By: Linda Sapadin
I was quite enthusiastic
about our adventure until I started telling people where we were going. Then I began to get a little nervous. Lodged within the responses of isn't that great! were dire warnings and pronouncements of alarm.
The people are dirty.
The toilets are disgusting.
Everybody spits.
They eat dogs there.
What are you going to do if you get sick?
How can you sit so long on a plane?
It's a Communist country be careful.
Though I began to get a little shaky about our trip, I figured I would try my best to let go of any trepidation and discover for myself what China is all about. Here are my impressions.
If you are at all inclined to visit China, go. Its cities (at least the parts the tourists visit) are clean, modern, and safe. Think more of a bustling capitalism than a stifling communism. Building is going on everywhere, especially in Shanghai where each new office and residential building competes with the next in terms of technological innovation and creative design.
Picture a new generation of Chuppies (Chinese upwardly mobile professionals) embracing fashion, discos, and cell phones. Picture children with Mickey Mouse sweatshirts studying music, art, calligraphy and computers. Picture wide tree-lined boulevards in Beijing with outdoor cafes and a McDonald's close by. (At last count, our guide told us that there were 69 Mickey D's in the capital city and 70 KFC's as well as a sprinkling of Pizza Huts.)
There are sections of Shanghai and Beijing that have so many neon lights, you would be forgiven for thinking you were in Las Vegas. And in terms of hustling you out of your money, I don't think any salesperson in America is as aggressive as the sales folks in their tourist shops. You look at an item out of the corner of your eye and they zero in for the sale: how many you buy, will give you good deal special price, just for you. And they don't let up! Let me emphasize, however, that though they were zealous in their sales approach, they were also courteous, pleasant and good-natured.
We also took a cruise down the great Yangtze River where people live in a much more primitive way. However, nothing in China seems to be immune from progress. The largest hydroelectric plant in the world is being built in the Three Gorges area in order to control flooding and provide more electric power for the growing needs of China. This project will leave a major portion of the scenic and historic mountain region underwater and will necessitate relocating more than a million people to higher ground. Clearly, China is dedicated to modernity.
As you might imagine, my husband and I had a splendid experience. The warnings offered to us by others simply were not our experience. Here is my take on those warnings:
The people are clean, well-groomed and well-dressed. The bathrooms in the modern hotels and restaurants are just fine, even luxurious. However, in more remote areas, women beware. If you cannot squat and you do not bring your own toilet paper, you will find yourself rest room challenged. Ballplayers spit, Chinese don't. Dogs are pets, not meals. I didn't get sick, so I can't give you the low-down on medical facilities. Sitting so long on a plane is not as awful as you think, if you bring lots of stuff to entertain yourself. China's new Communism is not your father's Communism.
It's fine to keep an open mind to what other people tell you, but, as the more adventurous part of us know, there is no substitute for your own personal experience.
Linda Sapadin, Ph.D. is a psychologist in private practice who works with individuals, families and couples.
