red guard

I had a young Chinese guy in the cab a few days ago. A Tulane student going to the airport for Christmas break. He said he was Chinese so I asked "Shanghai?". He said yes, it was a beautiful city. I said "Red Guard". He laughed and said that his papa had been a red guard.


A Red Guard, grown up and sending his single son to school at Tulane. Sending him to Tulane with his own money.

We talked about China and the U.S. on the 25 minute trip to the airport. I was marveling at how China has become the smartest capitalist on the planet. He was not so sure. He grew up in Shanghai, now so modern and rich. His father (the party apparatchik) took him to the countryside to show him how poor people live. He was shocked, had never imagined people living as poor country farmers.

It was an interesting trip.