fleeing east, take three
This time to the metropolis of Wuhan, China:
Where I will be for approximately 10 months on a Fulbright Scholarship conducting research on migrant workers and the implications for growth and development outside of areas with high levels of foreign direct investment. So why Wuhan?
A number of reasons.
- Language – I wanted to be in an area where the average resident speaks an intelligible form of Mandarin. Hubei dialect (yunbai) fits the bill, from all accounts. This was primarily a selfish concern, as my Cantonese, Shanghainese, Wu, Hakka, Gan, Hui, Jin, Xiang, Yue, Tuhua, Pinghua, … are about as good as my Kiswahili.
- Size & location – most rapidly growing cities in China will have large temporary migrant populations, but I wanted somewhere with a) lots of migrants, b) easy access to where the migrants were coming from. Large transportation hub in central China = perfect.
- Relative obscurity – you can’t swing a cat in a Shanghai nightclub without hitting random white-guy (who probably also has a blog with a url identical to his name).
- Comparative level of development – I’ll need to find gainful employment after the Fulbright, so I best have some useful knowledge / networks. Though Wuhan isn’t very well known outside of the PRC, population growth trends suggest that it has a very good chance of being a first tier megalopolis by ~2020 (along with Beijing-Tianjin, Shanghai, and Shenzhen-Guangzhou. I’m thinking it will outperform Chengdu-Nanchong and Xian).
- Weather – it’s a lot easier to wander around outside and interview random strangers when it isn’t minus 20C (visit Beijing in January – I dare you). It is very dusty in Wuhan, but that will just give me an excellent excuse to wear goggles and a face-mask.
- Universities – Wuhan is reported to have excellent quality of higher education within the PRC. This meant it was easier to identify sponsoring institutions (as there were simply more of them already doing research on rural development). Also related to #2, it puts the city in a good position long-term.
