Who said China was a Comuni$t country?? Well in some twisted theory, maybe. As many of us are aware, we sometimes say one thing and do another, much like this country. In practice, what I see more of is rampant capitalism and I stress the word rampant with tight go\/ernment control over a range of what we perceive as every day freedoms, especially the internet. Spend, spend spend, brands, brands, brands is the mantra among the growing middle class and elite. Sure there is poverty in the city and millions live in rural areas suffering grim existences but the way in which this country is changing, it can only be left up to the imagination where China will be in a few decades. This is no post WWII soviet bloc, this is eight storey shopping malls, this is the new China!
In saying all this, there are these Volkswagen Sanatana’s from the mid 80s still being driven around and they sure do look like the cars out of the old James Bond movies when 007 was always fighting those mean Soviet’s as they chased him in those drab looking but highly reliable East German automobiles. Each time I see one I always think of Roger Moore! Maybe during China’s not so glorious times, their mates next door traded these cars with them!
Nick has been pressing for an update on the food, so I’ll fill people in. I am really enjoying the food at the moment, tasting a wide range of local, Chinese and dishes from outside China, in particular Japanese and Korean. Local food mainly consists of rice and noodles but there are a lot of soup dishes worth tasting and all at around $1 to $2 per meal. Venture into food courts in mid range shopping malls and the restaurants are cleaner and decorated in a more familiar way. The food is much the same with either tofu, meat and various sauces on top of rice or dry noodles. All for about $2 to $4. Foreign dishes demand about $5 to $10 and the quality is always very good.
I have only had one uncomfortable experience where I needed a toilet quickly and ironically it was the most expensive eating experience so far where April and I spent a substantial amount of Yuan at a so called ‘fine dining’ restaurant tasting dumplings. All the super cheap and road side stalls have not given me any grief!
Well I can hear the car horns outside making a very creative musical tune so I may go listen.
Till next time… =)
Oh, and for those wanting to know about these old Soviet mobiles, I found a picture.
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