Posted by Beatriz

Thoughts on China


This trip to China has been a real eye opener. It isn't at all what we had imagined. In fact it's much better, well in general. I've been very pleased to see that the people of China have indeed entered the modern world. They seem to have the things they need. The stores are very well stocked with all kinds of merchandise, plenty of food and all the everyday necesities. There are literally thousands of enormous apartment buildings where we are told the workers live in one and two bedroom apartments. No need for more space since they only have one child per couple.
From what we have seen, the Chinese seem to be very loving parents, and many of them have expressed surprise and a bit of sadness when I mention that I now have 6 grandchildren. Chinese grandparents apparently can only hope for a maximum of 2, one on each side. But there are so, so many people, that I can't imagine what it would be like if they didn't have the one child policy.

It has also been a surprise to see that in an atheist society such as this one, many people still practice Buddahism. We actually visited a temple called the "Flower Pagoda" where people were burning incense and I guess were praying for "good luck and prosperity", which seem to be a bit of an obsession here in China.

On the other hand, yesterday we walked through what I call the real "China Town". Boy what an experience! It was a big long narrow street with all sorts of little shops on either side, with people selling whatever they could get their hands on. I can't even begin to describe it, so maybe you can get an idea from the photographs that will be posted. Suffice it to say that it not only tainted the good image that I had of this country, but it also ruined my supper!

Well, pictures speak louder than words, so if you look at them, you will see many beautiful and not so beautiful things in China, but if anyone asks me whether or not it was worth coming here, I would answer, "of course." It's always worth a trip to see how the rest of the world lives. The Chinese people are extremely friendly and curious about foreigners. They seem to be content with the way their country is developing, and are always comparing life today with what life was like 20 or 30 years ago in China. Of course I assume that we've seen the better side of China. Hopefully the other side isn't as bad as we think. But who knows, there so many people!!