Life and Travel in China

In the Middle Kingdom, the authorities have introduced a very restrictive system of citizen control in connection with the coronavirus. Companies and factories must first obtain permission to start operations after Chinese New Year. Every citizen who returns from his hometown to his apartment must report it to local officials or via the WeChat application. Some people still do not return to work for fear of infection, and if possible, they work from home - this is, of course, office workers and foreign sales. The situation with production is worse. It's hard for me to imagine deserted Chinese cities that are always bustling with life, overcrowded, even overpopulated, but it has its own charm. Now it's really weird.

I have some doubts that this coronavirus is a coincidence. The legend of a pangolin being eaten by a bat or vice versa - sounds a bit like mythology. It seems to me that this virus is supposed to "shuffle" the entire world and change the economy and change the balance of power. Someone planned this. Certainly, a month ago, many people were happy that the Chinese economy would suffer because of these perturbations and that the Middle Kingdom would no longer be the leader. Now the Chinese economy has rebounded well, selling billions of masks all over the world. The situation in the USA and Europe looks bad, and in Iran and Syria it will be even more tragic. What's next? The virus will continue to rage because in Poland we do not have even half of the restrictions that existed in Asian countries. In other countries it is even more "loose".

China is certainly not a perfect country, it does not have a perfect system - but I'm starting to wonder... Europe and the United States, despite the ongoing pandemic, are opening shops, companies, and soon restaurants, and restoring "normal" activities. Of course, this is their way of trying to save the economy. It is easy to guess that the number of sick people will increase. Thus, these modern, democratic countries will sacrifice some of their elderly and/or sick citizens in order to save the majority and thus save their own asses (of course, in a crisis there will be more protests, anger against the government will grow in society, the overthrow of the government is guaranteed). The Middle Kingdom did the opposite, first limiting the rights and freedoms of everyone just to save the weaker ones. Only when the situation was largely under control; only when people were safe and illnesses were limited to a minimum - then the functioning of companies, factories, shops and restaurants was gradually restored. The Chinese government is quite rich, so they can afford some budget losses, some concessions, and a period of economic downtime. Now the question arises: where are human rights, civil rights, freedom, democracy? Does democracy mean the right to eliminate weaker individuals, sacrificing victims for the well-being of the majority? Apparently yes, but somehow in this particular situation Chinese communism seems to be more humane?!

Hainan instead of Hong Kong? The authorities in Beijing decided that since the US does not treat Hong Kong as a special zone in international trade, they will create a new zone. Hainan Island is to become a new center of international trade, transport and investment. The province is to be subject to other forms of taxation, which is intended to facilitate the import-export of goods. Many investments have already been planned to strengthen the position of the island. Until now, it was a typical tourist area of China. When I was there, we were surrounded by hotels and restaurants everywhere, some open space, palm trees, beaches - quite a nice place to relax. Apparently a lot will change in 15 years.

The Prime Minister of the People's Republic of China encourages his country's citizens to support street trading. In every metropolis (population of 15 million people), town (population of 5 million people) and village (population of 500,000 people ;-)) there have always been various stalls, stands and ordinary blankets on the sidewalk. Most often, you could find mobile restaurants offering buns, dumplings, beef or mutton on a stick, the famous pampuchy, Chinese hamburgers, melons and watermelons, etc. In addition, there were people offering books, small toys, souvenirs - something like our fair stalls. Some people were able to carry the products on their person, in their bags, backpacks, or sacks. Several times I witnessed China Security or other police forces chasing such people away. The nation was getting richer and the stands were decreasing, people were opening physical or online stores. Now China's economy is suffering from a downturn caused by the coronavirus. Apparently, "red streets" are appearing in many areas and prostitution is increasing. There are photos circulating on the Internet of bars and restaurants that have employed young, shapely waitresses parading in lingerie - this is to attract customers. In the face of crisis, all methods are allowed. As Deng XiaoPing used to say: "It doesn't matter whether the cat is white or black, what matters is that it catches mice." I am afraid that as a result of this crisis, various minor frauds and shady deals will be allowed, maybe more fakes will appear again, and care for the environment will no longer be so important. The nation must redeem itself - at what cost, we will see?!