Many say that life in China is good and there is great economic growth, many say that, on the contrary, it is bad.
We decided to look into this issue. Today you will learn the whole truth about how people live in China.
Comprehensive love for the state is the norm for the Chinese. What is this: a natural, voluntary impulse, “healthy” patriotism or a forced, false action that everyone has long wanted to escape from?- we will not be able to fully find out, since to do this we need to plunge into the centuries-old atmosphere of the Asian country and take many other steps to understand the inner essence of events. We can only judge from the outside, which by no means excludes the truthfulness of judgments, as well as their superficiality. One thing is clear: patriotism for the Chinese is both good and evil.
China - what is this?!
Today China is essentially two states; most countries recognize the People's Republic of China as the main one. The second state, the Republic of China, occupies a much smaller area called Taiwan (the island) and adjacent islands. The PRC is a communist state ruled by the Communist Party of China, the Republic of China is a democratic state. China was divided during the civil war that occurred after World War II.
Both of these regions call themselves China.
During the time period from the fall of the Qing dynasty to the outcome of the civil war, China was under the rule of the government Republic of China.
“..a partially recognized state in East Asia, which previously had a one-party system, widespread diplomatic recognition and control over all of China, has now become a democracy with limited diplomatic recognition and controlling only Taiwan and surrounding islands. She is one of the founders of the UN and previously served on the UN Security Council (in 1971, the seat of the Republic of China in the UN was transferred to the People's Republic of China)"
(Wikipedia)
Winners in civil war in 1949, the communists took power into their own hands, and the country's former leadership moved to Taiwan.
Chinese civilization is one of the most ancient on Earth, rich in culture, history, China is one of the world's leading states.
The main state of China - the People's Republic of China - has an economic and social system - communism with elements of economic liberalization. In China, despite the fact that there is communism, own business is encouraged.
« According to the Constitution of the People's Republic of China, it is a socialist state, but about 70% of GDP is provided by private enterprises. According to amendments to the Constitution adopted in 2004, private property is “inviolable.” Officially, the PRC calls its current economic system “the construction of socialism with Chinese characteristics.” Individual economists' assessments of the shape of the economy in China vary greatly."
(Wikipedia)
Many popular attempts to demand political change were mercilessly suppressed. Strengthening state power, “The People's Republic of China regained the island of Hong Kong from Great Britain in 1997 and the island of Macau from Portugal in 1999.”
This huge Asian country ranks third in the world in terms of territory and first in population. Almost 1.5 billion Chinese make up an impressive fifth of the world's population (from 7.3 billion people).
A great power is a candidate superpower, the second economy in the world, a member of the UN Security Council, the world's largest exporter, the largest automobile manufacturer, has a large army, nuclear and other weapons, and gold and foreign exchange reserves.
Of the many peoples living in the country, 56 are recognized, they make up only 7% of total number population. The main share of those living in China are the Chinese themselves - “Han”.
The religions of China are Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, and for some time now Christianity has begun to occupy a rather influential position, but “adjusted” to the pace of the state.
« The system of Christian theology must correspond national characteristics China and fit into Chinese culture. This task was set by the head of the State Administration of Religious Affairs, Wang Zuoan, speaking at the “Sinicization of Christianity” forum in Shanghai. The concept of “socialism with Chinese characteristics” forms the basis of the ideology of the Chinese Communist Party.
The new Christian theology is also beginning to acquire requirements that, according to the authorities, must be taken into account when creating a version of Christianity Made in China. Thus, in his speech at a forum in Shanghai, the head of the State Administration for Religious Affairs, Wang Zuoan, emphasized that theology in Chinese should proceed from the fact that China has chosen the socialist path of development.”
(Lenta.ru)
It is also worth noting that the main “religion” of China is still for a long time was atheism. The “Cultural Revolution” bore fruit, and today over 62% of the Chinese population consider themselves atheists.
Belief in a state-approved religious niche is defined as “following religious practices that do not pose a threat to the security of the country.” That is, you can still believe, but carefully, with the permission of the rulers, in a limited way. The “green light” in the present for some religious movements, which were previously denied entry into the Celestial Empire, indicates that the country’s leadership understands the impossibility of maintaining the unity of the people without a spiritual background and understands the danger of a vacuum, the absence of “natural opium”, an outlet. Still, in China there is too much control to talk about the unimpeded implementation of the right to freedom of conscience and religion.
China has given the world an endless series of discoveries, while becoming the largest producer and exporter of these same discoveries. Much, from a compass, porcelain, silk, gunpowder to toilet paper- the work of the hands and minds of the Chinese.
Almost the whole world lives according to Chinese horoscope. Feng Shui entered the lives of those who are alien to Buddhist culture with a light tread. China also directly and firmly established itself in foreign territories through the famous “made in shina” goods. Prada, Dolce Habana for just a couple of bucks is already part of the fashion philosophy, who knows if the originals would be so popular if the availability of fakes were eliminated.
Despite the fact that the birth control policy began back in 1979, and despite - in the literal sense - harsh methods of combating increasing population growth - The Chinese are simply multiplying incredibly. What is the secret of their fertility everyone is wondering. Perhaps it's their potions traditional medicine: many of the tinctures and herbs are either for increasing potency, or for fatigue and longevity...
Perhaps the point is in patriotism breaking out beyond the boundaries of everyday life: they love the country so much that they want to give it as many creatures as possible “made” in their own image and likeness. The latter, of course, is doubtful, but we will talk about patriotism separately.
Space, nuclear, chemical production did not pass without a trace for the country. In China, about a million children are born every year with anomalies and developmental defects.
Patriotism in China
Do the Chinese love their country, or are they simply forced to pretend that they love it? Naturally, there are both. But people who grew up with one-way information often have no choice.
In China, the “Golden Shield” project was put into operation in 2003: filtering Internet content in the country. Thanks to it, access to many sites is blocked that, in the opinion of the Chinese leadership, could become a threat to National Security, undermine the authority of the country, and also be simply harmful to the consciousness of citizens.
“Access to a number of foreign sites from the territory of the PRC is limited within the framework of the Golden Shield project;
Websites based in China may not link to or publish news taken from foreign news sites or media without special approval;
Web pages are filtered by keywords related to state security, as well as on a blacklist of website addresses.
Row Western companies comply with the requirements of the Chinese authorities to limit access to information. According to Reporters Without Borders, Chinese version search engine Yahoo! does not show certain information in search results
The Wikipedia website has also been repeatedly blocked in China. The reason for the blocking is due, in particular, to the description of the events in China in May-June 1989.
The system also blocks the sites of a number of religious and philosophical movements, in particular transhumanist ones.”
(Wikipedia)
More this system restrictions are called the “Great Internet Wall of China.” There are also commentators on the Internet who, for a fee, glorify the ideology of the country’s leaders.
In general, the Celestial Empire, having realized that the Internet is not so simple, that all wars and revolutions can now start at the whiff of Twitter, put its authoritarian hand on this area.
