This was my first visit to China, if you do not count Hong Kong. Margit was in China in 1987, so she has some perspective on the changes in China. My observations on changes, though, have to be based on what I have read, and the small bit of China that we saw. That said, I am very impressed. (Incidentally, Margit was too.) This is a huge country that feels as if it is on the move, with a sense of great things yet to come. Before the economic liberalizations that came to China about 30 years ago, it was one of the poorest countries in the world. Fortunately, their leaders realized that communism was not working, and they were falling further behind the West. They looked around the neighborhood and noticed that capitalist countries such as Japan, Korea, and Taiwan were growing by leaps and bounds, and thus they made some changes.
I was expecting a developing country along the lines of Thailand, or Indonesia, with a bit of India thrown in. Those countries have some modern elements such as new cars, and some not-so-modern things such as donkey carts, and people carrying heavy loads on their back or head . You can find new, beautiful buildings, but often built to poor standards, as well as large areas seemingly unchanged by development over the centuries. Good roads can be found, but they may terminate in muddy, dirt paths. China, though they are now the world’s second largest economy, has a per capita income that still does not rank in the top 100. (Having 1.3 billion citizens can hide some deficiencies). What I saw of China, though, looked like a much more prosperous place than that. Much of their infrastructure is at least the match of much of the West’s. They have new highways that are smoothly paved, and with wide shoulders. They have also extensively landscaped along their roads, quite an oddity in our travels. Granted, some of the best of this was seen in Beijing, where the government spent a large sum of money beautifying the city for the last Olympics, but it was noted in Xian, as well. In addition, rather than a lot of small, cheap cars on the roads, as seen in Thailand, and especially India, the cars in China are new and comfortable, with a large number of upscale vehicles. (E.g. BMW, Lexus, and Mercedes.)
Beijing street scene near our hostel
They also have a large number of electric motorcycles on the roads; their government has made a commitment to moving to electric vehicles. I was especially impressed with their mass transit; modern, efficient, and clean. Their cities are full of buildings that would be the envy of many American cities; tall, with interesting architecture.
Beijing skyline
Beijing park
They still have a lot of issues with environmental degradation and product safety, but they seem to be making some progress. It will be fascinating to come and visit in another 10-20 years, though as much as I enjoyed China, I hope it is not that long before I am back. I just wish we had been able to stay longer and seen more.
Mitch
-5/17/11
long4adventure