navneetkumarbakshi / Blog / Posted in Sulekha.com on 14/06/2014
Mr. Cheng lives in a small town named NanZhou in Hunan province. He has sent some beautiful pictures of his place along with an accompanying text, giving a beautiful glimpse of his hometown and the countryside. About his county he says “ It’s not a rich place”. The total population is 680000, 60% of which lives in the villages. He says that China has thousands of towns like Nan and these small towns represent the real China. Let’s read what more he has to say about his town, people, country and religion and see the beautiful pictures along as we read.A pictures they say speaks a million words- well, these pictures definitely do. They are so magnificient that I couldn’t decide which one to choose and which to leave, so I am going to post them all even if I have to break the blog in to parts.
Kindergarten:
Kindergartens or pre-school does not form as the essential part of education system. There are not enough public kindergartens but more and more parents are enrolling their children in the kindergartens, so many private nursery schools have come up. The tuition fees in these schools are very high. Some kindergartens charge higher fees than the colleges.
De Chang Primary School
Education up to middle school is compulsory and is free in the government schools but food is not free(mid day meals are not provided by the government unlike in India). All citizens must attend school for at least nine years.
Shi Yan Primary School
Xin Yan Primary And Middle School
Li Da Middle & High School
Hostels
Sprawling Complex
Library
High School:
This is the picture of No.1 Middle School of Nan county. This is my Alam mater. It’s a Provincial Key Middle School. Every county has at least one such school.
Scooters and Cycle Parking
Book Shop
Computer Rooms
Duan Nai Wen, The Founder
Huge Complex, well maintained
Gymnasium
Sprawling, Green, Well kept
Like most of the schools in China it’s a public school. High school level education is not compulsory in China and thus it is not free. We need to pay 3000~4000 Yuan per year towards the school fees. Most of the people can’t afford this high fee for their wards. You have to pass the entrance test for getting in this school. However if your rank is high, you can get a scholarship and can study here for free.
Entrance
These stones have speakers in the hollows cut in them. They are there in every park in China
Footpaths criss-crossing the green lawns
Various Wings
Library
Main Gate
Adminsitrative Office
Bus Stop
Dining Halls
Stadium
Hostels
Class Rooms
These comments were posted on my blog when I shared it in Sulekha.com in 2014
All Comments
navneetkumarbakshi / / 3 months ago
Hello DD,
Maybe it is a holiday or a time when the school is off. I am not sure, I haven’t taken the picture. The focus is on the sprawling size and cleanliness.
Navneet
DD / / 3 months ago
School looks deserted. Is it really a school??
navneetkumarbakshi / / 7 months ago
Hello VV1320,
I am not sure where from he got the pictures. I believe people send me the true pictures of the place. He is proud of his place and that is what deserves appreciation. If the underdeveloped county has achieved so much then it indeed is remarkable.
Navneet
navneetkumarbakshi / / 8 months ago
Hello Kevin,
Yes, you are right. One will improve only when one sees a flaw. If we see no wrong then obviously, we can’t be expected to make it right. Democracy and freedom of speech in India gives me the courage to speak. Nice to know about your profession. One of the portals in the website that I plan to launch will be for Engineering Services, because I am an Engineer, so would like to provide a window for Consultancy, Erection, Installation, Commissioning, sale of plants/units. Obviously, I will need money to sustain 🙂 and being an Engineer this is all I can deal in. Hope then, I will need your help for establishing myself. :))
navneetkumarbakshi / / 8 months ago
Hello Patrick,
I think your commented is intended for Chi. I too have asked Chi or give some pictures and for that matter I would like anyone to give the pictures showing callousness of the authorities and the suffering of the people because of pollution or neglect on the part of the authorities or because of lack of development, over industrialization or whatever. The idea is to be be fairly analytical. Long back one of our fellow bloggers had posted a blog here
http://travel.sulekha.com/the-other-side-of-china_travelogue_600775
and if I search for, I can find hundreds of photos of dark and bright side of any place to support my view point. Depends what I am looking for. I want to be fair in my report and if the credit is deserved it must be given to the inhabitants as well as the authorities as the progress or plunder is a result of a collective effort of the whole society and therefore the credits and discredit too must be shared.
