Posted on 06/29/2017 8:19:37 AM PDT by Republicanprofessor
I saw some notices when I was in China of delighted Freepers who had also visited China recently. Yes, it was possible to get Free Republic in China!! I am interested in what those travelers, and others, thought of China.
I am writing this because I am interested in other visitors’ impressions of China. I was with a group of professors, so almost every move (from meeting with universities to lunches and dinners) was planned out. Deliciously so, but we did not interact with a great deal with daily folks.
I was impressed with the commercial prosperity in Shanghai and Beijing. Big name stores and banks abounded. Cars were modern and luxurious, all brands: from Mercedes to Buick. Apparently the fee to register the cars is as almost as expensive as the cars themselves. I only saw one working class truck; no junkers or older vehicles. There were also no handicapped accessible facilities. Apparently the handicapped stay at home or in homes.
The thing that keeps nagging at me are the half-finished concrete housing units, about 30 stories high. In general, the population seems to live in these banks of building, skyscraper versions of planned housing like Levittown. Most apartments are about 1000 square feet and are “rented” for 70 years for $1 million (or perhaps 1 million RMB or $167, 000). But in Shanghai and Xi’an there were a great deal of these half-constructed, barren, concrete blocks that had been abandoned. I wondered why and got shut down whenever I mentioned it (sometimes by Communist party members). It seemed to me like a five-year-plan gone bad and they were in stark contrast to the modern glass skyscrapers that flourished in the more commercial areas of town.
What also struck me was how well the Communists do big and public. The train station in Beijing, where we arrived via bullet train, was HUGE and very modern. It took at least 15 minutes of walking to get to the parking lot. Same thing with the airport there: immense but efficient, with trains that take you closer to your gates than at Chicago’s O’Hare. The National Museum was also enormous and very modern. There was a proscribed, secure approach that was set apart from the museum exits. The message seemed to be that the Communist party is large, modern and you are small and insignificant. This was similar to looming European cathedrals, but the motivation there was spiritual and religious. The motivation in China seems to be political control.
The same was true when we visited the tomb of Qinshihuang (aka Shi Huang Di) with the 8000 terracotta warriors. There was an approach through various paths in the woods, also about ½ mile in length, with the return stretching through modern plazas lined with souvenir shops. A good way to deal with crowds of up to 120,000 people on national holidays. (We were lucky; only 20,000 were expected the day we visited.)
I visited a few temples. Architecturally, these examples of Buddhism are interesting for how one is led through courtyard after courtyard, each with a temple or section thereof. It was like the designs for ancient Chinese homes, as well as the Forbidden City, but in miniature. There was a spiritual impulse here: seemingly diving more deeply inside yourself as you walk inward. There were a few people chanting or lighting incense, praying for blessings for one’s family. The Communist leader formerly mentioned took us to a Tibetan Buddhist temple, as he was a friend of the leading monk there, but he foreswore any religious leanings beyond the Communist party.
And for fear of being criticized for appearing to have too many dominant Western values, I will resist from critiquing Chinese bathroom facilities. Suffice it to say that Japan has bested China in this area completely.
I am posting this in hope of connecting with others who have similarly visited China lately. I am interested in your impressions and ideas….
Ping to chinaboy. Who, if I’m not mistaken, used to FReep from China before his move to the US.
A buddy of mine and his wife (who’s originally from Taiwan) went to China for their second (third?) tour.
This was about 18 months ago, I suppose.
The Chinese wouldn’t let my buddy in once they arrived in China because his passport was a few weeks from expiring.
They then booked another flight on to Taiwan (which was the second leg of their vacation). Probably paid an arm and a leg.
Check your passport expiration. Check the Chines rules.
Expat living in China here. Your observations mirror my own upon arriving here. After the horror stories we have always been fed about China, it was a pleasant surprise to get here and see... wow they have modern cars! Wow even Starbucks! To be sure, there are some backward things I have seen, and everything is a bit...different.
