I promised to recap my China experience so here it is: China is a very different country with amazing things to offer. Clearly, it is a communist country with a government that has very tight control on the physical and mental activities of its people. As the rest of the world has embraced the internet and its mind opening possibilities, China restricts its people from accessing those possibilities. All social media that the rest of the free world takes for granted is blocked. Many internet sites and search engines were also blocked or impeded. Sending and receiving email was a challenge. Many of my emails circled around in cyber space for long periods of time and may or may not reach their intended recipient. I couldn't help but think they were being screened by the government for approval before being allowed to go futher, haha! It was a challenge to stay connected to my family and loved ones. That being said, China is thriving as no other country I visited in the Far East. While traveling through India, Nepal and Thailand, the poverty and filth were present everywhere, more like "in your face" everywhere. What was more shocking to me was that the people of those countries did not seem to know anything different. They were not ashamed of the filth in front of their huts or businesses. They were not ashamed of going to the bathroom on the street in front of us. They were not ashamed of the human and animal feces littering the streets everywhere. The begging was rampant and no shame there. In China, the streets were clean, the people well dressed, polite and friendly. There was a different 'air' about them that was not present in the people of India, Nepal and Thailand. The Chinese seem to embrace life and were enjoying the hell out of it! All their needs were being met and met well. This was China, a Communist country. The others are not a 'communist' regime but it was clear no one was prospering, main stream people were suffering and they did not even realize they were. China is thriving under a dictatorship, a censorship of electronic media. Makes you really think about the contrast and conflict between the countries and styles of government.
The things I saw and did in China were amazing. Tiananmen Square, where so much civil history was made, they way the Chinese government handled it, the way the Chinese people handled it. Our tour guide told us about being at Tiananmen Square, offering water, food and support to the people confronting the government and getting a phone call from his father, ordering him to return home and he did, under protest, but returned because he respected his father above all.
The Great Wall, WOW! I've seen pictures of this all my life and here I was, walking the Wall. The etchings in the wall, the etchings of history so old. The people I met going up and down the Wall, each one of us there for our own reason; some to 'check the box,' some to see and feel something so old, so powerful, so rich in culture and history. I thought about the years of physical labor to produce something so amazing, the many people who died of their labors. I've never seen the Pyramids but I would imagine the Great Wall and the Pyramids have that in common. Just to be walking a path built thousands of years ago was jarring. Heck, many of the things we build today will fall apart within the next 20 years!
The Terra Cotta Warriors, thousands of years old and just recently discovered. Throughout history, there was rumor of their existence but never evidence. Then, suddenly, in a rural field 40 years ago, a small group of farmers are digging a well and find the evidence of centuries of rumors. Can you just imagine? What must have been going through their minds? Talk about a "holy shit" moment!! Thank God they notified their government who took over the excavating of acres of buried treasure. It's mind boggling to walk through the grounds and see the on-going, meticulous reconstruction work of the parts of pieces and the completed reconstruction of the warriors, horses and chariots and the story behind their creation. And the farmers? They each got a $5.00 reward for finding the Warriors.
China, as well as the rest of the Far East, is rich in culture and history. China, more than the other countries I saw, is well into the 21st century, thriving and prospering and her people are as well. Yet, China is a country heavily controlled by its government. They are enjoying many of the things a good life brings, restaurants, movies, shopping malls, etc. Hard to find any of those things in India. Those people are still struggling for their next meal.
traveling to Cairns, Queensland, Australia from Ngurah Rai International Airport, Bali.
