Random Thoughts Tuesday - Thoughts of China

I have not been able to really write about my time in China.  The picture above is a collage of some of the pictures I took during the 12 days that I was traveling.  I have an app on my iPad, called PicCollage and it is great for making collages.  But back to my topic.  I have not been able to figure out why I cannot find the words to describe all that I saw and experienced.

I have been asked by a lot of people what it was like traveling to China and the only word I can use to describe it is Paradox.  We visited Beijing, Xian, Chongqing, Yichang and Shanghai.  Each please had it own unique features.  For example, Beijing and Xian are steeped in History; Chongqing has numerous resettlement areas where the governments reclaims land and resettles residents to other areas. Shanghai is a relatively new city and as such it's history is pretty much modern era.  There are 25 million people in Beijing; 33 million in Chongqing and 28 million in Shanghai.  That is a lot of people.  Modern high rises are pretty much all you see in the city proper.  Street signs are in english and  chinese; people obtain cars either by lottery or auction.  Numerous American businesses are in Shanghai and the architecture is very modern.  HOWEVER....you cannot drink the water, you have to bring your own toilet paper, I will never forget the taste of warm Sprite (cannot use the ice).

How can a country that makes most of the products we use; is on the cutting edge of technology; and where tourism accounts for one third of its economy, not have clean and safe drinking water?  My mind is just boggled.  I need to go through my pictures and divide them into interesting categories that I can write about.....but for today it is just random thoughts and collage of some of my favorite memories.

Thanks for stopping by.  It is always great to welcome you to my blog.

Until next week......