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Meanwhile, the effects of reform on Chinese society remain visible everywhere. In Canton, where images of leaders once glared down from huge posters like George Orwell's Big Brother, the atmosphere seems daily to grow more relaxed. Long gone are the drab blue Mao suits that made crowds look as if they had just rolled off an assembly line. Both men and women now sport colorful ensembles. In Peking, so many new streets, businesses and hotels have cropped up that a veteran U.S. China hand, recently returned after a three-year absence, was often literally lost.
| Despite considerable challenges, reform has made inroads into China's economic and cultural existence that will not easily be reversed. The Reagan Administration, pleased with Deng's open-market programs, believes that the Chinese leader is paving the way for successors who will follow his initiative. "The process is two steps forward, one step backward," says one official. Indeed, some China watchers view the fitful nature of Deng's revolution as a reflection of the age-old Chinese tension between the drive to modernize and the tendency to shore up traditional values.
"Constant readjustments are required to appease both sides," says Martin Lasater, director of Asian studies at the Washington-based Heritage Foundation. The current period of consolidation, U.S. analysts believe, is necessary to keep reform on a steady course and prevent the newly stimulated economy from overheating. Noted an editorial in the People's Daily on the party's 65th birthday: "It is unrealistic to seek reform without obstacles and risks."