Every day things change a little bit more in China. When you consider the raindrop in the river of time that is 28 years in China, and what kind of life, society and government was the norm here when Mao died in 1976, the news that Chinese citizens in Shanghai will now be able to pay their bills online boggles the mind. Of course, this is only a viscerally stunning factoid if one is from my generation; which in my particular case means that the only China I read about, or saw on TV in America, for 28 years of life was...well, unpleasant, to say the very least. To fully appreciate this sentiment it must also be understood that when one is in their mid-fifties, 28 years seems like only yesterday. This then is most interesting news from ChinaTechNews.Com:
Some people living in certain commercial buildings will be even more fortunate--they will be able to go through the process merely by scanning their bills into automatic paying terminals installed near their homes.
This "Payment Network" is one of the practical benefits that the Shanghai Municipal government has been promising to its citizens for 2004. Currently, the system has been completed and is ready to begin operation.
