As the third largest country (according to some definitions) and the most populous in the world, as well as having the 2nd largest economy in the world you’d expect China to be busy. It was! There are people everywhere in China and there is construction happening all over. Cities are generally clean with many people employed as cleaners by the government. There is a police presence where ever you go, not that they do anything. Being a police officer is seen as a good job, so much so that you buy your way in as even though the salary is low the bribes are not. China is a police state, one in plain sight. Whereas in Nazi Germany and under the Stasi regimes of Communist Europe the secret police were secret, in the sense they didn’t wear a uniform. The fear and paranoia stemmed from the fact that you didn’t know who was a member of the government and you didn’t know who’d be talking to who. China has taken a different approach. The official line is that they exist to prevent extremists whereas the reality is they create an omnipotent government. The state has eyes and ears everywhere. Although most of the police do not do anything, the uniform of the government is in your face, and the x-ray machines also exist to seem as if they are protecting the people. I suppose to some extent they may be but when you enter a museum you don’t expect to be frisked, patted down and have to show a passport just to look at a porcelain jug! The state of perpetual fear plus the constant stream of propaganda has created an apathetic nation. Why stand up if you get arrested and disappear plus why say anything when the economy is growing? History proves that people become more extreme in their views when there is an economic downturn, Nazi Germany being a prime example and the UK’s recent recession saw many people switching to the ‘right’. People are fickle indeed. The Chinese economy has been growing since the 1980s when China in effect became a Capitalist nation. The reforms of Mao were undone and yet he is still used to represent the state despite none of his policies and ideas being enacted. He banned gardens and started the cultural revolution, which destroyed Chinese heritage because he though people were to blasé. Now the government restores and rebuilds their heritage and encourages visits to gardens. Despite this, I spoke to a girl about China. She was not happy with the Chinese government and wished that she could vote for a government...

China has the largest network of trains in the world, not surprising, since it is the third largest country in the world. Plane travel is on the rise and budget airlines do exist but for now trains address the workhorse of the nation. Main stations are located centrally with high speed stations being much further out of the cities, high speed trains are a recent phenomena. A great app to help you get around is called ‘China Trains’. With a quick search you can access the train number, time and price of your chosen route. Trains in China are relatively clean and run pretty much to schedule. The are powered by overhead electricity cables and run on standard gauge making the journey quieter and more comfortable than its Asian counterparts in Vietnam, Thailand and India. There are many types of trains in China. The train network is incredibly busy and the rolling-stock are nearly always full, regardless of destination or type of train. Recently, we took a day train and thus bought a hard-seat ticket, usually we take overnight trains, but this time the journeys were just 6 hours. As a result we have experienced nearly every type of train and also a range of ticket issuers. The last one having the brain the size of a pea. She was confused by the train number we wanted. Which would be understandable if it weren’t for the fact that the trains use the Latin alphabet, so it wasn’t a difficult request. The ticket issuer on the other hand looked as if she were trying to solve a Mensa puzzle. K-Trains (Sleeper Carriage) These are the backbone of the train system in China. They are Express trains and on average achieve 40mph over there journey including stops. They make regular stops and run the entire length of the country. Because they run such long distances they are almost always night trains and well over half the train is made up of sleeper carriages. A night train has many sleeper carriages with ‘hard sleeper’ consisting of bunks arranged into 6. They have bedding and a reasonably comfortable pillow. As long as you get on at the start of the journey, the bed linen will be clean. If you get on part way into the journey it’s best not to even consider as to whom was on the bed before. At the end of the bunk-beds there is an aisle with luggage storage above. In the aisle you have two small seats and a table – you have to sit sideways on these seats to allow people and food trolleys to pass. They...

1. Police in full uniform – usually well fitting and under a big parasol 2. Police in unform wearing trainers – chilling and if near somewhere they should be guarding then asleep on a stool or chair 3. Military police – have guns 4. Paramilitary police – have large guns and wearing a bullet proof vest 5. Traffic police on a plinth – wearing white gloves and have a whistle. Generally the women do their job whilst the men just stand there. 6. Sleeping police 7. Police sat in a group – doing nothing 8. Female police in spectacular heels 9. SWAT police – only in Tibet. I think they liked the name SWAT. 10. Train station police – pat you down on entering the train station. 11. Checkpoint police – grumpy 12. Provincial police – usually wearing shoddy clothing such as trousers that don’t fit or a jacket from rejected clothing 13. Undercover police – have a walkie talkie blaring from their belts 14. Police sat in electric vehicles – usually eating or getting ready to ferry their buddies around All of the above police have one thing in common. They do not appear to carry out law enforcement instead they sleep, eat or talk to avoid stopping any misdeameanours but rest assured, should you commit a thought crime such as ask about the massacre at Tiannamen square then you will be...

Day three and we were heading back to Chengdu. Breakfast was at 6am but we skipped it and instead ate yet more cake snacks. We left at 6:30am. The mountain scenery that we drove through was beautiful. Steep, near vertical hills rising to pinnacles hidden in clouds. The trees were many shades of green and a mist hung over the valleys. This was the kind of scenery only seen on TV. But we didn’t stop for photos! On the Tibet tour we stopped every time the scenery looked good. On here the people were content with taking poor photos from through the bus window as we drove past – the window was steamed up as the bus driver wouldn’t put the aircon on to ensure the engine had full power. Very annoying! What’s more annoying is why we didn’t stop. It has nothing to do with getting back to Chengdu at a reasonable time. Oh no, it was because of all the shops we had to visit on our journey back. Our first stop was at a supposed Tibetan house. It didn’t look Tibetan, the people didn’t look Tibetan and they didn’t dress Tibetan. We were led into this supposed house where with the help of our translator we were told some of the things the woman was saying. The basic gist was, she was Tibetan and her culture and traditions were different and backwards. The people would laugh often at what she was saying. Basically, the whole thing was self- deprecating to make the Chinese way seem superior to the old fashioned Tibetan ways. Borderline racist and propaganda. Two things surprised/annoyed me there. Firstly, the woman was midway through speaking when her phone rang. Rather than ignore it she left the room to answer it. What could be that important? Secondly, the people seemed surprised that she had a phone! They actually lapped up and believed this crap that the Tibetan people were poor and backwards and undeveloped! Stupid stupid stupid people! We were then led into the shopping area. Yet more silver bracelets and bone combs. A different kind of tat to that sold in Tibet. On the plus side they had some food stalls and I bought some chips with chili sauce. The toilets were foul! Even the Chinese held their noses! We left there after spending over an hour in that fake hellhole! At 10am we stopped at another large shop. We walked in, a route zigzagged past huge displays of food. To look would prompt shouting and gesturing from the person manning that section. I walked down looking at everything just to get them...