1.4 billion people. When I try to digest that number, it swirls into the same confusion I approximate when attempting to contemplate the U.S. debt. Billions? Trillions? I had 12,000 yuan in my pocket once, and that seemed like a huge amount of paper. To imagine 117 times that amount of cash seems fruitless. And so it is when I try to conjure up 1.4 billion people, not even one of which would fit in my pocket.
1.4 billion is roughly the current population of China. From afar, trying to imagine that number of people in one country elicits mental pictures of people living in 10 square meter boxes, wedging themselves into any available space. But such is not the case.
Just take the bullet train from Guangzhou to Hubei. I can see for miles and miles…
Walk along Tiger Leaping Gorge, or the deserts of Gansu, go to Xichong beach near Shenzhen during the off season. Barely a soul appears.
1.4 billion people? Where? I’m sure that number is not far off, but rarely do I experience such a mass of people.
skipyarian 