What do people in China do with a day off?
Many older people do what they've done for years - head to the park (at dawn) to exercise or sing. I once joined a group of people in a Beijing park on a freezing morning as they happily belted their way through a bunch of folk songs.
Others play badminton and ping-pong in local gyms, where normal barriers tend to come down (I once interviewed a senior Chinese official at his ping-pong club - I'm sure he would never have agreed to speak to me had I applied for an interview through his office).
And, then there's clubbing and dancing. Despite the controversy over the latest Guns N' Roses album Chinese Democracy, I can assure you that - from personal research - Chinese men and women are more than happy to dance to old Guns N' Roses records when the DJ plays them.
More and more people here have money. So, those who can afford it often go for a day trip to the coast. On Saturday, a colleague and I went to the coastal city of Tianjin to join others in looking round a military theme park (more fun than it sounds).
We went by train from Beijing South station. Return tickets cost 116rmb ($17) each. The train left dead on time from a sparkling platform (workers were polishing it right up to the moment the train left).
Our ticket included a free bottle of water - handed out by smartly dressed stewards on board the train (the Chinese man sitting next to me didn't need one - he had a gigantic jam jar full of tea from which he sipped enthusiastically every five seconds during the journey).
The train's speed was displayed on a digital screen in the carriage (nerd that I am, I noted that it reached 330km/h - which makes it faster than the London-Paris Eurostar.) After 30 minutes, we got to Tianjin.
We then took a taxi to the theme park. Many cabs in China are built on the inside like rally cars - with a cage round the driver's seat to protect the driver from rowdy passengers. So, if you're sitting in the back your legs tend to get crushed by the metal bars of the driver's cage.
The central attraction at the Binhai military theme park is an old Soviet aircraft carrier - the Kiev (China doesn't yet have any aircraft carriers of its own). Tickets cost 110rmb ($16) each - a pretty hefty price, which is more than many can afford. I was the only Western visitor - everyone else was Chinese.
On board, there were a number of young guides with megaphones ready to take visitors round the ship. Each of the four decks had an obligatory refreshment stand. Wherever you go in China, all stands seem to sell the same thing - instant noodles, hot dog sausages, packets of dry biscuits.
The aircraft carrier was preserved as an old Soviet relic - it still had pictures of Lenin and even Putin on the walls. On deck, all the tourists were keen to take pictures of each other standing in front of the old warplanes.
Nearby, there was a building which advertised paintballing. Four life-size models of warlike soldiers were posted outside the front door (curiously, the models each had Western faces). Next door there was a restaurant built around what looked like an old tank. Alas, you couldn't take it for a drive.
For the first time, a generation in China has grown up with both money and free time. In a few years time, it's possible that China's middle class will be the largest in the world. How these millions of people spend their time and their money may help to determine how the rest of us live.
I’m 
© MMIX~RS~q~RS~~RS~z~RS~19~RS~)
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"...(curiously, the models each had Western faces). " Western faces? What's that Newspeak for? Can't call a spade 'a spade' anymore? Do the Chinese have 'Eastern' faces?
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Hope you enjoyed the weekend =].
Don't worry about the western face model about the paintballs, I guess it's just because those images are easier to find on the internet thus easier to be made as advertising images =p.
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Nice article James. Painted a vivid picture of a great day out and great value too! The sort of day it's difficult to have in England unless you want to walk to a museum.
I'll check back and see how many of the regular loonies have managed to infer some cryptic denigration of Chinese society in your message.
And PJAllen7, what exactly is the "spadely" term for a "western face"?
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Enjoy your trip~
I am a chinese student in UK. And it could be a really enjoyable and exciting exploration when you get inspired in China. I couldn't be more enjoying my life when I grew up.Admittly, I am from a good family which is earning more than the average income of chinese families.But anyway, you can definitly find a way to get rich and simply living a high standard life like here in UK. Chances is everywhere in nowaday China. It is fair for every one,althongh we are living in a culture not every outsider can understand and roll the game properly like us.
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Give James some culture background. If you live in China long enough, speaking Chinese, making friends with local chinese, after a while, people there will call you chinese.
