China Trip (Part 1)

Here’s an image from the river side in Harbin. This was quite an extraordinary place as it was full of people flying kites and just walking around. There was nothing special here, just little stalls selling food and little gifts.

It has been nearly 6 years since I was last in China and the changes that have taken place are incredible. Firstly, the amount of construction work going on in China is huge. Almost every street and every road has a big construction project going on and these projects always seem to involve new hotels, shopping malls and boutiques.

Another notable change is the cars that the Chinese are driving. Volkswagon seem to have a corner on taxis (well, that is the case in Harbin) and the amount of new, large luxury cars being driven around is phenomenal. In many ways the roads resemble the roads in the UK or Ireland. There is a big bias toward European cars as well as Japanese. Very few American cars can be found here.

One of the biggest differences I noticed here was the fact that the Chinese are focussed on making money. Even in their educational establishments - the focus is on what you will do with your education to make money. I often find that in Korea (and forgive me if I am wrong in my assessment here) people go on to higher and higher education in the belief that just education alone will give you a successful future. In China the thinking is “education is good, but what do I have to do make this work for me?”. In Korea there often is no goal or plan - just education, education education. - Students have no idea how their education can help them transform pieces of educational paper into a successful career. In China they have worked that part out before they go on to higher education - they are so focussed and determined.

More on my observations later