This story reminds me of my experience. I immigrated from China at a young age, but the impression I got from my family is that even in the 70s, 80s, and 90s, people were almost universally poor. I remember my dad telling me that even if you had the money, buying a television or refrigerator required connections.

My father and mother both came from rural areas, where mud huts were not uncommon. Even in China, my dad didn't eat rice until he was in his teens. My father did extremely well on the national exams and managed to get into a university with most of his expenses paid by the socialist system at the time. After getting a PHD, he immigrated to the US with me.

Having visited China a few times with my family, I met some quite successful businessmen, all of whom have humble roots in poor countryside villages. Some of them didn't even graduate from elementary school, but due to connections with the government (the military for example), they managed to start businesses and acquire factories during the time of China's economic growth.

There are a lot of rag-to-riches stories in China, but at the same the time, the sheer size of the population means that there are even more stories of poverty. In my father's family, only he and one of his brothers out of a family of 6 or 7 managed to escape the rural area. Although life is getting better even in the rural areas, it seems there is a massive difference between the skyscrapers of Shanghai and a traditional farming village.