𝗖𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗔 𝗪𝗔𝗦 𝗡𝗢𝗧 𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗬 𝗧𝗢 𝗟𝗢𝗩𝗘 𝟯𝟬 𝗬𝗘𝗔𝗥𝗦 𝗔𝗚𝗢. 𝗧𝗢𝗗𝗔𝗬 𝗜𝗧'𝗦 𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗬. I landed in China in 1995. 𝗜 𝘄𝗮𝗻𝘁 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗮𝗯𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝘁. 𝗜𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘆 𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗹𝗹. Pollution was really bad. Some days you could taste the air. Hygiene was a big problem. Public toilets you avoided if you could. Getting sick from food or water happened to everyone sooner or later. Outside the cities it was real poverty. 𝗜 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗺𝗯𝗲𝗿 𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘃𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘇𝗲𝗿𝗼 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗼𝘁 𝗼𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝗿𝘁 𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱𝘀. That stays with you. Foreigners were rare. 𝗜 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝘀𝗶𝘅 𝗺𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗵𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘀𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗮 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗺𝗲𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗮 𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴𝗹𝗲 𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗿. You became the attraction. For many, you were the first foreigner they had ever seen. Backpacking was a real adventure. No fast trains, hardly any highways. Crossing the country meant long-distance buses on bad roads, sometimes for days. Foreigners had to stay in designated hotels. 𝗔𝗻𝗱 𝘆𝗲𝘀, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗱𝗼𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗻𝗴. 𝗢𝗻𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗼𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀. Same seat, same room, pay more because of your face/purchasing power. Bus terminals and train stations were crowded and not safe. Pickpockets were normal. English was extremely rare. 𝗡𝗼 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘁, 𝗻𝗼 𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮, 𝗻𝗼 𝗽𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗺𝗮𝗽𝘀, 𝗻𝗼 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝘀𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗽𝗽. A paper guidebook, a dictionary, and a lot of pointing. Every day was a struggle. So most foreigners did a year or two and went home. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝘆𝗲𝗱 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗵𝗮𝗿𝗱-𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗮 𝗹𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀. Not for comfort, there wasn't any. We stayed because you could feel something was happening. 𝗡𝗢𝗪? Now I cross the country on a high-speed train at 300 km/h. On time, clean, booked on my phone in a minute. Same price as everyone else. Pickpockets? I can't remember the last time I heard of one. Blue sky is normal again. The rivers I avoided have parks along them now. 𝗧𝗵𝗼𝘀𝗲 𝘃𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗴𝗲𝘀? 𝗘𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆, 𝗽𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗱 𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱𝘀, 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗲𝘁. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗸𝗶𝗱𝘀 𝘄𝗵𝗼 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗼𝘁 𝗻𝗼𝘄 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗳𝗳 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗽𝗵𝗼𝗻𝗲𝘀. And a foreigner on the street? Nobody turns their head anymore. I pay for everything with my phone. I walk home at 2am and feel completely safe. 𝗜𝘁'𝘀 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗮𝗯𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗹𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆. 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗡𝗘𝗪 "𝗖𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗔 𝗘𝗫𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗧𝗦" Now I see new "self-proclaimed China experts" online, doing road trips in a nice SUV. I'm not downplaying them. 𝗧𝗵𝗲𝘆'𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗵𝗼𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝗮𝗯𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗹 𝗖𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗮 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗯𝗶𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗪𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻 𝗺𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗮 𝗵𝗮𝘀 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗱𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲𝘀. But it's the easy version. They see the result, not the struggle that built it. Both stories matter. Theirs shows what China is now. Ours shows how far it came. 𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗗? Not the people. 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝗿𝘁𝘆 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗼𝗳 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴. Railways, roads, power, sanitation. Hundreds of millions out of poverty. With concrete, steel and very long days. I watched it happen. 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗙𝗨𝗡𝗡𝗬 𝗣𝗔𝗥𝗧 In the 90s the Western press called China dirty, poor and backward. 𝗡𝗼𝘄 𝗶𝘁'𝘀 𝗰𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗻, 𝘀𝗮𝗳𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗻, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘆 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗶𝘁 𝗮 𝘁𝗵𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘁. Back then you had to be a hard-core China lover to stay. 𝗧𝗼𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝗲 𝗶𝘁 𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲.