Life and Travel in China

In just a few hours, the Year of the Rabbit will begin in China. This year will be favorable for people of this sign, for example those born in 1975 and 1987. It means prosperity and happiness for them. Moreover, it will be a good year for the signs: dog, horse, monkey, rooster, pig. Overall, however, it won't be the best year. According to Chinese omens and prophecies, this will be a year of many natural disasters. According to Chinese beliefs, the rabbit likes to eat grass, so this means that a lot of grass and weeds will grow, which will result in a poorer harvest. There are five elements in the world: metal, wood, water, fire and earth. The Year of the Rabbit is associated with wood, but the world is now ruled by metal. This is a conflict in a sense, the universe will be unstable. This situation will also affect the economy and economy, nothing will be 100% certain. Although for businessmen it means new investments and the development of foreign trade, you need to be careful with fraudsters and thieves. You should also take care of your family, advice for spouses - it is better to avoid affairs, because they can destroy everything this year. Of course, this does not mean that it is worth cheating after the Year of the Rabbit! Nevertheless, I wish you a successful and happy Year of the Rabbit and I hope that the Chinese fortune tellers are wrong about the disasters, although a hurricane has already appeared in Australia.

Such "authorities" on China issues are appearing more and more often in Poland. These are young, ambitious people who became fascinated with China a few years ago and promoted themselves by presenting their opinions about the Middle Kingdom. Maybe I'm a little jealous, but I have the impression that such people have no right to present the image of China. What amazes me is that their statements are so confident, obvious and supported by evidence. Are people who have been to China five times in a few years an authority on China? Or people who worked there for several years visiting some factories - do they really know China? I have visited hundreds of factories, I have a Chinese family, I have been to ten different provinces, I even lived for a few days in a factory workers' hotel, I also lived in the countryside, and in total I have spent here almost eight years. And let me be honest - I don't know China well! I get to know them, I try to understand them, adapt them, find out more, teach them, but I would never push my opinion or point of view about China throughout Poland. China is a huge country and you have to approach it with humility and distance, you have to be mature about certain topics. At first I was delighted, but then I cooled down and started to understand this system better, and now I'm even starting to criticize it. I know Poles who have a similar approach, their reflections on the Middle Kingdom are very interesting, but they are not ambitious enough to take them to Wyborcza or Newsweek right away. Moreover, the media in Poland likes to stick to the established line of publications about China. A few years ago - a complete criticism of the vile communist China. Now there is some delight and admiration, but still distance and biting criticism. When we are ready to enter into a dialogue with China, show the facts and assess it all honestly, we will include several people with different views on China in the conversation. Now a few specialists have become prominent in Poland and I admit that these people irritate me. They want to be everywhere, either writing their own columns or giving interviews, they become China's alpha and omega. Just compare their columns with international publications that can be found on the Internet, such as National Geographic, Washington Post or the New York Times. Such publications really make you think and present an objective picture of the Middle Kingdom. However, the opinions of our specialists are like a preconceived concept that individual media must implement. And the presence of these people in the media is important for them - to conduct their own import and export business with China. Moreover, these are people who are related to someone or their families have contacts with publishers, publicists and journalists. These real China specialists tend to remain silent, because the terrible state of knowledge about China among the entire society means that their wise and valuable statements will not even be understandable to ordinary Poles. I do not blame our nation for this, but rather the journalists who have neglected the topic of China for years and only constantly criticized this country, presenting their opinions based on a two-week business stay in Shanghai and Hong Kong. Besides, someone was "inspired" by my column twice and wrote a similar one, and someone else used the subtitle of my website for his book. I also know someone else who, after a short stay in China, published an album of photos about the Middle Kingdom - it mainly covers one city! But what counts is contacts, arrangements and media pressure, ha ha! I don't care, I'm having fun creating this website and I appreciate all visitors, their opinions, ratings and comments. Thanks!

My wife and I recently observed such an intriguing scene. There is a typical housing estate near our estate where many taxi drivers live, there are also truck drivers and small delivery companies. There are always four middle-aged women sitting on the corner of one of these buildings. They have quite vulgar facial expressions and an aggressive manner. They dress not very fashionably, some black trousers, flat shoes, small jackets. They can stay there all day, sometimes two of them, sometimes three or four of them. Recently we understood why they were there. It turns out that they are pimps and they are keeping an eye on a certain girl who sells herself in a small apartment on the ground floor, exactly on the corner of the building where they hang out. When we passed this way one time, one of these women even stood to cover the window. Another time I saw this girl inside a shabby apartment. The girl was probably only in her underwear and sitting on a couch. My guess is that they offer services to various drivers in this area. Not very discreet, no privacy. The girl sits there like a sex slave while four pimps make money off her. I wouldn't count on any hygiene either, considering the fact that such truck drivers don't even wash themselves very often. Theoretically, according to the Chinese authorities, there is no prostitution and it is not a problem. The truth is, however, that more or less visible forms of prostitution appear in every city, town and even in the countryside.

Looking at China very generally, I have this terrifying impression that the future of the world belongs to them, to Asia. Why? Firstly, there are a lot of them - they outweigh all of us in population, and secondly, they work hard. Of course, a lot depends on efficiency and management, but they really work more and more efficiently and much longer than us. For them, 3 p.m. is only half of the working day, of course they start later, but they also 'enjoy' overtime. Here, it is actually appropriate to stay at work in the evening and at night. Some come home late, and many work and live in the same place. Instead of sitting with five colleagues in a factory room, it is better to work. Instead of sleeping in a cramped bed, it's better to sit on instant messenger in the office and talk to a client from Germany (time difference). They simply see their lives through the prism of work, it's either to be or not to be for them.

They will introduce a two-child policy in Guangdong province. Until now, it was possible to have one child, and two only if the parents were only children. In other areas, a second child is allowed if the first child is a girl. Now the rules are changing and they want to allow two children. I was recently in Guangzhou on Sunday, in the famous YueXiu Park. I must admit that there is no shortage of children there, literally crowds of them. It's hard to believe that one family has one child, because there are so many children. Of course, now many families have more children because they pay fines. Now there will be no fines, and the population will probably increase quickly. I have the impression that China really wants to conquer the world!