Surprises in China (since I last lived there 30 years ago)

I taught English in Taigu, a small town near Taiyuan, Shanxi from 1980 to 1982.  It was very exciting to return to China in 2011, 30 years later, to see all the changes.  Here are some things I noticed.

1.  There's been a huge investment in transportation infrastructure, making it much easier to travel.

Urumqi airport.  (I also noticed that people were waiting in line, not just crowding around the ticket counter.)

Airport in Beijing.  (LAX...you're being left in the dust.)

High speed train we took from Taiyuan to Beijing.  Please, please may we have one between LA and SFO?

New road construction.  (There was a new road in Dushanbe, Tajikistan too--built by the Chinese.)  (Hint to Vietnam--you  need this too, though I know your neighbor to the north makes you nervous.)

Toll road between Xian and Pingliang.

All these roads mean new drivers.  (I loved reading Peter Hessler's Country Driving, his exploration of the changes in China in the past 15 years, as seen from the road.)

Highway rest stop between Xian and Pingliang.

Bus station in Xian.  (You mean people aren't crowding up to the ticket windows and stuffing their money through the slot, heedless of passengers waiting behind them?)

Bus between Xian and Pingliang

Jinjiang Inn, an inexpensive but very nice chain of hotels we stayed at in several Urumqi and Zhangjiajie.

2. Shopping.  I was stunned by the boom in material goods of all kinds and advertisements.

Entrance to an underground shopping center in Urumqi.

The area in Urumqi where computers are sold.

Urumqi

Urumqi

Wedding photography is big business. (Urumqi)

Supermarket in Pingliang.

Smart Car ad in the Beijing airport, featuring Kobe Bryant

3. There were a lot of great restaurants, in all price ranges. (No more bones on the floor, or people hoping for a scarce seat hovering near you as you gulped the last of your meal.)

Jishou University officials treat us to lunch.

Macdonalds near the Xian train and bus stations.

KFC in Urumqi

Coffee shop in the Beijing airport.  Catching up with old friends from Taigu.

 Note also the "no smoking" sign.  It's the law in China now.

Meal with students in Pingliang.  Even simple restaurants have an upstairs room where you can enjoy a quiet meal.

4. Chinese tourists.  Several people told us of places they had visited and we saw evidence wherever we went of the boom in local tourists.

Chinese tourists at Kong Tong Shan, Pingliang, Gansu

Chinese tourists at Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, Hunan

Chinese tourists at Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, Hunan.  Posing with Tu minority woman in costume.

Chinese tourists at Zhangjiajie National Forest Park, Hunan.  Mountain peaks are given fanciful names like "loving couple" and good luck traditions are quickly established.

In the Taiyuan train station.

(continued in the next post)