Navneet
lintianxin / / 8 months ago
Hi, Dear Navneet sir, I have sent you an e-mail, do not know whether you have received, you can repeat your e-mail do?
navneetkumarbakshi / / 8 months ago
Hello LintainXin,
I just checked, I have received your mail. Don’t worry, I will let everyone know, when I launch my website…but the way you people have inspired me and appreciated my work, you will have to promote my website 🙂 Will you? For if my website can generate money then I will see more of China and write more about her. Maybe one day, I will come and meet you too 🙂
Navneet
Chi / / 8 months ago
WTH? This is my hometown too but my impression about it is that it’s filthy and extremely under developed. I just went back last spring festival so I think my impression is pretty updated. The villages there are filled with plastic trashes and brooks there give out stinky smell.
The township government is corrupted and inefficient and residents there don’t care about public environment or sanitary condition at all. Main streets were lined up with trashes even though city cleaning staff try their best to clear the wastes from shops along the streets. Maybe the schools there have nice buildings but I suspect that the construction quality cannot withstand closer look.
Mr. Cheng, what’s the point of taking these showcase pics which completely distorts the truth and getting compliments from foreigners? How about getting down to earth and clean the main streets in Nanxian first and truly contributing to the development of our hometown?
Foreigners compliments and exclamation won’t help solve the problems at all.
navneetkumarbakshi / / 3 months ago
Hello Chi,
I saw China progressing at a rapid pace when I was there. Though India too is progressing fast and things are changing here too but not as rapidly as they are changing in China. I don’t know when did you visit your hometown last time. If an Indian immigrant too comes to India now after a lapse of 15-20 years, I am sure he too will be surprised by the progress and all this has been achieved despite corruption and lackadaisical attitude of the people. I am sure corruption in China is as prevalent but the end results to an outsider seem to be impressive. I haven’t seen many Chinese criticize frankly and boldly here on my posts and I don’t know if they do so on my translated blogs where they are posted on the Chinese websites but such divergent views are good to have as healthy criticism helps the nation.
Navneet
VV1320 / / 7 months ago
he got the pics. really from nan county.just he don’t take photos of the valliages or some dirty places .aha .
you can browse on Nan forum for more photos .
Nan is under developing ,but mostly in -around center zone .of course,the villages are not beautiul as photos showed .
patrick / / 8 months ago
So you are an overseas Chinese and you did not take even one picture of your hometown when you were there during the spring festival. What an ignorant guy you are!
Chi / / 8 months ago
I’m not in China so I can’t take pics. But one must understand for most of us, when we bash our own countries, it’s not because we don’t love it. Quite on the contrary, we love it so much that we wish it could become ever better.
patrick / / 8 months ago
Let us see your pictures and descriptions about the same 6th level town. It must be interesting to see the comparison. However, if you can not show anything to the readers, we will doubt what is there.
happygo C / / 8 months ago
Nan is not a perfect place,and YOU ARE FREE TO POST ANY PICS.
navneetkumarbakshi / / 8 months ago
Dear Chi,
I must compliment your brilliant and bold comment. You must have seen in my blogs that I spare no words while criticizing my own country and countrymen where I think I must because I believe that misrepresentation also leads to a false sense of complacency. You can send me the pictures and your opinion and I can post a blog without mentioning your name so that it may not bring you unnecessary criticism.
Navneet
unnikrishnandr / / 8 months ago
Dear Navneet sir,
Simply superb! Primary schools…in 6th level city…puts even the countries (Indias) top institutes wanting.
Regards
unni
navneetkumarbakshi / / 8 months ago
Dear Dr. Unni- I find there progress so amazing that I can’t help but share here with others.
