Life and Travel in China

Today, a few words about surveillance - when I walk the streets of Chinese cities and towns, I am aware that I am constantly being watched on cameras, and the system probably immediately displays my name, surname, passport number, whether I am staying legally, until when, etc. It is probably easy to tell at a given moment where I am, what I am doing, and who I am meeting. A Chinese friend recently got a little scared. She wanted to rent a city bike in Shenzhen, but there was a notebook and 200 RMB in cash in the handlebar compartment. She waited to see if someone would come back, she looked in the notebook to see if there was any contact or telephone number, but there was nothing. She took the notebook home. After a few hours, there was a call from the police, did she take the notebook? Of course, she confessed, but the phone call scared her a bit - maybe some scammers? Cheating on a policeman, and probably on a grandson, has also become popular in China. She called the police back, but everything was confirmed. The police knew who took the notebook simply from the camera footage, and they assigned the phone number to the person, and the person to the address, to the ID card, to basically everything. Simple, but still a little scary.

The important moment has come, for about two years I have been planning to rebuild fotochiny.com to make the website look better and, most importantly, to work on smartphones. Today it worked, I uploaded new files, new code, new CSS styles. Everything should work and I hope that the website will be revived and will regain its decent place in search engines. I will also try to add more photos.

Since China abolished visas for Polish citizens, we now have a whole army of traveler-Tiktokers who share their observations about Shenzhen (CyberPunk city, the city of the future, as they like to call it), Shanghai, Chongqing, Beijing and, less often, Guangzhou. It's a bit funny to me when people criticize China - they think that if something is not like in my country, it is bad. It's just a different culture, different behavior, but that doesn't mean it's bad behavior. People are often shocked by spitting in the streets, loud conversations or middle-aged men revealing their belly. It doesn't bother me - when it comes to spitting and wheezing, it's about 80% less than it was 15-20 years ago. More in the countryside, in small towns, older people have these habits. This is partly due to health and medical issues - they simply believe that all phlegm should be spit out because it is unhealthy for the body. Of course, within reason. Loud conversations - a big country, a lot of people and sometimes you have to shout over each other. But that has also changed a lot. Recently, it was us Poles who were silenced on the train from Guangzhou to Hong Kong. However, on the train in Jiangsu Province, people were quite noisy. Nevertheless, 15-20 years ago it was definitely too noisy. Guys with exposed belly - it's just hot. I don't like it, but I don't have to stare at them, they want to - let them walk like that, they are in their own country. Many Polish tiktokers-travellers are also shocked by the food: chicken feet, snakes, seafood, generally a lot of living creatures in shops, markets and restaurants. I'm already used to it. Sometimes I feel sorry for these creatures, but at least everything in China is fresh.

I have the impression that TikTok has become such a propaganda mouthpiece for the Chinese government. Many "useful..." people do not know China well and praise this country to the skies, compare China to the USA or Europe and spit on Western culture, how everything is ruined by migrants, drug addicts and people are afraid to leave home. Yes, China is safe, there are many advantages, but my experience in the Middle Kingdom (22 years now) shows that there is also a lot of injustice and absurdity there, I have already seen various situations and heard various stories. China on TikTok has become a utopia, an ideal country. Are you sure there is one? In my opinion - no. Foreigners are a bit exaggerated with admiration, and we also have profiles that seem to be working on behalf of the authorities. They publish various videos about new technologies, about wonderful solutions in China, about how the country is perfect and they don't even need the police there ;-). People, think a little, be objective, analyze the facts and don't believe in only one point of view.

Some say there are no more homeless or beggars in China, or they are in special centers. Don't be naive! Of course they are. Maybe just not in all districts, not at every turn, but they are there. A moment ago, the situation from the subway in Guangzhou: suddenly a man about 35 years old fell. He was conscious but looked very bad. It was hard for him to catch his breath. At first people moved away, but after a while two men helped him up and into a sitting position. He showed that he was thirsty, people gave him juice and water. Then he said something slurred. Maybe a little drunk, maybe some stimulants or just weak. Someone gave him some sweet rolls. After a while, another man took out RMB 15 in cash. I watched it a little further and after a while I noticed that this poor guy didn't even have shoes, only worn out flip-flops and old clothes. Fortunately, someone reported the whole situation and was approached by metro staff at the next station. So it is not the case that in the Middle Kingdom everyone lives in abundance and is overjoyed. Many people have different problems.