Fascinated with China

There's so much fascination with this country:

http://www.nytimes.com/specials/chinarises/intro/index.html

Everyone's trying to figure it out. I sometimes doubt my decisions to come here, but when I look at all the different places in the world, and what's going on over there and wherever, my personal experiences andarticles like these reinforce my hunch that this is one of the most exciting places to be right now. Once in a lifetime.

Watching the NYTimes special, I am also saddened by the videos of the extremely poor, and about the people who are very wealthy now in China. The rich like Jack Ma and Zuo Zongsen literally busted their balls to get where they were. Jack Ma randomly approached white people and practiced English on his own for 9 years on a daily basis! That's friggin dedication. I'm reminded of stories about Li Ka Shing who used to sell wallets and plastic flowers on the streets, and now is one of the most powerful men in Asia. Or even my dad, who read the English dictionary cover to cover everyday until he memorized all the words so that he could properly understand the English language.

We have it so good, we will never be as hungry as they are/were. The discipline, the zen like patience... goes against the grain in this world of consumerism and instant gratification. Where commercials are limited to 30 seconds and people are finding out that even that is too long to keep the attention of the average person. Where headlines are cut to 3 - 5 key words or they're not read. Where daily conversation is kept at a minimum in illegible short hand OMG, TTYL, LOL. Some may claim efficiency, but I think it more has to do with laziness, impatience and lack of discipline. This is a 1.2 billion force that is on the rise, I don't think people truly understand that yet. Do you?