Life and Travel in China

Our Chinese friend, a quite innocent, quiet girl, was invited to a 'Christmas Eve party' with an American in Shenzhen. The problem is that this guy didn't invite her directly. So this Chinese woman who knew the American came and brought two friends. As it turned out, Americans are not very hospitable. He said something like "but why did you bring them to my small apartment, there are already a lot of friends here!" I remember that at the beginning of my stay in China, someone invited a couple of Chinese people who were completely strangers to me for Christmas Eve. I agreed to it and didn't pick on anyone, even though for us Christmas Eve is more personal and family. It was a curiosity for them, and I welcomed them as best I could. This American made my friend feel bad. They sat there for a while and, like a typical American Christmas Eve, they went to a bar. She is not very entertaining and went home after 10 p.m. As she said, maybe she should not comment on the fact that additional friends came and explain it somewhere so that she wouldn't bring anyone with her in the future. These are cultural differences and this is what American hospitality looks like.

It looks like China's population will grow again. Many young couples are already trying to have a child so that it will be born in the happy Year of the Dragon. It will be similar to 2007 - Year of the Pig. Back then, 2006 was the Year of the Dog, a good year for getting married, and I can confirm that. And immediately after the wedding you could try to have a child for the Year of the Pig. Despite everything, even young people are strongly influenced by such beliefs and customs. Interestingly, this applies to both richer and poorer people. It is never the case that a well-to-do family does not attach importance to dates, symbols, names. The year and the choice of a name for a child are very important in the Middle Kingdom. It is believed that this determines the fate of this tiny human from the very day he is born.

A few days ago, something tragic happened in a modern office building in Shenzhen. A man with a can of gasoline entered the floor of a company. As it turned out, the ex-boyfriend of the company owner. He grabbed her and held her next to him, starting the gas. I don't know the details, but there were some casualties and the office was destroyed. The most interesting thing is that there are many security guards in the building, a reception and gates in front of the elevators - strangers have to register, and employees have contactless cards to enter and leave. I am afraid that similar incidents will become more and more common in large cities. Lonely young people, without family or parents, renting apartments or living in workers' hotels, or even rich people who own apartments - when they fail in life, they become dangerous. Loss of job, loss of honor, heartbreak, everyday social injustice - all this increases frustration. Additionally, in big cities you can't rest and calm down, noise and crowds of people (now even in the park) cause some sick aggression. Just add envy, lack of understanding, rejection by a group and you have a tragedy. It was similar with the attacks on kindergartens. I have also witnessed such sudden outbursts of aggression. Generally, the Chinese are calm, friendly and content, but some are like time bombs - just a small thing is enough for their frustration to explode, then such incredible aggression, hatred appears, you can even see some madness in their eyes.

In some parts of China, there is a tradition that older people (even those who are not so old) arrange their coffins in advance. I would say it's kind of light hardcore. It is true that we also have people who reserve places at the cemetery in advance. My friend's in-laws will be organizing their own coffins this year, and they are about sixty years old. Later they will keep these coffins at home. In fact, such a coffin reminds me every day - "I'm waiting for you, maybe it's time? Don't you feel like lying down? At least try something on?" Our retirees want to live as long as possible, they make investments, go on trips, pilgrimages, and take care of their grandchildren. Although in the Middle Kingdom older people are also active and lively, just look at my photos, all the exercises, dancing, singing... But this is the case in big cities, but it is probably different in the countryside. There, life flows slower, there are certain rules, traditions and rules that do not change. In cities, old people want to have fun, play mahjong, cards, bet on horse races, arrange meetings in the park, etc. Moreover, in cities they usually have smaller apartments, so they have nowhere to put coffins. Every country has its customs...

In Hong Kong, it has already happened that wealthy Chinese families decide to give birth to children in Hong Kong. Hospitals sometimes lack beds for legal, insured Hong Kong residents. Maternity wards and beds are occupied by women from China who can give birth in Hong Kong for quite a lot of money. This theoretically ensures better delivery conditions, but above all, a different citizenship for the child, more privileges and freedom. Unfortunately people from Hong Kong are starting to complain about this. There were even comments in the press comparing the Chinese to cockroaches who crawl everywhere. The Chinese from Hong Kong write that they feel sorry for them, they have no freedom, they have no rights and freedoms, but they are starting to dominate Hong Kong too much. On the one hand, they are happy to earn money from tourists, but on the other hand, they do not want to see people from mainland China in their offices and hospitals. That's a conflict of interest. They like money from China in Hong Kong, but they don't like people from China!