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What if there was another distant planet in another galaxy that had humans just like us. What if they came into being the same time we did. Would there technologically have evolved the same as ours? Would they live the same way we do? Would they comunicate in the same way? Maybe they would never have invented the automobile or the light bulb. Maybe they would have found a different way to travel or to light their world in the dark. It would seem that nothing could be exactly the same from one world to another but how then would it be different? I've never thought about these questions until after I visited China for the first time. Hi, my name is Sam White. I am 39 years old and have just returned from my first trip to China. I say my first trip because surely I will return many more times. This is my story. I have always been intrigued about China. When I was younger I often wondered what it would be like to live there. I would occasionally hear a little of the languge on TV and think how different and how beautiful it sounded. I wish I would have started learning the language early in life but as it is I have only been studying it for about two years, and that is home study on my own through books and internet programs. Very very slow process. It is through this process of trying to learn Chinese that has brought my trip to China into reality and litterly changed my life for the better.

Sam and friends in China

I wondered if I could recognize her among many others as I got off the plane in Hong Kong. I always thought that all Chinese people looked alike. When I got to the arrival area there must have been 100 or more Chinese people waiting for their friends and family returning from wherever they had been. I don't know how it happened but I looked into the crowd and there she was. I didn't even have to search, she was just there among all the others. Maybe it was just me I don't know, but every one looked the same, that is except for her. She was much more beautiful than her pictures I had seen. She was simply unbelievable. It is this first site that I will never forget. I know I'm all wishy-washy and all but I can't help it. It was like seeing an angel sent from heaven.

The next few hours is kind of a blurr. I don't know maybe something was fogging my brain. I remember leaving the airport. She had gotten a cab of sorts to take us to the border. It was a mini-van. I thought it should be a nice comfortable ride, HA! The eight of us piled into the little van. Yes eight of us. One driver five other chinese people and me and Samantha. That includes luggage for six people. So off we went. Oh MY God! This driver needs to learn how to drive! Speed up, slow down, drive on the wrong side of the road, drive down the white lines, cutting other cars off by mere inches, stop in the middle of the road, make four lanes out of two. Where are the cops? Why isn't he getting a ticket? Why is everyone acting as if he is driving nicely? I just knew we were going to get into an accident before we got a mile from the airport. We ended up taking a taxi all the way to Shenzhen instead of the train like we had planned. I remember very little of the drive to Shenzhen except for the outragous driving, and the beautiful lady crunched up beside me, who is now my wife. I could talk for quite a while just on how she looked and smelled and felt and etc., but I should get on with my story.

In Shenzhen I was blown away by all the building going on. Everywhere you looked there were half finished apartment buildings. Most were about 30 to 40 stories tall. Every street was jammed packed with them. In America I have seen tall buildings before, mostly office buildings or big companies. In China these buildings are solid apartments. Apartments as far as the eye could see. The ground floor of these buildings were stores and shops and restaraunts. The rest of the building is dedicated to apartments, most of which are very small. The buildings still in construction were lined with scaffling made of bambo. Yes that's right, Bamboo. Bamboo scaffling 30 stories high, Oh My God! Where is osha? You would expect to see some bamboo rods all tied together to assist in building a straw hut, but to build a skyscraper!! I guess if you have plenty of it and it gets the job done, well then...

