Notes From My Field Trip

 

2024 Guangde, China

On the surface, China is modern. Their highway system is wide, smooth, efficient. The cars are modern and sport badges you recognize: BMW, Benz, Toyota, GM, Ford., Nissan.

Construction cranes dot the skyline building high rises everywhere you look. 

Citizens wear fashionable western clothing, often name brands. 

Then you remember often these name brands are knock-offs or made to a different standard than you might buy in Germany or Ohio. 

You forget the wealthy live really, really well, while the poor are really, really poor. If you think there is a wealth gap here, take a gander at the average Chinese factory worker compared to middle management vs the owner class. 

Factory workers spend the day at their desk if they are office workers or at their machine in the factory wearing heavy coats because the factory is not heated. I had to wear my coat the whole time I was there to keep warm. 

China looks like a modern western country on the surface and women have a hole in the floor for bathroom facilities. 

I remember my visit to Beijing back in 2013 or 2014. I stayed in a modern western hotel (Sheraton?) a few blocks from the Forbidden City and Tiananmen Square. As we left in our little bus to tour the Great Wall, we passed a government building hosting some ministry or another. The building was gorgeous. The boulevard we were on was wide and one-way. We circled the block to head the opposite direction. The back of the building was a contrast to the facade. Rust streaks ran down the walls from falling gutters. Stonework was crumbling, trash made unsightly piles against the walls. 

That is China, it looks great on he surface but is a crumbling third world country behind the fancy exterior.

The people are kind and funny and hard working. They want what we all want, security and a better life for their children. The people are not their government.