Chinese is a collective word for all people living in China, including Chinese han, chinese muslim, chinese korean, chinese mogolian, chinese tibetan, chinese qiang, etc... 56 nationalities.
With more and more westerner living in China nowadays, there would have a new nationality in the future: chinese westerner.
Just like British in the UK includes British English, British scottish, british welsh, british asian, british chinese, ...
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What I love the most from China is the park. Young and old, rich and poor, officials and peasants, they're all gathering there to socialize and to exercise. What a great atmosphere.
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"Nearby, there was a building which advertised paintballing. Four life-size models of warlike soldiers were posted outside the front door (curiously, the models each had Western faces)."
Ha, there are 56 official ethnic groups in PRC and the country is supposed to be multiracial. Perhaps they wanna play PC and try to put people of various ethnicities on posters/ads/commercials like what US/UK governments/companies do.
Not sure whether the stereotyped "Westerners" (whatever this means) count as one of these ethnic groups, but they are pushing this so far that you can only see "Westerners" starred in some TV commercials (I've seen many in Hong Kong selling "luxury" apartment blocks).
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Your post should read 'What do people do in Beijing with a day off '? In Yunnan your report would be different.
China is big. Beijing, Shanghai based commentators and correspondents too often lead their readers and listeners to believe that what is true of the developed coastal regions represent this continental sized country.
Not many people in Guizhou, Xinjiang, and Yunnan who spend a day at the seaside - even if they could afford it. But, interesting observations anyway. It's always good to know how the other half lives.
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I think the whole cosmopolitan and internationalisation is a completely unwitting spin off from a few western looking mannequins.
Fact of the matter is, the mannequins probably were made in Chinese factories to be sold in the west, and these remained domestic.
Anyhow, on the subject of immigration on a significant scale, it simply won't happen in our life time. That is not because China is over-populated. Referring to the 56 ethnic groups is not relevant, because they have been absorbed into China through the process of Han expansion over thousands of years. It's not like Han heartland China opened it's doors to ethnic immigration. We conquered them into the Middle Kingdom.
China thinks herself cultrually superior and generally only like a small number of westerners saying pro-Chinese slogans. Can China really tolerate a diverse range of views? Hell no, we can't even tolerate a music record.
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sounds fun. I've been living in Beijing for more than 20 years but I have done that once...
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I am looking forward to take the fast train from Beijing to Tianjin when I travel to China next April. It used to be a 2hrs trip and now just about 30 mins. That is amazing. Thanks for the information.
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More than happy to read Jame's article.
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Doogletastic asked, "And PJAllen7, what exactly is the 'spadely' term for a 'western face'?
I'm not the one beating around the bush. When Reynolds answers my question then I can answer yours, D.
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timbatu
u should calm down mate...being angry all the time will shorten ur life span...
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Nice article. Looks like James is now following the advice of writing more about the life of ordinary Chinese.
I have also noticed the fact that a lot of commercials are done by foreigners, especially commercials by not-so-well-known companies. I attribute this to the fact that many Chinese still lack confidence in themselves and think anything "foreign" is automatically "superior". In recent years however this phenomena has gradually died down to a large extent because with the rapid growth in economy the confidence level of Chinese has significantly increased. Therefore, well-known companies like Mengniu, Huiyuan Juice, etc, etc. now choose domestic celebrities to run their commercials.
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A sincere kudos to James, great article with adequate cultural subtlety. Critical enough to remind people to change for the better, yet without the explicit abrasiveness which pulls the Chinese face-saving nerve.
But hey, it took 150 years for Asians to gain wide acceptance in California like it is today. And look at what happend when the Olympic torch passthrough London.
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An interesting blog, gives a good impression of a day out (for the growing middle classes) in China, complete with obligatory absurdities (tank/restaurant, Putin, paintball models, metal bars in taxis, free bottled water, food stalls everywhere). This local flavour makes a nice change from the usual stereotypical Western comments too. More please!
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LondonYC:
"It's not like Han heartland China opened it's doors to ethnic immigration. We conquered them into the Middle Kingdom."
