July 16, 2026 – Farewell to China

At home, or at Cody’s house, I should say, Stan and I have a map of the world.  It is brown in color with all the countries of the world depicted in black outline.  When we travel to a country, we can scratch it off, and a color emerges.  We’ve visited over 80 countries, but brown is still the predominant color on the map . . . at least until now.  We visited China in 2019 but did not feel comfortable in scratching off all of China since we had only seen Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and a few other cities on the far east coast. Now, however, since we’ve visited several more cities in the north, west, and southern parts of China this year, we are scratching off that big hunk of land. Our map will then appear colored!  We’ve also visited Russia but only St. Petersburg.  We feel having seen just that single part of Russia does not justify scratching off that Asian monstrosity yet.  Must see more.

In ending our stay in China, I cannot help but reiterate how progressive this country is.  In just 20 years, it has become one of the most developed countries in the world.  Living in China seems to be nothing like the image the rest of the world has of it.  China’s people have opportunities and are making and spending money.  They live in modern, clean houses and apartments in skyscrapers. They drive electric cars and motorcycles. Streets are safe.  It is clean, very clean.  It is modern, very modern.  Their airports are super modern, and there are high-speed trains with super modern train stations. Its cities are equipped with beautiful, landscaped streets, boulevards, and highways with no roadside billboards.  Cities have massive networks of clean, fast metro systems.  For example, the city of Guangzhou has 22 metro lines that run from 6 am to 11:30 pm every day, and people use them!

In jest, Stan remarked that if it were not for having to learn to speak and read and write Chinese, he’d move there.  We are not, of course, but that’s how nice the place is.

It’s not all roses, not by a long shot. The Chinese government still exerts a lot of control over people’s lives. Although the country has become very capitalistic, it is a Communist country. There are no elections. People cannot criticise the government nor conduct unauthorized protests, and an extensive network of surveillance cameras ensures security and law enforcement. China’s “Great Firewall” blocks many foreign websites and apps, and media operates under government regulations so people are fed what the government wants them to hear.  Note:  Young people use VPNs to bypass foreign censorship; they know about everything that’s trending in the world.  Despite government control, people go about their lives, working, traveling, socializing, and like the rest of us, focus on family, education, and careers.

Someone remarked to us recently that the change in China is a hint of the rapid change about to take place in smaller Southeast Asian countries.  That may be true, because there is vast opportunity, but a foundational element is a stable capitalistic government that keeps people and services at the forefront of its mission. Sadly, that kind of government is not found in most smaller independent Asian countries.

So, our time here is ending. Moving now to East Malaysia, first on tap, Borneo!!!

Oh, by the way, we got our money back for the river cruise tickets that never arrived.  It took a few days, but they fulfilled their promise.