Navneet
navneetkumarbakshi / / 8 months ago
Thanks for replying to me Kevin and for introducing me to your friends. You have brought up many typical differences between the Indians and the Chinese. Here is what are some of my observations. Chinese are very conscious of what people think about the Chinese and China. They carry a Sense of belonging to the nation and thus feeling of national pride and national shame effects them while it’s not so with us all. Most of the Indians are not interested in knowing even what China is doing except uttering an invective while reading about border violation in the morning newspaper with disdain. The kind of cultural revolution that Mao could bring in China is impossible to think of without loyal, frenzied following of the leader. In India people care two hoots for anyone. The kind of response that my blogs are generating in China, I never will be able to have in India. It’s not because I write anything great that Chinese are getting attracted to my blogs, it’s because they want to know what a foreigner thinks about China and they want the whole world to know about China. They feel to be a part of China’s progress and they are. All of them (including you) even when can write good English are apologetic about not knowing it well. That speaks of their humility. All those who write to me show intense desire to know more about India, that’s why the idea of starting my website has occurred to me and I know if at all it will be a success, it will be because of the Chinese and not the Indians. Siince I am writing on phone, let me stop here. I am in Sydney visting my son who is working in an IT company. What are you doing in India? Will meet you if I come to Mumbai. People are beginning to know more about China through my communication with the Chinese here otherwise we Indians are quite complacent people. Here is one article about Guangzhou by one of your Chinese fellow national who got inspired by my posts. “Morning Tea in Guangzhou” you can search for it here or possibly on Google to by entering this string
Kevin huang / / 8 months ago
thank you navneet for your reply.I do agree with you about our humility as we are always been told to be from our childhood, like our ancestor Confucius’ proverb ” in the company of three one always can find a teacher ” which taught us to always ready to learn from others. i admire your boldness to openly and severely criticized your own country and countrymen which i think is also indicate your deep affection on your owe country as our proverb goes “you blame and criticize deeply because you care and love deep”
And Indians like you and the spirit to speak out generated from your country’s democracy is essential momentum for India’s hope and its future for change.
we are joining a local indian company here to develop wind power and hopefully generate more green energy here. and it will be great to meet you when you are back India.
navneetkumarbakshi / / 8 months ago
Hello Kevin,
Hahaha…First of all Happy Navratras. India is a country of continuous festivity. You must be wondering when people work? :). So nice to hear from you. This is a Brilliant idea. Lecturing may be a way off but after getting very good response to my blogs and requests from my Chinese readers to tell them more about India, I am seriously thinking about launching a website to give a window to the people of these two great neighbours to learn more about each other and come closer. I am in Sydney these days and am coming back to India this month. You can write to me at bakshink@gmail.com. Stay in touch.
Navneet
Kevin huang / / 8 months ago
Hi Navneet,
Good to hear from you and that you are about to launch a website, i think that is very good idea to start up as you popularity is growing in Chinese,especially Chinese in India. when you do start, pls do invite me as your vip member in you website,hahahh.
Yesterday, i ‘v introduced your blog to my Chinese colleagues here, they are all eager to learn your feeling or views on China although most of our English is not that well.
Anyway my friends’ eagerness to know your feeling while you stayin in China, this trivial eagerness reflects sth and reminds me this distinctive and big difference between our people as i observed here that we are more keen to explore the outside world and keep our horizon open and wide while most indian people, i have to say even if i may offend someone here, are more conserved with what they have and who they are.
For example, when i first landed here and had some chats with my Indian colleagues, and asked how much do they know about China, they said none,you know bejing? you know olympics? after a while thinking, they came up “oh, Jackie Chan”. haha. i feel disappointed, and they relied: why should i know?
My personal interaction with our indian colleagues and the process on how their idea on China change while more info and understanding they learnt from us, i think, can be a good teaching case for bridging the gap and now i feel it is necessary to sum it up and put it down on the paper.
i think that is probably due to the different attitudes our people chose, we trend to be not satisfied with what we have and already try to grab more while most indian are more content with what they are and where they are. you may also observed that most Chinese including us are not happy and keep criticizing the government even they are enjoying the benefit of china’s development.
i personally start to feel how deeply our government care us, how much effort or talents is needed for our government to maintain the stability and development for this huge country, how important it is for us where our country stand in the world, how much a country means to us whether they can always stand behind us, which i never realize before i came to india and just acted like a teenage keeping complaining and never thought to do my contribution. i think that is one of benefits or lessons one can learn when they go abroad.
the pictures you show is very familiar to me, it is actually very common in China’s cities,if we call them cities. one small thing i need to correct here is that for 3000-4000 RMB school fee, most of us do can afford it even in rural area, it is around 1 month salary for a fresh graduate. if you can come down south of china, you will be further amazed by its development and especially the vigor of the cities. like Guangzhou, Shenzhen etc. although many rural area is still not that developed, but still if you compare them with indian rural area, i have to say, they are not that bad.
