Friday, January 29, 2010

The sun never shines in China

I've been to China 5 times in the past 2 years.  In the 5 times I've been, I've never seen the sun shine.  I've been various times of year (April, August, February) And every time I go, it never ceases to amaze me that I never see the sun.  It's like the communist government ordered it that way.  Grey skies, to match the grey buildings to match the grey roads.  China is the very model of efficiency.  It's economy has grown a minimum of 8% for most of the past 10 years.  What amazes me about the country (of the industrial areas I've seen) is the efficiency.  It's the ultimate model of "there's a task at hand, get it done".  Everything is very efficient, yet without a hint of emotion.  Workers at the factories are androgenous and just doing what they do, with blank expressions on their faces.

The lack of emotion and color in industrial China fascinates me.  I've been to India an equal number of times (albeit for greater lengths of time) and whereas India is the opposite in it's colorfulness in the saris of the female workers, or the jasmine scent of the flower braids in their hair, China is grey. Very grey.  There's so much more to be said of all I've learned and seen in China, but the lack of color never ceases to amaze me... 

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