About the Internet blockade, about the multimillion-dollar Chinese city of Shanghai, about skyscrapers that grew out of the ground in the episode of the program “Heads and Tails”:
China, nurtured for centuries on imperial greatness, which had dynasties of leaders as its rulers, and even despite religions and culture, called the emperor the main god, due to this desire to serve and be true goals state and maintained its unity. And today such a huge country with an endless army can be weak if it does not have unity(unity is the most important element of strength; it is not for nothing that the main party of Russia also contains a word with the same root as unity). And the more people there are, the more difficult it is to preserve community. Restrained and humble, he is a force, but unbridled and unhumble, he is a force that can turn against the rulers themselves. Realizing this, China is tightening the screws of restrictions more and more. After all, it is stupid to underestimate such a multi-potential country.
A civilization that has risen above the whole world, called the Celestial Empire for a reason, accustomed to receiving gifts as a sign of its respect, wants to feel its power in practice and unconditionally.
Criticism of the Chinese leadership is “exterminated” in every possible way, the state can only be praised, and national traditions are promoted. In a number of cities, all billboards with foreign goods have hieroglyphs inscriptions. National holidays are celebrated on a grand scale; every primary school student knows the geography of the country.
In 2012, an essay by a Chinese student published on Twitter received widespread attention:
“Time flies very quickly. It's almost the middle of the semester, exams are starting, I've started studying for them and I'm really nervous about taking the tests, I have to start working harder because if I don't work hard and know the material well, then my grades won't improve, and I will be scolded by my parents, if my parents scold me, then I will lose confidence in myself, if I lose confidence in myself, then I will not be able to complete my studies, if I do not complete my studies, then I will not be able to complete [university] if I won't be able to finish university, then I won't be able to find good job, if I don't find a good job, then I won't be able to make money, if I'm not able to make money, then I won't be able to pay taxes, if I don't pay taxes, then it will be difficult for the country to pay teachers' salaries, if not will pay teachers, then they will not devote themselves to teaching, if they do not devote themselves to teaching, then it will hit the future of our country, if it hits the future of our country, then it will be difficult for China to progress and the Chinese people will degenerate into a barbaric nation. If the Chinese people degenerate into a barbaric nation, then the US will begin to suspect that our country has powerful deadly weapons, if [the US begins to suspect that] our country has powerful deadly weapons, then the US will start a war against China, and the Third will break out world war, if the Third World War breaks out and the forces of both, the USA and China, are not enough, then they will start using nuclear weapons, if they start using nuclear weapons, then they will destroy the environment, if environment will be destroyed, it will create a huge hole in the atmosphere if there is huge hole, then it will intensify global warming and the glaciers at both poles will begin to melt, if the glaciers melt, then the water level on Earth will rise, if the water level on Earth rises, then the entire human race will drown and die. Since this concerns the survival and safety of the entire human race, I must spend the remaining few days reviewing the material covered in order to do well on the test and thus prevent a tragedy.”
If some people found the text funny, others saw in it psychological oppression, enslavement by alien ideas with early years, the third felt ashamed that in their middle years they were not so responsible.
In comments about the value of Chinese love for the motherland, one can find phrases about the difference between Russian and Chinese patriotism: they say that they cannot be defeated, because they are a united nation, because everything is good with them, and everything is bad with us. They are warriors, in every way they were able to raise the country, and we, Russians, consider them “people who have come in large numbers,” etc.
Those who unconditionally praise Chinese patriotism forget that we have too different mentalities for us to be able to try on Asian clothes and customs in order to find the best.
Long-known facts: the Chinese, along with their unlimited fertility, have lost all interest in the value of human life. China has a high suicide rate. In China, executions are carried out en masse for numerous crimes; in China, soups are made from premature babies. If earlier the last fact raised doubts and seemed provocative and compromising to many, today there are no secrets or innuendos: the process of preparing the dish was shown on TV, and the tasting was covered on other resources.
“The point of the information contained in textbooks and transmitted by the Chinese media is that the answer to all the hardships that the Celestial Empire has experienced can only be the revival of Chinese greatness and national pride in the heart of every Chinese. And they themselves admit on Internet forums that when asked “Why do you love China?” they answer memorized phrases from books and slogans. Often they do not have their own opinion on this matter...
...In fact, Chinese patriotism is a long-forgotten form of ethnic nationalism, which is determined by the influence of German romanticism. Sun Yat-sen was being disingenuous when he claimed that Chinese nationalist ideas did not come from a foreign source, but were “transmitted to us by our forefathers.” Indeed, in the 19th century, German thinkers and philosophers first responded with the nationalism of “language, blood and soil” to the conquest of the German principalities by Napoleonic army. This concept subsequently attracted many romantics in Asian countries whose peoples felt oppressed by Western colonial powers. It is still being implemented by the CPC Central Committee to this day.”
(from the article “Chinese patriotism is based on a sense of self-humiliation”, the newspaper “Zhenmin Ribao”)
However, let’s also not react with imposed and memorized phrases. There is a lot to learn from China, but we are too different to compare our troubles and problems in the same way, much less compare each other’s level of patriotism.
In connection with the upcoming Olympics and the growing social movement in the world for the observance of human rights in China, this country becomes a center in which all economic, political, moral problems and interests of humanity merge together.
One of my good friends has been to China many times and for a long time. In his work, he often had to communicate with both ordinary workers and middle managers in several Chinese factories. His answers to questions showed life ordinary Chinese, which can be judged not by superficial descriptions of tourists, but by a true reflection of their real life and a desire to understand their way of thinking.
- Which general impression what happened about China?
This is a country of contrasts. White and black stand side by side. There is a skyscraper, and next to it is a hut. Those who live in skyscrapers earn $20,000 a month, in a hut they sleep on one bed in three shifts: one person slept, went to work, then a second, third, etc. slept. In an ordinary cafe you can meet two people, one of whom is quite wealthy and the other is poor. But they eat the same thing. I haven't seen anything like this in Russia. I can explain this by the fact that they all, on the one hand, came from the same environment ordinary people, and, on the other hand, brought up in the spirit of devotion to the Communist Party of China, they are quite tense and restrained.
- What should entrepreneurs who have their own business in China take into account?
The Chinese believe that everyone who comes to China wants to take something away from them. Therefore, in turn, they are trying to outsmart their European partners. But this manifests itself in a rather peculiar way.
They believe that China is great, powerful, and that they can fulfill any order. The Chinese sincerely believe that they can do anything. Therefore, refusing and not fulfilling any production order means losing your face. But they will fulfill this order according to their own, and not your, ideas. For example, they will make the batch of green shirts you ordered efficiently and on time, but the shirts will be... red. Literally all production processes need to be continuously monitored.
- What is the situation of the workers in the factories where you had to visit on duty?
It's no secret that there are many factories in China where people literally work for food. They have one or two days off a month and are not allowed to leave the factory premises. 5 – 12 people live in one room. People don't have time to start a family or don't have money to rent an apartment. I've met a lot of unmarried men. Therefore, the percentage of rapes in cities is quite high.
Ordinary workers receive from 500 to 1500 yuan (about 1700 - 5200 rubles / month). This money is barely enough to provide yourself with everything you need and at least send something to your poor relatives in the village. They simply don't have enough money to buy simple things for us like a TV and a VCR.