Yes, except that many of them have moved voluntarily into the 'heartland' Han areas of China more recently, bringing their cultures (Hui Muslim, Tibetan, etc) with them. How is that different to arguing that 'Britain only has lots of Indians/Chinese/West Indians/etc because we conquered them into the British Empire', when really many of them used their membership of the British Empire to move to the UK to start a new life? I don't see any relevant difference. Many of these people are happy to have the opportunity to move into 'heartland' China and set up shops, restaurants and other businesses, where they can make much more than they could in small-town Xinjiang or Gansu.
"China thinks herself cultrually superior and generally only like a small number of westerners saying pro-Chinese slogans. Can China really tolerate a diverse range of views? Hell no, we can't even tolerate a music record."
Diversity is not the same as opposition. It's a typically Western trait to confuse the two (see Hegel for the best example). And hence we have our inept two-party system of government where scoring points and 'winning the game' is all that matters.
Besides, I'm sure the ultra-tolerant UK would *never* have any kind of controversy over something so petty as 'a music record' (the Sex Pistols' 'God Save the Queen' being only the most famous in a long line including Frankie Goes to Hollywood, Pulp, the Prodigy, etc). Good thing the UK doesn't really have any Muslim artists making commercially viable anti-UK music right now, isn't it?
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So from your point of view, older pepole in China only head to parks at dawn exercise and sing? while younger people may just simplily go travling?
China is a country with 55 ethnic groups, what you are talking about is just Han Chinese. And even Han people in different areas may do totally different relaxiations during their day offs. how about the Tibet Chinese, mogolia Chinese, zhuang Chinese, Hui(or muslim Chinese)?
I think if your title just writes 'one of my trips in Tianjin during my day off' would be better.
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PJAllen7 - you won't answer my question but you're not beating around the bush, right?
You don't have an answer, which is not surprising really. It is difficult to conjure up a more succinct term than "western face" with which to convey James's meaning. I get that there is something about the term that you have decided not to like.
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To zhexuejia- #45:
Do you really think the ehtnic monorities brought their cultures with them? I've been to several parts of China (Central, North-western, Southern) and cannot say I saw any diversity of culture at all. Diversity in landscape and terrain, yes- but not in culture.
Yuannan province boasts to have a large degree of cultural diversity, however the only way to see this is by going to "cultural museums"- seemingly the only place where diversity is tolerated. I found the whole experience quite artificial, to be honest.
I've seen more diversity in other Asian countries that are far smaller than China.
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I_Love_China. It seems you love China so much that you can't bear to think of a foreigner there travelling on your trains and discussing your country. You mean James should have written specifically about Han Chinese? Then surely you would accuse him of trying to split up the motherland through western imperialism? Maybe all your children's text books should be changed to say "British people of an Anglo-Saxon descent like to talk about the weather".
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An interest non-politicised report into daily lives of ordinary Chinese.
Your curiosity into the choice of western models used in domestic advertisements illustrates the difference in worldview between the Chinese and the west. Could you think of a time when Chinese/Indian/Islamic models were used to sell a domestic UK product?
In Australia, people are being indoctrinated to buy Australian made goods. In China, the aim of most people is to own goods that are made in anywhere but China!
I read recently that China has almost 10 times more pianists and violinists than the US. Soon it may even have the largest English speaking population in the world. The danger is not that the world is becoming more Chinese, but rather China is in danger of becoming more like us!
There are more to China than rusty red politics. Keep it up.
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haha , I am now working and living in Tianjin. Welcome to Tianjin and enjoy your trip
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Timbatu, please take a look at the house rules.
Keep a civil tongue in your head, and then we will be able to read your comments and opinion.
I don't want your opinions to be moderated off the board.
* Are considered likely to disrupt, provoke, attack or offend others
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* Are written in anything other than English - Welsh and Gaelic may be used where marked
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* Are considered to be ?spam?, that is posts containing the same. or similar, message posted multiple times
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If you can't do this then perhaps you should stay at anticnn and continue to stir up the hate over there. Huh? How about it?
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Well, nice to see that James wrote something about the life of ordinary Chinese, not those political nonsense.
