Life and Travel in China

I was taking night photos in downtown Shenzhen yesterday and encountered a new form of begging. An older guy comes up to me, asks about the photos, asks where I'm from, of course he says America. Later he tells some story about his daughter, I didn't understand him exactly. And finally he tells me to give him 7 RMB. It may not seem like a fortune, but I don't give away money on the street. I look at him, glasses, hat, watch, decent clothes, and it turns out that he has nothing to eat. He then asks for 5 RMB as if he was haggling. I told him I left the money at home. He asked if I lived here and was surprised when I said yes.

My friend is a young teacher, this is her first job. He teaches English in a public primary school, he teaches the youngest children. He is 25 years old, so he is a beginner teacher. How much does he earn? $450 per month. This is really not a small thing, considering that the school covers her housing and meals. USD 450 is her take-home salary. Moreover, the school is located in the suburbs of a large metropolis, so all expenses there are basically half of those in Poland.

I see that white people have become popular in Shenzhen. I think that in a few years foreigners will be common in this metropolis (maybe not like in Hong Kong). I came to these conclusions because I see non-Chinese people more and more often in different parts of the city, recently there were three of us white people in one subway car. I remember 4 years ago outside the city center, beyond the border with Hong Kong and hotels, it was difficult to meet foreigners, and the Chinese looked at me like I was an alien. There were areas where they only saw white people on TV. It's different now. An old pimp asked me on the street at the border crossing, "Do you want a hooker?" Just a few years ago they only said "Miss?". Apparently, they have more and more global clients and they are learning languages. It's a pity that this is the case.

I just added new night photos and I can already see that someone is looking at them. Cool! The website is popular and soon the number of photos viewed will reach 200,000. I am glad that the number of visitors to the gallery is increasing. I'm going to pick up the photos from Pentax soon. The photos are of good quality, on Fuji paper, and are printed by a photo studio for PLN 0.27. So, shooting with a traditional camera still pays off in the middle of nowhere. However, I am afraid that I will not take many photos with Zenit TTL. Humidity of 80%-90% made the viewfinder dirty, dampness appeared, as if there were some cracks. It's a pity, because I have sentimental feelings for this camera.

Now let me debunk the myth about China! Based on the questions I am asked by Poles visiting the country for the first time, I already know what stereotypes about China are circulating in Poland. Well... there is no such thing as Chinese spices! Yes, there are some important spices, but don't exaggerate, they mainly use soy sauce and black vinegar on a daily basis. There are no typical spice shops. In a hypermarket, spices constitute half the shelf. I always buy spices in Poland because they are different and I have 10 times more choice. Here I most often see five spices (the stereotypical one... in five flavors), barbecue seasoning, cumin powder, salty chicken seasoning. Apart from that, sometimes there are some herbs and roots, but you need to know them. Generally, there isn't much of it, so it's kind of a myth.