flâneur

A Reading Guide to Chinese Biotech

nikomc.com · 1,001 words · saved by 1 readers

China is a study in extremes. It's the world's oldest continuous civilization, yet also, as Dan Wang writes, a country that "combines lengthy periods of stasis with episodes of extreme movement." In 1970, when China's GDP per capita was about $1,400 in today's dollars, Francis Crick predicted that "it would not be surprising if eventually China became a major scientific power." Half a century later, China has transformed even more drastically than Crick imagined. Reading about China is one thing; seeing it in person is another entirely. Even the most insightful articles are a poor substitute for walking the transformed trading ports of Shanghai, the one-time fishing village of Shenzhen, or the ancient capital of Beijing, all of which would be unrecognizable to a visitor from 1970. So visit China if you can. Reading won't substitute for such a trip, but it can help sharpen your perspective ahead of time. About a dozen scientists, mostly from the Bay Area, recently traveled from Beijing

China is a study in extremes. It's the world's oldest continuous civilization, yet also, as Dan Wang writes, a country that "combines lengthy periods of stasis with episodes of extreme movement." In 1970, when China's GDP per capita was about $1,400 in today's dollars, Francis Crick predicted that "it would not be surprising if eventually China became a major scientific power." Half a century later, China has transformed even more drastically than Crick imagined. Reading about China is one thing; seeing it in person is another entirely. Even the most insightful articles are a poor…

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