{"id":10036,"date":"2025-05-25T19:45:50","date_gmt":"2025-05-25T17:45:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/?p=10036"},"modified":"2025-08-13T21:09:20","modified_gmt":"2025-08-13T19:09:20","slug":"made-in-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.danamladin.com\/en\/2025\/05\/made-in-china\/","title":{"rendered":"Made in China"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cYour ass itches, Mladin?!\u201d \u2013 my friends told me when I announced that my birthday vacation would be in\u2026 North Korea<\/strong>! North, yes, you read that right.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More stirred by journalistic curiosity than by, God forbid, any desire to relive the past, I started to look into how I could get there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through Beijing seemed the easiest way, with several local agencies organizing tours to North Korea departing from the Chinese capital.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I talked with several of them, found out that in North Korea only a well-defined area is open to visitors, but I optimistically waited for more to open up, to see Pyongyang and other places in the country, not just a kind of \u201cduty-free for tourists.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, my plans changed because North Korea decided to close even that area, so I was left with just the ticket to Beijing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After many plans on the map of Asia, I decided to explore a few places in China that I had read about or seen on the internet. So, I made my itinerary: Beijing<\/strong> and The Great Wall<\/strong>, then Xi\u2019an<\/strong> for the Terracotta Army<\/strong>, followed by Chengdu<\/strong> \u2013 the city of the pandas, and finally Chongqing<\/strong>, which I called the \u201cfuturistic city\u201d, based on what I had seen on social media.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I came back from this trip with 116 gigabytes of photos and videos!!! I could write about it until next year \ud83d\ude42 But before I go city by city, I have to say that, from what I managed to see of China, I felt it was a country of contrasts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Shanghai 2017<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had been to China before, in 2017, on my way to Tibet<\/strong>, which I wrote about here<\/a>, here<\/a>, here<\/a>, here<\/a>, and here<\/a>. Back then, I visited several places in Beijing and then Shanghai. But this time, I felt the extremes more intensely. And the control too\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CHINA OF CONTRASTS<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThey are 100 years ahead of us\u201d, I told myself many times in China, after thinking that only Japan could make me feel like I was on another planet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here, though, things balance out: sometimes you feel like you\u2019re in the future, and other times some details or behaviors suddenly teleport you back to the past!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m in the country where you can pay with your face at the subway entrance (I\u2019ll tell you how I discovered this in a moment), but where people still loudly spit on the street from deep in their throats, so much that it makes you feel sick, no joke…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m in the country full of mega futuristic buildings, but where the predominant public toilets are \u201csquat\u201d style, with footrests, no toilet paper, no bidet shower.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m in the country with high-speed trains, but where people push you hard, without shame, when they want to be the first to enter a tourist attraction.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m in the country where you get around airports on electric suitcases, but where you can\u2019t find internal pads for women\u2019s needs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the country where almost everyone doesn\u2019t speak a word of English (even though it\u2019s taught in schools), yet they manage to communicate everything through phone apps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I\u2019m in the country that invented TikTok and other multifunctional apps, but where there are matchmakers in parks, whom many turn to in order to find their other half…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I\u2019m in the country where control is normal, it\u2019s\u2026 a way of life!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

CONTROL IN CHINA<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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I have never been more controlled in my life than I was here! I, who always leave my passport at the hotel when traveling through Europe, had it as a mandatory accessory every day, because without it I couldn\u2019t enter anywhere! More than that, I couldn\u2019t even move forward on the street without it! It was simply a harassed passport, nothing less…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Definitely, compared to eight years ago when I first came here, control in the capital is much stricter. And more frequent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Do you know how I would describe my first (and second and third…) encounters with Beijing? Fences, police, and surveillance cameras!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Man, at every intersection, you find \u201cpolice stations\u201d or cars with police officers, army…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The thing is, all of them have their sirens on. It feels like a breaking news event on every street corner! I don\u2019t know, maybe it\u2019s to discourage you from doing something illegal, or to warn you that they\u2019re coming at you full-on. The point is, it was hard for me to ignore them, in the first few days, I was always\u2026 on alert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the mobile fences in Beijing\u2026 wow, man, they could probably make it into the Guinness World Records!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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the building where Mao Zedong\u2019s body is kept<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