Many Chinese people have no personal life - they only work 12 to 18 hours a day. The Chinese themselves consider themselves the most resilient people in terms of work. Nobody in the world works like that. If, for example, you ask to produce a product not in 21, but in 10 days, then most likely you will not be refused. People will be additionally sent out to work at night, and during the day they will work as usual. In addition to Chinese New Year, there are a number of public holidays throughout the year when workers must be given days off. In fact, workers will work as long as its managers need. I just haven't heard anything about protecting the interests of workers and respecting human rights in general.
- How do people with families live?
Among ordinary people, I have not seen husband and wife living together. The wife works the same as her husband, but at a different factory, in a different city. They can see each other once every 2-3 months or even less often. The Chinese have a highly developed labor migration. In any factory, up to 70% of the workers are visitors from other cities and villages. A woman can go on maternity leave to care for a child for just a few months. Then, as far as I know, the husband’s parents sit with the child, and the woman goes to work.
- Is there a division between male and female labor?
I simply did not notice this division. I've seen women swinging pickaxes. At the same time, I saw men collecting grass. I saw women who carried large stones, and men, at the same time, took these stones and straightened them. The picture is very sad. Many women have hands that are crooked from work, like my old grandmother. They work only to survive. This is true.
How informed are the Chinese about what is happening in their country? In China, the websites of many organizations that are unfavorable to the government are blocked. What have you heard about it?
I have not personally encountered Internet blocking, but I know a lot about it from the American and British press. If foreign company is not beneficial, for some reason, to the Chinese government, then its activities are blocked, including the website. A lot has been written about this, naturally not in Chinese, but in foreign literature.
- What Chinese newspapers have you read? To what extent, in your opinion, do they present information objectively?
I regularly read Chinese newspapers in English: China Daily, Shenzhen Daily, Zhenzhibao and others. They contain almost only positive information: the mayor of the city planted a tree, a new bridge was built, etc. I doubt her objectivity. If there is negative information, it appears sporadically, and then, I think, the government needs it more as a means of intimidation for others. For example, I read that the Minister of Labor was executed for corruption, although the entire Chinese society is permeated with corruption. I learned this both from the words of the Chinese and from the words of the foreigners with whom I communicated. Giving a bribe to an official is normal, it’s accepted. In China there is even an expression quanksha - good friendly relations. First set up quanks, and then agree on the matter.
- What are the negative and positive traits could you point out in Chinese?
Chinese workers and middle managers are not very receptive to anything new. They are used to doing one standard production operation. For example, I know one furniture factory, where only two models of sofas were assembled over the course of two years. Once, I asked to replace the white glass screws with black ones. It took me a lot of effort to convince the workers of this. They simply did not understand and did not want to understand what was required of them. I noticed that you need to repeat or describe at least 7 times new process to be understood. But then everything is done precisely, without any unnecessary initiative, as often happens here in Russia.
I can't say that the Chinese are hardworking. They just have to work hard to survive. But the Chinese are reserved and very patient, unlike us. They, at the level of simple communication, will always try to help you. The main thing is that they will do it sincerely.
I talked with several people who had visited China more than once, and noticed that not everything in the behavior of the Chinese was completely clear to them. But, to learn to understand another, doesn’t it mean to learn to understand oneself better, to reveal the still dormant principles within oneself?
Sergei Goncharov, The Epoch Times
China is far from the most popular country among Russians, but still, many compatriots live in these exotic lands. As part of a series of materials about fellow citizens who moved abroad, Lenta.ru publishes a story by journalist Alena from Kirov about how, in a year and a half, she managed to get used to the Celestial Empire and change her profession to a more relevant one for the new place.
Chinese dream
I was born in Kirov. After school I went to Moscow and entered the Faculty of Journalism. At the university I already worked in my profession, but I soon realized that it was not for me. I won a grant to study and work in America, but I was not given a visa. I decided that I would go somewhere anyway. Eventually she moved to China.
First I arrived in Beijing. At that time, I did not speak Chinese, so my job search was limited to teaching Russian and English. The Great and Mighty in China turned out to be not as popular as English. Already in the first few days, there were numerous proposals to teach the locals the language of Shakespeare. I chose the most interesting option for myself - teaching English to children from three to six years old.
Both in Beijing and subsequently in Shanghai, I rented a room in an apartment. There was a large apartment in Beijing where we lived with two Americans and a Pole. Rent a room in the center of Beijing with beautiful view costs about three and a half thousand yuan (about 28 thousand rubles). It’s interesting that the same room on the outskirts near the metro can cost the same.
In China, real estate prices are constantly rising; Beijing and Shanghai are already on the list of megacities with the most expensive housing in the world. Any square meter, even an unsightly one, will definitely sell. Prices for nice apartments start from several million yuan and increase every year due to the overpopulation of the country. In most families, several generations live together. The Chinese often waste money, but if they have a really large amount, they will definitely invest in real estate for themselves and their children, born or future.
Go local
Having moved to Shanghai, I realized that throughout the first year of my life in this country I continued to live as a “non-local”: I ate only familiar food, communicated only with foreigners, and spoke English at work. Here foreigners are divided into two main types. Some people can live for years and not learn anything in Chinese, eat pizza and burgers, and communicate with Europeans. But others immerse themselves in the local culture. At the beginning of my second year here, I decided that I wanted to stay in this country, at least for the next couple of years, and took up the language. Besides this, I went to interesting experiment- settled with a Chinese family.
A significant expense item is transportation. It is very expensive to have a car here. You must pay a tax almost equal to the cost of the car itself. But this is not an essential thing, because China is very developed public transport. For example, in just 25 minutes I can travel to another city by high-speed train.
At first, due to climate change and smog, I often got sick and went to the doctor. Each trip to a local clinic without insurance, along with medications, cost me about 200-400 yuan (1.6-3.2 thousand rubles). International clinics with English-speaking staff are, of course, many times more expensive.
Chinese food is much cheaper than European food, and the portions are huge. But I can’t imagine myself eating their food every day. The Chinese eat a lot of things we don't eat: chicken feet, pork cartilage, duck head soup. This is where I tried donkey meat for the first time. The worst experience was rat meat. It often happens that if it’s delicious, I eat it and don’t ask what it’s from, because I’m afraid of the answer. China has more than a billion citizens, and everyone needs to be fed, so they eat what we consider inedible.
White face fee
The Chinese cannot contradict their boss because they know that they will quickly find a replacement. At first I didn’t allow myself this either, but now I can calmly refuse something.
Foreigners get more than Chinese. For the same knowledge and experience you will be paid more than a local. Here they often pay for your “white face,” no matter how terrible it may sound. It is very prestigious when Europeans work in a company. Fortunately, in my field, in teaching, the Chinese and I are not competitors: we apply for different vacancies and working conditions.
Most Chinese people hardly travel. Therefore, for them we are like aliens. The Chinese have a type of appearance that they really like: blond hair, white skin, blue eyes. I fit this description and am constantly being looked at and photographed often. Sometimes they ask permission, but more often they don’t. There have been times when they pointed a camera right in my face, now I respond in kind.
The Chinese are generally very dependent on smartphones. Because of this, accidents and collisions constantly occur. On dates, it is also considered normal to stay glued to your phone. Europeans often joke about this.
