The first time I went to China I got a window seat on the airplane for what I thought would be a good view of Shanghai from the air, this is what I saw.
After landing at Pudong Airport I stayed one night in Shanghai before taking the 600 km train ride from Shanghai north west to Huaibei, Anhui. What I thought while viewing out of the window of the train was that the landscape seemed like it was one big industrial site; every river seemed like it was used for industry, the amount of large highway projects was astounding. Mixed in with industrial stacks were farms that were tended by an aging population; I saw young grandchildren playing as apparent grandparents focused on manual labour. Upon arrival in Huaibei I witnessed what a "coal city" looked like.
There is a coal fired power plant right in the city; 70% of China's energy is produced by coal powered plants; many restaurants use coal to heat the cooking surfaces, street vendors use honeycomb coal for cooking. I could feel the effects of the bad air on my lungs fairly quickly and I wondered about the local peoples health, particularly children.
Here men shovel coal which is used to give a school power
Once I was settled in Huaibei I had to find food that was appropriate to my palate; one of the first restaurants I went into had chicken feet, pigs feet/ear, and many la (spicy) dishes, this was going to be a challenge. There were many men smoking in the restaurants, although there were large no smoking signs; I would try to find non-smoking establishments. There were also a lot of street vendors selling food so I looked forward to finding more than a morsel that agreed with my stomach.
I learned that there are actually many restaurants, that are a bit pricey for Chinese standards, that have excellent food, one just needs the budget available to eat every day in a nice restaurant.
The igniting of fireworks seemed to be rampant at all hours of the day and night. The first time I heard a string of small firecrackers go off I thought there was some sort of celebration; these small bangers were the most common, but there were also large explosions. I can honestly say that I heard fireworks every day in this country. Not only did the Chinese invent fireworks, they are also the largest producer and exporter in the world; so many people get injured.
Speaking of fireworks and explosions, it only took once for me to be startled by a man making popcorn on the street like this guy, next time I would be ready. He heats up hundreds of kernels of corn and then there is a loud boom and the container expands (filled with popcorn).....very loud.
My first week in this city of China was a bit hard going as I felt that the culture was too different from my home. There was a lot of chaos on the streets with horn honking, cars parked on the sidewalk, motorcycles maneuvering through pedestrians on these same pedestrian easements that should be used for safe walking (so many pedestrians are killed by vehicles each year in China). The buses were very crowded as people pushed to get a seat; at the shops people did not wait their turn, jumping the queue was the norm. So much cigarette smoking existed everywhere I turned, it was hard to accept the second hand smoke. When walking around the markets there were items for sale that we do not sell in Canada, like skinned dog.
I wondered what I had gotten myself into and it did not make sense to leave my family and our nice home for this style of living in this East Asian Country. Once I got more used to my surroundings I started to see things a little different. I noticed that many of the street vendors had swollen hands from working out in the cold all day, I learned that they were too proud to take a tip for their meals that they cooked up on the street (some cost as little as 80 cents), although they made very little.
Shoes repair men were often seen on the sidewalks
In Shanghai the minimum wage had just been raised to 1,100 RMB per month ($170), and that was most often for 6 days per week; in the smaller cities it is less and in the countryside even worse. Watching people peddle around on very old bicycles or carry very heavy loads by using bags attached to the ends of a bamboo pole helped me realize that these people are very good at long term suffering, I walked so many kms per day taking in the culture as I listened to English songs on my MP3, that really helped me cope since I often went days without talking to anyone in English.
Sometimes sorting out who is a real friend when you are in a country where the citizens speak their native tongue, while I do not, can be a challenge. I noticed that many people were treating me like I was a super human, just because I was so different. Each day I could hear locals calling out laowai, laowai (foreigner); people from the countryside were often amazed at my appearance. I often went to small villages in the countryside which give me an accurate reflection on the life of 100's of millions of Chinese.
These people led a very simple life
Often men can be seen sitting around playing cards or mahjong
There were very few birds around Huaibei in comparison to Canada. From 1958-1962 there was a 4 pests campaign by the government to encourage citizens to kill rats, flies, mosquito's, and sparrows, who were eating the grains; many other birds were killed. It turned out that sparrows ate many of the nuisance bugs so they were replaced on the list by bed bugs, which were then replaced by cockroaches. Conservation still seems to be a problem in this country as one can go to a park and see hundreds of dead bee's that were poisoned so people could take a photo by flowers without having to worry about being stung.
My highlight of Huiabei by far was meeting so many students; mostly university students but also many elementary age kids. The students at the Huaibei University came from all over China as their options for school placements depended on their college entrance exam score, that year 9.5 million students took the college entrance exam. I could rant about the Chinese education system but I want to finish this post with admitting that after traveling extensively around China that I learned just how friendly most of the people in Huaibei are.....to me the foreigner anyway.
The students, who are now between 23- 27 years of age were an honour to meet. They are respectful, they care about the environment, acknowledge their parents hard work, and for the most part are diligent with their study. There was little heat in the classrooms or dormitories which made the school life very difficult, what made study frustrating for them was the realization that their education system was very poor. Somehow through all these challenges they remained true to themselves and I can say that I am beyond proud to have made their acquaintance.
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