Too good to be True?

A friend was once on a human rights visit to inspect Zimbabwe. She came back with a pretty glowing report. I lampooned her that she had been hoodwinked, and I teased her by calling her Robert's best friend.

On leaving China, I'm thinking I might be in her shoes. Much about this country is worthy of hyperbole. The amazing infrastructure is well known outside the country. Its world leading industrial power in solar and electric cars. Lifting 500m people out of poverty in less than 20 years, and so on.

And you can add that life here doesn't at all feel like it's sometimes portrayed on US or European tv. The towns are lively, bustling places. People have a good laugh. They smile a lot. They approach us constantly, i.e., they are not at all afraid to interact with foriegners . They eat, drink and party. Life is better for this generation, and they believe in the future.

There are struggles, of course. For example, there is fierce competition for the best university places and jobs. But some things we struggle with seem less stressful here. The upside of a construction bubble bursting is that rents now fall due to high vacancy rates. Take that alongside incredibly low food and drink prices, and it's likely young adults are not so stressed as Europeans or Americans by the cost of living. ( A good meal in a restaurant costs $4, a good lunch $2-3. A metro ticket is $0.40).

There is no political freedom, but unlike almost all other non democracies, China does deliver for its people, and economically, they are free to do as they please.

Did I miss something? Was I hoodwinked?

Photos of Pandas in the Bifengxia valley, near Ya'an, and Urumqui, an Ughyr city of 4 million people in remote north western China. "Near" to the borders of Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan. It took a 3 hour flight to get here. The distances are vast (2900km by road from Chengdu). On the flight in, we have amazing views of high snow-capped himalayan mountains. Urumqui is the one place we see much heavier security. As far as I know, it's the only Muslim area in China, and the influence of the neighbouring Stans is unmistakable. Nevertheless, the bazaar is lively and bustlingRead more