Life and Travel in China

I recently read a book about the Orient Express by Torbjorn Faerovik, in which he quoted Hemingway: "If you were lucky enough to live in Paris as a young man, the city will be a part of you for the rest of your life, because it is like an endless celebration." To paraphrase these words, I can say the same about Shenzhen. It was in Shenzhen that I met many friendly people, had fun, attended banquets in large hotels, visited the most interesting places, drank delicious naicha (milk tea), not knowing then that it would be the famous bubble tea. I rode my bicycle like crazy on the busy streets of Shenzhen, and drivers and passers-by were doubly surprised to see a white man on a bicycle. I met many Chinese people, many foreigners with whom I talked on various topics, shared my passions with them; I got to know a world that many people never had the chance to experience. I photographed beautiful models and admired life in a large metropolis. All this will indeed remain with me for the rest of my life.

I think that if the Chinese authorities told their citizens that they had to buy evacuation backpacks, that they had no place for them in shelters and that they generally had to cope on their own in the event of a war, flood, blackout, etc., it would be a slap in the face to the entire society and each individual citizen. There is no such thing in China that the state is unprepared, that it admits its weakness, that it is made of cardboard. Ensuring security is rather the basic obligation of the state towards its citizens. How much money do we pay in taxes and contributions? The problem is that in Poland public money is wasted, it is used like toilet paper. In the Middle Kingdom, where until recently arrangements and corruption were common; nevertheless, a lot has been done for ordinary Chinese people. There is really no sign of public money being wasted, of the state being weak, of the state telling its citizens: "If anything happens, deal with it yourself!" Another issue is that in Poland the media and politicians are threatening war and hysteria because it's about money. After all, in the current situation, a few million this or that "for armaments", purchased by companies linked to politicians, does not change anything. All who are anointed will earn and will not bear any responsibility for wrong decisions, for wasting money. They do it for the good of the homeland, but they don't know what "the good of the homeland" and what "care for citizens" means. Sad, but that's how it is in our country.

While traveling by train from Shanghai to Jinghua, I recently witnessed a strange row. A group of about 6-8 elderly, retired people were sitting in front of us, and in front of them was a young girl. At one point, this young girl moved her seat back. I didn't know if she hit the pensioner from behind or if he was just furious that she had reclined her seat so suddenly and as far as it would go, but in any case it was a spark. The older guy got terribly angry and started shouting at her that she had reclined her seat. Suddenly, for basically no reason, everyone started screaming, especially the "injured" man. Of course, within a few seconds a lady from the train staff (a cleaning lady), a conductor and a security guard appeared. They tried to calm them all down and asked us (foreigners) not to record the situation. Grandpa argued for about 10 minutes until the young girl started crying and the conductor took her to another carriage. A storm about nothing, a fight without any reason or sense. Generally, the Chinese are calm and I rarely see such situations, but when something starts, it can be fierce.

I think I mentioned in my notes - the Chinese don't drink much alcohol. Although recently in a small town near Yongkang I met a group of drunk people. Probably some business meeting that ran a little long. They were very noisy in the lobby of a large hotel (the only one in the area). They shouted, said goodbye, then came back again. Ultimately, one of them accidentally broke a large sculpture, a hotel decoration. Interestingly, the receptionist did not intervene, and the drunk crowd simply ignored the accident with the sculpture. Somewhat rude behavior. Even the elevator didn't smell of violets from these gentlemen. So, in general, I rarely see drunk people in China, but meetings and business dinners end differently. I would also like to point out that expensive branded alcohol such as MaoTai, which can cost several thousand yuan, is often brought to such meetings.

High-speed rail in China is really advanced. The system used by conductors is truly amazing. It happened recently that I was traveling a short route from Wuxi to Suzhou (about 10 minutes by train, about 40 km). We bought tickets at the last minute, so I was separated from the other person. We boarded one carriage in which I had no assigned seat, but on such a route it didn't matter. Despite everything, literally after two minutes a beautiful conductor came up to me, she was staring at her phone and already knew from her application that I shouldn't be sitting in that seat. I explained that this wasn't my seat and I just sat down for a while, no problem. Nevertheless, the system is impressive, the train staff knows immediately which seats are to be free, which station will be occupied and they probably know (since the tickets are personal) that there will be a woman/man or maybe a foreigner sitting there, etc.