And while the talented and upwardly mobile in India aspire to immigrate to US, the young in China want the country to `become US' one day,. "The two governments are different. But we respect some aspects of American living," said our interpreter Xhune.

Among the Chinese majors having their operations in Shenzhen is Huawei Technologies, with an $11 billion turnover. Huawei has B to B tie ups with tele-majors such as Vodafone, Reliance, Airtel, BSNL and MTNL and has got a contract to sell GSM handsets to Airtel. But Huawei has no manufacturing plans for India, at least for the time being. "Manufacturing costs in China are less than those in India," said chief marketing officer Eric Xu (Zhijun). Is it because of the tax sops this company has been enjoying in the Shenzhen SEZ? "Not really. Companies in the SEZ have to pay 15 per cent of their profit as tax while in other areas it is 33 per cent. But lawmakers plan to make it a flat 25 per cent from this year," he said.

The Shenzhen model showcases the success story of integration between divergent economic orders, cultures and lifestyles. And the driving force behind it is perhaps the strong will to adapt to changing times, despite odds. Critics may attribute this to the high-handed communist regime in China that leaves no room for dissent. Even if this were true, one can hardly undermine the forward looking mindset and the zeal that is missing in Bengal.