Homeland

In November, I finally went on my trip back to China after I had lived for almost 5 years in Canada. Because of the outbreak of pandemic in 2020, I couldn’t go back to China to see my mother and other friends and relatives. I was so excited because the world and my life have changed so much. I was anxious because I didn’t know how my home town has changed and I was eager to verify if the second hand information I got over the last 5 years was correct or distorted.

When I stepped out of the Beiing International Airport and saw my friends welcoming me, I couldn’t describe the feeling I had. The first thing that shocked me was the air quality. The air I breathed was full of strange smells. The air was not transparent, but it was milky. I couldn’t see clearly beyond 200 meters. My friends told me that it is because the wind was still that day and the pollution caused by the traffic and other possible sources could not be blown away. In fact the air quality improved a lot in the following days.

I recognized slowly the streets and the surroundings where I lived. It has changed less then I expected. However, under the surface there were some changes I sensed. Chinese are more inverted than before. People are happy with the life and less interested in the outside world. China and the world outside China are like two parallel worlds existing side by side, separated by an unseen glass wall. Everything that people in Canada have, the Chinese have too– the most obvious example is the cyber world. There is Youtube in Canada, and there is Bilibili in China, there is Facebook in Canada and there is Rednote in China, Tiktok in Canada and Douyin in China, Whatsapp in Canada and Weixin in China, Amazon in Canada and Taobao in China.

I enjoyed the convenience of the public transportation in Beijing, one can go every where by subway. There are 29 subway lines with 522 station buildings and almost 900 km total length. Also I was overwhelmed by the cheap and colorful Chinese food. The price of living is very cheap. Housing, groceries, and electricity are much cheaper then in Canada. People have more money for recreation, food, parties and travel. Some of them travel abroad frequently.

I was happy to visit Beijing and hope that I can travel again and again back to China again and again.