Life and Travel in China

Have I already written about my friend who got married, as it were, over the Internet? I guess so... let me just mention that she contacted her ex-boyfriend, a Chinese man, who is now in Canada, via the Internet. Her parents were pushing her to get married as soon as possible, this Chinese woman is 28 years old. Thus, they met in China and married during the Chinese New Year. I didn't predict anything good for such a relationship. He went back to Canada, she stayed here. They were supposed to meet in Canada now, but... it turns out they don't care about anything anymore. You'll probably think it's about separation, lack of understanding... but it turns out it's about money, or more precisely, an apartment. Her parents bought her an apartment - they paid the first installment, now she has to repay the loan. Her newlywed husband doesn't want to hear about it and is not interested in the apartment. She said she could give them to her parents to resell or rent. He just doesn't care! She was preparing a visa for Canada, and he asked her what her priorities were, what she was going to do here? After these questions, she didn't want to come to him anymore. In fact, when I saw photos from the wedding, the guy looks like a 16-year-old child, he is skinny and shorter than his wife. This Chinese woman also told us that her husband likes to sing, dress fashionably, and wears a face mask at night. My wife and I just looked at each other, a bit shocked. She's not perfect either, she's quite stubborn. It turned out that they were both selfish and wanted to live their own lives. The idea of marriage is the pressure of her parents, on his part it may be the age requirement that it is appropriate to have a wife. They have already decided to divorce, but he has to come to China and that will take time. Failure! I told her: so you only increased China's divorce statistics? Maybe quite bluntly, but what else did this marriage give them? They didn't even live together, they didn't talk much about or with each other. A total mistake - mostly her parents' fault. In China, millions of parents do the same - forced marriages, because it's time, because it's appropriate, because the daughter must have a rich husband, because the son should have a wife, because the daughter must move away...

Yesterday there were speculations or rumors about Smolarek. Apparently this player is looking for a job in a Chinese club! Oh God, why here?! The Chinese league is really poor, mediocre, boring, not very commercial, even the Chinese are not interested in domestic football. In fact, advertisements, leaflets and magazines do not even use the images of Chinese football players! They have no star, they don't stand out in anything, this league is mediocre and flat as the airport in Shenzhen. Even Japan or South Korea are a better destination for European footballers. It's sad to see. Apparently, only money rules this sport. Some Chinese businessman wants Smolarek as a mascot for his team and a Polish footballer will come. Let me remind you that Poles Olisadebe and Marek Zaj

Many people treat Hong Kong as a civilized, modern and cultural part of China. Hong Kong isn't that great after all! Certainly, during a few days' stay we will be delighted with this city, its atmosphere, views, skyscrapers and people. However, we should be aware that there are millions of people living there who often cheat others to earn money for a living. A year ago, a guide from Hong Kong shouted at a Chinese man from mainland China so much that he died of a heart attack. The point was that the Chinese didn't want to buy jewelry and the guide got a commission from it. In March this year, a guide from Hong Kong shouted at a group of Chinese tourists for not buying anything at a similar jewelry store. She got mad and said they were going back to the hotel and wouldn't have dinner tonight! Everything was recorded on a mobile phone and a scandal began at the Hong Kong Tourism Board. Of course, Hong Kong will clear itself of these accusations, as it is a very friendly city for tourists. The Chinese will not particularly protest and have no one to appeal to for such treatment. These are just two documented cases, but what about the rest? I suggest that individual tourists be careful when shopping, especially watch out for electronics stores along Nathan Road (Tsim Sha Tsui), Kowloon. There are many scammers out there. Their typical practice is to talk to the customer, take a lot of time, take some deposit, promise a great camera at a low price, which they will not actually sell. In the meantime, they can offer something different, something from two years ago that no one will buy anymore. They will advertise it as something new or some reliable model. At the end, when a customer doesn't like something, they will get offended or shout at the customer. They know that people from all over the world shop in their store and that they won't be coming back to Hong Kong any time soon - so they assume that it's worth deceiving them once and for all! Hong Kong is full of small and big tricksters!

Today, a Chinese woman told me that Poland is a nice country because it has never been involved in any wars. When I told her that World War II started in Poland, did it surprise her a bit?! I think she got confused with Switzerland. The Chinese woman considers herself a world-savvy person, she traveled a lot and had a boyfriend from Australia. She even told me that she had read a book about Hitler, I asked her - so you somehow skipped the chapter about Poland? Ha ha! Unfortunately, when it comes to the history and geography of Europe, the situation in China is poor. The situation is similar in our case in Asia - we do not know the history of China, the Opium Wars, the colonization of these areas, individual dynasties and civil wars. We usually only bark about Mao Tse-tung, and we don't really know anything about him either. Evidence: we are unaware that the Chinese value him mainly for regaining independence, ending the war with Japan and winning the civil war. Of course, the rest is censorship and propaganda, but there are certain historical facts that we ignore in Poland. Of course, I significantly expanded this knowledge while in China. Both from sources from the Middle Kingdom, as well as from the accounts of various people, from books bought in Poland, from information from the Internet, from friends' stories. Recently, a girl from Malaysia said that it is good to know different languages because you can not only read books by different publishers from different countries, but also get to know completely different points of view and perception of the world.

Today, a friend of mine told me that she signed up for a driving course. I asked what the cost was, it turns out it was quite high. 4,380 RMB, i.e. approximately PLN 2,000. For China, this is not small money! Consider also how they teach them! Zero common sense, zero rational thinking, zero safety, zero imagination. The cost of such training is not high, they drive regular VWs, fuel is practically half the price than in Poland, which means that driving schools are another great business! The Chinese are simply lining up en masse to get their driving license, and the dream of 99% of Chinese people is to have their own car, so this business is certainly not in danger. They earn good money, but they don't teach them anything, they cram 4-5 people in the car during the course, and recently I even saw an instructor who was maybe 25-28 years old, he has probably had a driving license for several years.