10 things that radically changed in China in the last 15 years (and nobody talks about it)

It's about 15 years I am in and out of China and I called this nation "home" for about 5 years. The changes everybody talks about are real. All those skyscrapers were not there. Pudong 20 years ago was nothing. The Metro had 2 lines now has 10 and so on. But what astonish me the most is not the economic boom but and epical change in life perception. There have been many changes that not many people talks about because they are not as visible as a skyscraper but they represent an enormous cultural shift. Obviously these changes are not equally spread across the whole territory. Tier 1 cities are leading the way and other cities are catching up.

Dogs. As banal as it sounds when I was in Guangdong in early 2000s it was quite normal to go in restaurants in the countryside and find dogs and cats in cages ready for consumption. You choose your puppy and in half an hour it was on your dinner table. Now the dogs and the pet market in general is exploding and all over the city you see people walking dogs and cleaning after them. 15 years ago it was unthinkable (beside some returnees). I am aware now they still have an horrific dog "festival" in a remote town but I consider this the exception that confirm the rule.

Coffee. 15 years ago it was quite impossible to drink a decent coffee or a coffee at all. When Starbucks opened for us foreigners it was like a dream the ability to drink a mediocre and over-priced espresso in China! Wow! Now it’s a different story, coffee is all over the place, dozens of coffeeshops spread across every city and funny enough they are always full! Everybody is drinking coffee nowadays (as an Italian person I would define it as a wise change). Still expensive and adapted to the local taste but no complaints please.

Bread. Copy and paste from before. Nobody was eating bread, now the bakery chains are all over the cities and they youth is getting fatter and fatter, here child obesity is the new black.

Bicycles. China for decades was simbolised by the widespread use of bicycles then by magic everything changed, nearly no more cicling anymore. Et voila’ it appeared again few years ago. Now by miracle the cities packed with bicycles again. This trend is due mostly to Mobike, Ofo and other companies perfectly applying the concept of sharing economy. So cheap and cheerful cycle now in China!

Electric motorbikes. In few years all the highly polluting mopeds and scooters has been converted to electric. Millions of people scooters riding every day without polluting (better then EU!).

Millions of scooters--> scooters out of law--> Millions of electric scooter back

Health. At the beginning of the century there was not much discussions about health in general. The coolest person in the room was the one smoking the most. Now it’s very different even if it’s difficult to generalise because tier 1 and 2 cities are far more advanced but the healthy lifestyle is a daily topic within the Chinese people.

Business dinners. I “grow up” in China having business dinners that abitually end up in tragedy, throwing cigarettes around the table, smoking 2 cigarettes at the same time, puking on the toilet if not under the table, following asleep on the table, broken glasses.. and so on. Generally speaking these situations were synonyms of a big contract to close the day after. The bigger the devastation, the bigger was the contract. Nowadays I have been in some business dinners with Millennials and the situation seems to be far more civilised (for the happiness of my liver).  

Smoking indoor (just applicable in big cities..). In the early 2000s I remember it was normal smoke in the hospital, supermarkets, hair saloons and so on. Now in tier 1 cities it’s a big no no. Smaller cities are a different story but it's rapidly change everywhere.

Sport. It was not so popular especially with gentleman in their mid life. Now, the gyms are booming, sport clothing everywhere and extreme sports are entering vigorously in the country. Improve the condition of the body through exercise seems to be the new cool thing to do. Of course you must take numerous selfies to show it off to your friends because if no one sees it.. it's like it's not an effective training session.

Soft skills. 15 years ago everyone was talking just about making more money and this hasn't changed much BUT we add at the dinner table conversations and discussions about lifestyle and general pleasure in life such as holidays, travelling, good wine, manners, etiquette, design, foreign delicatessen and not just money, money and money! The general public starts to be very interested not just in that luxury bag but also in everything around where that bag was designed.

Government. At the beginning of the century nobody was discussing anything about the government and politic in general at ALL. Now it’s different, people talk more freely about it, still with a lot of respect because it is a sensible topic but things are getting more loose. 15 years ago the answer to young courious like me from even close friends was always the same "we do not talk about politic". Now, radically changed!

This article doesn’t aspire to be a definitive enciclopedia of Chinese culture and I am very conscious that there are people that know China 1,000 times better then me. Please consider it just as an (hopefully) entertaining reading or a Chinese culture change prontuario for dummies.

I Hope nobody will notice the points were 11 instead of 10

Giovanni Luigi Bordone