Life and Travel in China

In Poland, people have reasons to complain about the lack of public kindergartens and expensive private kindergartens, which cost PLN 800-1,400 per month. It may be hard to imagine, but in 'poor' China, people in large cities pay up to PLN 2,000 a month for private kindergartens. Considering that the costs of maintaining such a facility are half of those in Poland, I wonder how justified it is to send a child to such a kindergarten, or is it maybe snobbery? Some Chinese families are already so rich, they have two apartments and three cars, they don't know where to put the money. Sounds like I'm jealous? In fact, many people in China can be envied because they simply have a large family budget. Of course, the quality of life is different, mainly due to crowds of people, greater competition, constant noise, stress, excess work, a completely different lifestyle than in Poland. But they are used to it. Big cities give them huge opportunities to earn money and various methods of spending this money, for example on expensive kindergartens, private English-speaking schools, luxury cars, branded handbags, etc.

The Chinese have enormous potential to be a healthy nation. However, two issues stood in the way: Western food (KFC, McDonald's, steaks, etc.) and increasing environmental pollution. Little Chinese have a lot of physical activities in schools and kindergartens, and such a thing as "exemption from PE" is unlikely. Plus they have drill! On weekends and afternoons, there are many physical activities: dancing, badminton, ping-pong, martial arts. There is always some will to compete, fight and win. Adults very often go to fitness and gym classes and have easy access to swimming pools. In addition, they can dance, practice tai-ji, kung-fu, run or play football free of charge in parks. Additionally, many companies create football teams, badminton teams, etc. The Chinese focus on movement! Traditional Chinese cuisine is also 'only healthy': fish, shrimps, other seafood, pure protein, low calories... their diet is very diverse: tofu, mutton, beef, poultry, a huge selection of green vegetables, sprouts, groats, rice. Many dishes are steamed and soy sauce is used instead of salt. You can see that the Chinese look healthy and slim, but unfortunately this is slowly changing for the worse. Within a few or a dozen years, the health crisis will certainly deepen due to fatty food and high environmental pollution, as can be seen from the number of newly built hospitals.

In Poland, young people try to separate themselves from their parents. Especially when they start their families, they often do not want their parents to interfere, order, prohibit or teach them. There are usually some tensions and conflicts, especially when they live under one roof. Of course, they are happy to use their grandparents' help in taking care of their children, but there are always some conflict situations. In China it is quite the opposite. Married couples living alone in the city often bring their parents from the countryside to help them. It even happens that parents and parents-in-law take turns helping or they all live together. Someone cooks, someone else takes turns taking care of the child, and the young people simply work and pursue a career. I know cases where young people even bought a second apartment in the same housing estate, so that they would not be too crowded in one, but so that they could still count on the help of their parents, so that they were 'at hand'. I guess there are some differences of opinion, but in the Middle Kingdom young people probably respect their parents more and avoid quarrels. Often they simply have to agree with them, or at least respect their opinion and remain silent about certain issues. I had the opportunity to observe three such families and came to this conclusion.

For some time now I have been receiving rudimentary information from a Chinese friend who was traveling around New Zealand. It seemed to me that he was visiting his friends - I know that he loves traveling and often looks for new destinations. It recently turned out that she escaped from China because... her parents wanted to marry her off to a man she doesn't love. It sounds like the story of a medieval princess, but this is the Chinese reality. The girl had a Malaysian (Chinese) boyfriend. The guy kind of led her by the nose for several years, took advantage of her, I even guess that he may have had other girlfriends or even a wife during that time. Eventually, their long-distance relationship fell apart. The parents couldn't stand it and wanted to marry their daughter off to someone else. The girl's life became complicated, she broke up with the Malaysian, quit her job, quarreled with her parents, finally obtained a visa, spent the last of her money and fled China. She was in New Zealand for a few months and now she's in Australia trying to get a work permit. She doesn't even have a return ticket to China... I must admit that her life has become terribly complicated now, and actually it's mainly the fault of this guy who took advantage of her naivety and their long-distance relationship didn't have much chance. It may be hard to believe, but she had been waiting for him for almost 10 years, and they had only met in person a few times.

In Hong Kong, there is a New Year sales period, which will basically last until February, the Chinese New Year. Hundreds of thousands of Chinese from Shenzhen and other towns close to Hong Kong cross the China-Hong Kong border every day. The vast majority of them buy baby milk, diapers, sweets and food products. Many Chinese do not trust Chinese powdered milk at all (since the melamine scandal), imported milks have become very valuable and are desirable, although the prices are much higher than those of Chinese products. Others buy branded sweets, such as the popular Ferrero Rocher. Everyone crosses the border with suitcases and boxes, there are simply very long queues. Additionally, customs officers check many people, and smuggling milk (in larger quantities than allowed) is punishable by imprisonment or a fine of HKD 500,000 (approximately PLN 230,000). Despite everything, the Chinese buy massively in Hong Kong, without moderation, without limits.