Life and Travel in China

Some time ago I had the opportunity to observe how rapidly villages, for example in Hunan province, are changing. I mentioned it earlier - all the families rebuilt their houses as ordered! From small rural cottages, tenement houses 3-4 stories high have grown. The higher the house, the better the family status, so the thinking goes. Unfortunately, this sometimes leads to tragedy. Two feuding neighbors, one of them Zhang was told by the other that he had no right to build a taller house and that he was a failure. The conflict continued for some time until Zhang decided to take revenge. He kidnapped his neighbor's grandson, an 8-year-old boy. He was accompanied by two girls, aged 9. Initially, he planned to kill only the boy, but was afraid that the girls would be witnesses, and ended up killing three children. A shocking crime and perhaps difficult to understand, sick envy. In China, unfortunately, material status is an important determinant in life. If someone despises another person by pointing out that he is poor, can't cope, doesn't have a big house, doesn't drive a new car, then it is a very serious insult. Ordinary insults in China are not as painful as bringing up financial issues. I have witnessed such situations myself. Many young Chinese pretend to be richer than they actually are. Without it, even their family would not respect them. However, nothing justifies such a terrible crime, killing three children - because the neighbor has a taller house?! Sick...

I have further proof that the Chinese are getting better and better. I remember when I bought some pants in 2005, they were often too tight at the waist. I joked that in China, men's pants are cinched at the waist. My Polish friend laughed a lot about it, but that was the reality. Jeans were often tight around the waist or even around the thighs, and the tracksuits had super-strong elastic bands so that they hugged the belly. I'm not a big guy, but their clothes were really tight, for slim or even skinny guys. Now that I see it, it's changing... pants are available in a wider range of sizes and no one narrows them down so much anymore. Of course, 'slimmer' versions still predominate, but there are also ones for bigger guys. Looking at Chinese youth, this trend will continue, there will be demand for XL clothing ;-).

It may be hard to believe, but 'cleaning the apartment' is a rather foreign concept in China. It is similar in the case of an office, a desk, etc. There is simply no habit of cleaning, arranging things, putting them away, dusting them, and hardly anyone uses vacuum cleaners. Of course, there are people who care more about cleanliness, and there are also lazy people. In general, however, people do not pay as much attention to cleanliness as we do. This is due to a simple fact: many people come from the countryside, and life there is modest, sometimes apart from ordinary tables and chairs there is not much furniture - so where to dust? There are no beautiful floors, only concrete and dirt floors. Why a vacuum cleaner? Mops? It's only in the city that it changes a bit, but I haven't met a typical Chinese family yet that has a vacuum cleaner or a liquid for dusting, washing floors, etc. Of course, there are exceptions that I may not know... I'm not saying that the Chinese don't care about cleanliness, they just don't have the 'know-how' when it comes to cleaning. They also often use the help of cleaners and cleaning companies, because they have the knowledge, skills and chemistry that works wonders and makes Chinese apartments shine. It also often happens that the housewife is surrounded by layers of dust and general mess, and this is the case at home and, for example, in the office where she works.

I haven't spoken for a long time again, I'm a bit overworked. Moreover, holidays mean additional duties and little rest. Our good friend is getting married - I mentioned it, a uniformed fianc

The Year of the Horse has begun! Like every year, I won't write about traditions, food, symbolism, etc. I just wanted to draw attention to one thing... The Chinese very often wish for themselves on this day - a lot of money! They also hand each other red envelopes with cash inside. I must admit that these envelopes are getting thicker every year. Society is getting richer! The problem is that when someone's situation is worse and the New Year comes, they have to prepare for greater expenses and loans. If there is a newborn child in the family or there are newlyweds, all uncles, aunts and cousins give them envelopes for the New Year. The value bar for these envelopes is getting higher and higher. At the beginning, when I was here for the first time, families gave each other 50-100 RMB (25-50 PLN). Now they are starting to go crazy, because the standard amounts are 500-800 RMB, and sometimes even thousands. They will change the tradition a bit and instead of envelopes there will be red suitcases! Ha ha! Suitcase manufacturers would be happy. Generally, my point is that on the one hand people are doing well, but on the other hand it's going to their heads a bit. I have friends who have changed because of money, they are different, supposedly more worldly, but also conceited. Sometimes I have the impression that they forget about others - about exploitation, about poor provinces, about the workforce that has a hard time living in big cities, they are the second category of people. Sometimes these wishes for "money", all this materialism, this comparing and outdoing each other become tiring and it's hard for me to understand it. Money is worth having, but health and a happy family are the most important!