I had lived in Beijing for more than 20 years and I actually got my undergrad degree from Tianjin University. As far as I can remember, the intercity Beijing-Tianjin train normally took more than 1 hour when I was there. Now it only takes 30 mins. WOW, that IS something. I'll definitely give it a try when I am back home. I wonder when the british government would introduce those super-fast train services. My weekly business trip between London and Manchester is just killing me.
BTW, visiting a military theme park seems a bit boring, really. If I were working in Beijing and had a day off, I would probably spend a nice afternoon with my friends in Houhai having some Yunnan or Sichuan dishes and then have a party in one of those huge KTV places for the evening. Oh, maybe having a club/pub hunting trip after the KTV if we are on the right mood. :P
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To #53
How do you know that Timbatu's posts were removed becos of not keeping a civil tough?
How do you know that the moderators here in BBC is super objective and not biased?
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Nice article, James.
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"Wherever you go in China, all stands seem to sell the same thing - instant noodles, hot dog sausages, packets of dry biscuits."
this is much better comparing to that all the english kitchens only produce fish and chips, maybe beans if luxury.
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James, it seems that the only way you can makes the Chinese readers of your blog happy is by trying not criticize China at all.
Luckily, not all Chinese are as narrow minded and intolerant as the Chin-nats who populate your blog.
(good comment about the tea drinker. good thing that they reduced the duration of the journey, isn't it?)
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This posting of James' troubles me very much. I cannot find anything to criticize. But, I am one of those "CCP brainwashed" old men, who was born, grew up in Taiwan, and have never for one day lived in the Mainland.
You are killing me, Mr. Reynolds. I might boycott reading your blog.
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James, it seems that you are really tended to describe Chinese daily life at the beginning. As I read through, it's more of your own day and what you are most interested in is the carrier and the warlike models. You made a common mistake that we often made as a student writes an article, that is, "away from the theme".
Please just keep the theme and do a deeper research. Chinese life isn't as simple as you described here. Different people have different ways of life ---luxurious or canny, cosy or miserable, dilligent or lazy, proud or humble... I don't mind you will mine out some poor side of our life, but please be impartial and unbiased.
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rodmace2000: Timbatu and beijing_2000 are known here, and on other blogs, as troublemakers. They are from the forum anti-cnn which is setup by Chinese as a means of spreading lies and hatred towards western media.
This blog is no place for them unless they are willing to follow the house rules (unlikely) and make genuine comments on the articles - Not to insult the author at all times.
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Beijing-Tianjin in 30 minutes ?? Hell, it takes much, much longer to get from outer London to the City of London !!
BTW 330 kph is quite normal for the TGV in France. It is the English side of the Eurostar tracks that let it down. However, the new high speed section of the tracks that lead into Kings Cross/St. Pancreas will allow that speed now !!
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This is the balanced approach the BBC uses to create the illusion the rest of there articles hold some some creditability.
As ever thou its a shallow and doesn't even touch upon what people really do.
It should of been entitled "what I do in China when I have no clue what else to do that day."
I do remember when I was a child I visited Portsmouth to have walk around the Ark Royal air craft carrier.
I believed back then that Great Britain was great.
Its took till now to realize it was not and never will be.
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I miss my home city Tian Jin so much. I am going home in september next year. 10 month to go. I miss the funny accent of Tian Jiners. I am going home to visit my extended family, friends, old schools. I am going home to enjoy the fresh seafood that I miss so mush. I am going to do lot of shoppings in morden shopping towns and I will be wandering in wet markets as well. I am going to row boat in the park near my parents' place. I will visit BeiJing. If I have enough time then I might travle to the south to see Three Gorgeous Dam......
I left my home city when I was 30 years old. 10 years later the only place on the planet that I want to go is my home city. My husband and I will return to China for our retirement. We plan to buy a property in Tian Jin or Bei Jing.
James, if you are still in Tian Jin you might enjoy PI Pi Xia- a kind of sea bugs/prawns which is a popular local sea food. They are full of eggs in November/ December. Did you get the chance to get on Tian Jin's elevated tram? What do you think of China's public transport?
