Life and Travel in China

I like that traditional Chinese qipao dresses are slowly coming back into fashion. There are many such photos and outfits in my gallery. I have always been fascinated by shapely Chinese women in colorful, embroidered dresses. Motifs of dragons, phoenixes, floral motifs, well-selected color palettes, silky and airy fabrics or slightly heavier, more elegant dresses. A chain of stores from Shanghai selling such clothes has expanded its operations and they are available in many large cities in the Middle Kingdom. Moreover, in places that are tourist attractions you can rent such outfits, arrange makeup and a photographer. Many girls already have albums with such photos. I also have some new photography topics and I will be presenting them soon. Unfortunately, there is not enough time for everything, because the website should be changed and adapted to mobile devices. I keep this in mind and as soon as I have a few dozen free hours, I will work on new code.

I'm starting to really feel sorry for the Chinese students. The holidays are only now starting in the Middle Kingdom, but is it a break from studying for them? It just isn't. My friend's son has extra math lessons throughout the summer, every day. Her niece will have additional online lessons for about 3 hours a day. Moreover, they have 4 books to read during the holidays! They should also practice Chinese spelling every day. Would you like such a holiday? Is this a break for young people?

I met a tiktoker in China not too long ago. Although maybe we should say "wechaterka"? In the Middle Kingdom, TikTok is very popular, but many people also share companies on Wechat. Of course, millions of young people record films, it is not easy to stand out and stand out. The young Chinese student spoke excellent English. As it turned out, she liked this language since childhood, she watched English films, later she read English-language magazines, books, etc. She recorded in Chinese, but when she saw me with her friend, she invited us to her live recording. Of course, she had a tripod, a lamp (she was recording in the evening), and she chose a nice place with a beautiful illuminated fountain in the background near the Guangzhou East railway station. Next to her with similar equipment is her friend, dressed in the style of Japanese anime heroines, appropriate costume, makeup, styled hair, probably even some lenses on her eyes - something like cat eyes. A girl who spoke excellent English interviewed us live about Poland, our language, Polish girls. It was funny and interesting, an unplanned clash of two cultures. Unfortunately, despite the promise, the young artist did not send us this recording, so I have nothing to boast about :-(, but our interview is probably circulating somewhere on the Chinese Internet. After this meeting, however, I realized that more and more young people speak English well. In the past, in the years 2003-2010, speaking English on the street in a Chinese city or town was rare. It was impossible to communicate in offices, banks, shops, in a taxi, on a train. Now even cashiers they know some basic English. Foreigners in larger cities will find someone who will communicate with them, explain to them how to get somewhere, where to buy tickets, etc. A lot has changed in this matter.

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.