They have hundreds of mobile fences on the streets! Hundreds, thousands, I don\u2019t know, but everywhere I went, it was impossible not to see those wheeled fences. Either already set up or at least \u201cparked\u201d, ready to be extended if needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What I found funny is that at traffic lights there\u2019s a guard\/agent whose job is this: when the light turns red, he manually stretches the fence across the lane for motorcycles and scooters, so that no one dares to cross. When the light turns green, he folds up the fence and lets traffic pass freely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TIANANMEN SQUARE<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I arrived in China in the afternoon and decided to take a short walk in the famous Tiananmen Square<\/strong>, just like I did 8 years ago on my first day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Rip-off: fences upon fences force you to walk in certain directions, where you encounter security checks. Okay, there are more fences than last time, but I remember how I passed the control back then: I showed my passport, they checked my bag, and that was it, they let me into the Square area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, not anymore! The police told me I wasn\u2019t allowed into the square. They showed me the rule already translated into English on their phones, which means they do this often with tourists: I need a reservation made at least one day in advance (and at most 7 days), on some website I don\u2019t know. You show them the reservation on your phone, they check your passport, scan your bag like at the airport, you go through a body check, and only then do you enter the Square.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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So the walk on the first day was actually a walk along both sidewalks through a maze of fences, until both the fence and the police said \u201cHalt! This is as far as you go!\u201d And I turned back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In the subway passages, you could swear the Chinese soldier is made of wax, with the \u201cI\u2019m about to fall forward\u201d pose he holds. But no, he\u2019s real! He doesn\u2019t blink, doesn\u2019t smile. I wonder how his spine holds up\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In every subway station, control is mandatory! Not of passports, but of bags and the youthful body \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If I hadn\u2019t put my backpack on the conveyor belt for scanning, it would have been shredded to pieces and maybe even used as a curtain now! And any bottles you have, they take them and put them into machines for checking. Checking what? \u2013 I asked the guide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMake sure you don\u2019t have alcohol, because it\u2019s forbidden to carry alcohol in public spaces.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At another security check, I asked the police what they wanted from my water. (Oh no, I didn\u2019t ask them in English, what did you think\u2026 I wrote it on Google Translate.) One of them, kindly, took out his phone, said something in Chinese, and then the voice from his app told me: \u201cWe\u2019re checking to make sure it\u2019s not poison or pesticides\u201d. Hm. Really?? That\u2019s the right translation? I was thinking maybe it meant \u201cdrugs\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNo, no\u201d, one of the guides replied when I told him. \u201cDefinitely not drugs.\u201d Nobody here risks carrying that. Because in China, drugs = the death penalty!!! And with so many checks everywhere, you\u2019d have to be stupid to hang yourself\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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In one of the cities, again at the subway, I got annoyed when I saw that after the police check, when I tried to insert my card, the machine took a photo of me. Damn it! Don\u2019t you get annoyed when they snap your picture once, twice, every time?!? And what do you think I did? I took out my phone and photographed the machine haha. I was even thinking: wait till they come to pick me up and question me in Chinese.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what did I find out? The subway access machine doesn\u2019t take your picture to monitor you; it\u2019s simply facial recognition that helps you pay your entry\u2026 with your own face! Really?!? Yes, yes, there are apps where you register your face, and this is how easily you pay for the subway, without making any other move. There are even supermarket chains where you can pay for your shopping the same way. At least in Chengdu, where I saw it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In another city I visited, they don\u2019t have face payment at the subway, but you can pay with your right palm: you put your palm on the device and that\u2019s all, you enter, because it has taken your ticket money. Hence the saying: what I take with my left, I give with my right \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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2017<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I didn\u2019t see this year were those people who used to direct us in the subway stations \u2013 to be well-behaved and board the subway politely. Maybe they were at some stations, but where I went, I didn\u2019t see them anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Instead, there were requests and instructions posted on the entrance doors. A good solution \u2013 they saved on paying salaries\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In China, if someone doesn\u2019t check you directly, someone else is watching you\u2026 from a distance. Either way, someone\u2019s got their eyes on you \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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I was shocked at how many surveillance cameras can be installed on a single pole!!! I was even afraid to take pictures of them!