CHINA - Twenty years later

Our tour of China went from October 2 through October 16, 2017, but since I did not want to use my computer in China, and since Google is verboten there anyway, these blog postings are delayed by three weeks.

As was the case during my visit to China twenty years ago, we were put up in 5 star hotels (although, in the case of Beijing the stars were somewhat faded).  The picture below is of our room in Shanghai.

Room keys are used to activate the elevator.  During the day you can access any floor but at night just the floor your room is on. The room key also is used to activate the lights.

Despite the luxurious accommodations, they haven't totally figured out western plumbing.  In one hotel, draining the sink caused gurgling in the tub, indicating that there was probably no trap in the tub.  In another, the shower control was not balanced - turning on a sink tap could blister or freeze you in the shower.

But, every hotel had two of these, usually on a high shelf.

I was a bit disappointed at times that we were not being shown the "true" China, especially at the beginning in Shanghai.  But, I slowly realized that the China I saw 20 years ago barely exists now.

The swamp land across the river from Shanghai was drained starting in 1990.  By 1997 it looked like this.

Twenty years later it looks like this.

The building on the right is 128 stories high, the second highest in the world.  The others in the picture are nothing to sneeze about either!

Modern apartment buildings, electric scooters (gas scooters are banned in Shanghai), modern cars (both Western and Chinese) are now the norm in the cities we visited.

I looked in vain for one of these old one-lunger "pick-up trucks" (a 1997 photo) that were everywhere 20 years ago, but didn't see a single one.  

I was told that they had been eliminated by government edict.  The modern version is a light motorcycle with a box on the back.

There are also small three wheel "motorcycles" that hold four people and have a steering wheel.

But, there are lots of high end vehicles too.

Porsche

Ferrari

Tesla

Mercedes, Land Rover, BMW are commonly seen.

Traffic is chaotic,  cars and busses cut each other off, but end up meshing rather smoothly.  Scooters ignore traffic rules - many do not have working lights, they ignore red lights, and often drive the wrong way on one way streets.  Cars and busses make U-turns wherever they want. 

Crosswalks are almost suicidal for pedestrians, but we did see one great solution for that problem.

Trucks are not allowed to drive at night - too dangerous, perhaps because of all the scooters without lights.  With the great degree of control by the central government, this problem would seem to be surmountable.

Rental bikes are readily available.  Just scan the bar code on the fender with your phone and the lock will release.  Lock and scan at your destination and the deal is done.

The next instalment will talk about our exceptional tour guide.