Life and Travel in China

In Shenzhen they are now building this big, beautiful hospital overlooking the sea. A huge building is being built near HongShuLin (Red Jungle) overlooking the bay and the border with Hong Kong. I'm already laughing at the fact that the hospital can use the advertising slogan "death with a view of the bay", "die in pleasant conditions", "the best rooms, the best view before death". Shenzhen is a young city, but hospitals are already overcrowded - people (without insurance, often paying in cash) are standing in queues to see specialists. These are usually young people, girls waiting to see gynecologists (usually during the day in one large hospital there are even 8-10 doctors of a given specialization), young workers waiting to see surgeons, many people have stomach and digestion problems. In large cities, the health of many Chinese is deteriorating, mainly due to stress, hard work, worse and worse food, lack of exercise, and pollution. Life seems to be nice, but as soon as health problems start, it's hard. Then you either have a lot of money (only good companies offer insurance to employees, you also have to be officially registered in a given city), or you have some contacts among doctors. Overall, however, I increasingly have the impression that doctors do not want to help. Sometimes they are aggressive, do not explain anything, and treat the patient as just another number, there can be 5-6 strangers in the rooms (even in the gynecologist's) at the same time! Patients often come back with the same problem and pay for the same medicines that do not really help them. Hospitals are simply good business and stable income. The system is efficient - registration and payment for the visit at the entrance, cards with patient data, displays in the waiting rooms with names, a connected computer system (they have access, for example, to the results of blood tests from another hospital in the same city), and finally, a series of paid tests and prescriptions. The prescriptions are already in the computer and after leaving the cash register, we go next door to pick up the medicines that are already prepared for us in a small basket. We spend about PLN 60 in one day (for example, for angina) or about PLN 120-150 for more serious problems. Less in your wallet, and there is no guarantee of health. In case of complications, hospitals are waiting, they give a deposit of about PLN 500-2000 depending on the disease and the length of hospitalization! That's why such a beautiful, huge hospital with a view of the sea is being built now, they will never run out of customers!

If there were pharmacies in Poland like in China, retirees wouldn't have to spend so much time at the doctor's office just to have a chat. Imagine a pharmaceutical store the size of Biedronka, with local and foreign medicines, medical accessories, rehabilitation equipment, massage and acupuncture devices, as well as herbs and traditional medicine. Oh, there would be something to do! And on each shelf, two service girls are always willing to advise and persuade you to buy a more expensive preparation. Pharmacies in China are really great and are worth visiting as a curiosity, even during a tourist trip around Asia.

I recently heard that a school has been established in Beijing to teach "how to find a rich husband." I think that more and more Chinese women can cope with this topic without such school! Many young girls have a more practical approach - it doesn't have to be great love, it doesn't have to be very handsome, but if he has an apartment and a car, it's a good start. The family also quickly accepts such a fiancé - it doesn't matter whether he is 10 or 20 years older, whether he has mistresses, or whether he is nice to his bride at all, what matters is that he provides the girl and her family with a prosperous life. I even know a mother who would gladly give her daughter to some rich man, regardless of what her daughter feels. In modern China, many women look at the contents of their man's wallet. He no longer has to be a revolutionary leader or a devoted communist, if he has money and some arrangements, his future is secure.

Now all of Poland will blame the Chinese for breaking the contract for the construction of the A2 motorway. I look at the whole situation a little differently. I wonder who and how (on the Polish side) chose this particular company? What decided? Were people involved in the entire tender and preparation of contracts who know something about China and have some idea about Chinese realities? The truth is that the cheapest offer was chosen and certainly no one verified it. The Chinese are simply supposed to work day and night, and they should also be the cheapest. The problem is that no one checked this investor thoroughly, because they had made some investment mistakes in the past. Moreover, maybe the Chinese did not really know the Polish realities, fuel prices, machine rental prices, labor prices, which are 2 or even 3 times higher than in the Middle Kingdom. Certainly someone on the Polish side should be responsible for choosing this company, as well as for breaking this contract, or rather the inability to enforce it. Now it turns out that they don't even have contact with company representatives. Pathetic! When you order pens from a factory, you have the exact details of the supplier, mobile phones, emails, addresses, etc. Apparently, the Poles did not protect themselves at all against breaking the contract, and now they will simply point to the guilty parties - the Chinese. Of course it's their fault, but why do we allow this to happen at all? Why don't we have better negotiators? Why hasn't anyone checked the entire contract thoroughly? Why do the government and local governments have no influence on the Chinese investor? After all, someone issued them visas, permits, certificates, etc. Now they can't hold them responsible for stopping construction? Very strange... because foreigners who break the regulations or start fights can be convicted, and in the case of a million-dollar investment, it is not treated as a crime or a misdemeanor?

The Chinese automotive company BYD (Build Your Dream) is getting ready to conquer Europe! These cars and the models hired to promote them can be seen in my photo gallery. I like the Chinese approach to industry, innovation and conquering markets. First, they 'borrowed' (copied, stole) ideas and technology from the USA, Japan and Europe. They will change something a little, improve or spoil it, improve it, adapt it and sell it as their own, Chinese product. We could learn from them if Poles managed to 'borrow' some technology from the USA, Japan, Germany and produce something 'our own' based on it. It may not be very ethical, but this is how China builds its power. They took inspiration from ready-made inventions and ideas, and now they use them as their own products. This mainly applies to the automotive, armaments, IT and telecommunications industries, as well as IT services. Copying is a national problem of the Chinese, but they do not see it as a disadvantage, but as an advantage! They are simply getting richer and it is no longer just about official fakes with Nike, Adidas or Sony logos, but about mastering other technologies and applying them to their own needs.