In a couple of weeks' time, works by British poets will start appearing in the underground corridors of the Shanghai metro. This seemingly insignificant event is indicative of a seismic shift that has been taking place in Chinese society. As an article in the U.K. Guardian notes:

Thirty years ago the posters on the Shanghai public transport system screamed Maoist slogans. For the past 10 years they have been hard—sell advertisements for cosmetic surgery clinics and cars. But from next month a more poetic tone will be struck by verses from Blake, Wordsworth, Michael Bullock and Kathleen Jamie.

Communism is slowly but surely losing its grip on China. It has relinquished large portions of the country's economy and no longer displays the ideological vigor of years past. The Chinese communist monster is expiring and Wordsworth's golden Daffodils may well prove to be the flowers gracing its grave.

Good riddance.

Vasko Kohlmayer    3 17 06