Life and Travel in China

I was reading such interesting facts about the Middle Ages in Europe and came to the conclusion that in many aspects the Middle Ages are still going on in China. In the Middle Ages, babies did not wear clothes, in China they are often naked, or have the famous opening (without diapers) to do their business at any time. Recently, a woman even took such a child up and let him pee on a bucket - this happened in the hospital (as if there were no toilets there). I saw the same thing at the metro station, why go to the toilet when there is a garbage bin?! In the Middle Ages, beggars broke children's arms and legs, in China they still do it today, and several dozen years ago it was a standard procedure. The more deformed a person is, the more sympathy he should arouse and thus bring more profit from alms. In the Middle Ages, the most important thing was to survive the day, to eat, warm, sleep... such basic physiological needs. To this day, the most important thing for a Chinese person is lunch and dinner, and after dinner they can sleep well - even in the square, on the sidewalk, or on a park bench. In the Middle Ages, women were always condemned for witchcraft, betrayal, pregnancy... In China it is similar, unwanted pregnancy is a woman's problem, cheating on a woman is unacceptable, but a man can go to karaoke, get a massage and keep mistresses. In the Middle Ages, God was the most important thing, everything was subordinated to religion. In China, God or Buddha does not play such a role, but Chairman Mao is still a god. In the 20th century, everything was subordinated to communism and the party. In the Middle Ages, knowledge was even forbidden, until recently there were many illiterate people in China, and people still have a limited understanding of the world, mainly due to censorship of the media, books and films. It seems that I am simply observing and experiencing the Middle Ages of the 21st century!

Preparations for Expo 2010 are underway in Shanghai. Recently, I have been able to observe the changes firsthand. Near YuYuan (Huangpu), old tenement houses were demolished (I presented photos of these buildings) and new buildings in a similar style were built in the same place. In Pudong, new office buildings, roads and pedestrian bridges are being built near the tallest skyscrapers. There were also quite unusual buildings in the neoclassical style. They are currently renovating the Jade Buddha Temple (YuFo Si). A new bus station and a huge construction site are being built. The promenade has also been rebuilt and work is still ongoing on the main street, Zhongshan Lu (WaiTan). There is little time left, so the work continues day and night. I remember when my hometown of Wroc

The Chinese are increasingly neglecting their 'eating' habits. This usually applies to young, single Chinese people in big cities. Lunches and dinners are very important elements of life in China, this is due to their culture and history. It looks different in family homes, where at noon a big dinner is prepared consisting of at least 3-4 dishes (green vegetables, fish, meat, tofu, light soups). It is not a holiday - this is what a meal looks like in China. In large metropolises, the young generation is increasingly neglecting these customs. They don't have time or they can't cook anything healthy. They order meals from small restaurants or even stalls, the cost is about PLN 5-10. They eat dinner at KFC or McDonald's more and more often. All this, of course, affects the deterioration of health. We see more and more young, obese Chinese people. Some nouveau riche families cannot cook anything and rely on the housekeeper's skills or eat in restaurants. On weekends, hospitals are crowded with young people who are too busy to see a doctor during the week. Poor diet, stress, fatigue, constant overtime, lack of exercise - all this contributes to the deterioration of the health of young people in China. They deviate from the traditional lifestyle (healthy Chinese food, more exercise - kungfu, taiji, badminton) and are increasingly heading towards the West (fast food, coffee, cars, sitting in front of the TV). Maybe it's not that bad yet, but younger and younger generations are simply becoming more and more lazy and lethargic.

Coming back to the topic of food - while visiting a factory in Jiangsu some time ago, I saw an interesting scene. The workers were sitting next to a large grease-stained machine for processing metal molds and cooking soup. In this region of China, lunch is usually eaten very early, even at 11 o'clock. The workers had a portable gas stove, they sat in a circle and threw various delicacies into the hot brew. Really interesting scene! This situation reminds me again how important a meal is in the Middle Kingdom.

It's sad to see the whole world doing business with China, and Poles being able to sell almost nothing in the Middle Kingdom. In a large supermarket that offers various imported products, I found chocolate-covered cookies from Poland. It was one and only product from our country! The funniest thing is that the Polish product was imported via Taiwan. Because, of course, Poles cannot reach an agreement directly with the Chinese. After all, China is such a small market, only a billion people, why should we sell anything there?! Makes no sense, waste of time! And our government deals with Tibet, the Dalai Lama, human rights, boycotting the Olympics and the death penalty. And all other countries in the world are simply doing business here and are not interested in such 'humanitarian' topics. Supermarket shelves are packed with American juices, German cucumbers, French chocolates, Swiss cheeses, Spanish wines... astronomical prices! Of course, not everyone buys such products, but the Chinese are getting richer and can afford various delicacies from outside China. There are also more and more foreigners who buy such products every day. But of course we don't see this market!