well i just came back from China after staying there for about 2 and 1/2 weeks, and i must say i was both impressed and saddened by what i saw, heard and experienced. after the plane landed in Beijin, i went to my grandparents place in Tianjin (2 hr drive) and i cant even recognize any of the street or buildings anymore, the development has been very drastic and speedy, many old buildings have been torn down in favor of skyscrappers and the roads have been widened by some 200%. However, the drivers are crazy as hell. people in the states say that if you can drive in NYC or Houston, you can drive anywhere in the world, bull****, if you can drive in China, you can drive anywhere, im suprised there are not more accidents in China since nobody obeys traffic laws pedestrians, and motorists alike. Despite what you read or hear in the news, poverty is still a major problem in China. When i was waiting for a train at the Beijin Train Terminal, a girl, only about 5 or 6, begged me for money, at first i didnt give in, but soon, she knelt infront of me and melted my heart, few things made a deeper impression on me, i gave her 5Yuan. Corruption is also apparent and rampant. Most of my moms friends are the head of hospitals or departments in Beijin or Tianjin and we got to eat the best Chinese food everyday, but it was the public that pays for the meals not us, and there was so much leftovers everywhere we ate. I later learned that the leftovers in resturants in just Tianjin alone per year can feed the entire population of North Korea for a year, factor in the entire country, and imagine how much food are being wasted in China. I also heard some rumors on human rights violations. There was a Muslim revolt in Western China, near the borders of Afgan. The Muslims held a number of Han people hostage and demanded certain rights and favors, however, the government did not yeild, and instead drop a bomb with power equivalent to a small nuke on that village, flattening the entire place (around 1 square mile or so), if you thought the Russian situation in Chechnya was bad, you should go to Western China and see. Also, China became very successful in the medical fields lately, especially in transplants. In Tiajin, there were some 100,000 kidney transplants alone last year, you might wonder where did all that kidney come from?? well i heard from the head of a hospital that the hospitals have contracts with prisions, and the organs came from prisoners who are forced onto the operating table and later wake up with half a liver missing, a kidney gone and massive loss of blood, these are later sold to the hopsitals at wholesale price. But overall i liked China a lot, and i will probably be going back to the 2008 olympics.
Bet you had a good time. Not to dispute you since I am sure you said what you heard but these two numbers sound more like a bluffing over the dinner table after some alcohol. There are 6 million urban population in Tianjing and 22 million in NK. Assume half of Tianjingers dine out everyday, more than 80% of the food has to be left on the table. I can guess for some corrupted ones, but for half the population, hard to imagine. 100K kidney transplants in Tianjing alone in one year? Anyway, number is not the main concern here, even 1K kidneys taken illegally from prisoners is outrageous.
Haha...It's been a month since I returned from a trip to Israel and Turkey and man the drivers there are crazy as hell but accidents and tickets were rare. I said the same things about if you can drive there you can probably drive anywhere. It's sad to hear about the corruption but unfortunately alot of the world is like that in varying degrees. The U.S. is no different, corruption exists here as bad as anywhere.
Interesting and informative post. Thanks, OP. If this isn't a deterent for crime, I don't know what is. When the beer does my liver in, I know where I'm taking my next vacation.
Never been to Beijing, but the Shanghai traffic is pretty damn bad. The place does look like New York City though, with all the tall skyscrapers. Usually, I spend most of my time in the South China factory towns like DongGuan and Shenzhen. Places like that are rampant with crime and prostitution. I rarely went out alone at night.
I had a decent time in China. I think I was with some Mafia boss or something to that extent...harrrr.
Don't call it a comeback I been here for years Rockin my peers and puttin suckas in fear Makin the tears rain down like a MON-soon Listen to the bass go BOOM Explosion
Went back to China for about 50 days. It's a great vacation, and only if I have more money, I wouldn't come back so soon. The food is 100 times better than what we have here. If you can drive in China, you can drive anywhere in the world. Also went to Macau, saw the craziest gambler in this world, you can't believe what you saw until you went to macau. Also went to ZhuHai, great city, beautiful, and it's right next to macau, and near to Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and guangzhou. A LOT MORE AND MORE.............
