Life and Travel in China

Today, the construction of the large Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River, 2.3 km long, was completed. On the one hand, it is to cover 10% of China's energy needs (the largest hydroelectric power plant will be built there), regulate water levels and prevent floods, but on the other hand, it is supposedly a gigantic and senseless investment that may cause droughts and contribute to the extinction of many plant and animal species. However, the best comment today was under Onet's information about this dam. Someone wrote that the pace of work is almost the same as in Poland, because 2.3 km of highways were built at that time.

Mrs. Merkel meets with the President of China, Mr. Hu Jintao. And on Polish radio they say that the Germans are going to talk about human rights in China... that's right! The Germans have one topic with the Chinese - business, business and once again business. Germany is doing great in import and export business from/to China. Their diplomacy has always strongly supported all trade contacts. I remember that a year or even two years ago, Chancellor Schroder was here in the middle of nowhere, a beautiful delegation, about a hundred people, translators, businessmen, diplomats, advisers. Germans know that they can only gain from friendship with China, it's a pity that no one in Poland has discovered this fact yet!!!

I have already seen various things for sale on Chinese television. All the time in one program: breast enlargement cream, growth pills, magical exercise equipment, wonderful ointments that will remove every scar and discoloration, but... something new today. Do you remember the jaw straightening device worn by Kasia Figura in the movie "Train to Hollywood"? A similar device, a metal frame with a strap to attach it to the head, is sold on Chinese television in a long advertising block. Although it does not concern the jaw, but the cervical vertebrae, it is supposed to lengthen the neck and thus increase someone's height (it leans on the shoulders and stretches the neck and head). What can't people come up with to trick others and make money?

Yesterday on TV (National Geographic) one guy from Taiwan said that he grew tall thanks to cockroaches... because when he was poor and he lived with his family in the countryside, he ate such insects. It's not that he regrets his fate, he just loves cockroaches, not only does he love consuming them, because he keeps them as pets and feeds them every day. Well, everyone has some hobbies...

A day without a cigarette... in China, most women don't smoke. Until recently, a young girl who smoked cigarettes was considered a prostitute who learned to smoke in karaoke bars. Now more and more young girls from Hong Kong, Shenzhen and Shanghai reach for a cigarette, they feel liberated, fashionable and independent, they smoke in a strange, aristocratic way. Men smoke very often. Cigarettes from the Middle Kingdom are said to be very strong.