China is a strange country to the Westerner. It's modern at the first glance, archaic at the second... and soon you begin to understand that it's just pretty mixed up and you can't tell what is going on. And only after that may you hope to begin to understand...
When I first came to China, I was in awe. You see, when you come to Beijing after four days in the train and see all those steel-and-glass buildings, throngs of people (and bicycles!) on the street, smell all the exotic smells... When next day we went for a walk, we were shocked to find some rural-looking houses just round the corner behind all those high-rise wonders of modern architecture. And that was nothing comparing to the sight of donkeys and mules lazily trotting along the main streets of Shenyang (provincial capitol with 7 million population at the time) - with the cart loaded with computer tables. Or the guy on the cargo bicycle (tricycle, actually) loaded with several dozens of computers. But, being funny, at the same time it symbolized what modern China is all about: Taking a country and trying to cram as much development into it as it is possible... and then much more. And I can tell you - it is exciting and fun to watch!
Of course when the excitement subsided a little, I started to notice a lot of the outdated and outright stupid things... but I'll write about it later.
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