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMany Western tourists I\u2019ve had have criticized this control\u201d, a guide told me. \u201cI don\u2019t have a problem with it\u201d, she continued calmly, \u201cI prefer it this way, I feel safe!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The truth is, nowhere I went did I feel afraid of anything or anyone. Everyone told me I could walk safely on the streets at night, that I could take a taxi at night without worry, etc. etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And the guide didn\u2019t understand why I sometimes kept my backpack in front of me and why, when someone bumped into me (often!), I would suddenly turn around and put my hand on my pockets. It\u2019s a reflex\u2026 I\u2019ve been through it!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

She was always amused. She told me that even if someone tried to steal from me in the subway, there are so many cameras and police at every exit that they wouldn\u2019t stand a chance to escape. Plus, civic spirit is very strong there, and people would immediately jump in to help: they\u2019d stop the elevator, catch the thief at the next station, and so on. That\u2019s what she told me, and that\u2019s what I\u2019m telling you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Apparently, if someone steals, besides being caught immediately and thrown in jail, the big problem for them is that three generations of their family suffer! What?!? Yes, exactly like that: the thief himself suffers, but also his children and grandchildren can never work for the government \u2013 which is very important here; they cannot attend good universities and they cannot join the army (the army is not mandatory, but many join it for reputation, it helps with their career, and thus with money)!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pretty harsh, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Still about control\u2026 On the streets of several cities, at traffic lights, I was really bothered by some flashes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Basically, you\u2019re driving calmly and suddenly it feels like paparazzi swarm around you, flashing their cameras right in your eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I really don\u2019t know how people drive here when, before every traffic light, they are blinded by these flashes. They are mounted on poles, high up, right in the direction from which the cars are coming. I asked, what the heck are these?!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some monitor the traffic volume. Others take pictures of the people inside the car. If you\u2019re not wearing a seatbelt, if you\u2019re talking on the phone, or if you\u2019re smoking while driving, bam, you get a fine! Because it\u2019s not allowed! It\u2019s assumed that even smoking while driving distracts you. (But eating while driving??… I\u2019d get fined a lot :))<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, as a fun fact, smoking is still allowed in restaurants (not those in malls) and in many hotel rooms. I ended up in a smoking room and couldn\u2019t stand it because the smell of tobacco was so ingrained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

INTERNET IN CHINA<\/strong><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I knew from the start that nothing would work in China \u2013 no WhatsApp, no Facebook, no Google…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, I was calm thinking Yahoo would work since I had used it easily a few years ago. The Chinese were friends with Yahoo.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Well, that calmed me down about Yahoo…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Anyway, don\u2019t think I went there blindly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some time before my trip, while asking how I could have internet in China, I learned about VPN<\/strong> (Virtual Private Network), which basically lets you connect through a server located in another country. That way, it looks like you\u2019re accessing the internet from outside China, and you get access to whatever you want. BUT, just before I paid for this, the sellers were honest and told me: \u201cYes, you have access to whatever you want, but just so you know, right now we\u2019re blocked\u201d. What?!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yes, yes, as soon as the authorities catch them, they block them haha. So, even if you pay for a VPN, it\u2019s possible that exactly when you\u2019re there, you\u2019ll have internet issues. So I looked for alternative solutions and found one: eSIM<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I bought one from Nomad (https:\/\/www.getnomad.app\/<\/a>) and I absolutely had to install the eSIM before<\/strong> arriving in China. Once there, you can\u2019t do it anymore!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I asked the company three times if I would have WhatsApp because that was what mattered most to me. And Google, to look for directions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou will have it, you will\u201d, they reassured me. And indeed, I did.