Life and Travel in China

Today we went to the open-air museum for a walk and took some photos. Of course, it's Christmas in China, so there are crowds of people there. At one of the stalls, whose owners already knew us by sight, we asked about the fan. Original price 68 RMB (for suckers), we of course with a discount of 35 RMB. My wife (Chinese) says we bought one for 25 RMB, but the woman insisted and wants 35 RMB. After watching it for a while, my wife says it's ok because she wants it for herself for photos. The saleswoman replies: "For you, it's 20 RMB!" For Chinese it's cheaper, for white people it's 15 RMB more for the skin color, an additional fee for the visa.

From the series DID YOU KNOW THAT... housing loans in China have an interest rate of 60% to 70%? So, if you borrow 1,000,000 RMB for 20 years, you must pay back 1,700,000 RMB to the bank. And that's why the Chinese economy is growing so much. Who in Poland would take out such a loan? NOBODY! And in China there are thousands of people who buy apartments, cars, start companies this way and imagine that in many cases they can afford such a loan. Isn't this a rich country? It definitely is!

From the series: DID YOU KNOW THAT... in China, gifts with tags and prices are given! If the price were removed or blurred, it would mean that the gift is too cheap or poor and I am ashamed to admit it. I don't know if anyone practices marking up higher prices, but I don't think I've ever encountered it. The Chinese like not only to see the gift itself, but also to know its value and show their double joy.

Our friend is hiding in a factory, in a company where she works in the sales department. He doesn't live at home, why? She is pregnant with her second child, and of course if the authorities found out about it, they would force her to have an abortion. She wants to have a child, legally she would have to pay 160,000 RMB for the second child (such a financial penalty). Currently, she will wait until the child is born and register her in the countryside, outside her place of residence. We also know a more drastic case. Another girl was forced to abort her baby a week before it was born.

I met some old American guy at the airport in Ningbo. He started telling something about 20 years ago when he was in Poland, that he traded steel, and that he lived in Shanghai for 6 years. He confided that he once had a Chinese wife (probably 40 years younger than him). Supposedly, she took over his business, took the car he registered in her name and went to the US on a visa she got thanks to him, setting up a competing company. A typical example of love for money. But looking at it objectively, this guy probably couldn't have counted on a better ending. He was really fat, dirty and old, and instead of marrying a young and smart Chinese woman for the third time, he could have stayed alone or gotten involved with an older woman who didn't care about his wallet. There are thousands of such relationships, I also know a Chinese woman in Shenzhen who is supported by her old American fiancé. And she's having fun here and playing with his money on the Chinese stock exchange. Some guys are losers, they buy temporary love and are fooled by cute Asian girls at the end.