Back from China

Its a different blog title because it doesn't happen very often, unlike many of the other blog titles I've been using since this thing started.

So today's post is something about my trip to China, and something about how I think China works, or more accurately, how it sort of works. You'll see what I mean.

I'm not really sure how to start. But I think Alex had it right when he described the country as 'half-baked'. Everything seems to have a bit of Not Quite Right (NQR) quality about it. One large factor is definately their English translations. While I understand that English is clearly a foreign language in China, they would have at least had some native English speaker to proofread their publications before sending them out to the printer, especially when their intention is to entertain Western guests. For one, their spacing is a bit NQR; they don't put spaces in between words, and for another, they seem to have trouble with grammar. I'd write out the examples, but a photo would do it more justice, so you'll just have to wait.

But then, some might ask that if everything is a bit half baked, how do they keep recording such phenomenal economic growth? Well... I think its because they have so much to catch up on. They have the ability to make things that reaches the same standard of quality that you'd expect from a Western product, but they just don't have the right psyche. Actually, its quite similar to Australia. They seem to have the idea that a slap-dash job will do most of the time. Its reflected in the way their rooftop signs are always held up by ugly iron bars that seem to come straight from the time where that NYMEX sign was built in Richmond, Melbourne. Its also reflected in the way they make roads. Theres bumps everywhere... even on brand new roads... and the expressways. That is, bumpy enough to almost lose your stomach when the bus goes over it.

So even though they are building and making things at record speeds, the things they're building aren't that great. It doesn't really matter what kind stuff you build, it seems that if you have enough of them, it doesn't really matter at all. So all they do is build heaps of everything, including giant factories and other random stuff.

Anyway, theres part one, I've only got 5 mins of net left... so we'll leave the rest for another day.