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The hotels where I stayed had free Wi-Fi, but that didn\u2019t help me at all because practically I couldn\u2019t access any of the usual services I use, since they are blocked in China. I had to download other search engines. Too complicated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I only spoke on WhatsApp with one person, from an agency in China. Otherwise, for them, it\u2019s too expensive to get a VPN. Especially since internally they use other multifunctional apps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WeChat<\/strong> is one of them. Alipay<\/strong> is another. I learned about them before my trip and was advised to download at least one in order to be able to pay in China. (But be careful \u2013 it\u2019s best to notify your bank that you\u2019re traveling to China, otherwise you might find your card blocked after the first transaction, like it happened to me \ud83d\ude42 )<\/p>\n\n\n\n

WeChat, originally created as a messaging app, helped me communicate just like on WhatsApp with all the guides I had and with friends from home who had downloaded it. It\u2019s extremely popular there and has many more functions beyond chatting. You can pay with WeChat Pay, post photos, since it also works as a social network (a sort of local Facebook), order food, buy tickets, shop, pay taxes\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alipay (where I linked my bank card), originally created as a payment platform for Alibaba\/Taobao, is now used for all kinds of financial services, from paying bills to loans and investments, but it also has many mini-apps, some that help with travel \u2013 guides, tickets, orders, etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TIKTOK<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Although I don\u2019t have TikTok, I know the app was invented by a Chinese company, I know about its huge global popularity and all the controversies surrounding it. But I didn\u2019t know how it works in China.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Well, it works separately. The Chinese have their own TikTok, for internal use\u2026 In 2016, when the app appeared, it was launched under the name Douyin<\/strong>. That\u2019s what it\u2019s still called in China. A year later, the Chinese company launched the international version of the app, under the name TikTok.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the two operate completely separately. The Chinese use Douyin, an app that you can\u2019t access from other countries. It operates in mainland China on local servers, respecting the strict rules imposed by the government, regarding both content and access (I understand that kids under 14 have limited access \u2013 40 minutes a day \u2013 and cannot use the app at night).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SHOPPING IN CHINA<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s clear to me now: I\u2019m reconsidering the terms \u201cchinezisme\u201d and \u201cchinez\u0103rii\u201d (Chinese knockoffs\/quirks)!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On this vacation, I saw some really cool stuff, super awesome gadgets, cool clothes Made in China, so I won\u2019t be throwing around ironies so easily anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Jacket with attached bear. 1400 CNY (approx. 173 euros)<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Purse-boot. 700 CNY (approx. 87 euros)<\/em><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On my quick walks through shops, I snapped some photos of a few cute products. And for some, I didn\u2019t just take pictures, I actually bought them \ud83d\ude42 (No, not the ones in the photos.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Scanning <\/strong>is the national sport in China! You order quickly, no waiting in line, order an ice cream and come back when you get an SMS saying it\u2019s ready, pay at restaurants, buy from street stalls, markets, everywhere \u2013 all by rapidly scanning a QR code hooked on, stuck to, or lazily thrown over the products!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Long live the apps, because, guess what, just when I was happy I could finally pay with my bank card, the POS machine wouldn\u2019t work, the Wi-Fi was weak or terrible, and luck was against me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Chengdu<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shopping areas, malls? Tons and tons! In some neighborhoods, malls are literally right next to each other. Most are open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m., 7 days a week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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With lots of luxury brands, but also affordable Western brands. And Chinese stores I\u2019d never heard of in my life, but which were a pleasant surprise for me!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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There were play zones, VR simulators for the men whose partners were shopping…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Or cars displayed where I was expecting to find phones…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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With ice rinks, massage areas, and all sorts of other things! You could spend a lifetime in a mall, no joke!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The fun continues outside! The areas are super lively, full of stalls with all kinds of products, cafes, but the real star in some places is the 3D advertising screen.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were all staring in awe, fascinated, amused, amazed by what some companies offer us:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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