Fascination with China
We want to have information about the latest thing, the latest news, the countries on the brink of change or a fundamental development that will have a lasting impact on the world economy. Take China, for instance.
Reporters and researchers from all over the world are constantly writing excited forecasts or sharing opinions about what China will do next, what will happen in China next, what do recent events mean and how will China act in the future. Some experts are even measuring other countries’ economic development against China’s.
Anyone who has ever been to China can probably feel change bubbling beneath the surface. Sometimes you have to look and listen a little more closely, sometimes you can see it. Of course, it probably depends on where you are. Beijing, the Chinese capital is an energetic, breathtaking and curious city, where some of the new trends, both global and national, that are overtaking China become apparent. Once you set foot there, you are overwhelmed by the amount of people.
In 2011 the population of the country was approximately 1.35 billion people. That’s a lot! And all of them seem just as energized and busy as the impression China is giving these days.
Then there is the amount of roads and highways that stretch through the city – one almost feels as if one is in some kind of film, it is all just so big. Skyscrapers are not a rarity in Beijing, immediately giving the feeling that you are actually walking in a city much larger than it is. New buildings are being built. Everything and everyone seems to be permanently on the move. There are many exciting developments to watch out for in China, like the changing of the unemployment rate in China.
China is a country with one of the most ancient histories in the world and it is continuing to awe the world with significant changes and events. The year of the Dragon has begun!
Colors, sites and sounds. Exotic smells. Noises. Cyclists. Shouting. Smiling. A scorchingly hot day. Construction sites. The feeling of things being recognizable and yet somehow entirely different. The feeling of seeing all this somewhere before, and yet experiencing for real for the first time and it being so much more than what you imagined. Looking at all around you and thinking, this just blows my mind.
Which country am I talking about? I’m talking about China. These are the impressions that knock you over when you first set foot on Chinese soil. We all have some kind of picture of this country in our mind, I guess. The typical historical architecture – those elegant, tiered roofs and the red walls of the Forbidden City in Beijing. Statues of interesting creatures and religious symbols. Food that you can’t always identify, and isn’t it true they eat cats and dogs over there? The ideas we have about China are just as influenced by clichés from film and general chatter as they are by a growing curiosity. Because China is changing and many experts are considering it to be the next big economic superpower. Have you seen the numbers in China statistics? The US is certainly keeping an eye on developments in the country that is known for being one of the earliest civilizations in the world.
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