Life and Travel in China

The Prime Minister of the People's Republic of China encourages his country's citizens to support street trading. In every metropolis (population of 15 million people), town (population of 5 million people) and village (population of 500,000 people ;-)) there have always been various stalls, stands and ordinary blankets on the sidewalk. Most often, you could find mobile restaurants offering buns, dumplings, beef or mutton on a stick, the famous pampuchy, Chinese hamburgers, melons and watermelons, etc. In addition, there were people offering books, small toys, souvenirs - something like our fair stalls. Some people were able to carry the products on their person, in their bags, backpacks, or sacks. Several times I witnessed China Security or other police forces chasing such people away. The nation was getting richer and the stands were decreasing, people were opening physical or online stores. Now China's economy is suffering from a downturn caused by the coronavirus. Apparently, "red streets" are appearing in many areas and prostitution is increasing. There are photos circulating on the Internet of bars and restaurants that have employed young, shapely waitresses parading in lingerie - this is to attract customers. In the face of crisis, all methods are allowed. As Deng XiaoPing used to say: "It doesn't matter whether the cat is white or black, what matters is that it catches mice." I am afraid that as a result of this crisis, various minor frauds and shady deals will be allowed, maybe more fakes will appear again, and care for the environment will no longer be so important. The nation must redeem itself - at what cost, we will see?!

In Shenzhen, 19 children committed suicide over a few weeks in April and May. Why? It's mainly about the pressure of exams in primary and secondary schools. For 2 months, learning took place remotely, at home... many parents purchased various additional online lessons and additional classes. Observing our friends, I sometimes have the impression that children in China are treated as an investment product. I invest in my child and make my dreams and desires come true. Of course, every parent wants a better future for their child, but children in the Middle Kingdom have too much pressure. Additionally, schools conduct very detailed rankings of students, who are the best and who are the worst. The same thing works everywhere, in plants, hospitals and hotels. If you are in a Chinese bank or hospital/clinic, you can usually see a ranking of the "best employees" with photos at the entrance. In China, there has long been a cult of being the best, and in adulthood, a cult of being the richest. It often happens that the newborn has already planned its future by its parents and has chosen an appropriate name. It's hard for me to imagine, but unfortunately it is true. Some of our friends from Guangdong or Hunan provinces, and even Chinese living abroad, treat children as some kind of fund. They are investing now, but it should pay off. They are not so interested in the child's emotional sphere, his problems and helplessness. There is some commandment from above: "you have to be the best!" These kids really don't have it easy. School from morning to evening, with a lunch break, late evening or even at night, additional classes, e.g. online English with native speakers from the USA, England, Australia, piano lessons, tutoring. In addition, both the authorities and parents expect obedience and discipline from children. I have already mentioned drills in kindergarten. It has some advantages, but nothing can be overdone. These children have no freedom, they have no time, they have no real childhood. Parents only demand, but it is often the case that from birth to preschool age, grandparents took care of their grandchildren. It's a pity that all this has such a strong impact on the children's psyche and they can't stand the pressure and can't cope with the unhealthy expectations of their parents.

If I count, I probably crossed the China-Hong Kong border, or more precisely Shenzhen-Hong Kong, about 100 times. I once even had an entry in their register saying that I crossed the border too often. First the old border in Luohu, and then the new one in Futian. Each time it was a transition from one system to another. There was such a breath of freedom in Hong Kong. On the Hong Kong side, the border guards were more relaxed and smiling. In Hong Kong, people could say whatever they wanted. They had different hobbies and interests, and were influenced by the culture of the East and the West. They lived differently than in Shenzhen. Of course, not everyone was perfect, because it's not like a Chinese from mainland China is bad and uncultured, and a Chinese from Hong Kong is good, educated and sophisticated. They were simply surrounded by a different culture, different realities. Despite everything, there was a sense of democracy in Hong Kong - different posters, different views, civil liberties, privileges, human rights, although the life of ordinary people was not easy at all. I myself sometimes saw some small manifestations and protests. When we returned to Shenzhen, there was already some stress. Things were different at the border, and on the Chinese side, the border service was not smiling or relaxed. Sometimes they just didn't like someone's face and looked through the passport for 20 minutes. I had such a situation when I was returning from the island of Bali, in the middle of the night, and this serviceman looked at every page of my passport and analyzed whether any stamp was fake. I also knew people from Poland who crossed the border with me, one of them was detained for almost half an hour and they asked why he didn't have a stamp from London, since he flew from there to Hong Kong and then tried to get to China? In Hong Kong, they didn't look into stamps and passports so much. What I'm getting at - today a Chinese security office was established in Hong Kong and I'm afraid that in just a few months there won't be this breath of freedom on the Hong Kong side. The Middle Kingdom absorbs Hong Kong and apparently the slogan "two systems - one state" has not worked.

A Chinese friend is spending her vacation at the Hyatt hotel in Sanya (Hainan Island). She showed us a few photos and we asked (a little perversely, because we know the answer) - why isn't anyone swimming in the sea? In general, the Chinese are afraid of getting a tan, they avoid the sun, and it is difficult to swim with an umbrella. Besides, the sea and the waves - they seem to be a bit frightening, many people there cannot swim at all. I sometimes saw grown men with inflatable rings?! I remember when we were there many years ago, most people were just walking on the beach with umbrellas. Of course, it wasn't raining, they were just protecting themselves from the sun's rays. We swam and the water was great, not too warm, not cool, and the waves were medium-sized. Perfect conditions! If we had this in the Baltic Sea, no one would even get out of the water. Coming back to our question - my friend replied that they don't swim in the sea due to COVID-19 restrictions?! What?! After a while, she added: the hotel has a nice swimming pool and a water park, a lot of people swim there. Ha ha ha! So in sea water, which generally ebbs and flows, there is a lot of space, the beach, the wind - there you can get infected with coronavirus. However, in standing water in a swimming pool, in a crowd of people, we will not get infected with such a virus ;-). Interesting theory.

I sometimes wrote about real estate prices in China. It was quite understandable to me that new apartments in large cities cost more and more - even PLN 15-20 thousand per 1 m2. Of course, there are also much more expensive apartment buildings, gated communities with swimming pools, etc. However, I was surprised when I was in JiaXing, a smaller town in Zhejiang province. Apartments there have become significantly more expensive, but shockingly, so have those in rather dingy housing estates. You can imagine staircases black and gray with dirt, hanging bundles of cables and wires at the entrance gates, no elevators, wooden stairs, no parking spaces and general mess around. Even such apartments cost PLN 5,000-7,000 per 1 m2. However, people often decide to make such a purchase because, as you know, in China, the place of residence is important. This facilitates children's access to kindergartens, schools, health care, official matters, etc.