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competed with the traditional image of China, with its Confucian scholars, blue and white
porcelain, scroll paintings, shimmering silk robes and the snaking Great Wall.
In the 1980s, Chinese leaders radically changed direction and jumped into the global
economy. The goal was nothing less than to make China one of the world's new super-
powers. The Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping declared that “poverty is not socialism. To
be rich is glorious.” Factories sprang up along the coast and then in the interior. They
made automobiles, computers, televisions, furniture, toys and clothing, especially cloth-
ing. Whole cities were devoted to the manufacturing of socks or underwear or sweaters.
Thanks to very cheap labor and technological breakthroughs, from container ships to the
Internet, China could ship around the globe and wipe out competition on every contin-
ent. Once a leader of what was known as the Third World of struggling nations, China
leapfrogged into the club of wealthy ones—admired in some quarters, feared in others.
Overlooked by most was the role tourism played in China's grand strategy. From the
beginning of the seismic economic reforms, China's leaders believed that tourism would
be critical to its economic development and play a major “diplomatic” role, winning over
foreign tourists with China's preeminence as one of the world's greatest ancient cultures
and wowing them with its modern transformation. They would control that message by
overseeing nearly every aspect of tourism. China took to heart the boast of the tourism in-
dustry that every foreign visitor was a potential citizen ambassador to the world.
No one better exemplifies this approach than Deng Xiaoping, China's supreme leader
who opened up the country to the world. Shortly after he wrested power in late 1978,
Deng gave five talks on the central role of tourism. The titles don't translate well: “Tourism
Should Become a Comprehensive Industry,” and “There's a Lot To Be Achieved Through
Tourism.” But the overall message was strong. Tourism was essential to China's new “open
door” policy to rejoin the world and become appreciated and respected again as a major
power. Deng saw big financial gains and even set the seemingly impossible goal for China
to earn $10 billion from foreign tourism by the new millennium. China reached that goal
four years ahead of schedule in 1996.
Thirty years later, during the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, Deng's dreams were fulfilled
several times over. This was China's coming-out party. The Chinese spent $40 billion
on stadiums for the Olympics and infrastructure. The International Olympic Committee
earned $1.7 billion from broadcast revenue for advertising. The city of Beijing moved
more than 1 million people out of their homes to make way for the Olympic site. World-
renowned architects designed the “Bird's Nest” Olympic stadium, the “Water Cube” Na-
tional Swimming Center, the “Z crisscross” television tower and the “Eggshell” National
Grand Theater. Beijing added a fifth ring road, dubbed the “Olympic Avenue,” around the
city; the sixth was completed one year later. Around the world 4 billion people watched
some of the games; the biggest hit was the elaborate opening ceremony with drums, dan-
cing, acrobats and a cast of 10,000 that would have put Hollywood to shame. The word
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