiang meili:
In china, the lawyer who tells
the truth will be in trouble.
What we have here proves it.
They can accuse you of treason
and you can't tell them that
they are wrong or that the
conviction should be overturned.
Mo zhuojie also paid a price
for fighting back.
[Muffled talking]
The developer sent
construction workers to
break into her home and
haul out her belongings.
But her daughter had planted a
video camera that recorded the
police illegally
participating in the eviction.
Their home had been in the
family for three generations.
They were determined
to fight back.
Her daughter, shen ting,
took their story to the
hong kong media.
The government was furious.
She was banned from returning
to mainland china.
Mo zhuojie hasn't seen her
daughter in over two years.
Muo zhuojie:
The shanghai government likes
to tell the foreign press that
the city is governed by
fair and reasonable laws.
So why are they afraid of us?
They are afraid that
we will tell the truth!
What we said today is the truth;
we didn't make it up.
How our two families suffered
because of this is also true.
We're just two families out
of hundreds of thousands of
families who have gone
through similar experiences.
They can't win in a fight
against the government.
Jiang mieli:
They not only sent
my husband to jail,
they just barge into our house.
You should know we
have nothing now.
We are poor, so poor.
To be a lawyer for so many years
and to be living like this.
He didn't care about
making a lot of money,
he just wanted to
help ordinary people.
Narrator:
Wei qin knows the
risks of fighting back,
but she's prepared to take her
case all the way to beijing.
Wei qin:
I don't know.
What does the government do?
What is their function?
Don't know.
Why is society
turning out like this?
.
I don't know.
Everyone hopes to live
in a prosperous country.
But I seem to be on a road
that only leads to more poverty.
[Phone ringing]
Narrator:
In a neighbourhood
close to wei qin,
the contra between
china's wihners and losers
couldn't be more obvious.
Narrator:
The new economy has
brought prosperity for
jenny ji and her friends.
Unlike wei qin, there is
no talk here of challenging
the powers that be.
If anything, there is a
kind of politicaapathy.
Jenny ji:
It may sound strange,
but when my friends anh
i get together,
we never talk about politics.
There are a lot of things going
on that I don't know about.
Maybe it's because i
studied in europe,
but my feeling is that china is
a totalitarian country and
getting involved is not
going to change a thing.
So I just live my own life.
Eventually things will change.
Narrator:
Jenny can afford to wait.
But will the millions
of others yet to benefit
from the changes sweeping
china be so patient?
>> Announcer: Flower power,
revolutions, and rock 'n roll,
a cbc big ticket.
>> I was trying to put a little
mythology into the whole thing.
>> Announcer: The evolution of
canadian music from the '60s.
>> It was numbing at the time.
>> Announcer: Shakin'
all over...
your mom's wrinkles,
your daughter's pimples.
Your face is caught
in between.
Now this one-step
solution treats acne.
It also fights seven
signs of aging
as well as several major
department store brands.
New olay total effects
anti-aging anti-blemish.
I see you're sending
a message
I'm falling back to you
we live for something special
the rules of the road might
differ from place to place.
But wherever you go,
this is a stop sign.
Right now there's a new reason
to come in.
The delicious bacon ranch
mcchicken.
Cibc financial
healthcheck?
Yep.
Well, that didn't
take long.
No.
15, 20 minutes.
There you go.
Hey, financial
healthcheck?
Check.
And?
My rrsp is
good to go.
And?
I don't have to
give up everything.
And?
I have a plan that
is easy to follow.
Yeah.
You have a plan?
With the cibc
financial
healthcheck.
Helps you figure out
your financial goals
and...
how to invest
to reach them.
Get in there.
Introducing the cibc
financial healthcheck.
Start the future today.
Narrator:
In the shimmering
city of shanghai,
the new middle class is the
first generation in a half
century to be brought up
to the new capitalist beat.

Narrator:
The frantic "shop 'til you drop"
attitude has created a new
mantra: "You are what you have".

There is an obsession
for anything foreign:
Dance steps, clothing styles,
and cool attitudes.
China's mtv-generation wants
to be part of the world beat.
Some worry that this
western invasion will
bury chinese culture.
But the resilience of a
5000-year-old civilization
cannot be underestimated.
Already some of the next
generation of artists,
writers and musicians
are experimenting with
blends of western influence
and old traditions;
everywhere there are signs
of a new generation
with a powerful need
to discover its roots.
Ma liang:
Now we are beginning to
look for our culture.
Not just rediscovering it,
but using it.
We always knew it would
be interesting,
but when we dug into
it we're discovering how
wondrous it really is.
The antiques and other
things we're collecting
are just the surface.
We are trying to understand the
deeper meaning of our culture.
Narrator:
At the shanghai
international fashion show,
jenny ji's moment has arrived.

Narrator:
China has ambitions to be more
than the world's sweatshop.
It wants to produce its own
designs, its own unique products
and to do this it needs
to encourage talent.
Jenny ji:
I'm really happy with
the reaction we got.
After the show we received lots
of messages, and e-mails
from our friends and customers
who all congratulated us.
Also a lot of media have
taken an interest in what
i will be doing next.
On the whole, I wasn't expecting
all that much from this show,
but actually we received a
lot of very positive feedback.
Now we can all relax!
Narrator:
The next afternoon there's a
party to celebrate her success.
[Laughing]
Jenny recently bought
a small townhouse in a
suburb of shanghai.
Ma liang who helped design the
stage production, has come to
celebrate along with other
artists, models and musicians;
though assembling jenny's
first barbecue is
proving to be a bit
more of a challenge.
They are the lucky ones.
Young, educated, with careers
that now make them part
of the new middle class.
They believe that
because they've made it,
in time others will to.
Ma liang:
I have seen a lot of poverty,
and I have strong feelings
about what I've seen.
But then what can I do?
China has a large population.
20 years ago, it wasn't
just the rural areas;
shanghai was poor;
everyone was poor; but now
a lot of people have money
even though many
others still don'T.
But I think it's only a stage.
The situation is going
to get better and better.
Narrator:
They can afford to be
optimistic about the future;
they are the future,
role models for china's
ambitions in the 21st century.
Narrator:
Wei qin spends another night
making her rounds
of the small markets.
She is worlds apart from jenny,
ma liang and their friends.
They can afford to wait for the
changes they are sure will come.
Wei qin cannot.
Until she and millions like
her feel part of the massive
transformations taking
place around them,
china's dreams for the
future remain unsettled.
>> I hope you enjoyed
china rises.
To find out more about this
incredible series, and china,
make sure you check out
the china rises website.
You can watch interviews
in streaming video,
learn what it took to film
the docs and tons more.
It's a great site.
Coming up on cbc newsworld's
the passionate eye,
another great film on china.
This one's called
concrete revolution,
this time from the perspective
of a chinese filmmaker.
Now, tomorrow night
there's another show
i'm excited about.
We flash back to the sixties
for the story of canada's
original music superstars,
it's called "shakin' all over".
>> Randy bachman: That summer,
we decided to tour saskatchewan.
And we saw an incredible thing:
A girl right out of high school,
joni mitchell.
The light in the city

looks pretty to me
>> Sarah slean: She opened
my eyes to music.
>> Steven page: She takes
a lot of specifics,
but makes those specifics
seem magical.
>> Well, there you have it.
I'm your buddy george,
you can catch me
monday through thursday
on the hour on cbc newsworld.
Right now though, stick around
for cbc news: Sunday night.
>> Announcer: Da vinci's back,
with an all-new episode...
>> We're gonna have to
sit down on this!
>> Da vinci's city hall...