10 days in China. 10 days to explore Shanghai, Pudong, Beijing and everything in between was nearly not enough. I had an unforgettable experience in my visit to China for the first time, and there are a few things I would still like to learn about China as a whole.
First, pollution. I find it absolutely staggering that so many people can live in major cities like Shanghai and Beijing without masks on a day to day basis. Within the 10 days I was there, I found the pollution to be overpowering, and I eventually got sick, which I feel can be attributed to the pollution. I would like to learn more about how people live with the pollution and if it’s because they aren’t educated about the serious effects of pollution. I want to learn more about the residents’ reasons for living the way they do with relatively few complaints.
Second, food. Are there no vegetarians in China? Obviously that is a great exaggeration, and I can understand the Chinese diet including much meat, but it seems to me that many Chinese haven’t heard of lifestyles like vegetarianism and veganism. A Buddhist restaurant we went to was conducive to my lifestyle, as all of their food was vegetarian. However, besides that, I can’t imagine someone with a strict vegetarian/vegan diet living in China for a long time.
If I could go back and do the trip all over again, I would still visit most of the places we did. However, I would try to find some way to speak with local Shanghai and/or Beijing government officials. I understand that this is particularly difficult, but I would’ve like the input of government officials on their pollution policy and government responsiveness to citizen concerns. I also would like to talk to regular Shanghainese residents to ask about their day to day experiences with the government and pollution.
I was able to survive without much of internet access to websites for 10 days, however, I gained new appreciate for emails and news websites. Gmail was completely blocked off, and I missed sending and receiving emails to keep in touch. CNN, BBC, and NY Times were also blocked off, which was absurd to me, as it was hard to keep up with international news without access to many of the world news websites. It made me gain appreciation for the ability of Americans to access such websites and keep in contact with the rest of the world.