Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms China high speed rail

People still think of China as a backward country that generates a huge amount of polution.

Perhaps things have changed.

People still think of China as a backward country


Not me

Well, they are certainly not backward in coming forward however, this is the glossy side of the country.
We don't see too much about the rest of it.

I have traveled extensively throughout China. Some parts of it are advanced while others seem like holdouts from the Stone Age.

Newer large cities are typically technologically advanced. But, smaller rural areas are relatively fortunate if they have electricity and other modern services.

Hunter

My missus went on the maglev last week while out there doing touristy stuff.

I would agree with that.

Thank you, John.

Hunter

The first time I went from HK to Shenzhen about 8 years ago was quite an eye opener for me. Totally modern, VW Passat taxi's, amazing hotel quality and service for the price. Great range of things to do and places to eat. Traffic was a bit patchy and it did feel a little like Westworld at some points. The rest needs an 18 certificate so I avoided it and stayed the right side of the line.

I did the HK to Shenzhen train ride in the late 90’s. Once we had cleared immigration, we decided to walk to our hotel. The city was gridlocked. With empty buses. A young boy tagged on to our group. His only English was “Welcome to Shenzhen, have a nice day.” This sentence being followed by an outstretched hand. Despite being asked to leave us alone (in Mandarin) repeatedly, he stuck with us until we got to the hotel - top marks for tenacity.

Whilst in Shenzhen, we went to a restaurant that was obviously very popular - with officials - judging by the number of black Audis parked outside. The table cloths were beautifully laundered, starched and ironed. But the had large holes in them. The food was wonderful with a lovely spicy Szechuan influence.

I have not been to China (other than passing through Hong Kong) since the early '90s. I was with a group of 6 that toured Yunnan on motorcycles, and dipped into Szechuan. We were accompanied by a support vehicle and a young but moderately high ranking police officer. The reason for this is that we had obtained permission to entry areas previously prohibited to foreigners. We also had a local guide on each stage because to the differences in local dialects.

In some villages and towns people had not seen a European in living memory. The result was that we attracted huge crowds in these places. It was almost as though we had landed from Mars.

We stayed in some interesting places, including a matriarchal villa. The worst was when we underestimated the time to arrive at a certain point and had to stay for the night in an old government hotel. It was absolutely disgusting.

Certainly, in those days, I could not recommend the use of country public toilets. The contrast with always clean Japan, where they are even likely to have flowers in vases near the wash basins, couldn't be greater.

I can only hope that there have been some improvements in sanitary arrangements.