We Americans were given special privileges in China. We even had heat in the winter and air conditioning in the summer. The population was not allowed these conveniences south of the Yangtze. Our city, Nantong was just north of the river but no heat was allowed. The largest light bulb allowed was 60 watts. One per room. That is why the hard working population and students have poor eyesight. We had one unrestricted channel on our TV sets, CNN International. CNN was careful not to offend the communist Party. They used only secular talk. Citizens and peasants could not see even this this. Chinese TV that we also got showed trials for people accused of crimes. Every person accused was found guilty. On the roads, police would collect fines and give the driver a receipt as their ticket. A policeman would determine guilt by reading facial expressions of drivers. All books written by Chinese who got out of China were disallowed in China. A live cartridge could get you the death penalty. Not to mention a gun. Executions for big crimes were held in stadiums or at a large intersection of streets to show everybody what could happen if you broke certain laws. The next of kin of the criminal had to pay the government for the cartridge after the death penalty was carried out. There is not a screen door in that part of China. The windows have no panes! The bicycle sheds were decorated with ceramic tiles. The homes were drab stucco. Most homes had one or two rooms. The building were gigantic and well decorated. Toilets in the edge of the city were a lean to with no front or side doors. inside was a bamboo pole that people sat on over a hole less than 6 inches deep! As soon as a few turds arrived, a peasant would scoop it up for his garden. Our guidebook told us that there was no word for privacy in their language. I know there was none other than a curtain in each room. Police can open any door anytime they wish.

  • invalidusernamelol [he/him]
    ·
    4 years ago

    A/C is nice, but a dehumidifier is better. Mainly to help keep food and electronics from getting ruined.