How's China?

The story of five contrasting Chinas..

1. There is one in Shanghai - international, materialistic and world's most populous city, growing at a pace sometimes beyond recognition, from French concession to the Bund you can see the present sitting comfortably in past's lap; 
2. One in Beijing - political, rough on the edges, lot more 'Chinese' than Shanghai, and you feel the past as sort of the elephant in the room that no one wants to address; 
3. Then one in Xitang - an ancient watertown which has traded very little for anything shiny and has that old-world charm and laziness you want when you have lived in Shanghai too long, life here is lived in slow motion - just sit and watch boats float by and enjoy a not-so-local coffee in an old house by tge canal , this is getting closer to 'China' but then not really; 
4. There is one in Macau where East collides with west and you can eat 10 yuan noodles with chopsticks near a casino called lisboa where even 1000s of yuan may not be enough; here too you can watch gondolas floating in a canal but then the artificiality of it all dawns on you -these glittering casinos leave you wanting for something deeper... which the main city provides wholeheartedly - walking along the pastel-colored old buildings transports you back in time; 
5. The fifth one is here in Hong Kong - struggling for itself, more tall than wide, small but easy to get overwhelmed in, more practical than romantic... a look at the millions of little windows reminds you of how tightly few things can be packed... 

I have been lucky enough to experience these contrasts in the past few days and I know there are so many more... 'China's. So when people ask me "How's China?" I am not sure what to say... like India or rather any other country - it has way too much going on! ‪

Happiness is traveling!