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the reynolds boy never fails to instil an eerie feeling into me---he always sounds like a martian who just get lost on the earth inhabited by humans. maybe he should be throw away his glasses---coloured or myopic and treat himself as a straight-thinking and looking human. welcome to the earth.
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col_man:
"Do you really think the ehtnic monorities brought their cultures with them? I've been to several parts of China (Central, North-western, Southern) and cannot say I saw any diversity of culture at all. Diversity in landscape and terrain, yes- but not in culture.
Yuannan province boasts to have a large degree of cultural diversity, however the only way to see this is by going to "cultural museums"- seemingly the only place where diversity is tolerated. I found the whole experience quite artificial, to be honest.
I've seen more diversity in other Asian countries that are far smaller than China."
What kind of 'cultural diversity' do you mean? Of course it's nowhere near the UK in terms of variety, but then China's 'empire' didn't ever cover half the globe. And don't forget that minorities are still a very small proportion (under 10%) of the Chinese population, and most of these are still in their original provinces. I think the main problem with what you say is just that most minorities in China aren't really so different from Han people apart from their traditional or ceremonial clothing, with the exception of certain outer regions: Tibet, Xinjiang and Inner Mongolia. When many of these minority people move to 'heartland' Chinese cities, they aren't going to wear their traditional clothing, because unlike, say, Muslims or Sikhs in the UK, such clothing isn't dictated by religion. Take away obvious racial and religious differences and all that's left are some traditional cultural habits: these aren't really the kind of thing you'd notice when visiting.
Similarly for the more 'outer' regions, it's not very practical to be a Mongolian herdsman in Shanghai, or a Tibetan farmer in Guangzhou. It's very easy to frame this in terms of 'intolerance', but do you have *any* evidence that this isn't voluntary today? Which Asian countries have more diversity? Clearly (from my experience) not Japan or Korea. Southern Asia? Yes, but then where did you visit in China? Cities? I've been to several regions of China (Gansu, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia, Sichuan, Yunnan) which had cultures very different from 'heartland' Han China. But then this wasn't evident from the cities: go to Kunming in Yunnan and yes, it looks pretty much like any other Chinese city. This seems to me to be more a case of development leading to the abandoning of cultural traditions, as happened in most Western countries, not as 'intolerance' of diversity.
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Quote:
'..he had a gigantic jam jar full of tea from which he sipped enthusiastically every five seconds during the journey'
I burst out laughing at this.
To 53
Timbatu maybe outrageous by posting a string of whatever-they-are comments (22-37).
But I am not sure about the moderation standards in THIS blog. My post was blocked once and I racked my brains, trying in vain to figure out why.
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The comments on this forum are definitely improving. It seems the nationalist youth are being replaced with the wiser and more experienced generation.
The Chinese youth do not realise that they are carrying out exactly what the CCP wants them to do. Take this summer?s Tibetan protests. The CCP deliberately filled Chinese TV screens and websites with news about the western media docking photographs (Xinhua would never do this of course) and you played right into their hands by being whipped into a frenzy of ?I love China? without realising it.
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Regarding the question of race in China, it is a matter of perspective.
My Chinese wife and I (European American) have a four year old daughter. When we are in the US, people see her as Chinese. When we are in China, people see her as foreign.
It is embarrassing to say, but my daughter is more likely to be discriminated against in the US. The Chinese people are generally very accepting of her. And curious to the point of asking to photograph her even though they are complete strangers.
Good work, Mr. Reynolds, in helping see China as a place people live, not just a factory floor.
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Moderated again.
Interesting post. Any plans on making an article about the nightlife in Beijing? At the risk of turning into a representative of Chinese tourism, you could also explore the countryside.
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james ,i wonder whether you have read the comments pasted on your blog. a large part of your readers are chinese ,including the native chinese ,and including me.the chinese government didn't block your page .
i have read many of your blogs and as what i said before ,i like you as well as your words .i see you as a friend to our chinese.
but i 'm so astonished at what i saw in your
first bog by accident . i wonder whether you 've forgotten it . i kown you may have a bias towards china before ,i can understand you . but considering our chinese culture , it 's hard for us to accept what you 've written .i hope you can change it to something else. i don't kown
whether you can understand my words ......