I may be too optimistic about China and my rational being interfered by my patriotism unconsciously, i don’t know, pls correct me if i do.
but i do know we do have many risks and problems in today’s china, like the railway you took from Shanghai to Wuhan, it is pretty amazing too for most of chinese and i personally had the luck to participate in this railway’s construction while i was in my senior colleague as an interpreter to an German general engineer, from their perspective, some quality problems and especially corruption while constructing this railways is far beyond their understanding.
how is your stay in Sydney? i wish i can make a visit there too someday when i get the chance in which i mean my company can afford all my expense hahaha. which i need to work towards and confident that chinese company will expand the business there someday.
navneetkumarbakshi / / 8 months ago
Hello Cheng,
Read your reply to Chinese Dreamer. You have brilliantly expressed your viewpoint.
Kevin huang / / 8 months ago
hi Navneet,
it is great to get connected with you. i am Chinese now staying in India mostly in Mumbai for more than 1 year. i am directed or following up to this website after i read your translated blog when i was searching some views from Indian about Chinese in baidu(Chinese Google) after continuously frustration we confronted here for our business as the outside banging and singing for celebrating navatri kept me awake.
I think we have a lot to share on these two countries’ differences and after my experience in India. but one thing i can’t wait to share and can’t agree with you more is that our two countries do know little about each other.
I am thinking maybe to give some lecture or hold some classes someday to promote the understanding and communication between our countries.
Chinese dreamer / / 8 months ago
I have to tell people that there are much more place does not developmented like the town in the article.Maybe the auther like many other chinese people that have never see what really poor area like my hometown like,.In fact ,China is a developing country,the gap between the rich area and the poor area is evident, but many people who live in the rich area do not understand how difficullt do poor area people live .In my opinion ,the media in china did not do what they should to do,too many chinese rich peole did not do the charity like rich people in the US,many people blame gov,in fact more than 95% charity in american do by private company,but all chinese people do not have the desire to develop private charity,meantime,the gov charity have too much malversation.The press should use their infulence to teach people to develop charity and we should not completely rely on the gov.As a 22 yr old collage student ,I have too much word to blame the press,not only in charity development,but also in guiding public opinion,the media is too extreme and too nagetive.
happygo C / / 8 months ago
Hello Chinese Dreamer,
I am the person who Navneet called Mr. Cheng.Nan is my hometown,I love it as you can see.China has many backwardness places,especially the mountainous areas.Nan is not rich,but it’s not poor neither.Nan County hasn’t any mountainous areas,but there are too many lakes and rivers.And far away from big cities.In the past this county was very hard to get to.Maybe I should post some old pics about Nan.Even today,Nan do not have any national highway or railway,The only expressway is still under construction.
It’s not fair to say that I have never see what really poor area like.20 years ago,Nan Zhou just has two main streets(two-way roads),the villages have very few cement roads.Most of my relatives live in village.Meat was a luxurious food for them in the past,Many village didn’t get any electric power.The farmers as poor as you can imagining.Even food could be a problem in the past.One of my college friend told me,their family still live in cave-house in ShanXi province,And because lack of water they hardly take a shower on dry season!and the meat is sitll a luxurious food for his hometown.He loves his hometown as much as I love my,he choose logistics management as his major,hope to help his hometown out of poor.(his hometown has great apples and walnuts.)
