Final Thoughts on my Visit to China

What do I make of my visit to China? I am glad that I made this trip and given the opportunity, I will visit China again. I only saw a little of China and it will be foolish to make some grand pronouncements about China. What I can share are a few observations based on my limited time there. These should not be taken as overarching notions of what China is or who the Chinese people are. These are one person’s observations and perhaps clouded by many factors.

On Food! Food is really cheap in China. I even ate at an all you can eat buffet in Guanzhou for 12 Yuan. Unbelievable! Yes, 12 Yuan. That is less than $2. As an American, I find this really cheap but that might still be expensive for some people in China. There are many people who are poor. However, food is so cheap that many can survive. One of the things I noticed is that most of the food tasted the same to me. I ordered dry fried tofu and fried potatoes at different occasions. Both the tofu and the potatoes tasted the same. It seemed like they had the same sauce and they just cooked everything in that sauce. Other meals I tried also tasted similar. It is hard to be vegan in China. Some of the restaurants I went to understood vegetarianism but not veganism. I had to specifically tell them no eggs, animal products, etc. One has to be careful because some of the meals are cooked in animal oil.

On transportation system! It is excellent. In America, we are far behind China in our transportation networks. Big beautiful airports, an excellent railway system and good roads (at least connecting the major cities.) Driving is terrible. Be careful so that you do not get hit by a car or a motorized bicycle. It seemed like no one paid attention to the traffic laws. If anything scared me throughout my visit, it was the fear that I will get hit, most especially in Beijing. Do not think because you have the right of way, it is okay. You always have to watch carefully. The trains are excellent and they are fast. I actually preferred them to flying. Yes, flying is faster but when you factor the inconveniences involved and the tight leg room in the economy class, you are better off flying. Prices for flights and trains are comparable.

On Air Pollution! I Can’t Breathe! That is how I felt throughout my time in China. The air quality was really bad. I was told it was actually better those days I was in Beijing. I am not sure how people survive under these conditions. An American I sat with on my return flight told me the air is so bad that some days he has has a lot of headaches and his throat is stuffed He lives in Beijing and he was returning to the states for a three months visit. He couldn’t wait to get better air in America. The smoking makes things worst too. Even public places where there are signs “Do not Smoke” are chocked with cigarette smoke. I found it difficult using restrooms at some of the railway stations or at some of the public places. I am allergic to the cigarette smoke and it seems like it was everywhere in China. That did not make my experience pleasant.

On security! I think the word ‘privacy’ is a mirage in China. It just seemed like everywhere you were, someone was monitoring you. There are CCTV cameras everywhere, even in hotel hallways. The police and the military were at every corner. I was shocked to see the military with their guns drawn at the Beijing West railway station. What I wasn’t sure of was if all of these are meant to make people feel secure or if the intention of the government is to quell descent. It is disconcerting how much privacy you loose just being in the country. You feel it!

On Internet and Cellphones! It seems everyone has a smart phone in China. People are always busy on these phones and not paying attention. You have to watch carefully because you might bump into people or they might bump into you. I wondered what they were doing on those phones. Perhaps the same thing we do on our smartphones in America! Texting, snapchats, Instagram, etc. No Facebook or Twitter in China. These are censored. There is a firewall that is used for censorship. I found that really frustrating. You cannot access any of the google services in China on wifi or using a Chinese SIM card. So, are some of the western news websites such as the New York Times, BBC, the Economist, etc. I quickly found out that the Chinese sim I bought was useless since most of my internet life revolves around google services. My Google news, Google photos, gmail, Google Voice, Google Search, etc. were not working on my China Unicom SIM card. I tried using a VPN service, Private Internet Services and that worked only for a few minutes before it was blocked. A Beijing resident I met on the plane told me that the VPN service that works very well for him is Express VPN. I wish I had that information earlier. I finally resorted to using my T-Mobile SIM card because it worked without the censorship even though very slow.

In all, the experience was worth the trip. If I get a free ticket, I will definitely return to China.