Life and Travel in China

There used to be wristbands, tattoos, then electronic wristbands - now all you need is a smartphone and you can track/recognize a prisoner. This is how the system works in China. It can be described as modern totalitarianism with an apparent smile. People use new technologies, they have so many applications, maps, locations, restaurant reviews, taxis, payments, loyalty cards, tickets, entry passes, just everything. In the midst of all this is the Covid infection app. A friend visited a friend. It turned out that a Covid case was detected about 5 km from my friend's apartment. Thus, our friend's status was changed from green to yellow, which means tests and suspicion of coronavirus. People in China are fed up with this, and they have endured the most. They are taught to obey the authorities and have been taught this since kindergarten. I wrote about it several times. It is true that in the Middle Kingdom there was a revolution or uprising every 100 years, but probably not this time. This time, the authorities have really solid weapons to fight disobedient citizens. The most tragic and ironic thing is that this tool is a smartphone that everyone voluntarily carries with them. Few people wear them out of necessity, because without it there is no Covid application, without it you can't buy a train or plane ticket. As a form of rebellion, you can simply stay in the apartment (your smartphone will be there too).

Since the beginning of December, Chinese authorities have lifted restrictions related to Covid-19. It would seem that the Chinese would run into the streets and throw away masks, but it is the opposite. After such a long isolation, many infections are now occurring and the Chinese public is terrified. Of course, there are groups of people who are fed up with restrictions and are happy with the changes. However, most of my friends approach the matter differently. They don't even send their children to school. They know many people who are already infected and have a high temperature. They avoid contact with others. They limit exits to a minimum, the streets are still empty. I guess that after such a long isolation, not only Covid is raging there now, but also ordinary flu and other upper respiratory tract infections. There are a lot of people there, residential skyscrapers usually have 30-50 floors (so how many people use one elevator, for example). Even if these outings are limited to a minimum, many people still come into contact with each other in the subway, on buses, in taxis, on the border with Hong Kong, etc. Apparently, many Chinese are already in hospitals. It seemed that this would be the end of tests, vaccinations, quarantines, movement restrictions, etc. Not much has changed, except maybe mandatory tests. The only difference is that previously the authorities imposed restrictions, and now citizens, fearing the pandemic, impose them on themselves.

There is a lot being written in the Polish press about China's demographic problem. There is a shortage of children, the one-child policy has taken revenge. There will be a shortage of workers and the number of older people will increase. However, two practical issues are overlooked. 1. Not every family followed the one-child policy. There were many unregistered children. Sometimes local officials were bribed and registered a newborn child, which in theory was illegal. It sounds strange, but it was true. 2. Older people are not subject to any compulsory pension or insurance system. Therefore, it will not be the state that will support these elderly people, but their own children and grandchildren. Many people can afford it, especially since life in the countryside is relatively cheap. Many people also bring their grandparents to big cities. They take care of them, and in return the grandparents spend time with their grandchildren. Moreover, "retirees" in China are quite active: dance groups in parks, walks, meetings, music bands, and in the countryside there is some gambling - mahjong and cards. You will probably say that older people will burden the health care system - well, neither do they. If it is not paid in advance, no one in the Middle Kingdom is treated on credit. Sad, but this is the reality and I have mentioned it several times. My mother-in-laws have pensions, but it is thanks to contributions paid by my wife and her brother. What's funny is that they weren't even big contributions. This system was dependent on location and type of work. My wife's grandparents and parents were treated as pioneers who developed uninhabited areas, hence the pension privilege. This system is quite complex. It is certainly not as burdensome for the Chinese budget as ZUS in Poland. Our contributions are constantly increasing and we are constantly talking about low pensions. We have something to worry about in "our backyard". We really don't have to worry that much about China's demographics.

I must admit that life for foreigners in China is much easier now. I remember when in 2004-2010 I had to go somewhere on business - I showed up at the bus or train station earlier to buy a traditional ticket. Of course, the ladies at the counters didn't speak a word of English. The worst were the announcements from the loudspeakers, only in Chinese, and I didn't understand much of it at the time. Additionally, I had to write down the name of the town in Chinese and make sure three times that I had the right ticket and was boarding the right bus/train. Of course, it was easier with airplanes, because there were pinyin subtitles. Although the situation with voice messages in English was different. Currently, all these tickets can be purchased in smartphone applications. There was a time when you had to look for a taxi, and in the evenings in cities such as Shenzhen, Guangzhou or Shanghai, it was not easy. Nowadays, there are uber-like apps. We have easy access to various maps and online addresses. There are also subway maps, information on displays, various English-language vending machines and announcements in English, Chinese and Cantonese (in Shenzhen). I was always nervous when going to a smaller town, because how was I supposed to know that I had already reached it? Sometimes the journey was supposed to take two hours but ended up taking three hours due to traffic jams or an accident. Fortunately, most drivers shouted the name of the city or stop. Problems arose when there were several stops in one city. People used traditional cell phones back then, there was no email contact, no WeChat, Whatsapp, maps, etc. You may laugh now, but I sometimes used a compass! It even came in handy in Bangkok, I determined the correct azimuth and told my wife we were going in the right direction. I just wasn't sure about the distance, so we ended up taking a taxi. The taxi driver apologized to us because it turned out that he had taken us 200 meters. Nowadays, people rely on technology, back then we had to rely on our senses, sense of direction or compass. The only map I had was the one printed or saved from the computer screen. It also had its charm, because sometimes you discovered something new, interesting places, different shops. It happened that you had to ask someone for directions and started a short conversation. Those were different times, not so distant, but a lot had changed.

It may have changed now, but a few years ago I often heard that in the Middle Kingdom you worked for a bowl of rice. Objectively speaking, salaries are similar to those in Poland, and in China, often even higher for similar positions. Moreover, in China there are no such tax burdens or social security contributions. Additionally, in many industries, employees receive accommodation and food. Today, however, I wanted to "brag" about my Chinese pension. My wife's high school teacher in Hunan province, who retired at the age of about 50, receives a monthly pension of RMB 8,000 (PLN 4,800). I will also mention that the job of a Chinese teacher is well paid, and in addition, in medium and large cities, teachers earn hundreds of thousands of yuan from tutoring. A person who deals with finishing apartments in Zhejiang Province told me that teachers are currently his best customers. They spend millions on new apartments and millions on marble finishes and roco-coco style furniture. It really wouldn't bother me if in Poland the work of teachers was truly appreciated and respected. It would be great if we had committed, ambitious teachers who would teach with passion and earn well from this work. We can only dream about it.