The happy ending in this GE commercial is more trumped up than the broadway dance number in Slumdog Millionaire – yet, I can’t help but like it.  I have seen plenty of young peasant boys in Beijing, but never have I seen a successful city girl give them so much as a glance. But, as big as the city is, I probably missed something.

He is a handsome man - but, where is his beautiful doctor woman?

I particularly like how GE presents a classical image of China – sloping mountains, bustling, almost 19th century town center – and then sticks a very heartfelt love story in the middle of this creation. In some ways, the sojourn that millions of young Chinese men and women are making everyday, from farm to city, is one of the world’s oldest romances. I remember how all of the kids I used to work with at the Kro’s Nest would endlessly talk about how they wanted to find love in the city, or, alternatively, how they had come to the city to support their loved ones back home. I am sure that these sentiments are universal and timeless since they cut to the very core of the human need for comfort. But do notice how at 0:29 even GE couldn’t do anything about China’s pollution problems of today.