Life and Travel in China

Recently, a Chinese woman from a certain company called me. She spoke in English, quite charming, almost childish voice. At the end she said "goodbye" in Polish and added "like ci" twice more - in the sense of "I like you", but the pronunciation was a problem. A bit surprising and a bit strange. On the one hand, it's nice that she learned a few phrases, but on the other hand, telling someone you call for the first time that you like him is quite strange. Another situation - a month ago in Hangzhou I met a Chinese woman who was studying in Poland. She studied for 3 years and imagine that she couldn't answer the simplest questions "How many years in Poland?", "In what city?". At the end she managed to say "thank you" and "goodbye". I'm guessing she studied in English, but despite being in Poland for 3 years she didn't learn a few dozen words? Of course, it was not a person who was 40 years old and studied in our country 20 years ago. Then, you can actually forget many words and, without practice, forget all the phrases. However, she was a young person, so I was very surprised. This also shows that the Chinese often stay with themselves, even abroad. I have emigrant friends who live in Poland, Germany, Australia, Canada - if they are mixed marriages, then they have contact with local culture and people from a given country. However, if it is a typical Chinese family, they most often surround themselves with friends from China. Chinese students also stick together. Of course, this has its advantages - they are safe, they can count on help, but the biggest disadvantage is definitely avoiding another culture, language or even cuisine from a given country. They are abroad, but it is as if they are at home, they are surrounded by the Chinese language, Chinese food (this is a plus in some countries, e.g. Chinese noodles/dumplings instead of German wursts), and now also the Chinese Internet/movies/TV. So it happens that after 2-3 years of stay abroad, they do not learn anything about a given country.

It sometimes happens that certain products are promoted on Chinese trains. The service person who delivers paid snacks, drinks and lunches stops in the wagon and talks about a product he wants to promote and sell. "White rabbit" candies are popular in China, they are hard, milky candies. They are famous, they have company stores (almost like our Wedel), but I personally am not their fan, our fudges are much better! The waiter promoted something similar, also candies, but with different flavors. It lasted about 10 minutes, so if someone's journey was long, they could listen and learn interesting things about these "special" sweets. At the end there was refreshment, the man gave out candy to everyone (except those who were sleeping). Unfortunately, I got an open candy. Maybe something wasn't sealed properly at the factory, or someone opened it and returned it during the previous presentation?! I didn't eat it and I didn't know the taste of this candy! Of course, after the presentation, several people bought large packages of these sweets. By the way, I will also add that in China they love packaging: it is often the case that a package of jellies, candies or even teas - each individual candy or portion of tea is additionally packed. The drinks are in cups, a cardboard box at the bottom to hold, all in a plastic bag, and everything in a thermal bag! In China, 4D, 5D jelly beans, etc. also appeared. Jelly beans in the form of blocks, like Lego, quite interesting and funny. Not so long ago I saw them in the Polish Netto and I specially checked the "Made in China for..." labels. So in Poland there are not only Chinese teas, noodles, rice, but even sweets, interestingly...

Out of habit, I often compare China to Poland (even though it usually doesn't make much sense), but still... For example, renting an electric city bike in Wrocław costs about the same as taking a taxi in China (maybe not in major metropolises, but in smaller ones, meaning those comparable to Wrocław). A 10-minute bike ride costs almost 6 PLN, which is around 12 RMB. Taking a taxi in China for about 10 minutes costs a similar amount—around 10–12 RMB. Most of these taxis are electric nowadays. We also recently checked a taxi ride from Ningbo to Jiaxing (about 100 km, including crossing a 38-km-long bridge)—the cost was around 200–250 PLN. If 3 or 4 people are traveling together, the per-person cost is comparable to taking a train in China. Using the same app in Poland, a 100 km ride would cost around 700–800 PLN. There really are noticeable differences!

I'm thinking today that this WeChat was cleverly introduced in China. First, an application for calls and free calls over the Internet, via Wi-Fi. Of course, exchanging photos, then videos, files, documents, etc. Convenience, modern solutions, easy communication. The program was created by a private company from Shenzhen - Tencent. But the Chinese authorities quickly see the potential in it and the program is no longer private at all. This is our mCitizen now plus a payment card, ID card, passport, everything. Now it is also a combo that connects other applications, e.g. taxis, ordering food, purchasing train tickets, various types of verifications, logins, identity confirmation, etc. For us, it is space. Imagine Gadu-Gadu with such functions. Nice idea, because if the government created such an application and forced people to register and use it, some percentage would probably rebel or give up smartphones. But first you get "convenience", facilities. You can make calls, send files, share photos with friends, create groups, etc. However, the government is slowly turning it into an application that allows you to pay, verify your identity, and travel. Still many facilities, but at the same time full, "permanent surveillance", to quote a classic. You should add "I can't stand it!", but the Chinese can stand it.

I have the impression that Western culture is constantly at war with Eastern culture. For years, the task of the English media was to present China as a backward, dangerous and poor country. Even until 2010, this was implemented quite effectively. It is known that a small percentage of people traveled to China, maybe it was only after the Olympic Games in Beijing (2008) that the world "opened its eyes" a bit. Now, however, when we have a flood of reports from TikTok, Facebook and Instagram, where many people show ordinary life in China, tourist attractions of the Middle Kingdom, modern cities, means of transport; recipients realize that China is not so backward after all, and is even a very modern, developed country. Only China has been modern since 2000, because it was then that skyscrapers, large bridges, modern highways, subways in many cities, and a little later the high-speed railway network were built. Only now many people are "discovering China". On the one hand, it's very good, but on the other hand, this delight shows how little people know about the world. How little they read, how little they look for information outside the mainstream media controlled by large corporations and, therefore, indirectly by governments. The West cannot speak well of China or Russia. Now some successes and facts about the Middle Kingdom are left unsaid. Since they cannot openly criticize China, they try to remain silent about China. The worst thing is that geopolitically Poland is between these two worlds - east and west. The worst thing, however, is that our diplomacy and our politicians are hopeless and instead of taking advantage of this situation, we are really losing a lot!