Interlude

Looking out of the train, I observed that about half the houses in the countryside had installed solar water heating. As the most populous country in the world, what China does affects global warming. Its rise in affluence will put more strain on the environment. But it's not China but Africa and India that will see a surge in population and rising standards of living in decades to come and this will take a toll on the earth. But maybe China is also part of the solution by disseminating clean technology. The Chinese have a genius for commercialisation and mass production. If any country can make solar heating and solar electricity cheap, it's China.


Incidentally it's often assumed without much thought that as the most populous country, it must be cramped in China. But the immensity of China must also be taken into account. If you look at a list of countries ranked by population density, exclude tiny states and territories, there are more than 20 countries ahead of China. Even if you exclude the areas of barren land in China, it still would not move to the top of the list.


Speaking of railways, I noticed that maps of the Chinese network include the lines in Taiwan, because China claims it as a "renegade province".


I thought of that hapless toddler in Guangzhou. Were the Chinese heartless people? Did I have to worry that no-one would come to my aid if I tripped in public? I hoped not. But in a vague way I could understand why the passers-by turned a blind eye to the injured toddler. Places like markets in China are grubby. The ugliness of the place, the constant struggle to survive, and the feeling that one is just a cog in a noisy machine would, I imagine, make people block out the surroundings and not want to get involved. I also have an underdeveloped theory that lack of beauty, whether from the natural world or from art, coarsens the human soul and makes it insensitive. But none of this absolves the apathetic passers-by. Nothing excuses insensitivity to another's suffering.


But lest you think that all public spaces in China are dirty, they are actually much cleaner than in many developing countries. It helps that there is an army of cleaners, mostly older people unlucky not to have modern skills like the young, sweeping and clearing. Little goes to waste; I saw scavengers retrieve cans and plastic bottles from trash bins to earn a bit more money.