China in the early 2000s

[Tomsima]

I've also really enjoyed reading some of these mini memoirs - if any others are willing to share I'm sure you've got a pretty eager audience.

 

I personally think the biggest change has really only happened in the last five years or so, and I believe it is related to the leadership style of xi jinping. Technology is all pervasive in any country you go, but the way in which people interact and consume is different in modern day China. But China loves 熱鬧, and hopefully one day buzzing China will be back again.

 

My experience of going to Tiananmen square in 2008 rings true with many others' descriptions of 90s/early 2000s China, and to me shows that China had yet to begin its transformation into the China of today at that point either. I vividly remember standing at the bridge to have my photo taken with Mao's portrait in the background, and then a person coming to stand next to me and have their friend take a picture of us 'together'. To my bemusement, they then switched places and took another photo, still without having said a word to me. Within a few seconds a queue had formed for group photos with the foreigner and I chatted to strangers for about 20 minutes before even getting into the forbidden city. The whole time I was there everyone was staring at me (perhaps related to my long bleached blonde/orange 'surfer' hair I once used to don...). I went back in 2018, ten years later and can confirm that nobody batted an eyelid at the presence of a foreigner, until I was overheard speaking Chinese. I would guess if I were to go back in 2028 my language abilities would not cause any surprise either.

[Singe]

On 4/29/2020 at 1:29 PM, Meng Lelan said:

Individuals would touch my reddish hair.

 

I distinctly remember the fair hairs on my arms/head constantly being touched in 1993 when I first went to China.

 

Thanks also, Jan F, for the pictures of Shanghai. I've only ever been to Shanghai once and remember the Bund without the skyscrapers across. By coincidence, on one of the Chinese channels we have over here I saw a similar comparison on a programme yesterday. It was a documentary about a French guy who was travelling around the country with a colleague - really interesting.

[Jim]

I had the arm hair stroking a bit too though one of the funniest was in a remote-ish part of Kham/West Sichuan where the local Khamba lads also wore their hair long in a braid same as I had, so would run up behind me in the street and give mine a tug, then giggle and point at their own hairdo. Very friendly which was fortunate as they were hulking great buggers with a large knife in their waistbands

[abcdefg]

Here's a photo essay about Kunming in the 1980's by two people who lived there at the time. It might strike a familiar chord for those of you who experienced other parts of China at about the same time. https://www.gokunming.com/en/blog/item/4424/snapshot-a-trip-to-kunming-and-beyond-in-the-80s 

 

 

Quote

Today we are taking another look back in time, at the Kunming of yore. There are not many international residents who have witnessed the city before the modernization drive of the 90s. John Israel — who we interviewed in a previous article — is one of the few foreigners who settled in Kunming in the late eighties, not long after the Reform and Opening Up policy was adopted. Another foreigner who ventured into China was Leroy W. Demery Jr — with his camera at the ready. In 1983 he was 27 years old and recorded the everyday scenes he saw in the streets as he travelled around China. He visited Kunming, and here we share some of his shots.

 

Some things haven't changed all that much, such as these small streetside "stand-up" noodle stalls 面店 serving a quick bowl of rice noodles 米线。Other things have changed a lot, such as places where you could stop and read the news free. People now rely on their mobile phones. 

 

     

[anonymoose]

1 hour ago, abcdefg said:

Other things have changed a lot, such as places where you could stop and read the news free.

 

It's interesting how in those days, people still dressed up fairly uniformly.

[ChTTay]

Timeout has a very timely article on Beijing “then and now” here. 
 

The disappearing city gates that are now roads and/subway stations are the most dramatic photos. Seems such a shame. 

[Singe]

6 minutes ago, ChTTay said:

Timeout has a very timely article on Beijing “then and now”

 

Thanks for posting this, interesting. The Fuchengmen was the stand out one for me. A couple seemed much the same - and nice to see a little bit of greenery appear on one or two of the pics.

[murrayjames]

On 4/29/2020 at 8:39 AM, ChTTay said:

It’s just 茄子 or saying something relevant to what you’re doing. Like sports day say something sports related. 

 

一！二！三！Fighting!!!

[carlo]

My own experience is similar to Imron’s. I started working in Beijing in 1999 and moved to HK in 2013. I remember seeing the Macau countdown clock on my first several visits to Tiananmen Square. Or a time when the residential housing market was just beginning to take off.

 

My longing for the early 2000 has a lot to do with the fact that I was ~24 back then and the sense of possibility was intoxicating. Everyone around me was busy learning things. That attitude was contagious. Society was clearly in an “opening up” phase and people wanted to absorb the best of everything, be it foreign or Chinese. A few of the people I knew went on to build fortunes, others were less lucky. Most started families, many moved away, and Beijing today seems a much less forgiving place for young 外地人 seeking opportunities. But maybe I'm just 20 years older.