Nan has no minerals,or good geographic position,All we have is great farmlands and plenty of water,so all the factories are on the basis of agriculture.Nan can find the way to make things better,I’m sure your hometown and other poor places can get rid of poverty.
navneetkumarbakshi / / 8 months ago
Dear Chinese Dreamer,
I am sure there are many places which are not developed in China. If you can send me the pictures or write to me about those places and your home town, maybe I will try to put your views here in my blog for all others to read. The gap between the rich and the poor in every developing nation is huge and the people living in the better parts of the nation where they have all the facilities indeed do not understand or know of the difficulties being faced by the their unprivileged fellow countrymen. I am not sure whether the charities can solve the problems of the poor or not because in spite of there being thousands of such institutions working around the world, there are people dying of hunger, disease and poverty related causes. Press does the job of spreading awareness in their own way because the press too is a commercial establishment. It works with an intention of making profit. This is a material world ‘Dreamer’. Here everyone first thinks of what he will gain from the situation. Very few people can rise above the desire of seeking personal gains from the work they do.
Navneet
navneetkumarbakshi / / 8 months ago
Thanks a lot Seanleecz,
I didn’t check before posting my information. When I was there it would move between 6.5-6.8. I posted one article a few days ago- ” Why Chinese Yuan Tangos with US Dollar”. I had stumbled on this article on a financial website and had learnt from there that the Chinese currency was pegged against dollar which I learnt meant that the conversion price was frozen by the government. I do not have much knowledge to understand what forces govern the pricing of one currency against the other but worth of a dollar reducing against a dollar means Chinese things becoming expensive for the Americans is not a good news 🙂
Navneet
navneetkumarbakshi / / 8 months ago
Karor Ji- Some of the things I found very striking in China were Cleanliness, Order and absence of crowds. I don’t know why unlike in India we hardly find people on the roads. One Yuan is about 6.5-6.8 dollars. So 3000-4000 Yuan is 450-680 dollars. Not much money compared to American standards but this amount is about what a middle class person makes in a month.
Navneet
seanleecz / / 8 months ago
One US dollar is equal to 6.1 yuan nowaday,navneet.
Karor / / 8 months ago
Yes Navneetji I agree with other readers that cleanliness is so striking even in 6 level town of China.The schools and their compounds are so spacious, not like schools in our towns which do not even have an assembly area.By the way how much is 3000-4000 Yuan. Navneetji thank you so much for writing so much about China.But dil mange more.
Prasad Ganti / / 8 months ago
Navneetji, great facilities ! The nation is certainly a super power !
navneetkumarbakshi / / 8 months ago
Fully agree with you. This nation indeed is much ahead of the rest of the world.
Navneet
Mishtii / / 8 months ago
wat strikesssss most are de neat and clean architectural spaces..de pics reflectsssss so much of beauty Navneetji:)..feel lyke visitin som day ukno…….
ur picture blogsss r toooooo gud:)..lov comin ova alwyzz..kinda often wonde though wre r de ppl..khali khali lagta hai alwyzzzz..
chow..
Mishti.
navneetkumarbakshi / / 8 months ago
Yes indeed Misthtii- When I was there in China, I was constantly amazed by two things, Cleanliness and the absence of the crowds. Except for the places like Peoples Square and East Nanjing Road in Shanghai I could hardly ever see milling crowds like we get to see every where else in the world.
Navneet
Ocean / / 8 months ago
one more great article, this is first time I know my country have such tiny pretty place.
I must say I am so depressed because I see a tiny country in Hunan have better management than my hometown. looks like the governor there know more arts of administerative. it seems like all idiot and incompetent bureaucrats are send to manage my hometown. how sad!!!
thanks to Navneet and the writer, maybe I need to think to find a job there after I see this article
navneetkumarbakshi / / 8 months ago
Hello Ocean- Jealous are you ? 🙂 That shows your immense love for your home town. As regards the Administrators- they are generally stupid. I wonder if this is a basic criteria for being an administrator :)))
Navneet
ushasuryamani / / 8 months ago
Amazing Navneet!!! Even our first level places would miss out on something like these :))
navneetkumarbakshi / / 8 months ago
Indeed amazing Usha if this is their Sixth level town you can imagine where this country is headed. I am yet to post more startling pictures.
tianxiawuyin / / 8 months ago
Just as my high school in a county of Shandong province!!
navneetkumarbakshi / / 8 months ago
Hahahaha Tianxiawuyin the Chinese cities and buildings are so similar that you can mistake one for another