Life and Travel in China

In Shenzhen, they are getting ready for the opening of the Universiade. The problem is that ordinary city residents will not have it easy. I won't mention additional checks at airports, train stations and even metro stations... the authorities have gone a step further. They asked (although the authorities do not ask, they rather order) that the residents of apartment blocks near the stadium where the opening event will be held move out of their apartments during the Universiade! Those who do not move out will receive 'protection'. A uniformed officer from China Security will sit with them in the apartment and make sure that they do not approach the windows, that they do not observe anyone through binoculars, that they do not shoot the VIPs with a sniper rifle. This is what I call effective prevention! In my opinion, it is a distance of about 1,500-2,000 meters, but the Chinese VIP stand will be directed towards these housing estates. The security will secure every window and check every apartment, amazing! And yet, according to the Chinese authorities, the people simply love them, idolize them, appreciate them, why would they harm the leaders of the communist party?

The Chinese authorities have decided to limit the number of loans and credits, and interest rates are also increasing. Maybe they are afraid that (like in the USA) too many people will live 'on credit'. They also introduced some changes regarding taxes on earnings. People who earn less than RMB 4,500 per month will not pay any tax on this amount. The reality is that life in both cities and towns is becoming more and more expensive. Not every average Chinese citizen is rich and life is becoming more and more difficult for many people, and many, trying to keep up appearances, live on loans and credits - both bank and private ones, and they incur debts among their friends and family.

After the train disaster in Wenzhou, one may wonder about the sense of functioning of high-speed railways. China's problem is that these trains basically run 'one after the other' at intervals of 10-15 minutes. The failure of one train causing a delay of several minutes immediately creates a huge risk of an accident. I have traveled on such trains myself, fortunately without any breakdowns, I also saw such a train passing the station at a speed of about 300-350 km/h and I admit that it is difficult to even imagine an accident. It is such a speed that there is no time to put the camera to your eye to capture such a fast train. However, the noise and gust of wind are similar to those when an airplane takes off. Can you imagine a disaster of two trains traveling at 350 km/h in opposite directions on the same track? I guess such situations don't happen, but in China anything is possible. The problem is that transport here has to be profitable. Tickets are not the cheapest, but of course, with this population of passengers, there is no shortage of passengers, trains run every 15-30 minutes, and the whole enterprise must bring profits. And in the Middle Kingdom, profits mean sacrifices, unfortunately! There, the value is always Yuan, not human life.

We often read about various forced displacements, protests in distant provinces of China, or even about throwing people out onto the streets and demolishing old settlements and villages to build factories, highways, dams or power plants. This is everyday life in China! Only now, however, have I encountered this problem more directly. Well, in a village in Hunan, the authorities are forcing people to build new houses (instead of the old ones). The land does not belong to them anyway, but to the Chinese authorities. In recent years, the village has grown, a new road was built, factories, a hotel and court buildings, and local government buildings appeared in the area (I wrote about it once). For example, my wife's uncle had to demolish his new house (2 floors) because it was too close to the road. He received some compensation, but I know how much work such construction requires. They do not build villas with a garden, they are rather simple houses made of red brick, not always even plastered. There is not much furniture inside, there are old tables and chairs. No one there has a home theater, a DVD player, or a leather corner sofa, and the living rooms resemble a threshing floor where even crops are dried. There was a fashion for building tall, multi-story houses to show which family had more money. Unfortunately, the burden of such home remodeling projects often falls on children who work in cities and send all the money to their parents. Old people are forced to build better houses because the local authorities apparently want to please the central authorities in Beijing and show them an extensive, prosperous village. Wasn't it similar in Mao's time when fertile fields around the route of the chairman's train were moved? In the Middle Kingdom, behind every success there is a larger or smaller human tragedy.

Shenzhen is currently experiencing the Universiade, but I see that in the world this event passes without much notice. Many foreigners come to the conclusion that the Chinese can organize such events, but they cannot enjoy them. The problem is that the Chinese authorities want to provide perfect security for all events, thus keeping the audience and ordinary onlookers at a distance. Roads, bridges and ground crossings are closed and thousands of kilometers of barriers are placed. Of course, the crowds are still trying to catch a glimpse of something, waiting for hours for, for example, a torchlight marathon or some VIP speeches. However, everything is 100% controlled. There is no question of spontaneous reactions of the audience or viewers. Many foreigners also feel changes during the Universiade period. Some people are already complaining that bars and nightclubs are to be closed before 2 a.m. In addition, some streets were completely closed to traffic, the airport was even closed for one day and, as usual, there are additional, scrupulous security checks everywhere. I wonder if there is more joy in such events or more difficulties and changes? From the point of view of people who come to Shenzhen for the Universiade, everything is probably well organized and secured, but the 'locals' do not have an easy life now, they have to make many sacrifices. And all this so that in a week the Chinese authorities can congratulate themselves on how well they did a job and once again delighted the whole world.