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James:
I hope that people in China, enjoy there days off from work....
Do something that is fun...and educational and culturally interesting..
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What will they do with a day off? .... have a nervous breakdown thinking it's a bad state prank and go to work.
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The Chinese who are more than happy to dance to old Guns N' Roses records are those in Disco. And i dont think they have choice for the kind of Music. That's up to the DJ i think. So this can not prove that all Chinese people enjoy this kind of loud & noisy music.
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I'd like to find out from James whether he can gain access to BBC English web site right now. Thanks.
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yeah, most of chinese people spend their free time just like what you described here. i'm chinese as well but i prefer busy life full of work... because i'mnot rich..
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Well, James, I recommend you changing the title into "What people in the streets of Beijing do on their day off."
You've missed the thousands of shoppers to the malls, people shopping for clothing in the zoo(a Beijing characteristic), cell phone market at Princess's tomb... Museums are full with turists, fishers and winter swimmers sit by the old city canals, young lovers wandering the Back Sea, students in Karaokes, opera, snacks at the Front Gate, Taiji practice in the Temple of Heaven, book festival at the Temple of Earth, camp on the "Wild Great Walls", ski clubs on the West Mountains, not to mention the Olympic stadiums now open for concerts and dramas... You can really write some loads of stories. And that's Beijing along, a city of Mixed Northen Han, Mongolian and Manchu culture.
From the Autonomous region of Inner Mongolia, to the ever warm beaches of Hainan, from the City of Springs of Jinan at the heart of Han's Confucian, to the Buddist Temple in Lhasa on the tip of the Tibetan glaciers of Zang's(or Tibetan) Buddism, China is, as some have mentioned, a mixture of 56 ethnics and more cultures. Not only every province has its own culture, even the differences between the dialogues of two neighbouring towns can be greater than that between Spanish and French, reason why we now all speack Madarin. City like Shanghai is full of sisters and city like Chengdu is full of tough short man like Deng Xiaoping and the bitter-sweet but prettiest Han Chinese girls. And don't forget that the Russian and Korean that ethnic E and Chaoxian speak are also officially Chinese, though recognized as Chinese dialogues.
You'll see that every province, even city has its own culture so how they spend their day off is also different. So actually "How Chinese Spend Their Day Off" cannot be concluded even in a three-inch thick encyclopedia!
For instance, people in Changsha, the "Chicago of China" in the 30s of the last century, go to public TV shows on Sundays (This city has the widest TV entertaining system that nobody gets surprised seeing their neighbours on a TV show), people in Macao go to Casinos, people in Dalian surf or get together to practice their soccer skills on the city square, while those in Urumuqi eat BBQ and pray in Islam churches.
The word "Harmony", or better explained as "Peace but Different" has kept China a relatively calm country while permitting the use of thousands of different languages, cultures, religions and political systems, so it's really hard to simply label something "Chinese" without specifications, for which Beijing, in the eyes of many, is not very Chinese.
But anyway, this article has been rather a pleasure to read, and by finally taking a step into the Chinese society, I give my congratulations on your first step into a larger world, a more realistic China.
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I think the whole idea is now that they have more free time and money they wil eventually overthrow one of the world's most oppressive governments. Just a thought.
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Merry Christmas James.
Hope u can update the blog soon after holiday =]
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to politejomsviking:
Yeah, more money and free time to help the government towards the better... Trying to overthrow it would be suicidal, both politically and morally...
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Looking back through these comments I find it incredibly hard to believe that such a simple story about one mans day off can cause such controversial resposes! How bizzare!
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I think what people reading this need to realise is that James is not working for the Chinese government or indeed the China Tourist board, but merely recalling the sights he saw on what may be a typical day out for some of the more affluent members of Beijing society. I may be mistaken, but I thought he made that fairly clear.