But China is refreshingly vibrant. I was not alive during the ‘50’s but the Pearl Delta area here has many of the same qualities I imagine existed in the US at that time: Everyone busy, always something being built, or torn down, or improved, lots and lots of activity. People have a spring in their step. There is a wonderful mix of shops, restaurants, overnight successes and failures. There are invariably head-scratching moments...and then there are the bathrooms, ahem...but I can’t really imagine being anywhere else right now. It is a country on the upward swing, while everywhere in the West is on the downward slope.
I recently read somewhere that if you were smart in 1810 you went to London. If you were smart in 1910 you went to New York. And in 2010 you went to Asia. It’s worth checking out, just leave the Eastern clichés at home and come with open eyes. I grew up hating Chinese food, pretty much assuming the Red Chinese were our mortal enemy, and it was honestly the last place on earth I ever wanted to visit. If the authentic Chinese food doesn’t hook you, the Asian women will (for the guys), or the business opportunities, or the sheer weirdness of it all.
The visa rules were incredible, and I had to get a second batch of photos taken because my ears were not showing. Video surveillance everywhere.
My first taste of party control. But the vibrancy noted in the other post was definitely true.
I can’t relate to the China you describe. My first time in China was 1983, and the last 1997. (I went to China 8 times, but returned from China 9 times. — figure that one out. and I was not born there.) I did study the language on two of the times I was there. Living with the people of China was a great experience.
I can’t imagine those busy city streets with all the cars!! It was something just with the bicycles! And horses — altho they were mostly on the city outskirts.
When I first went there, All I had was a walkie talkie sort of thingy that I recorded my thoughts on. People on the street were fascinated by it. I can’t relate to the China you describe.
But I hope the fascinating places like the Forbidden City in Beijing and other ‘old China’ in other cities remain and keep their meaning in history.
“I went to China 8 times, but returned from China 9 times”
The last time you left from Hong Kong after the lease ended?
Were you in hong kong in 1997?
or macau in 1999?
Still communist.
Now I go to Guangzhou for business all the time. The best part is the attitude of the younger people - they are what we were in the 50's, before we got really rich. Communism for China is more of a peasant management tactic than a guiding philosophy. They are like Singapore, now, in that they don't care how rich you get as long as you don't directly criticize the government. The US and Western Europe are going the other way - criticize the government if you want, but we're taking all of your income, anyway. :)
VERY good!! Smart FReepers! Most people can’t figure it out! What a night that was. Will never forget it!
HK or macau?
‘We did not land on China, China was landed on us’ - Malcolm eXit148 :)
Hong Kong. Fun night. Great fireworks! Do you know what the Chinese say when they see rockets exploding and spreading in the air in a spectacular display? “”Ooooh Ahhhhhh!!!!”” Just as we do! lol! I guess it is universal all over the world.
While traveling in the mid 90’s I met a sound engineer for swedish public radio with whom I kept in touch via email. She worked during the handover ceremonies in 1997. She too spoke of the incredible events she saw.
Sorry for replying you so late, yes you are right, I moved to California.
Any Freepers left in China? Have all your vpns crashed too?
I also speak pretty fluent Mandarin, and when I talked to people there it seemed that they were very reluctant to speak bluntly about Chinese-American relations. They also wanted to believe their leaders are doing what’s best for their country. But at the same time, as long as you are protected from any government surveillance (in a car, or in a restaurant private dining room) they are willing to speak freely. And listen freely.
The Chinese are happy about the progress they have made in the last 49 years, as they should be. They find it hard to understand that Americans believe this progress has somehow come at Americans’ expense. And like everyone in every place, if required to choose between their nation-state and some other nation-state, they will choose their own. Perhaps that is tragic, but it is what it is.
I had several conversations while I was there about why the American people and their government are so suspicious of China. They genuinely do not understand. I tried as best I could to explain why Trump and those who support him feel this way, but I don’t know if they really got it.
I commend your willingness to go there and check things out for yourself.
Last 49 years = last 40 years.
Are you in China now? VPNs seem to have crashed nationwide. I guess it’s because of the anniversary. Can’t even access support sites.
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