Life and Travel in China

I recently saw a Chinese man take a taxi from Hong Kong to the border with Shenzhen and load the entire vehicle with Pampers diapers. I remember that because of the milk scandal, hundreds of thousands of Chinese bought their babies' milk in Hong Kong because it was safer and healthier there. But should the problem also apply to diapers? Maybe someone just carries them for profit, resells them, or distributes them to friends, because no one needs so many Pampers of the same size for one child. Or maybe they have twins? I don't know, but the taxi looked funny, the trunk, the seat next to the driver and the couch in the back - all in Pampers. Of course, these products are also available in China - maybe different quality? Although from my own parenting experience I will say that the Chinese ones are not bad.

There is a mania for possessions in China. You have a 75 m2 apartment, why don't you buy a 115 m2 apartment? You have one car - buy another! You have a wife, you can also afford two keepers. The middle class is simply getting richer and wants to show that they can afford certain material goods in larger quantities or sizes than they even need. The most banal thing is that on the one hand they show their prosperity, and on the other they still live in a simple way. They have one pot and one frying pan, an old fridge, they don't go on vacation - because they don't have much vacation time, they have big TVs - but no time to watch TV. The only thing they do for entertainment is going to big department stores, sometimes to the cinema. They don't know how to enjoy life. They don't have any hobbies, they are limited by visa regulations - they can't just travel and they don't have that much free time. They exist in a certain tangle of work, limited time and money. More and more often, their lives become empty and banal.

Hatred towards the Japanese and everything Japanese has been reignited again. All because of the territorial conflict over the Paracel Islands. China has increased its activity in this area - sending fishermen, troops, creating a prefecture, military and administrative structures. Smaller countries in the region presented their claims to these islands. The strongest protest is Japan, which also sent its navy and air force. Now he intends to "buy" one of the islands. The conflict is already affecting the social mood in China: hatred, protests, destruction of Japanese cars, demolition of Japanese restaurants, etc. Even a taxi driver in Hunan province recently asked where I was from and replied: "We like Poles yes, we don't like Japanese." The entire society is anti-Japanese. News on TV and in newspapers constantly raises the atmosphere of tension and inflates the balloon of conflict. Travel agencies refunded the money and canceled all trips to Japan as a matter of principle. People stopped buying Japanese cars and electronics. They direct all their aggression and frustration against Japan. But really, what difference does having such an island change in the life of an ordinary Chinese person? Will it be easier for him, maybe just more fish ;-). Will the apartments be built? Probably not... Won't he have to stay at work until 8 p.m.? Neither... Will his wife be happier? Certainly not... There will be no traffic jams and smog in cities will disappear? Oh, I guess not... This is simply a spiral of Sino-Japanese hatred. Distracting society's attention from China's internal problems. This has happened several times since I've been living in China. The Chinese government should say: "It's good that Japan is there, there is always someone to blame. Thank you!"

I heard from a Chinese friend that there were serious anti-Japanese protests and riots in Xi'an. There are reportedly fatalities. Of course, the authorities quickly removed all information about it from the Internet. Various anti-Japan protests were also organized in Shenzhen today. Of course, many Chinese do not get caught up in these political games and ignore such initiatives. Some people are also aware that the authorities are 'rekindling' this hatred towards the Japanese to divert attention from the current internal problems of the Middle Kingdom. I saw for myself how a sushi restaurant closed its business for its own safety, covered its logo and put up a banner saying they support the Chinese. They did it more out of fear for their own premises than out of conviction. Another friend now has to be careful where he parks his Toyota. This conflict is strange, supposedly anti-Japanese, but the Chinese are arguing among themselves.

Nothing happens in China without the knowledge and consent of the Communist Party. If anyone thinks that the anti-Japanese protests are spontaneous, organized by young Chinese, they are wrong. All this is perfectly controlled. My wife and I came to the conclusion that the authorities were planning it all perfectly. There are constantly reports on TV about Japan stealing the islands. There are appeals on Internet forums, encouraging anti-Japanese protests. After all, the Internet and all media are completely controlled by the authorities. They actually decide what information is available and what is hidden/blocked. In addition, there are text messages, I received one myself, something like: "The patriotic spirit is important, but let's remember about safety and good behavior during protests." Moreover, when such a protest takes place - it is an excellent training for the army, police and all uniformed services. They know their tasks, their locations, they control a crowd of thousands, they know what procedures to launch if a protest gets out of control. If the same or different people stand shoulder to shoulder against the Chinese government, do they stand a chance? Probably not, because the services will handle it very well. I have the impression that China is such a big balloon of hatred, frustration, disappointment and human suffering. Such small protests allow groups and individuals to go wild, make noise, and destroy Japanese cars, shops and restaurants. In this way, the authorities release some pressure from this balloon, but for how long? The group of intelligent and aware people is also becoming larger, and they know that it is not about Japan, but about China's internal problems. What will they do with them? Will there be a revolution?