I settled down in Houston before embarking on the return journey to China. Houston does not look like any Chinese city. It is so sparsely populated, by Chinese standards, that I felt I was trekking through a national park, especially when my flight arrived at night. The South is often the target of ridicule in the American press, but I found a lot of charm in both its landscape and its people. The southern twang reminds me of China's northern dialects.
The most striking common trait is in the rural population. They may not know as much about China as those along the coasts, but they show a friendliness that sophisticated urban dwellers are simply incapable of - a combination of curiosity and acceptance. This is exactly the feeling I get whenever I tour China's rural areas and hinterlands.
There are differences under the surface. I found bureaucratic procrastination in both countries, but with disparate manifestations. In China you tend to find official staff unwilling to help, but in the US they tend to lack the ability. The old lady behind the desk is extremely nice and does everything to help you, but you end up in bigger trouble. The same thing happens in business as well. I've made a dozen trips to my bank to merge two accounts, each time taking several hours, but it remains unresolved. The inefficiency is startling.
Sometimes I get a sense that China is moving towards America and America is moving in the direction of China and I happen to be in the middle. I used to see the two as two stages of life in the same person. Now it's more like two moods of the same person - one buoyant and one refined, only you don't know which country has which mood.
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