Made in China

Made in China

Some Americans who have never been to China, hold the impression of a poor and backward country from films or literature, but they are wrong. An American movie, The Perfection,  was released in 2018, which mentioned a little part about what China looks like. In the movie, two girls walked through a ruined alley in Shanghai and brought two tickets to take an extremely old and shabby bus, which seemed like had never have been cleaned. Actually, it is impossible to find such an old-fashion bus in China as the movie. Most people could not imagine how fast China has developed over the past decade. Nowadays, one of the advantages of living in China is a progressively convenient lifestyle. I was overwhelmed with the easy life experience in China, but it is hard to enjoy these resources and services in the United States.

When I lived in China, I did not use to worry about losing my money or credit cards, because I had a cellphone wallet. Those who live in China prefer to use advanced payment methods instead of traditional payment ways such as cash. I used to pay through the payment code on my phone with Alipay or WeChat Pay, which is accepted almost everywhere. On the Alipay app, people can pay for almost all their daily necessities like house electricity, meals in a restaurant, top-up their phone, transfer money in seconds, buy a movie or hotel ticket, hail a taxi online and manage their financing plans. In a word, a phone can satisfy most people’s financial requirements. I never have to carry cash or credit card if I hang out in China. In Chicago, however, I have to bring my credit card or cash every day. Even though there are Apple pay and other online payment methods, they are not popular or widely used.

In addition to the ease paying environment, I used to be an online shopaholic in China. Since the price of  many products are cheap and delivery is fast, I use to buy at least one product online every day. I could hardly wait to get my lovely package. Generally,  I could receive a package within three days after placing the order without an extra delivery fee. In addition, if a person is anxious to get an emergency document from other provinces in China, the person can receive it within one day after sending a package with SF-Express at a reasonable price. The delivery service in the United States, nevertheless, is slower than China. For instance, after I ordered a book from an online bookstore for class last semester, it took around two weeks for me to get the book. Now I am not an online shopaholic because of the tortoise speed of American express.

Finally, I could experience a comfortable Internet environment in China. When I lived in China, I used to surf the Internet always with rocket speed. For the cheapest monthly fee of a cell phone card, it cost about five dollars a month with a 20 GB high-speed data plan. Furthermore, I could connect to free WIFI in many places whether a club, a mall, or even on a flight. When I walked into a restaurant, the first thing I did was ask if they had free WIFI there. Unfortunately, I can not experience the convenient Internet condition in the United States. Not only is the monthly data fee expensive, but also the data is slower. After I used all of the 4 GB high-speed data, the only choice is to use the slower speeds. Therefore, the web page always shows loads that the page is loading when I try to open a video, which makes me crazy.

When I first came to the United States, I did not realize that I was accustomed to the easier payment alternative, the faster delivery service, and the more convenient Internet access in China. There is no doubt that I experienced a convenient life in China. Although I am used to living in the United States now, sometimes I still miss the convenience of China and the missing as if the warm wind blowing to my heart. The tags of “Made in China” exist everywhere like clothing, shoes or furniture, yet “Made in China” means backward for some Americans. I believe that if those who have a misconception visit to China, they might change a new tag of “Made in China” - innovation and the convenient life.