Life and Travel in China

Chinese women are really infantile. Even women who are already 30-40 years old buy various types of plush dolls, teddy bears, frogs and labubu. Most often they hang it next to bags and luggage. There are also various tassels, pendants, and phone key rings. All in all, it has its own charm, but it is rather rare in Poland.

I noticed that cameras are back in fashion, which makes me happy. Some time ago I saw a large Canon showroom in Shanghai and a lot of customers there. Recently I also met some celebrities and they were besieged by a crowd of young girls, most of them had small, clever mirrorless cameras. History has come full circle and (at least in the Middle Kingdom) people have realized that the phone is not for taking photos. Of course, there are various smartphones here and the quality of these photos is getting better, but none of them will have the detailed settings that cameras have. None of them will have a decent lens or a large optical zoom, because there is no room for it in phones. Maybe it will change in Europe too, but cameras are definitely becoming popular in China. Mainly because mirrorless cameras are small and light, and they guarantee much better photos than mid-range or higher-class phones.

I recently met a Chinese man from Inner Mongolia (a province of China) who is Han Chinese (not Mongolian) and he told me that he doesn't like Russians. This surprised me a bit, because both nations are very friendly; especially now. He was even worried about Poland and asked me what the situation was with the shelters. Of course it doesn't look good. Theoretically, there will be no war now, although in 1939 some people certainly thought there would be no war. You never know...

Recently, a Chinese woman from a certain company called me. She spoke in English, quite charming, almost childish voice. At the end she said "goodbye" in Polish and added "like ci" twice more - in the sense of "I like you", but the pronunciation was a problem. A bit surprising and a bit strange. On the one hand, it's nice that she learned a few phrases, but on the other hand, telling someone you call for the first time that you like him is quite strange. Another situation - a month ago in Hangzhou I met a Chinese woman who was studying in Poland. She studied for 3 years and imagine that she couldn't answer the simplest questions "How many years in Poland?", "In what city?". At the end she managed to say "thank you" and "goodbye". I'm guessing she studied in English, but despite being in Poland for 3 years she didn't learn a few dozen words? Of course, it was not a person who was 40 years old and studied in our country 20 years ago. Then, you can actually forget many words and, without practice, forget all the phrases. However, she was a young person, so I was very surprised. This also shows that the Chinese often stay with themselves, even abroad. I have emigrant friends who live in Poland, Germany, Australia, Canada - if they are mixed marriages, then they have contact with local culture and people from a given country. However, if it is a typical Chinese family, they most often surround themselves with friends from China. Chinese students also stick together. Of course, this has its advantages - they are safe, they can count on help, but the biggest disadvantage is definitely avoiding another culture, language or even cuisine from a given country. They are abroad, but it is as if they are at home, they are surrounded by the Chinese language, Chinese food (this is a plus in some countries, e.g. Chinese noodles/dumplings instead of German wursts), and now also the Chinese Internet/movies/TV. So it happens that after 2-3 years of stay abroad, they do not learn anything about a given country.

It sometimes happens that certain products are promoted on Chinese trains. The service person who delivers paid snacks, drinks and lunches stops in the wagon and talks about a product he wants to promote and sell. "White rabbit" candies are popular in China, they are hard, milky candies. They are famous, they have company stores (almost like our Wedel), but I personally am not their fan, our fudges are much better! The waiter promoted something similar, also candies, but with different flavors. It lasted about 10 minutes, so if someone's journey was long, they could listen and learn interesting things about these "special" sweets. At the end there was refreshment, the man gave out candy to everyone (except those who were sleeping). Unfortunately, I got an open candy. Maybe something wasn't sealed properly at the factory, or someone opened it and returned it during the previous presentation?! I didn't eat it and I didn't know the taste of this candy! Of course, after the presentation, several people bought large packages of these sweets. By the way, I will also add that in China they love packaging: it is often the case that a package of jellies, candies or even teas - each individual candy or portion of tea is additionally packed. The drinks are in cups, a cardboard box at the bottom to hold, all in a plastic bag, and everything in a thermal bag! In China, 4D, 5D jelly beans, etc. also appeared. Jelly beans in the form of blocks, like Lego, quite interesting and funny. Not so long ago I saw them in the Polish Netto and I specially checked the "Made in China for..." labels. So in Poland there are not only Chinese teas, noodles, rice, but even sweets, interestingly...