I have so many things to say about the couple of days I spent in China, I decided to split my post into general topics. So here, first post: general impressions.
China is beautiful. Beautiful in an extremely dirty kind of way. They sky is my favourite shade of grey-blue, but that's the result of the tonnes of pollution generated by industrial growth. I still enjoy looking down at the streets from a tall building, seeing how the cars attempt to outmanoeuvre each other so they can reach their destinations. Surely the busy traffic is an indication of prosperity. Except when I am part of that traffic myself, I see pedestrians crossing the road disregarding all traffic, I see cars obstructing the oncoming lane in an attempt to overtake a cyclist, who decided he had a special lane to himself in the middle of the road. Then there was incessant honking as people became frustrated and angry- I didn't have to wake by alarm clock at all in China; I could hear the cars battling each other every morning 7am sharp.
People in China are shallow and materialistic like everywhere else, but they take no shame in that fact and its display is as casual as saying hello to someone passing by while walking your dog. It's surprising to discover that there is no longer the need to hide certain sentiments, while other topics become generally taboo. People are better and worse in that way, and in the end I can only come to the conclusion that they are "different".
Overall this trip back to China wasn't as disastrous as my last one, where I decided I hated everyone and everything and just wanted to never go back ever again. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that I travelled alone (i.e. without my parents), and I visited no one but my brother.
I don't think I'd mind making the trip again in the near future.
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