Marriage as a lifetime contract
They have completely different views on marriage, divorces are much less common, the opinions of parents and families matter more than in Western countries. Their marriage is like a contract. A lifetime contract for a person to live with you. There are significantly fewer women than men, and this affects their character. Chinese women are capricious and demanding, while men are pliable and submissive.
When choosing a couple, they pay less attention to feelings than to their material condition: are you suitable for social status, what kind of job do you have, do you have a car. Chinese people may talk about marriage on the first dates. There were cases when they wanted to introduce me to my parents in the first days of communication. It was a shock for me! A foreign wife (or husband) is very prestigious here. For myself, I can’t imagine marrying a Chinese man: you never know whether he’s with you because of status or real feelings.
In China, almost everyone has one child, although the “one family, one child” policy was abolished in 2015. Education and training are very expensive. Here they make a lot of money from small children: kindergartens and schools are all paid. My English school is considered inexpensive and costs parents of children 15 thousand yuan (122 thousand rubles) per year.
Hard work in Chinese
From the first days in my new place, I realized how important education is here: it is in this area of life that the Chinese actively invest their time and money. You won’t surprise anyone here with early development schools for kids, English courses for infants, in circles and sections. Even my youngest students had their day planned out by the hour: international kindergarten, language school, drawing studio, martial arts.
The Chinese believe that childhood and adolescence are given to a person to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills, and that one can travel, make friends and enjoy life later.
I also invest most of my salary in my education: I am constantly improving, taking new courses, growing in my profession, learning Chinese. When I say that in Russia teachers can earn about two thousand yuan (fifteen thousand rubles) a month, my foreign friends are amazed. Nobody believes that anyone agrees to work for that kind of money.
Usually in the morning I go to learn Chinese, then go to work and then go for a walk with friends in the center. I always feel like I need more time. I get up thinking that a lot of interesting things await me. I really like this lifestyle.
I am a young teacher, but here they offer me such working conditions under which I can afford to travel a lot (over the last year and a half I have been to seven countries), study at an international school, surround myself with active and interesting friends from all over the world, and constantly practice foreign languages, make plans for the future and constantly develop.
When I thought about my future in Russia, I didn’t even imagine that it would turn out like this.
Everything is possible in China
Surprise and shock still haunt me. I went through all the stages of adaptation to life in new country: from complete delight to deep disappointment. There are many things that are not written about in newspapers or shown on TV. For example, the Chinese believe in signs. The number “4” sounds like “sy,” but if pronounced in a different intonation, it means “death.” Because of this, they try to avoid it in phone or car numbers. Even in my modern house in the center of Beijing there was no 4th, 14th and 24th floor.
The Chinese language is very different. A person from the south of the country often does not understand a northerner. Beijing pronunciation is considered the standard, so we can say that the Chinese speak two languages: Beijing and local dialects. It's the same with the kitchen. Each region of China has its own cuisine. For example, in Shanghai it is more sweet and sour, in Sichuan it is more spicy. The Chinese are always surprised when I tell them that in our huge country we all speak the same language, we have similar cuisine and the same television.
Separately, it is worth mentioning the level of culture and hygiene. Children often wear pants with a hole through which they can do their “business” right in the middle of the street. Are men and women coughing everywhere? Only after living here for a long time did I understand that the reason for many of the internal problems of this country is that the cultural level of the Chinese does not keep up with the economic one. Just 10 years ago they lived in distant villages and were engaged in agriculture, and now they drive around in expensive cars and spend a lot of money in fashionable restaurants. Perhaps they realized in time that its citizens must keep up with the development of China, so now various schools and educational centers are opening throughout the country.
Starting point
My family was not happy that my choice fell on China. I always tell my parents that everything is fine with me, so that they can already get used to this country and my move. Very few friends accepted my idea and supported me completely, some are now jealous, and some who did not communicate with me much before, after the move, actively write to me with various questions, requests and help. Many people say: “When are you going to run over? Come to Russia, we will find you a groom here.”
I've been to Russia once in a year and a half. I was stressed. I didn’t leave the house for three days. When I came to China, I thought: “How can these people live like this?” And when I returned to Russia, I asked myself the same question. In China, I have never seen drunk people on the street; it’s safer here. In Russia they really don't smile. Everything seemed dirty, untidy, gray. In China, everyone is busy with something, everyone has many interests, here there are areas in which to develop and in whom to grow.
Perhaps this is just my perception of China, but after a year and a half I see both positive and negative in this country. I learned a lot here. For example, the Chinese should definitely adopt the habit of long-term investments, working on themselves, self-education and perseverance towards the goal. Then I clearly realized: if you don’t do something, there will always be someone who will do it, replacing you.
However, despite all the good things in my life here, I understand that this is just a stage, and far from the final goal. This is great launch pad, but here I will always be a stranger, even if I master the language perfectly and marry a Chinese. There is something about this country that I will never understand.
Instead of an introduction:Our names are Gregory and Natalie. We are 25 or a little older. And we are passionate, mobile and adventurous. It so happens that we currently live in China. We live in a small, non-international and almost no one famous city on the Southeast coast. Few tourists see China the way we see it - not tourist, everyday China, China from the inside. The text below is our notes about life in China, these are the amazing and incomprehensible things that we constantly encounter, this is our real reality. And please read slowly.
Live in China. How is this?
Actually this is interesting. We haven't been here that long, so everything around us still continues to surprise us every day. There is so much mixed up here that, as we understand, the Chinese themselves often cannot figure it out. This is some kind of incomprehensible territory. Compare China with any European country no need at all. It's incomparable. Nothing will work out. Therefore, we don’t compare anything - we tell everything as it is. Of course, our view of the world is subjective, but we are not the state. com. statistics...
So, China through the eyes of the average person:
There is constant movement in China. Here everything moves, moves and moves. Wherever you go and wherever you look, you will see Chinese people doing something. Either they are working, which is more likely, or they are eating, which is also almost everywhere, or they are arguing about something. The combination of these three actions is the aggregate state of the Chinese. There are a lot of people everywhere. You can go into any open cafe or restaurant at night - no matter what time, at four or five in the morning - and in this restaurant more than half of the seats will be occupied for sure. You can go out onto the balcony of your apartment at night and see that the traffic on the street has not decreased at all. Yesterday we were returning home late and, passing by the tennis court, we saw two Chinese playing tennis in our yard. In uniform, in white sneakers, with good rackets - at four o'clock in the morning!!
The Chinese are everywhere and always. But they are very different. People are highly differentiated by social level. There are a lot of poor people. A lot of rich people. They all peacefully coexist with each other in close proximity. There are no elite areas and no Harlems. A multi-story skyscraper can stand right in the middle of a slum, and an elite 5-star hotel can be surrounded by poor areas with two-story shacks and sewers. Just like a brand new Ferrari can stand at the crossroads between pedicabs and three-wheeled dusty scooters. All this is cooked in one cauldron. If you leave the boundaries of any city and drive along any road - on the sides of it you will not see forests and fields - you will see fences of factories and factories - one replacing another... In any direction. There are thousands of them here. These can be small factories with up to 500 people, or ultra-modern world-famous factories with an unknown number of people. They all work at incredible speed. They all make money every minute. Any of the owners of these factories is a wealthy person. Any of them can afford a shiny executive-class Mercedes and a 500-meter house or apartment. There are definitely more millionaires here than in Austrian resorts. But, with all this, hundreds of workers work at each plant, who receive 100 bucks a month. And there are also incredibly many of them. In general, it is still difficult for us to understand how it all works and harmoniously coexists.
