I recently spent two weeks in China. If you’re looking for stirring descriptions of the Great Wall winding sinuously over impossible peaks or the elegant form of the Temple of Heaven, you’ll have to look elsewhere. What I can offer are my thoughts and impressions on nation of China as it becomes wealthier and more powerful in the twenty first century.
Image Credit: Christina Brzustoski
Security
The first thing that happened, before we even set foot on the plane, was an inspection for signs of the swine flu. A man carrying a small white device that looked like a phaser approached each person in line at the boarding counter and scanned our temperature for signs of fever.
After landing, we had to hand in a quarantine card listing countries visited, and giving our contact information in China. We were scanned again, this time with a large infra-red scanner mounted above a bank of computers and video screens. The consequences for even the slightest symptoms were severe: indefinite quarantine in varying conditions. Even being in the vicinity of someone with the flu can be enough to lock you up.
The security measures don’t end there. There are security cameras in the subways and major public places, like Tiananmen Square (can’t imagine why they want security there). Subways and tourist attractions have an airport-style scanner for bags, backpacks and purses.
I couldn’t help but wonder if I was looking at the future.
It seemed to me that being a uniformed guard had to be the second or third leading source of employment. There were guards guarding everything: monuments, hotel entrances, parking lots, tollbooths, and random patches of sidewalk. I was never sure which ones were military, police or rent-a-cop.
China is still a police state. All visitors are required to register with the local police within 24 hours of arrival (hotels will do it for you automatically). The police and military forces are obvious and ubiquitous. Ironically enough, despite all of this, China incarcerates a smaller or similar percentage (estimates vary) of its population than the United States.
Economics
China’s liberalized economic policies have certainly paid dividends. The new capitalist leanings can be seen in both the large and small industries. For the large, there are skyscrapers everywhere in Beijing. Many of them are high-rise apartments, but many more are giant hotels, department stores, and offices. The CCTV building has a stunning design that features an empty center.
Capitalism is alive and well in local businesses too. Small stores lined the street where I stayed. At every tourist stop, there are the same legions of people hawking souvenirs that you would find in any other country. Haggling is frequent, and results in the same expressions and gamesmanship that it evokes in Istanbul or Tangiers.
America may be the Land of the Free (sort of) but China is the Land of Free Stuff. The exchange rate is still strong for the dollar, and it reflects in the things you can buy. DVDs, some clearly pirated, others legal-ish, cost about a dollar. A ride on the metro is $0.28. A decent meal at a restaurant runs about $4, unless you go to the American fast food restaurants (which are everywhere in Beijing) and then it may cost more. I packed an extra bag for all the cheap wonderful souvenirs, and filled it easily (and I don’t even like buying stuff).
Food
I had heard that American Chinese food is nothing like the real food in China. I was surprised, then, to recognize many dishes like sweet and sour pork and beef stir fry. The menus in America do have real Chinese dishes. The difference is that they only include a small portion of the available items. If you want to eat heads, feet, and innards, you have no problem finding them arranged in any number of ways.
Be sure to practice with your chopsticks before you go. The tourist places may bring you a fork, but the real restaurants probably won’t.
English
I was pleasantly surprised at the amount of English. All of the subway signs in Beijing are in both English and Chinese, as are the announcements. Many of the people spoke at least some English, especially the vocabulary needed for selling and bargaining. The guides and presenters at various sites all spoke good English. I had expected the language barrier to be formidable, but it was quite manageable, at least in Beijing.
Population and Environment
China has over a billion people, and at least half of them seem to be on the metro at any given time. Many of the monuments are as crowded as any in the world (except maybe Venice- that was just ridiculous).
Both cities I visited, Beijing and Xian, seemed to be constantly under construction. New roads and buildings were going up everywhere.
Beijing is notorious for its air pollution, and its reputation is well deserved. In two weeks, I think we only had clear skies on two days. The rest of the time, the entire sky was shrouded in thick grey smog. I stood on a 12th floor balcony, and was unable to see the roofs of the high-rises just a few blocks away. It wasn’t terribly hot, but the pollution and humidity made it feel like walking through pea soup.
Travel
China is full of strange and marvelous wonders. The Great Wall is magnificient, especially if you hire your own car and go to one of the less crowded sections. The Forbidden Palace is enormous, and there are enough sights and smells and tastes to entice and excite even the most jaded travelers. I can definitely recommend it to anyone in search of adventure.
Just make sure you don’t have a fever when you fly in.
I wonder how much of the tourist-friendlyness of Beijing is left over from the Olympics last year? Has Beijing been this way in recent years, or is this something that has only popped up post-2008?
Thank goodness for the fixed currency exchange rate that keeps those trinkets cheap both in China and elsewhere around the world…
I would say the author kept his eye out for security cameras. I didn’t feel like being watched in Beijing although I knew they are out there watching the traffic.
In a word, you find what you look for.
About the camera and security check in Metro, shopping center, etc. You should understand if China is a target of Islamists suicide bomber decade before 9/11 attack. I think China should learn London, I feel unsafe without those cameras.
I don’t think that a suicide bomber is going to be deterred by having a camera watch him do it. I find security cameras on public streets to be deeply disturbing. In 20 or 30 years the threat from Islamic terrorism will be gone, but the security cameras will continue spying on the populace forever.