Life and Travel in China

A Chinese friend is spending her vacation at the Hyatt hotel in Sanya (Hainan Island). She showed us a few photos and we asked (a little perversely, because we know the answer) - why isn't anyone swimming in the sea? In general, the Chinese are afraid of getting a tan, they avoid the sun, and it is difficult to swim with an umbrella. Besides, the sea and the waves - they seem to be a bit frightening, many people there cannot swim at all. I sometimes saw grown men with inflatable rings?! I remember when we were there many years ago, most people were just walking on the beach with umbrellas. Of course, it wasn't raining, they were just protecting themselves from the sun's rays. We swam and the water was great, not too warm, not cool, and the waves were medium-sized. Perfect conditions! If we had this in the Baltic Sea, no one would even get out of the water. Coming back to our question - my friend replied that they don't swim in the sea due to COVID-19 restrictions?! What?! After a while, she added: the hotel has a nice swimming pool and a water park, a lot of people swim there. Ha ha ha! So in sea water, which generally ebbs and flows, there is a lot of space, the beach, the wind - there you can get infected with coronavirus. However, in standing water in a swimming pool, in a crowd of people, we will not get infected with such a virus ;-). Interesting theory.

I sometimes wrote about real estate prices in China. It was quite understandable to me that new apartments in large cities cost more and more - even PLN 15-20 thousand per 1 m2. Of course, there are also much more expensive apartment buildings, gated communities with swimming pools, etc. However, I was surprised when I was in JiaXing, a smaller town in Zhejiang province. Apartments there have become significantly more expensive, but shockingly, so have those in rather dingy housing estates. You can imagine staircases black and gray with dirt, hanging bundles of cables and wires at the entrance gates, no elevators, wooden stairs, no parking spaces and general mess around. Even such apartments cost PLN 5,000-7,000 per 1 m2. However, people often decide to make such a purchase because, as you know, in China, the place of residence is important. This facilitates children's access to kindergartens, schools, health care, official matters, etc.

Do you remember the concept of "barefoot doctors" from China? In the 1960s in the Middle Kingdom, selected farmers underwent medical courses lasting several months. The aim of these courses was to create medical points in every village. China is a large country, and after the war, access to medical care was very limited, in fact only in cities and towns there was any real health care. The rural population was treated by local healers or with home remedies; of course, the mortality rate was high (another reason was, of course, hunger and experiments with agriculture). The authorities decided to train more people to help ordinary farmers and workers. Of course, it ended differently, although in some cases some help was better than no help at all. The system of "barefoot doctors" ceased to exist only in the 1980s. Although in many villages there are still doctors or better educated doctors who continue the traditions of their parents or grandparents. I had the opportunity to visit such a doctor myself and I am still alive ;-). Looking at the current situation with the coronavirus in Poland, I am afraid that our authorities will soon introduce medical courses. There is already a shortage of doctors, nurses, anesthesiologists, people to operate respirators and rescuers. They are forced to work, they are looking for medical students, and soon maybe they will introduce courses for "barefoot doctors"?! I hope not... but it looks bad. Our government lacks consistent action and a proper plan. It's all catch-up, we are always a few steps behind the coronavirus - and we should be ahead of it. In China, it is easier because there is no discussion with the authorities, no refusals or protests are allowed. This is a topic for a longer column.

In Poland, we have a partial lockdown and walks wearing masks, and at the same time, a marathon with thousands of participants was organized in Guangzhou. Of course, without any obligation to wear masks. Either the Middle Kingdom is really doing great with this virus, or we don't know something?!

Looking at the situation in Hong Kong, media information, but also some news from friends - it's hard to believe that the takeover of Hong Kong by China happened so accidentally. All this had been planned for many years, and the Chinese government violated the arrangements of 1997, because for 50 years, until 2047, Hong Kong was to be independent from the government in Beijing: "one country, two systems". When I think about all the infrastructure in Shenzhen, the way the subway is set up, the border crossings with Hong Kong, the roads, the tunnels, the new bridges - you can come to the conclusion that all this was created to connect with Hong Kong. In the years 2010-2015, the border was more liberal, many people from mainland China (especially from Shenzhen) increasingly lived in Hong Kong, stayed in hotels, went shopping, set up companies/branches/offices, bought many branded goods: watches, gold, clothing, handbags, perfumes, and sent their children to international schools and kindergartens in Hong Kong. Hong Kong residents even organized protests against the Chinese from Shenzhen, who were simply behaving loudly and not very politely in Hong Kong. They needed their money, but they were irritated by the way their "neighbors" behaved. Later, protests in Hong Kong, restrictions on freedoms, changes in law, a new police chief, etc. Very quickly, Hong Kong was transformed by the communist authorities... it's a pity. Many people will emigrate and Hong Kong will lose its charm, a city of freedom, democracy, a city of many cultures. It certainly wasn't a perfect city-state, but it still seemed like justice mattered there. It will be different now. I wonder how this will affect trade, exports and international cooperation?