Food is a universal hobby of all Chinese. In the morning, evening and at night, all restaurants and cafes are more than half occupied. There are Chinese everywhere and they eat everywhere. Everyone eats. They eat snakes, toads, worms, scorpions, insects, all animals, including dogs and mice, and all entrails, including deep-fried intestines and lungs. You say ugh!? Come on, you can get used to it. In the evening, these glass stalls on wheels open onto the street. They drive out to the middle of the sidewalk, and the stallholders lay out various animal parts and seasonings in a glass display case. All this is fried and steamed in front of you big fire and plenty of oil. You can try the ears, snout, udder, lungs and much more... In front of these “glasses” there are usually 5-7 low stools where you can sit and eat everything you just bought. At the same time, bones and skin should be chewed well and then spat out on the floor right in front of you. You can slurp without hesitation - everyone slurps - this is the norm. 15 meters from this “glass” is the entrance to a respectable restaurant. There is a soft lounge playing, dim lighting, a 46-page menu, and on the tables there are buttons for remote calling of waiters. On the menu: steaks, fried potatoes, spaghetti balanese, the best European wines, Carlsberg beer, and great fruit cocktails. When you dine in such a place you relax and after a few minutes you forget what you just saw on the street. The distance between these two worlds is 15 steps.
Versatility and contrast are everywhere. You can walk into the courtyard of a new multi-story building, such as the one we live in, and see a car exhibition in the parking lot below. There are “Mizirrati”, “Ferrari”, “Caens” - this is generally the people’s car of the Lao Ban (lao ban - boss in Chinese) 500 and 600 Mercedes, several Jaguars, two Hamers and other cars -fives.” You can leave the courtyard, walk across the street to the left and get into a two-story area with the same exhibition, but this time of tricycles. The tricycle is generally one of the symbols of China. They transport everything from garbage to refrigerators.
There are many extremes here, but they are extremes nonetheless. We want to talk about China and the average Chinese.
Chinese people at home and at work. The Chinese work from 8 to 12, then have a two-hour lunch break. From 12 to 14 they have lunch and have time to sleep. In offices at this time, you can easily find a Chinese person sleeping right on his desk next to his computer. The Chinese work hard. They do everything quickly - that's a fact. Quality is a separate matter. When working with a Chinese partner, it is important to constantly ensure that he understands you thoroughly. Not just understood, but understood thoroughly. Otherwise, he will do some of the work “at his own discretion.” The Chinese discretion will most likely be very different from yours. After work, China has dinner. From 18 to 20 all cafes and restaurants are almost one hundred percent occupied. It is not customary to have dinner at home. Many apartments do not have kitchens. If you walk into a cafe in the evening, the first thing you notice is a powerful din. Everyone communicates with each other very loudly - almost shouting. Such a style. After dinner, the Chinese go home or to friends. At home he watches TV - and constantly switches channels. This is not surprising - the quality of the programs shown on central television is very low. 80 percent are locally produced TV series - it’s great to learn the language from them, but you can’t delve into the meaning - otherwise your brain will soften, and repeated advertisements where characters talk to cartoon-washing-powders. When visiting friends, a Chinese man argues, shouts loudly and gambles. Gambling– this is a completely separate topic. They play everywhere. In shops, on the streets, in parks - everywhere, everywhere... We haven’t yet understood what they are playing - something between chess, backgammon and dominoes. They always play for money, shouting loudly as they throw dice onto the board.
Chinese on the roads: It is impossible for a visitor to understand the logic of traffic in China. The driving culture is simply different than in any other country. A very large number of traffic participants. Lots of cars. There are three to four times more motorcyclists and cyclists. While the light is red, a number of cars accumulate at the intersection, surrounded on all sides by motorcyclists. The green light turns on - everything starts moving smoothly. The distances between cars and mopeds are usually 20-30 cm, regardless of speed. Turn signs are ignored. Double solid almost everywhere, but no one knows why it is needed. The priorities of roads are very arbitrary - often a dusty three-wheeled truck with chickens in the back can fall onto the main, busy road, along which traffic moves at an average speed of 70, without worrying that someone might crash into it. The Chinese drive very slowly, smoothly and constantly changing lanes. Changing lanes all the time is normal. It is not customary to simply drive along and enjoy the road.
Surprisingly, the Chinese never swear while driving; they react to all cuts and constant sharp moments by calmly and confidently pressing the brake, without showing a drop of aggression or even dissatisfaction. There are no accidents at all. We haven't seen any. Just like there are no “Zhorikov” on “Tens” with mufflers that you can stick your head into, and there are no old right-handed “Subars” with “Sparko” inscriptions across the entire body.
A motorcycle is folk remedy movement. These are mainly “Suzuki” and “Honda” - 125 cc four-stroke small engines on a simple frame. In appearance they resemble the Soviet IZH, only more carefully. Motorcycles with an engine capacity of more than 250cc are banned in China.
Roads. In cities traffic organized very logically. Maximum number of interchanges, minimum number of traffic lights. “Second-level roads” are being built everywhere - this is when the first floor of the road goes in one direction, the second – in the other. All roads are perfectly smooth. Automatic communication between cities is carried out in two ways: 1 - you can choose a toll road - by paying approximately 50 yuan (200 rubles) per hundred kilometers you will get an excellent road surface on which you can drive 200 and 250, (but everywhere the limit is 110), perfectly trimmed flower beds on both sides and the absence of any surprises. 2 - having paid a symbolic fee of 6 yuan (24 rubles) per hundred kilometers, you go onto a “budget” road - and then ... God help you! From personal experience: when you drive along such a road, you feel like a fighter pilot deep behind enemy lines.
If you go into the food section of a supermarket, it can confuse an unprepared person. Approximately 70% of products are not identifiable to foreigners. How it is, what it is, whether it is the first, whether it is the second, or the third is not clear. But in any case, no matter what you buy, most likely it will be delicious – the main thing is not to know what it’s made from. But, everything takes turns. Meat – meat is sold everywhere. A lot of pork, a lot of beef, a lot of chicken. In China there is a special type of chicken - black chicken. The meat tastes exactly the same as regular meat, just black in color. This is a Negro chicken. Along with pork and beef, there may be dog meat on the shelf in the store - in order not to cook it for lunch, it is important to learn the hieroglyph for “dog” well. In China, it is believed that animal entrails - hearts, livers, stomachs - are much healthier than meat - that's why they cost more. Fish - we live on the very shore of the ocean - there is a lot of fish in these places and in a great abundance of varieties. If you go to the fish department of any supermarket, you can count at least thirty varieties of fish. All of it is fresh - either live or chilled. In any store they will clean it for you for free and cut it as you ask. Turtles, snakes, frogs, worms, rapana, snails, mollusks, octopuses and lobsters are sold alive. They swim in large aquariums with filtered water until you buy them. We cannot say anything authoritatively about the taste or the methods of preparation of these undoubtedly magnificent, exotic dishes. Natalie is not a fan of gastronomic experiments. And I put up with this, subconsciously understanding that this is fortunate.
