China's booming economy

Originally posted at Secular Change on May 11, 2006

I can finally say that yes, China's economy really is booming. And I saw it with my own two eyes. When I went to China 20 years ago, everywhere I look people were wearing basically the same clothes or uniforms if you want to call it that. Everyone was riding bikes or mopeds. If ever you see any cars, they were either farm tractors or dilapidated cars. There were very few buildings and almost everywhere the roads are made of dirt.

Getting in to the country was a pain as the immigration officials were suspicious of everyone. Even if you're a Chinese tourist.

Now, everyone is wearing modern clothes and buildings are sprouting everywhere. They even have Mercedez Benzes for taxis. Immigration is more lenient and fast. Shanghai has built the fastest train in the world. More and more people are driving cars like Audi, BMW and Benz.

Outside our hotel window, I saw six buildings over 20 stories high each being constructed, and the construction is non-stop. At the famous Nanjing road, 2 more shopping centres are being constructed. Almost everyone is carrying a cellphone and a lot more people are smiling as well.

The main thing I noticed is that most of the people I saw are young and motivated. This segment of the population is what is going to drive China's economy in the next 20 years.

There are still a lot of improvements that China has to go through though especially in the area of tourism. They still have some of the attitude they have during communism where they sometimes won't go the extra mile. In most countries specially those in the English speaking countries, if you request something, they'll usually say "yes" or they'll see what they can do.

In China, whenever I request something, it's either no or you have to pay extra. This can leave a tourist frustrated specially if they're from Western countries who expect service.

We stayed in a four star hotel in Shanghai and I requested a cover for the soup we ordered to our room, the reply I got was "not possible". This is not an unusual request and it is also not all that hard to do. They also charge 15% extra to bring the food to your room if you buy it from the restaurant in the hotel. But they won't charge you if you bring the food to your room yourself. That would have been ok except the food was not in a "take out" bag but in the restaurant's porcelain plates and bowl which is very heavy.

Other than that, I found that you'll see a mix of friendly and unfriendly people. Those who are used to talking to tourist or the younger ones are more friendly than the older generations who are not as used to talking to foreigners.

If you buy something, it is also best to haggle to get the best price. There are stuff that my companions bought for only 25% of the original qouted price. Usually, the rule of thumb is whatever price they quote you, haggle to 10% of the price. So if they said 2000 yuan, bargain for 200 and work your way up to what you're willing to pay.

This is of course only on the streets and not in the malls where prices are usually set. But it doesn't hurt to ask for the discount.

Before you bargain, make sure you are ready to buy the stuff, otherwise you'll get angry curses for haggling and walking away.