I had heard that China was growing fast, but now I know what an understatement that is. I wander where it will be in 10 years if it keeps growing like this. This brings me to how the Chinese people work. Every time I saw workers I observed them very closely. I saw how they worked as if they knew they had a great job, as if they didn't want to take a break or slow down. They all seemed like ideal employees. They seemed to have these great work attitudes and made so little money for it. I was shocked to learn how little they made. A waitress in a nice restaurant will earn about 500 yuan a month which is a very good pay for a waitress. That's about 65 US dollars. I know a general manager of a frieght forwarding company who makes about 1000 yuan a month, about 120 US dollars. We would be in a nice restaraunt having dinner and the waitress waited on you hand-and-foot as if you were a very valuable customer. I remember one evening my wife and I were having dinner and it was pretty late. There were only three tables with customers left. I looked around and noticed that between the head waitress and the rest of the crew that was on the floor, there were 17 people ready to serve these three tables of about 6 customers. Outstanding service! I may walk out on a limb by saying this but I believe America is a tad bit spoiled. Shhhh.... who said that?
. When Samantha and I arrived at her apartment building we met a gaurd at the gate who greeted us and let us in the the courtyard of the building. It was beautifully landscaped with waterfalls, fruit trees, paved walks and bridges over streams, so much detail. Every place that has any ground that isn't covered by pavement had very nice landscaping. We entered the main floor elevator and headed up to the 11th floor to her apartment. We took our shoes off at the door and put on slippers as is the way of most Chinese. Then we went straight to the bathroom to wash our hands. I'm not sure if it is because of the whole SARS thing or just the way the Chinese are but there is so much imffises put on cleanliness. Most apartments if not all have tile floors that make it easy for cleaning. They are cleaned and mopped once or twice a day. If you have been outside then you should not sit on the furniture with your possible soiled clothes. Her appartment was typical of most better appartm!ents. There's a tiny kitchen with all the modern things like fridge, stove and sink. Two bedrooms, one is more of a storage closet than a bedroom. The bathroom had a plastic stool, tile floor and walls, a porcelen sink. There was no bathtub just a shower with a drain in the floor. The whole thing was designed to be very small and very easy to clean. The only hot water was the shower. It came from a small gas heater mounted on the wall. Electricity seems to be in short supply at times. I think this is why there are no hot water heaters or any other heat for that matter in these appartments. It doesn't get too cold in Shenzhen but it can get down to almost snow weather during the worst part of winter. Her appartment had all the usual things like sofa, TV, table, desk, oh yeah she also has a piano. Everything was of very good quality. Most Chinese like American or Japanese made goods. Why do you think there is a made in China sticker on the back of just about every single little gadgit on your desk. Late at night I would sit out on the balcony overlooking one of the main streets in Shenzhen. I watched as several prostitutes waited on either side of the street for their nightly buisness. On another part of the street 5 to 10 people cooked their dinner over an open fire, while taxi drivers slept in their cars. Straight below me several 24 hr security gards patroled the inner courtyard with posted security gates at both sides. Police are far and few between. At night there are very few police and what police there are are usually in their offices unless called upon. That leaves a lot of room and funds for cheaper security guards. There are almost no police patroling but there are security guards every were. At different times during the day I would see about 10 or 15 guards marching around the courtyard like they were in boot camp or something. In the morning I woke early. I fixed myself a cup of instant coffee that Samantha bought just for me. Then I sat on the balcony and took in the view. It was quite amazing. On the roof top across the street I saw a man running around the roof and up and down a small flight of stairs among several clothes-lines littered with clothing. Straight across in a lobby in the next building a man about 40 years old was instructing a small class in martial arts. 11 floors below me in the court yard a group of older ladies was practicing what I expect was some sort of tai chi. All this was going on at the same time. Out in the street were several people on bikes going and coming. One of which had some plywood and 5 gallon buckets strapped to the back. It sounds impossible but it's true. I have often seen people hauling all sorts of things on bikes, right down the middle of the road. Once I saw several ladies pushing a two wheel cart down the road loaded with a truck load of timber. I could go on for hours about the things I saw and what people were doing in the streets. But I think I should move on. 

After Samantha got up we went out for breakfast. We decided to go to a certain restaurant about 3 blocks down the street. As we walked among hundreds of other walking commuters, I could see how everyone had to do a double take as they passed by. There are very few Americans in Shenzhen. I only saw maybe 3 the whole first month I was there. So I was not to surprised by everyones stare. I stuck out like a sore thumb. Most people would just take a good look at me then go about their buisness. Everyone I talked to was very kind and anxious to help me with whatever I needed. When we arrived at the resteraunt we were greated by 4 hostesses at the front entry. We went in and up a small red carpeted flight of stairs and were greated by 2 more hostesses. We entered the dinning area and yet another hostess showed us to our seat at which time 2 or three waitresses pulled back our seats and set the table and laid a large cloth in our laps then put covers over our jackets which hung on the back of the remaining two seats. The table was covered with a white cloth and individual place clothes. The dinning room was very big with many tables. We then went to the WC to wash our hands. The WC is kind of an international code for bathroom. I've yet to figure out exactly what it stands for. If you ever want to know where the bathroom is in China just say WC. The urinal was a kind of water fall coming down the length of a wall that you just did your thing in. There were individual stalls with no toilets, just holes in the floor that you could do your other thing in. Back at our table we were presented with tea cups, bowls, a pot of tea and chopsticks. The next thing was the ritual of washing the cups, bowls and chopsticks with the hot tea. Don't want to catch a bug! Now we were ready to order. Samantha did all the food ordering since I can't read a chinese menu. The food was awesome. Nothing at all like what you find on a Chinese buffet in America. I can't even describe how tender and delicious everything was, especially the vegetables. Well, everything except the chicken feet which seems to be a favorite dish. I had some trouble with the chopsticks at first but I finally got used to them. All the dishes were placed in the middle of the table. You just sort of help yourself to which ever you want. After one dish was emptied it would be replaced with another. If I had eaten American food the way I ate there I think I would have gained quite a bit of weight. There were always waitresses standing nearby ready to refill your tea cup or whatever you might need. Awesome service! Fish is a popular choice for food. If you wanted fish you would pick a live one of your choice from a large fish tank. This way you were sure to get a fresh fish. Chinese don't like to eat fish if it is already dead. It must be killed just before cooking. By the way the head is the most favorite part of the fish. For drink you have tea or beer, good luck trying to get coffee or soda or a fork for that matter.

For dinner we ate at a place where you have a big boiling pot of spicy liquid in the middle of the table. They brought out the uncooked food and you put it in the pot and cook it yourself. Very very good! I think my favorite part of China was the food.

This was pretty much my first day in China. I spent about two months there. I have taken a second trip there since I started writing this little article. In my next article I have plenty to talk about. For example the Chinese New Year, Dragons, An awesome cave show, cultural events, shopping, not really Pizza Hut, my big dinner with the family ect. For now thanks for your time and keep in mind I'm not a writer just someone who wants to share an awesome experience.

To contact Sam Click Here
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