In the egg department you will find at least 15 types of eggs. It's hard to say whose they are, but they are all different colors and sizes. Eggs are also sold already boiled, boiled in soy sauce and rotten, and then boiled. Vegetables. There are a huge number of vegetables, although many of them are unknown to us. The potatoes are very large (slightly smaller than a volleyball) and gnarled. Carrots are sold only peeled. Surprisingly, there are no beets. Not at all. Nowhere. In the fruit department you will be pleasantly surprised by the variety of choices. Bananas, kiwis, oranges, tangerines, pears, apples, strawberries, pomelo, lychees, and many more fruits whose names we only know in Chinese. They all taste different, but are equally ripe and sweet. Among others you can find the famous “durian”. This is a large fruit - the size of a large watermelon, yellow and with many spikes on the body. You should eat it with plastic gloves on, otherwise your fingers will smell like shit for a week. It's not called durian for nothing. The white pulp inside contains large yellow segments larger than orange ones and they are eaten. The taste is unlike anything else, very unusual, moderately sweet and pleasant, but it is better to eat this fruit after a cold, while the runny nose has not yet passed. This is what a child's shit smells like - it doesn't seem disgusting, but it still smells... We tried durian while visiting our Chinese friends. Natalie would never let me buy it and bring it into the house.
Dried food: sold in bags, it can be shrimp, mushrooms, carrots, seaweed, and anything else. Almost everything is sold dried. We don’t know what it is and how to properly cook and eat it, so we don’t buy it.
There are almost no dairy products. The milk is mostly soy. We have forgotten what cottage cheese, cheese and cream are.
Now a few lines about restaurants and cafes. In China, you can eat one meal for 150 yuan, but you can eat for the same money for a week without depriving yourself of meat. But in any case, you can afford to never pay attention to the right column in the menu, and it's damn nice! All Chinese catering establishments can be divided into three types. The first and most colorful are small eateries with 8-10 seats. They are in every home. I didn't make a mistake in every house. We call them chi-fanki (from the Chinese “chi fan” - eat, dine). These are private establishments that are not certified, do not undergo any controls, and the food they cook there is unclear and not clear from what, but, to their credit, it’s delicious. When you eat in such a place, you feel like you’ve gone into some Chinese person’s kitchen to have lunch. Plastic tables, plastic chairs, disposable tablecloths, flies and the constant TV with TV series. I ate in such chifanki a couple of times in secret from Natalie. It’s interesting... The average bill is 6 yuan. (25 rubles). The second type is restaurants and cafes of medium level and above. There are countless of them in China. There will be such a restaurant on any street, in any house. They are purely Chinese, which is more common, and they also come in various styles of cuisine, for example, Filipino or Japanese, or Korean, and so on. It is a pleasure to dine in such restaurants - the food is delicious. It is cooked over high heat and with a lot of oil. It’s especially interesting when the kitchen is open and you can see how your order is being prepared. You can watch for hours - incredibly interesting - the Chinese are unsurpassed virtuosos in this regard. Within a radius of three hundred meters from our house there are a dozen of these restaurants, where we go alternately. There is usually calm music, pleasant interiors and owners of establishments with whom we know personally. They are all a little proud of our presence as their guests and are always glad to see our visits. And the third type is elite restaurants. They are more often found in the lobbies of five-star hotels. Large spacious rooms, tables served with knives and forks, well-trained waiters and an impeccably delicious menu. You need to go to such places - first of all, in order to feel “on the level”.
The food in all Chinese establishments has one thing in common - it is very fatty and oily. If a foreigner eats outside the home all the time, his stomach will sooner or later fail.
The Chinese have a cult of food. The Chinese always order more than they can eat. This is especially exaggerated if you are their guest. You dine with four people, and order, for example, ten dishes. The Chinese eat deliciously! They slurp. They burp. They spit the bones on the table. (We are talking about average Chinese; what has been said, as a rule, does not apply to directors and top managers of factories and international companies). The Chinese table is always noisy. They talk a lot and loudly while eating. They argue, joke, discuss politics and family issues. There is always a din in establishments, which is not easy to shout through. Ten minutes later you catch yourself thinking that you yourself are screaming.
The Chinese practically do not drink strong alcohol. You won't find vodka, whiskey or cognac on the menu in restaurants. Although there is almost always beer. Here they drink beer from small 100-gram glasses. This container is ideal for Chinese beer, as it does not foam at all. Chinese beer is not beer in its understanding - it is some kind of separate drink. Although the green bottle may say Hainiken. The most famous local beer is, of course, Qingdao. Served in liter bottles. You can see these on the tables of restaurant visitors, but not often, not everywhere. And of course, you will never see a Chinese drinking or walking down the street with beer.
At the same time, the Chinese smoke. They smoke everywhere. There are no restrictions on smoking. You can smoke in transport, in an elevator, in a bank and anywhere else... Recently we went to a sports store to buy sneakers - and so, in front of the window next to us, a Chinese man stood and smoked, choosing a pair for himself.(!c sports store!) One of the sellers was kind enough to bring him an ashtray. Only men smoke.
Chinese faces: Who said that the Chinese are all alike? This is wrong. You just don’t understand it right away. You need to get used to it and after a while you start to see a little more. And you can already say: “this Chinese woman is beautiful” or “oh, this one is only after four Chingdaos.” But, to be objective, there aren’t very many pretty Chinese, we’re not talking about beautiful ones. There are more of them in large cities and fewer in small towns. Partly because modeling agencies and the entire fashion elite are concentrated in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. But let's talk about stereotypes... There is a certain standard of beauty in the world. No one will argue that these are: long legs, moderately large breasts, long neck, big eyes, long eyelashes, even white teeth, and it’s absolutely cool if she’s also blonde. Now let's look at the Chinese women. Features of the Asian genotype are: short stature, short legs, very short neck, narrow eyes and lack of eyelashes, dark skin color, yellow teeth and black hair. It turns out that Asian appearance itself contradicts the generally accepted standard. And this contradiction, as we see, puts great pressure on the Chinese. Otherwise, where do these ubiquitous skin whitening services in beauty salons and such popular simple plastic surgeries to increase the size of the eyes come from?
Chinese advertisements mostly feature European faces. Santa Claus in China is also European. The mannequins in stores are European. But that doesn't mean there aren't beautiful faces in China. Eat.
Despite the fact that the Chinese eat constantly, you won’t find fat people here. All the girls are slim, all the men are skinny. Although there are exceptions, such as our fitness trainer - a handsome man.
Chinese Hospitality: Chinese hospitality is a brand. Everyone knows that Asians are hospitable, but you can fully experience this only after living here for some time. We live in a small city, by Chinese standards, albeit with a population of several million. You rarely see Europeans here, so we really stand out from the crowd. Of course we are exotic in our own way local residents. And it often happens that you get tired of such attention. But you can get used to it and not notice it. Moreover, all this is more than offset by Chinese hospitality. We are welcome everywhere. And this is not fake, sincere joy. We have discounts and discount cards for almost all establishments within a kilometer radius from our home. And we have never seen such a level of service in the service sector as in China.
