Life and Travel in China

While there are protests of lock-down opponents and anti-vaccine activists in Poland and Europe; in the Middle Kingdom there is no discussion with the authorities! This is nothing new, but not all of us are even aware of the level of surveillance and modern technologies used to fight Covid. Can you imagine a situation where two policemen approach you at a train station and take you for a Covid test. Why? As it turns out, you were close to infected people the day before. How do the police know about this? It's not hard to guess what the location of the phones is. Of course, this is not a recommendation or a request, but basically an order. China is now extremely controlling its citizens regarding coronavirus infections. Have you probably heard about the famous event at Disneyland in Shanghai? The entire amusement park was closed and all tourists (34,000 people) were tested because there was a suspicion that there was one infected person in the park. On the one hand, it is total surveillance of individuals and communities - e.g. company employees, workers in factories, or amusement parks, restaurants, hotels, it is a simple trampling on human rights, and on the other, it is a very effective control of the pandemic situation. In Europe we have total chaos and possibly recommendations, in the Middle Kingdom we have order and orders. Society is also more punitive, responsible and taught to follow certain basic principles, rights and obligations. I guess that China will cope with the pandemic much better than Europe and the Americas.

Some of you are probably wondering what traveling to China is like now. Well, they are very difficult. A Chinese friend of mine did a "tour around the World" ;-), visited the Netherlands, Germany, the Czech Republic, and then flew to the USA. He traveled for almost a month, lives in Shenzhen and usually flies out via Hong Kong. He is now returning to China and... this is where the stairs begin. He is vaccinated (he was also vaccinated in Europe), but he still has to have negative tests upon arrival to his homeland. In addition, he must undergo a two-week quarantine. There is no discussion here and he must spend 14 days in a resort/hotel designated by the authorities, at his own expense, of course. If that wasn't enough, after these 14 days he should spend another 7 days in home quarantine! Can you imagine something like this? In Europe and the USA we still have a lot of privileges and freedoms. In the Middle Kingdom, there are no discussions about Covid, quarantine or restrictions. And not only in these matters... It has its pros and cons, although the average European would certainly not like such solutions. We would probably call it an "attack on our freedom."

From February 1, we have the Year of the Tiger in China. The tiger, like the dragon, has rather positive associations for me, although 2010 was a perverse and not very successful year for me. 12 years ago, in 2010 (also the Year of the Tiger), the world recovered from the economic crisis. We can hope that in 2022 the world will finally defeat the coronavirus and everything will return to normal. According to astrologers, this is the year of the water or wet tiger. This does not mean a flood. Asians say that determined and hard-working people will succeed in the Year of the Tiger. It will also be a good year for families and relationships. We can only hope that it will be a happy year, although economic conditions, inflation around the world, and difficulties related to the pandemic do not bode well.

Taking into account the situation in China, everything indicates that we are on the verge of a serious crisis. Many Chinese suppliers are looking for orders, and in some cases you don't even have to wait long for production. The real estate market is also collapsing. Some companies had to lay off their employees to survive. Due to closures and restrictions related to Covid-19, the catering and entertainment industry has suffered greatly. Anyone who has been to a large Chinese city knows that these cities come alive at night - bars, pubs, restaurants, street stalls, massage parlors. All these places thrived, and most customers visited them at night. Now there are still cities and housing estates where, as a result of the fight against the coronavirus, people are banned from leaving their homes. All this, on some micro scale, affects the economy of the Middle Kingdom. However, if we add up the losses of these small companies, family businesses, shops and bars, I think we will have a serious crisis.

Imagine that the so-called The "grandchild method" has reached China. It is true that there were some sporadic messages earlier, the purpose of which was to extort some information or money. Now, however, the cheating system is much more extensive. It applies to practically everything: Covid-related matters, treatment, insurance, housing, loans, police-related matters, etc. Scammers can even impersonate the Chinese embassy. They inform a Chinese person who lives, for example, in Poland, that his phone number was used to send false information about the Covid pandemic in China. The ambassador's representative assures that the Chinese police will contact us later to question us about this matter. They also suggest that we cooperate, otherwise we may have problems in the Middle Kingdom. Interestingly, the telephone number of the Chinese Embassy in Poland is displayed on the phone. After several dozen minutes, a "policeman" from Shanghai calls and a Chinese number is displayed. The policeman assures us that we can verify his number, that he is calling from the station that deals with our case. Obviously, the idea is to intimidate the recipient, make them anxious and nervous, and thus make them provide various information and make some mistakes. It seems that Chinese criminals took over the "grandchild" system and, of course, adapted it to their realities and developed methods and scope of fraud. You have to be really careful. Smartphones have made us everywhere accessible and at the same time vulnerable to tracking and fraud everywhere.