Life and Travel in China

As usual, China welcomes 2020 without any major events, perhaps Hong Kong is an exception. In the Middle Kingdom, the Chinese New Year is important - this year on January 25. The saddest thing, however, is that there is a total ban on the use of fireworks! On the one hand, it makes sense because it is safer, they do not scare small children or animals, but on the other hand, the Chinese tradition is disappearing. After all, fireworks come from the Middle Kingdom. I guess that the authorities banned them to make it safer, but maybe they are also afraid that such products and raw materials could be used for attacks or criminal activities. This way it is controlled, there is no access. It appears that most Chinese fireworks are mainly exported to Europe and the Americas. Of course, the exception are smaller firecrackers, which are used on the wedding day or the opening of a shop - their noise is supposed to scare away evil spirits and bring good luck. Fireworks will also be visible on a larger scale during official events. For ordinary Chinese, what remains are... memories of the past years. I also remember that many years ago, these firecrackers and explosions lasted practically for 2-3 weeks during the Chinese New Year period and it was an exaggeration, but it's sad that it wasn't colorful on one night.

The threat of the Wuhan virus is starting to look serious, but the media is also largely trying to scare people - all these photos of people in suits, videos from hospitals in Wuhan, people who have lost consciousness. All this affects our subconscious (we associate it with films about pandemics, zombies, etc.). This can be interpreted in various ways, but most of these people came out of fear to check whether they were infected. In many cases, it may be a simple flu, you know what season it is now. Maybe those people who fainted do not have this virus at all, they could have been weakened, and besides, standing in a crowd for hours is also exhausting. We cannot allow ourselves to be manipulated by the media. You should follow current information from various sources. For China, with such a large population, this is really not a critical situation. In the Middle Kingdom, they deal with even flu or tonsillitis very quickly and effectively. They have temperature scanners everywhere - they use them even without a real epidemic. 10,000 doctors, many experts, as well as the army and the police are involved in the fight against the virus. They should be able to cope, I believe in their commitment and effectiveness. They will fight it, but of course it will take, like SARS, several months, maybe a year - of course it will affect the economy. Today I was amused by a comment under a column about this virus from O2.pl: Author: Spoko, "In Poland, even the Chinese virus will die if the virus dies." ;-)

The situation with the Wuhan coronavirus is changing like a kaleidoscope. The situation is getting significantly worse day by day. Various bans have been introduced, and people are carefully controlled even when leaving and returning to their own housing estates. Even in Shenzhen, body temperature is checked. Everyone who goes out must wear masks, of course there is a shortage of masks. Two scenarios are possible - either the authorities in China are not telling us the whole truth and the situation is critical also outside of Wuhan, or they are simply playing it safe. Thousands of doctors and specialists were sent to Wuhan. In cities, towns and villages, people rarely leave their homes. In the evenings they shout from the windows "Wuhan jia-you!" (jia-you is a shout of sports fans meaning "add fuel!", "add gas!"), which in this case is supposed to be a shout of "Wuhan, you can do it!", "Wuhan, let's fight!". On the one hand, the virus poses a serious threat, on the other hand, it brings great solidarity to the entire nation. No one discusses there, no one criticizes, everyone follows the rules and new prohibitions. Unfortunately, it is already clear that, apart from the health effects, the Chinese economy will weaken significantly. Already, thousands of people are canceling flights to the Middle Kingdom, giving up trade fairs, business meetings, training, etc. Transports of some products may soon be suspended. Other countries will introduce additional restrictions and bans on the import of goods from China. The same can happen in the field of science, training, student exchange, etc. Who would be most interested in such a situation? Which country openly fought against China? Obviously... either this virus is an accident from the marketplace, or someone decided to destroy the Middle Kingdom from the inside :-(.

In the Middle Kingdom, the authorities have introduced a very restrictive system of citizen control in connection with the coronavirus. Companies and factories must first obtain permission to start operations after Chinese New Year. Every citizen who returns from his hometown to his apartment must report it to local officials or via the WeChat application. Some people still do not return to work for fear of infection, and if possible, they work from home - this is, of course, office workers and foreign sales. The situation with production is worse. It's hard for me to imagine deserted Chinese cities that are always bustling with life, overcrowded, even overpopulated, but it has its own charm. Now it's really weird.

I have some doubts that this coronavirus is a coincidence. The legend of a pangolin being eaten by a bat or vice versa - sounds a bit like mythology. It seems to me that this virus is supposed to "shuffle" the entire world and change the economy and change the balance of power. Someone planned this. Certainly, a month ago, many people were happy that the Chinese economy would suffer because of these perturbations and that the Middle Kingdom would no longer be the leader. Now the Chinese economy has rebounded well, selling billions of masks all over the world. The situation in the USA and Europe looks bad, and in Iran and Syria it will be even more tragic. What's next? The virus will continue to rage because in Poland we do not have even half of the restrictions that existed in Asian countries. In other countries it is even more "loose".