Chinese taxi: Red and yellow, worn-out Volkswagen Jettas are a car that was discontinued in Germany about thirty years ago. The WV plant in China made so many of these cars that the Jetta became one of the symbols of China. In a taxi, the driver is separated from the passengers by a metal grill. Safety! All taxis are metered. If you get into a car, the driver must turn on the meter before moving off. This is the rule. If the counter is not turned on, you are being scammed! You should only sit in the back seat. There are no seat belts in the front. The cost of the trip depends on the mileage - but it is always affordable. After 21-00 the cost increases by one and a half yuan - the night rate. An alternative to a regular taxi is a motorcycle taxi. This type of private cab service can be found in small towns. In Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Xiamen and other megacities it was banned due to the high accident rate. For 10 yuan, a motorcycle taxi driver will offer you a sweaty helmet and quickly and dangerously take you anywhere in the city. It's great to ride a motorcycle taxi around the city at night - when you've had a little drink. Funny! Pedicabs are a viable, albeit dying, means of transportation in China. Bicycle with sidecar, two passenger seats, price negotiable. We went a couple of times – it was original, but a lot of things are controversial.
Modern China is a big construction site. Houses in China are built in entire blocks. From my office window you can count 17 tower cranes, each building two 30-story buildings. There is no infill development. If something is being built, then an entire area is being built. Modern residential buildings- these are complexes of 6-8 30-story buildings, united by a single infrastructure. Below there is almost always a swimming pool, often a tennis court, a small park, a children's playground, exercise equipment and underground parking. The internal territory is under video surveillance and 24-hour security. The entire first floor is dedicated to shops and boutiques. You can buy everything you need right in your slippers. In the evening you meet Chinese in pajamas and with a newspaper in their hands, who have gone down to the store to buy soy sauce. Such modern houses- this is housing good level. They have large apartments of 150-200 meters. And neighbors corresponding to this level. But, even here, not without a Chinese flavor, for example, our neighbor in the stairwell - the director of a plant for the production of plastic products - every Saturday morning cuts off the head of a live chicken right on the landing near the elevator. She has all the equipment for this - a cage, a special clamp so that the chicken does not run, and a basin for blood. Shocked? Us too!
There are two apartments per floor. There are also two elevators - one internal, the second external - it rises in a glass box mounted on outside walls. The apartment where we live has five rooms - two toilets, a kitchen, a large hall and three balconies. Each balcony has a marble bathtub and a tap for household needs. Washing machine also on the balcony. Each room has air conditioning - this is not a luxury, but a necessity. In summer it gets up to +50.
Linen always hangs on the balcony. It's not just dried, it's stored here. In China, you won’t see a single balcony on which laundry isn’t hanging on clothespins.
The Chinese have no secrets from each other - that’s why the walls and ceilings in their houses are very thin. This is not only here, it is everywhere in China. Therefore, we know everything about how our neighbors live and in the morning, while still lying in bed, we blush a little, realizing that they also seem to know a lot about us...
Chinese and green tea: Green tea means a lot to the Chinese. Tea and tea drinking is one of the important components life and everyday life. When you enter any apartment or establishment, you can see a special tray, a teapot and a set of cups and tools for the tea ceremony. If you come to visit a Chinese person just to chat for 15 minutes, most likely he will invite you to drink green tea with him. If you stop by a factory or plant to discuss some operational issues, most likely, you will be offered green tea; if you buy something in a store for a long time and cannot make a choice, they will bring you a tray with a set for tea drinking. Teahouses are small shops where you can not only buy, but also taste real green tea, prepared the way it should be prepared. In such shops it is worth large table for 6-8 people, and a nice Chinese woman will invite you to sit down and try any tea you want. All this will be very beautiful, easy and unobtrusive. Tea prices can vary from 15 yuan per jin (Jin is a Chinese unit of measurement equal to 500 grams) to 15,000 yuan per jin. (for clarity – for the cost of 1 kilogram good tea you can buy an average car). An uninitiated person will not understand such a difference in price. But the Chinese are very good at this from birth. How else can one explain such a number of teahouses? There are three of them in our house alone. Tea shops are more common than grocery stores. And the province in which we live is considered the best tea province in China.
Beauty in Chinese: The Chinese have a very unique idea of beauty and style. This shows up in everything. In architecture, in the design of apartments, clothing, etc. Let's start with the most interesting thing - women's fashion: what Chinese girls look like can be said in one word - asexual. No mini, no tight, no emphasizing... Modest, drab, nothing at all. You won’t find a “girl in a little Peugeot” here. There are no girls here who want to turn around, just because they just want to turn around... And it’s not at all a matter of external beauty, but the ability to present oneself. This is neither good nor bad. That's how it is done here.
School uniforms in China are uniform. It's a baggy green and white tracksuit. It is usually a size or two too large and deprives its owners of any gender differences at all. This costume has nothing to do with the concepts of beauty or style. I think ten years of being in this form leaves an imprint on your future life.
Chinese houses have their own, Chinese comfort. The walls are always white. No wallpaper, just white whitewashed walls. There are always red Chinese lanterns in any apartment, usually they hang on the balcony. And there is always a mahogany altar with a Buddha figurine and burning incense. It stands in the hallway of any home.
Most beautiful color- red. The rule “the more shiny the better” works without exception (this is especially true in the designs of the Chinese automobile industry).
Chinese letter: The Chinese language is a thing in itself. If you meet a person who says that he knows Chinese perfectly, you can laugh in his face. The Chinese language is obviously not intended to be known perfectly. Chinese has more than 50,000 characters. No one, of course, counted them accurately, and it is not possible to count them; it is simply accepted that there are about 50,000 of them. At the same time, 2,000 are enough for the Chinese to fully communicate. There are four tones (keys) in the Chinese language. The first one is neutral. Second, the main stress of the word has an ascending direction. Third - the main stress of the word first goes sharply down, then sharply up. The fourth key (or reverse key) is the descending stress of a word. Identical sound combinations in different keys have different, and often opposite, meanings.
So, for example, mai - in the third key means to buy, and mai - in the fourth key - means to sell. At the same time, the hieroglyphs meaning these actions are different. There are an infinite number of such examples: Ma - in the first - means mother, Ma - in the third - horse. Bei zi in the first - glasses, bei zi in the fourth - a blanket. And so on. This is where confusion often arises. That is why the Chinese ask again and repeat the words of the interlocutor in a conversation to make sure of their meaning. Chinese in the north of the country and Chinese in the south are, one might say, different languages. Despite the fact that the writing is the same, the pronunciation of the same hieroglyphs is strikingly different. Each province speaks its own dialect. This causes serious difficulties for translators. But at the same time, there is a generally accepted Chinese pronunciation of characters - Putonghua. This pronunciation, close to the Beijing dialect, is taken as a standard. Announcers on central TV and radio speak Mandarin. Mandarin is also spoken by all educated people, regardless of which province they live in. But factory workers and old people will not understand you, nor will you understand them, even if you have an honors degree from Xiamen University.
