China is the second-biggest economy in the world, it's moving at the speed of light, and we're only here for 10 days. So you look for little stories that freeze the blur. The Chinese nanny industry is one of them.

Mao Zedong believed that women had as much to contribute to the state as men, so he encouraged them to work and began providing day care in the 1950s. This continued for decades. Long Jing, a young Shanghainese women traveling with us, was raised in factory daycare from a very young age.

But state-sponsored day care has declined with the rise of of the private economy. Private corporations are far less likely to accommodate women raising a child. So along with all the other services developing here, the nanny and housekeeper industry is booming. Initially nannies tended to be country girls fresh from the farm. They demanded little in wages even though they were able to earn more as nannies than as field hands.

Perhaps initially families used relatives or acquaintances from their village as nannies. But eventually referral agencies sprang up, connecting the nanny-and-maid labor supply in the villages with demand in the cities. Then parents began to demand more. Rural grooming and housekeeping standards often weren't up to what clients desired. So the agencies began training nanny candidates in housekeeping, child care and so forth. Or maybe clients desired a nanny from a particular place or with a particular accent. Agencies did the legwork.

The arrival of foreigners -- Americans, Japanese, Europeans -- was a new opportunity. Foreigners on business expense acconts were willing to pay more for nannies, especially if they could speak the expat's language. Shortages developed, especially for well-qualified nannies. So China began importing nannies. Filipina nannies are reported to be very common even though they're illegal.

Ambitious nannies have started their own agencies. But like everybody else they have to deal with the Internet. Avoiding the fees agencies exact from both nannies and clients, families and would-be nannies find each other on the local equivalent of Craigslist.