Life and Travel in China

My Chinese friend is changing her view about China and the Chinese government. It started with the fact that she couldn't open blocked Facebook, so a friend gave her a program to bypass Chinese blocks (some kind of proxy, IP hiding). This is how my friend started reading about scams in China, about propaganda, lies, and embellishment of reality by the Chinese authorities. As an example, she said that photos and information about the alleged rescue of many miners were fabricated, but in fact they all died and the authorities made a show of a nativity scene. Personally, I don't know if this is true, but she found out this information. However, I think her change of heart is that her (Chinese) husband now works in Canada. A year ago, the same girl even defended the Chinese government and accused Western media of inciting hatred against the Chinese authorities! It was about clashes with Uighurs in Urumqi. She then said that what kind of media freedom is this if they incite the world against the whole of China and are not objective, because the Han are not guilty of anything and it all started with the aggression of the Uyghurs. This year, after the wedding, her views are evolving. It's like opening a window once every ten years and enjoying the fresh air. The problem is that the authorities order this window to be closed, but young people like such fresh air, a breath of freedom and truth!

It's been a long time since I wrote anything about the condition of bicycles in China, but I must admit that there is improvement! Recently, in the provincial town of Quanzhou (close to Xiamen), I saw nice bicycles for students - they had full wheels (no spokes), they were all in a similar style, quite well-kept, new. I see that in many towns, for example in Zhejiang Province, Giant mountain and city bikes, new and well-kept, are becoming more and more popular. Chains of company stores and services are emerging. Some people even ride bikes. Of course, there are not many such passionate cyclists, but the sport is slowly developing. Clogged streets, millions of cars - some people prefer a bicycle or a scooter. Of course, there are still many neglected, rusty bikes, off-center wheels, loose chains and flip-flop brakes. Recently, I even saw a foreigner riding a worn-out "Ukraine" type bike in Shanghai at night, and his pedal was probably clicking, or the chain guard was knocking, and the bike was crossing a quiet street, making a constant 'screw, sneeze, sneeze...'. In Shanghai or Beijing it's probably normal for white people to ride such crappy bikes, in Shenzhen or Guangzhou it's not so common. They either buy nice bikes and ride recreationally, or use electric scooters (combustion scooters are often banned in large cities). Due to the crazy traffic, they also choose buses, taxis or the metro.

Yesterday I was waiting for the green light and a black van was parked next to it. The driver planned to turn left, which meant he crossed the entire intersection, a quite busy place. Before the pedestrians crossed the zebra, before the cars started moving from the perpendicular street, he quickly moved - on a red light and drove as if nothing had happened! Of course it had state registration numbers. And these are such untouchable people. They can park wherever they want, if they hit someone it is not their concern, they fill up their tanks practically for free, they transport entire families in company cars. I'm talking about purely transport privileges - what about the rest?! Free apartments, great income from bribes and scams, in addition to working in the government, they open their own factories or companies, buy apartments for their lovers, go on trips abroad, their children can study outside China, massage parlors, karaoke clubs, restaurants, golf clubs - all this is available to them practically for free, day and night. And these people, this untouchable, privileged group will never allow this system to collapse. Their profit, their abundance, their prosperity is based on the exploitation of the masses. These are millions of poor, unaware people who are exploited by this system. Factories where they produce quite expensive devices and earn pennies themselves. Workers who live in barracks and build skyscrapers seven days a week. Do they know office prices, rental prices of these properties, hotel profits, shopping center profits? They certainly don't even know such numbers, such amounts, such sums, and they earn little themselves.

In China, young people's attitude towards the world around them is slowly changing. People born in the 1970s were usually hard-working, education required many sacrifices, they lived and worked in difficult conditions, and not everyone had the opportunity to obtain higher education. They appreciate their parents, respect them, parents who worked hard, taught them discipline and treated their children as a chance for a better future and a safe old age. These are more valuable, ambitious people. Youth from the 1980s are also ambitious, but most of them are only children, so sometimes they are more selfish. They obtained education easier, they did not live in such difficult times and education was practically a standard for them, the education system had also changed then. Their parents also had a chance for a better life and more earnings. The problem, however, is that people born in the 80s sometimes do not take work very seriously. Some of them are used to being able to count on their parents' help, especially in large cities. Youth born in the 1990s are often spoiled kids (especially in large cities). Their parents have already provided them with everything, even apartments and cars! They don't know the concept of hunger, they sit in McDonald's and Starbucks, spending their parents' pocket money. Often parents do not have time for them, they are getting divorced, they are busy with work, business, earning a lot of money. Some even send their children to famous boarding schools and see them once a year. For these children, the most important things are material things: laptops, phones, electronic gadgets. They love parties, alcohol, trying drugs, they want to live like in America! They are impressed by their stupidity! They no longer respect their parents as much because they are often raised by nannies and housekeepers. Parents become a walking piggy bank that is supposed to fulfill all wishes. And since their parents and grandparents had a more difficult life, they obviously want to fulfill all the whims of their grandchildren and children, they simply spoil them! In general, this pattern can be applied to the whole world, but certain conditions are typical only for the Middle Kingdom. Having dealt with people from these different age groups, I find that people from the 1970s and early 1980s have more common sense and are more valuable. Of course, I cannot generalize because there are exceptions. Despite everything, the new generation in China is becoming quite material and superficial. They are more interested in entertainment and early sex than in good education and a decent job. The problem is that they have everything from the very beginning and ordinary life bores them! Their older colleagues didn't have it so easy and they worked for everything themselves.

Kindergarten security has appeared in our neighborhood. Three policemen appeared at the entrance: one officer, one constable and a guy from China Security. The constable had a metal rod to push away dangerous people. Let me remind you that kindergartens in China are under threat - yesterday another murderer attacked children in Shaanxi, killing a total of nine people, including seven children. This was the sixth such attack in China (previously in various provinces). It is possible that the authorities are underestimating the number of victims of previous attacks. People criticize the government, which relies on the army and police, but cannot protect defenseless, tiny children! Who are the murderers? It's hard to say clearly... they are not typical psychopaths. These are most often frustrated, middle-aged men, isolated, hating others, maybe tired of life and the whole system. Or maybe it's also due to gender imbalance - there are too many single men who don't have a partner and therefore won't have a family. Maybe this causes them to feel some extreme hatred towards children, towards family, towards Chinese society? If this was just one incident, it could be called an attack by a madman. But six such tragic events? Have groups of madmen already appeared in China? Despite everything, the authorities are to blame, and Chinese society cannot say it out loud, protest, demand explanations or effective prevention! Shouldn't they provide protection after the first or second attack? They had to wait so long? The average Chinese policeman does nothing! Absolutely nothing! He writes some stupid reports, he never deals with crimes unless he has some order from above, he looks after his own interests, bribes, protects prostitutes, nightclubs, and harms those who have harmed someone. I would say it's like the mafia in uniform. Most officers are obese guys who care about their own well-being, they have no honor, and justice is no longer a foreign word. There are millions of these policemen, but you don't see them every day. Now they left the kindergarten gates. They couldn't do this before? What were they so busy with? Your own business! With your deals, bribes, deals. The police is an institution that the government activates when it is in trouble. When a citizen is in trouble, he or she can go to a friend or colleague, borrow money, hire someone for protection or revenge, because the police will never do anything if they have no interest in it.