Tuesday, April 15, 2014

USA through Foreign Eyes



A Chinese colleague came to visit the USA for the very first time. He is an educated person, who had been planning this visit for many years. For him, the USA was the dream land, an advanced land, a country that China should model itself by. It was a place where things worked, where progress drove the economy, the technology, people's lives.

He came to Manhattan, and was in shock: The airport was inefficient, the train late, the underground dirty, and most escalators did not work. The roads were laden with potholes, roadwork blocked streets in the middle of rush-hour, and policemen, when asked for help, were rude.

Just like Shanghai thirty years ago,” he said.

1 comment:

Yun Yi said...

if you define "advance" as technology, the height of the building, etc, many parts of China are more advanced in many parts of USA, but if you define it as humanism, sense of open-mindedness, tolerance, China is still in her primitive state. what this combination (primitive mind + modern tech) would do to the world in future? i better not judge too soon, though i have my idea.
and i also like to point out, that all the technology and other high advancement China enjoy today, are borrowed.