Life and Travel in China

A girl, a student from Hunan province, told me that she wanted to study abroad. She asked me about different European countries, languages, culture, prices, etc. She told me that it was the cheapest to study in Finland. I asked how much exactly? Converted into Polish zlotys, approximately PLN 40,000! Wow... really cheap. Apparently in the USA she would have to pay over PLN 100,000. The offers include meals and accommodation, but the prices are still amazing. What about poor Chinese families whose children may be very talented? While they can benefit from some assistance and scholarships in China, no one sends them abroad at the state's expense (at least not without knowing them).

The Chinese authorities no longer know what to block on the Internet. There was a period when Wikipedia was not open, now YouTube is blocked altogether. Apparently there was some material compromising the government there. I once watched a material about stealing the organs of people sentenced to death, about prostitution in provincial towns, or about a group lynching of a man. Unfortunately... this is the reality in China, the truth can never be exposed too much. She can be there, but from the side, so that nothing anti-Chinese is presented on TV, in the press or on the Internet.

I had a fun adventure in Ningbo a few days ago. It happened when I was walking from a taxi to a small shop in front of the hotel where I was staying overnight. I heard some quick steps behind me, I turned around and the sight amused and surprised me. It was an old man with a gray beard who was holding his cane in the air and was literally jogging after me! A few seconds earlier he was on the other side of the street, but he ambitiously ran across the road and followed me like an old marathon runner! I just laughed and ran a little faster than him. Grandpa gave up, but he still managed to shout "money, money...". Many sensitive people fall for such beggars, but if you look closely, they are a tool for making money. Often, other people bring them to the place where they beg, even in cars, they pretend to be disabled (and as you can see, they can even run), they have specific areas and in the center they cover every intersection (different groups), they use retarded children to arouse pity, but often they are not even the parents of these children themselves, or they do not care about their fate at all. The more clumsy the beggar is, the more valuable he is to the entire group of mafia beggars. Of course, there are millions of poor people here, but the vast majority of active beggars are insolent, calculating, sometimes even dangerous people.

I haven't been adding new photos lately, but... there's a good explanation for it. I'm working on improving the website. Graphically it will be much better, but above all it will be 100% pure XHTML, CSS including PHP and MySQL. The code will be error-free! I admit with pride that there are few websites on the Internet that undergo XHTML validation. As soon as I upload new files - maybe this week, I will go back to adding new and overdue photos.

Coming back to the Internet topic... China blocks YouTube, but interestingly - it also blocks online applications with Windows Media Player. Some time ago I could listen to Polish Radio I and Radio Three. Recently it has gotten worse, every few seconds of pause, buffering again. Of course, I blamed it on the servers, poor connection and distance. But what does it turn out to be?! China is simply blocking this signal. Of course, this is not about Polish Radio, but, for example, the BBC and other free media that often broadcast in Windows Media Player (Winamp works better, but is not so popular in China). I have a program to change the IP, proxy, sometimes I'm supposedly in Germany, other times in the Czech Republic. Of course, the Internet is slower due to the proxy, but Polish Radio does not jam at all, YouTube and many other websites that are treated as hostile to the Middle Kingdom also open.