Life and Travel in China

Today is New Year's Eve, tomorrow, according to the lunar calendar, the year of the rat begins. Let me remind you that for the Chinese it is something like our Christmas. The holiday involves meeting the closest family, preparing special food (different dishes for different regions of China), waiting for the new year together and keeping vigil all night long. Tomorrow, Chinese people give each other red envelopes with money as a gift and best wishes. The rules of giving are different, elders give them to children, adult grandchildren give them to their grandparents, married couples give envelopes to single men and women. Basically, there are no big parties like we have on New Year's Eve. So - I WISH YOU ALL A HAPPY NEW YEAR OF THE RAT!!!

Internet users often look for information about salaries in China... maybe this information will also be useful. A beginner waitress in one of the best 5* hotels in Shenzhen earns 600 RMB per month (PLN 200). Of course, the hotel provides them with food and accommodation. Now you probably know why every restaurant has several waitresses at each table. This is an example of the lowest possible salary, I'm guessing that this girl is just training, in the future she may earn 1000-1500 RMB.

Two days ago, while riding a taxi in Shanghai, I admitted that I was from Poland. The taxi driver immediately asked me about someone named 'Jaluzelskii'. It sounded quite strange, but after a while we realized that it was obviously about Jaruzelski. Apparently the last 'news' he read about our beautiful country was from 30 years ago. Congratulate your memory and knowledge. The taxi driver asked me if Jaruzelski was in prison. I didn't understand him, but he showed me the gesture of cuffed hands. He was surprised that Jaruzelski was not arrested.

On Sunday, I had the opportunity to participate in an event called SHENZHEN POLICE OPEN DAY. At the headquarters we could see equipment, uniforms, vehicles, even a helicopter. And what equipment is this! What a command center! The Polish police can dream of this. We could photograph every policeman, which is usually impossible on the street. A man from special forces even let us hold his sniper rifle for a photo. We wanted to stage my arrest, but the policeman refused because it was 'politically incorrect', as he explained. Actually, he was right, after all, such a photo can be used to write nonsense about China, that they arrested a foreign journalist, etc. In general, I got to know the police from a different perspective, I usually associated them with ruthless uniformed officers with racist views. Now I look at it differently, everyone was really nice and willing to pose for photos. And what cool performances they prepared... I will of course add the photos to the gallery.

Today the weather was beautiful, blue sky, the smog wasn't too bothersome, so I rode my bike to the center to take some photos from the two bridges in Luohu. How surprised I was, because there is no prostitution in China! NO, NOT AT ALL! There are only karaoke and massage parlors. But imagine four girls standing on this bridge at high noon. Later there were probably nine of them on both sides of the bridge. Maybe I'm wrong, but what are these girls doing there, young (although very ugly and fat), with only a phone and some cosmetic bag in their hands, short skirts or shorts, standing on the bridge, just waiting and answering calls. Two guys were standing nearby, probably their guardians. The area is interesting because there are mainly furniture warehouses, shops and wholesalers. There are probably many drivers waiting there for goods and unloading, and such friends make their time more pleasant. So I found the equivalent of our highway ladies. I was surprised because the police have recently been fighting against this open form of pimping, but there are areas (like this one) where dirty businesses flourish.