Life and Travel in China

If someone wants to give birth to a child in China and has excess cash, they can take advantage of the special clinic's offer. For a symbolic PLN 25,000 you can spend 40 days after giving birth in a special center for mothers and newborns. This is where smiling nurses will show the baby how to burp, feed the baby, change the diapers and bathe the baby. In addition, there is a special program for mother and child... I just wonder how a one-month-old baby can participate in any classes/exercises? For example, is there swimming?! What does the mother do during this time? She mainly rests and takes care of the baby, but she has midwives to help her 24/7. He lives in a special room adapted for a child. I just wonder how my husband and other children feel if their mother is gone for more than a month after giving birth and they can only visit her in this center? A bit of a strange solution, because families usually want to be together as soon as possible after a hospital stay. Every country has its customs...

I haven't spoken for a long time again, I'm just too busy. I don't think I've mentioned changing the one-child policy yet. Now Chinese regulations have become more liberal and many families have the right to a second child. The problem, however, is that living in Chinese cities is very expensive and many couples cannot afford a second child. In China, items such as diapers, powdered milk, creams, and oils are a huge expense - why? You can read about it in previous entries. Many married couples are too mature to decide to have a second child. There is also an educational problem - the first children are used to being in the spotlight, that they are entitled to everything and do not have to share anything, and there is also the issue of inheritance of property. When a second child appears, a charming toddler - then older children feel threatened. There have even been suicides because of this. Lifestyle, constant pressure, overtime, stress, pursuit of money, living in crowded and polluted metropolises are also not very conducive to expanding a family. According to some experts, the Chinese authorities are late in changing their policy, because there will soon be a shortage of labor and the Chinese society is aging very quickly. Additionally, in many regions of the Middle Kingdom there are still large gender disparities, with a predominance of men. Unfortunately, this is how interference with the basic social unit ends. First, under Mao, during the civil war, enlarging families was encouraged, then having a second child was banned, and now it is allowed. I will also mention that the regulations are not very liberal for single mothers.

February 8 marked the beginning of the Year of the Monkey in China. I admit that this is not my favorite year. Exactly 12 years ago (the previous Year of the Monkey) I had a lot of problems and I met a very dangerous person. Maybe someone still remembers my previous website: Exile Diaries? A lot happened then. I hope this year will be calmer. First of all, I am surrounded by completely different people now, I am more experienced and 12 years wiser. Most of our Chinese friends went to various parts of China, and even to Australia or the Maldives. More and more often, during the Chinese New Year, Chinese people try to spend a few days with their families and the next few/dozen days traveling to various regions of the Middle Kingdom and other countries. It's a pity that several million people are traveling at the same time, because in some places it gets too crowded and too noisy.

I wonder how the pension system works in Poland? People pay their whole lives, month after month, year after year, for 40-45 years, and at the end they don't even have money for life, for medicine, for private care, etc. My Chinese in-laws receive a pension, although no pension system existed before. 10 years ago, with the help of their children, they paid PLN 3,000 ONCE to the pension fund, and now they receive about PLN 1,000 EVERY MONTH (for two people). Considering the Chinese reality, a simple life in the countryside is quite decent money, because they even save it! They have been farmers all their lives, so they also have income from selling vegetables. Of course, such solutions do not apply to the whole of China, it depends on the specifications of a given region. However, considering that there was no pension system at all and old people were simply taken care of by their children; in return, grandparents took care of their grandchildren. Nowadays, the reality is slightly different, because people no longer only farm, but also gain education, work in companies and corporations, and do not live in a multi-generational house in the countryside as before. The Middle Kingdom has simply become richer rapidly, and although the specter of crisis is now looming, certain aspects of life have been largely improved: the above-mentioned pension system, education, health care, housing availability, and general quality of life. I am not writing this under the influence of propaganda, because it is known that the system is not perfect, but I have been personally observing these changes for 12 years and I am impressed. I see that the communist authorities simply do something for people and give something in return. We will all pay for this 500+ program in Poland, not the government. They will give with one hand and take with the other in the form of various taxes, fuel prices, fees, social security benefits, etc. This program will probably fail anyway, because there will be an increasing deficit in the budget. In a few years, the authorities will simply declare that the idea was good, but people were not ready and did not manage the money well.

The Chinese are always surprised that during Easter we basically have one day off, and at Christmas we have 2-3 days off. It seems to them that throughout Europe and America such holidays last a week or longer. Some people probably have such feelings based on American movies where the whole family spends several days or even several weeks together, starting from Thanksgiving, through Christmas, ending on New Year's Day. Unfortunately, the reality is different and people are also increasingly busier and busier. Although we still have winter breaks, holidays and vacations. In China, children have Christmas breaks and holidays, but adults usually work all year round except for the Chinese New Year period, which, as you know, lasts 2-3 weeks. They celebrate once and for all. There are also other holidays, anniversaries, etc. The balance of days off is similar. In the Middle Kingdom, the biggest disadvantage is that the whole of China has holidays at the same time and all tourist attractions are simply crowded.