Reply #3: Enjoyed reading your posts.

[Old and In the Way]

This is the 1st one I came across, but read your previous entries as well. I've been going to China off and on since the early 90's. I'm always amazed at the speed of change there in development/redevelopment. I've pretty much only been to Southern China (Zhongshan/Zuhai/Guangzhou/DongGuan/Shenzhen), but the picture you paint seems to be consistent with the South as well. Spent most of my time in Zhongshan. A "small" city of 2-3 million and old, in terms of the pre-industrial boom, it is quite beautiful, relative to many newer industrial hubs. It's much easier today to travel around China than it was 20 years ago, lots of people have learned English and I've found Chinese people to be very friendly and very capitalist. I've yet to meet a true Communist there. Toughest thing for me is the food....definitely not your typical American Chinese food menu. I try to stay clear of any forays into the country for local dinners.

Biggest downside is the pollution, both air and land. Hardly ever see the sun unless you get monsoon like conditions that cleans out the air pollution for a day or two afterwards. I asked a friend about the various 1/2 mountains you see in Southern China - she told me that they are used to make bricks and roads. And trash dumps seem to be everywhere. I do think that's probably going to change as people are getting more conscious about their environment degradation. I also hope that cheap electric vehicles are encouraged. Way too many 2 cycle motorbikes needing ring jobs there, as well as the noise that millions of these bikes create.