Life and Travel in China

I've always had a low opinion of Guangzhou, but that's changed a bit recently. It seems to me that Guangzhou has improved significantly a year ago - it was mainly due to the organization of the Asia Games 2010. Recently I was on the ShanXia Jiu promenade three times, they have renovated the tenement houses there very nicely, there are nice shops, quite decent clothing and very good prices. There are also nice Asian and European restaurants. In the evening, I took a taxi back to the hotel near the center - YueXiu Park. The city looked very nice - illuminated buildings, large restaurants, nice hotels, some bars, greenery along the roads. It even reminded me a bit of Shanghai. I admit that I once treated Guangzhou as the worst city - dirty, neglected, even stinking narrow streets. I only went there out of necessity and nothing ever impressed me to go back there or take a lot of photos. In addition to all this, there is terrible traffic and multi-story intersections. Of course, the entire city was not rebuilt, but it was presented and packaged better. It's mainly about greenery, lighting, diodes, restored colonial tenement houses, a nice embankment of the Pearl River and nice seafood restaurants. Guangzhou has its charm, but you need to know where to eat and where to shop!

I once mentioned a friend of mine who wanted to get married 'quickly'. She contacted her ex-boyfriend online and somehow they got engaged. He, a Chinese, lives temporarily in Canada. Just as quickly as they got married, they decided to divorce. Since he was abroad, it's not that easy to arrange a divorce remotely. But now everything worked out. They provided some statement confirmed by the Chinese Embassy in Canada. Of course, the statement itself didn't guarantee anything, but... the judge handling the case was some friend of this girl's friend. He confirmed with this guy over the phone that he wanted a divorce and arranged it for them. The divorce fee is 150 RMB, or about PLN 68. I was surprised that this official dealt with it at all, and over the phone?! Later it turned out that it was thanks to connections. And this is how it works in the Middle Kingdom - either bribes or deals. If a common man went to ask for a divorce and his other half wasn't even in China, I don't think anyone would care about it at all.

Currently, on April 3-5, the "grave cleaning festival", also called Qingming Festival, is taking place. This holiday is treated differently in different parts of China. Generally speaking, it is mainly about cleaning the graves of ancestors and bringing gifts. Especially in Guangdong Province, artificial money is very important, as well as paper cutouts of houses, cars and even servants. All these symbols should be burned, they are to ensure a prosperous life in the afterlife. Gifts of fruit and wine are also often brought. Depending on the religion, families pray for their loved ones or organize various rituals derived from local beliefs. This holiday varies greatly depending on the location. For example, in cities such as Shenzhen, where the majority of visitors are young people, no one engages in these rituals. People simply have a few days off, go to the park, go shopping, go to the seaside, fly kites carelessly... Graves and cemeteries are located far outside the city, so there is nothing to remind us of this holiday.

I wonder why highways and skyscrapers are being built so slowly in Poland (compared to China)? Are we short of finances? Are there not enough people to work? We don't have the technology? We don't have the desire or enthusiasm to work? I really don't know, but it amazes me how skyscrapers are growing in Chinese cities. They have really huge cranes, use traditional bamboo scaffolding, do not care about health and safety regulations, and often work without protection at heights of 200-400 meters. Why are they building so fast? Why are we so reluctant to do this? Maybe it's about the number of workers, lower salaries, lack of insurance and lack of occupational safety regulations, as well as slightly worse quality of finishes and certainly cheaper materials?! In addition, it is also about the support of the authorities, either central in Beijing or local. Money is certainly not a problem in China when it comes to investing in roads and city architecture. I'm a bit worried about the speed of construction and development. I heard that the Chinese are planning increasingly larger investments in Poland!

Some Poles, or even foreigners visiting China, often treat crowds of people and crowds on the streets as entertainment. When going shopping or to a crowded park on the weekend, it's nice to take photos and have thousands of Chinese people as a background. After all, you are in the Middle Kingdom - the most populous country (together with India). A few days of squeezing through the crowd doesn't bother anyone much, it's an attraction in Shanghai, Guangzhou, Hong Kong and Shenzhen. However, if we looked at it differently... if we lived here longer, for a year or two, or permanently. Such crowds are so tiring! It even comes to the point that it is better not to leave the house at all and to do shopping at certain hours. It is also not worth going to any city park on Saturday or Sunday, because you will be trampled! I found this out once again when I visited the famous park in Guangzhou - YueXiu.