Life and Travel in China

Attention, today two words (actually a dozen or so sentences) about politics. I don't know if there is such a thing as political sensitivity, but I'll try to call it that. There's a new president in the United States; and now Donald Trump says that he would need Greenland, ok. He also says that he needs the Panama Canal (maybe he should call it the American Canal), ok. He is just changing the name of the Gulf of Mexico to... you already know for sure. In general, everything is OK. No country is offended, angry, convening an urgent meeting, concentrating troops, no one is threatening it, and even if it is, there is no mention of it in the media. So there is not much sensitivity here, it doesn't irritate anyone (probably only some residents of Greenland, Panamanians and Mexicans). Now imagine a different situation: President Xi Jinping explicitly says that he will occupy the Panama Canal. He says that from a strategic point of view he needs the Philippines or Vietnam. And the Sea of Japan decides to name the North China Sea. Can you imagine what kind of media campaign against China would be like? Here, the sensitivity to such words would be enormous. The Americans would send their aircraft carriers there soon. The UN would convene an urgent meeting to discuss the risk of global war and the unjustified claims of the Middle Kingdom! So, either Americans are allowed to do more, or Donald Trump is not taken very seriously. Still... kind of weird.

As you probably know, January 29 marked the beginning of the Year of the Snake in the Middle Kingdom. This is a period when everyone, literally EVERY Chinese person has time off. There are not many holidays in China, "summer" trips abroad, family trips or holidays at the seaside are not practiced. If anything, children go with their grandparents or on their own, with their peers, to summer camps. Although it is often the case that children simply study during the holidays. They go to various extra-curricular activities, some courses, they read a lot, etc. Coming back to the New Year holidays - many families spend them at home, but more and more people travel. I actually feel sorry for them on such trips. Crowds everywhere, queues everywhere, crowded, noisy, blocked highways... but the people of China are basically used to it. They stand in queues, in traffic jams, they are patient, they rarely get angry. We, foreigners, look at all this with disbelief, we are shocked - how can this be tolerated, how can one rest like this? It's like living in a large group, there's always someone around us, there's always someone in our private comfort zone. They just grew up like that - in schools, kindergartens. Always a large group. Nevertheless, I feel sorry for people who spend half or more of their holidays in queues during the holidays. Here it is not even possible to divide the dates, like we divide winter holidays. We have one set date when it's the new year and that's it.

There's a lot of confusion right now about DeepSeek artificial intelligence. If I know life, and I already know life a little, DeepSeek will first be a curiosity, then it will become common, and finally it will be a virtual evil from China! Of course, I am not talking about the advantages of artificial intelligence, development, new opportunities and technological progress, but about political issues. All the values and advantages of this "device" will be covered by issues of human rights, the rule of law, false facts, changing history, etc. Western media may in a few months, maybe in a few years, will pay attention to the fact that DeepSeek presents views that are consistent with the line of the Chinese Communist Party, or that it manipulates and influences people's views. We know how Americans look at it. The Western world wants to influence in its own way, so this is just another chapter in the fight between two superpowers.

As you know, there is not much politics on this website, but I think I now know why Trump wants to reach an agreement with Putin so quickly on peace in Ukraine. The closer Russia gets to China, the worse it will be for the US. Two powers such as the Middle Kingdom and Russia, additionally supported by much of Africa and some Arab countries, would be a superpower. A huge threat to the US. So if the United States is to sacrifice Ukraine and most EU countries, they will do so. They cannot allow cooperation, trade and technology exchange between China and Russia to continue. This is visible even on the streets in China - Russian shops, Russian tourists, many Russian traders at the Canton Fair, crowds of Russians in Sanya. Americans need to break these ties a bit or at least loosen them.

However, the Chinese are a resourceful nation, very resourceful. Donald Trump is introducing higher tariffs on products from China, but... many Chinese companies already produce in the United States. I personally know a trading company that exports dietary supplements and pharmaceutical machinery. This friend has been living in Canada for a year. He involved his brother in preparing the factory in Seattle. Of course, they brought Chinese machines, Chinese engineers and managers to the factory. They will produce their own products and tariffs do not apply to them. Another friend of my wife sells mainly household appliances to the USA. Theoretically, the new tariffs threaten her company. That is why she started cooperation with a Malaysian trading company that will export goods to the USA on her behalf. Of course, at different customs duties. Resourcefulness!