Hieroglyphs are written in strict sequence. One line after another from top to bottom, from right to left. Any, even the most complex hieroglyph, must be strictly geometric and have a height equal to the width. Chinese is a living, constantly changing language. Hieroglyphs are simplified and modified over time. But in countries such as Hong Kong or Taiwan, changing hieroglyphs is not accepted at the government level and therefore the old “non-simplified” characters are still used there to this day. Thus, the language in these countries is increasingly moving away from the generally accepted Chinese language.
There is a lot more to tell. One could spend many days trying to understand this country. But we don’t strive or even try. We simply dissolve in it and live in the present, without analyzing, but accepting everything as it is.
Come visit!
Gregory and Natalie.
Feel free to ask any questions by e-mail.
Today we’ll talk about why residents of the Far East and our country choose a cheap, comfortable and prosperous life from their all-powerful neighbor - China. People of retirement age are increasingly paying attention to China. According to official data, up to 40 thousand Russians have purchased apartments in the Middle Kingdom at this time. According to recent laws passed in China, foreigners who are buying a home in China for the first time are required to provide official proof that they do not own property in China. Now, foreigners who live permanently or temporarily in the PRC, by law, can acquire ownership of only one unit of residential real estate, exclusively for personal use. It should be taken into account that the purchased property cannot be rented out. Foreign organizations that carry out any activity on the territory of the Middle Kingdom can only buy commercial real estate. Foreign organizations can buy such real estate in the city where the organization is officially registered. Such restrictive measures are aimed at curbing the rise in real estate prices. The Chinese government believes that by adhering to strict restrictions, we can expect a decline in prices for Chinese real estate by almost 20%. However, Chinese real estate, both residential and non-residential, has increased in price by almost 7% per year since December 2010. In densely populated cities, housing costs rise at a faster rate. Housing is especially in demand in Shanghai and Chongqing.
The urban population level in China is constantly increasing. At this time, the urban population level has increased to almost 47%. It is predicted that by 2020, more than 50% of Chinese will live in cities. For example, in Beijing over 10 years the urban population has grown very rapidly - from 12.5 million to 17.5 million citizens. It is not difficult to calculate that the number of urban residents in Beijing alone has increased by about 30%. For Russians, the Chinese real estate market became open and accessible in 2001; it was this year that restrictions were lifted for everyone foreign investors. Russian speakers first became interested in real estate in Shanghai, then turned their attention to Beijing.
Russians began to buy real estate on Hainan Island en masse. At this time, foreign investors do not have full availability in all regions of China. You cannot buy property in some areas of Northern China. Enterprises of the military-industrial complex are located there. Chinese provinces attract Russian speakers primarily due to their historical and cultural values. At this time, the cost of a standard residential square meter starts from $600 per sq.m. Cost sq.m. is constantly growing, because the demand is quite large among the Chinese themselves. Moreover, the number of investors is growing every year. Most investors are Russian – residents of the Far East. Getting a visa in China has now also become much easier. At this time, a Chinese visa can be obtained at the border. A visa for six months is not expensive, a little more than 4,000 rubles. The cost of a one-time visit is only 1000 rubles. When buying a home in China, you must take into account that there is no full ownership of housing in the Middle Kingdom. There are, in fact, only long-term leases of 50 years. The thing is that, according to the Chinese, any housing turns into illiquid housing, that is, into construction waste. In housing that is over 50 years old comfortable stay No. Dilapidated housing is transferred to the state and then demolished. New housing is being built on the site of old housing. Former owners of the property are sold at a large discount or are reimbursed for the loss of their home. Oddly enough, Russian-speaking buyers are quite satisfied with all these conditions. Far Easterners are buying real estate on Hainan Island, in the city of Sanya. Those Far Easterners who are engaged commercial activities in the cities of Hunchun and Suifenhe, buy real estate in these cities. It’s very convenient for Far Easterners - a 3-hour bus ride from Vladivostok and you’re already in your own apartment abroad. In some cities in China, such as Shanghai, Harbin and Dalian, there are entire Russian neighborhoods where Russian speakers from all over Russia live. The main wave of emigration among foreigners comes from Russia. These are mainly pensioners and businessmen from the Far East. Residents of the Khabarovsk Territory, Amur Region and residents of the Primorsky Territory are moving to the Chinese border territories. The thing is that the cost of housing in Northern China is 3 times cheaper than in Vladivostok. A quite decent, equipped apartment with an area of 50 m2 can be purchased for $25-30 thousand.
Let us explain that in Khabarovsk or Vladivostok for the same money you cannot buy not only a hotel, but even a room in a communal apartment. Russians who have business in the Middle Kingdom are often forced to constantly come to China, so it is easier to have their own housing in the country for very affordable money than to rent apartments or constantly rent hotel rooms. Some of our enterprising citizens buy housing in China and rent it out to fellow citizens, despite the fact that renting apartments in the country to foreigners is prohibited. Russian speakers mainly rent out their housing to those who constantly visit Chinese markets and shops. In Hunchun, the first and last floors are almost 15% cheaper.
Such housing is also in demand among Russian speakers. The cost of maintaining housing in China is quite low compared to Russia and amounts to approximately 1,500 yuan per year. In terms of rubles, this is about 7,000 rubles per year. Enterprising Russians in border cities rent out their Chinese housing and earn good money. Some manage to earn from 40 to 60 thousand rubles a month on “native shuttles”. “Shuttle traders” usually come for a few days and are interested in renting an apartment quickly and without problems. Many Russians in China do not earn a living; they only take goods for resale or rent out their Chinese apartments. To live well in the border cities of China you need about 30 thousand rubles, and a couple of pensioners from Russia, having a pension of 12 thousand, can live well in China. Many Far Easterners live very well in China if they rent an apartment in hometown, that is, they have additional income. Russians go not only to China to buy goods, but also to work. The level of wages in China for Russians is higher than in their homeland. According to statistics, the best minds and skilled workers come to China from the Far East and Russia. Mostly people without education come to Russia from China.
Most of them are traders and low-skilled builders. Many Chinese come to Russia to grow agricultural products. Such pseudo-specialists agriculture They grow vegetables and fruits loaded with pesticides. For Chinese people who come to work in Russia, there is no work in China. It is precisely these Chinese citizens who annually replenish not only Far East, but also all of Mother Russia. Low-skilled Chinese workers in Russia earn money without knowing the Russian language and without any diplomas, but in their homeland, the Chinese are trying to hire permanent place residence of only literate, educated people with life experience. So our Russian land is becoming scarcer, not because the people in our country are completely traitors, but because every year the authorities are pressing people and economically making it impossible for Russians to live in their country. It is impossible to live in a country where the state gives nothing to a person: neither affordable housing, no affordable quality education, no affordable medical care. service. Every year the cost of the consumer basket increases, and pensioners openly become beggars and are forced to work until their death.
The Far Easterners themselves have extremely low salaries, which do not even allow them to live a normal life, which puts families on the brink of survival. That’s why Russians’ priority is not their native state, but a “sweet”, forced life in a foreign land. This is how to live with dignity in your native Fatherland, having a salary of 15-20 thousand, and at this time deputies have a salary of 250-400 thousand rubles. That is why even China is a priority for Russians.
Trip to China
How the Chinese mafia “Triad” was born
Therapeutic prostitution in China or “Daughters of the Dragon”
All about the oriental beauties of China
Chinese mafia in Thailand
Chinese occupation in the Far East