I also find it interesting that the mannequins all had "Western Faces", and saw no racist undertone here at all, indeed it would be unusual to see a paintball venue in the UK flanked with mannequins with "Chinese Faces", so is this not the same thing?
Chinese readers need to be more objective and take the good with the bad. I've travelled to Beijing many times and saw some amazing sights, however I've also seen some pretty awful ones, such as the zoo, possibly one of the most disgusting in the world, with visitors ignoring signs and feeding potato crisps to the polar bear for their own enjoyment. My hometown of Glasgow also has some beauty and ugly, and the people who live there accept it..
Hope I've not offended anyone..
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@86
Quote "I think the whole idea is now that they have more free time and money they wil eventually overthrow one of the world's most oppressive governments. Just a thought."
Very thoughtful indeed. But do you know the Chinese still consider themself poor and would like to have even more free time? There has to be another party that can offer more than the current one then CCP can go.
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I THINK THEY GATHER A FEW FRIENDS TOGETHER AND GO OUT FOR AN ENGLISH.
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not all the people spend a free day like this, people in the big city likes to spend their money and time on lots of traffic and a little bit "safed nature" afterwards with the "i am so cool feeling". but people lives in small towns, like me, we'd rather go for the true wild. in my free days i usually go to the country side only servery mils away beyong town, there's a beautiful warterfail lot's of native birds and sometimes a longly wolf stopby to cry to the up rising moon. mom always saids it is now cheaper to have a holiday overseas like europ than go some faraway Chinese place that we've never been to, but i just hate to fly. well, people lives in big city probeboly will chose to travel far, but i just can' t live without local soil.
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Do they still charge the big noses (i.e., foreigners) five times the admission rate of the Chinese? Back in '94, it was not uncommon to have restaurants with two menus. The English version always had higher prices. I would ask for the Chinese menu in broken Chinese, and one waiter replied in Chinese, "but it's written in Chinese!" We felt that you really didn't see China back in '94 if you hadn't ridden in the front seat of a taxi cab, waited hours to get a train ticket on a hard sleeper (then be told to go in the other shorter line for foreigners), haggle for a good deal, try to navigate an international phone call through ten operators, try to get off a public bus at an end stop, and ride a bicycle during rush hour in a city (watch out for those buses!) Ah, good times, good times...
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I live in Beijing and feel more free here than in England. Stop following the media herd and get away from junk that's spoken at dinner parties by the chattering classes. Actually, they have a healthy disdain for authority figures and I see them arguing with them all the time. Simply because the government is not overthrown does not mean that the people are not free. Can we be a little bit more specific on freedom and stop throwing generalisations out there, usually by people who don't live here. By the way, when I say live here, I don't mean existing in the expat bubble, going to Sanlitun every Friday and Saturday and for the rest of the week trying to scour the city for western food( sorry- nit picker- European food). I mean shop, converse, queue up(YES queue up) for a bus, make small talk, have mates(Chinese blokes and women, not just Chinese women) and generally live a humdrum life much like 90% of the people in England. Yes, life everywhere is more or less humdrum. But at least the Chinese talk to their children and don't shout at them. Maybe this makes them more free than us as at least they can hold a conversation about things other than X factor, football and media stars. Oh and before you say they are less creative than us and learn everything by rote, when did you last meet a creative chav.
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Unconnected to my previous comment, I think James Reynolds' blogs are excellent and do capture ordinary life. If only the people who read the column would read it in the spirit it was meant and not turn it into some kind of political tool to have a dig at China.
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And another thing, I'm tired of beiing lectured about China by American religious robots who contrary to what they tell everybody else are not free. Try standing for election as an atheist or taking a picture of bird in a park while accidentally getting a child in the background. You will have the thought police and a police car quizzing you before you know it. Jay walk or buy a beer that's uncovered and you'll soon see how free they are. Try walking alone at night or going into certain neighbourhoods. I walk around Beijing and other cities and feel completely free.
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How many Europeans live in China now? Are they citizens or just expats living there for a while?
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You can only say you've been to China when you've seen people drinking from glass jars (which is a very jammy, environmentally friendly way to recycle) and eating cha ye dan (aka tea eggs) on a railway platform.
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