Looks right to me!

Tony Quixote

I've been to China several times. My sister lives there. Looking at those pictures, I have to say... yep, that's China! Pretty typical stuff, I'd say. The clothes and the building.
That's not to say that there aren't any nice buildings or factories, but honestly a lot of things are very basic and broken down. Lots of cold, bare cement buildings with dull paint and minimal amounts of plain furniture.

I've seen "nice" schools and universities that are pretty much just clean versions of the factory room. The university dorm room the size that 2 would share in the USA with 6 girls staying on bunk beds and they each get one shelf for all their stuff. The bathrooms don't necessarily have flushing plumbing... or a working lightbulb. People wash their clothes by hand in a bucket, then hang them to dry... after wearing the exact same outfit several days in a row and doing everything in it, from exercise to work to sleeping at night. They might have some nice clothes but then again they might only have 4 different outfits. Those nice new shoes might be the only shoes that person will wear until they are worn out and have to get a new pair. I've been to a glass factory, the artists just sit around and do intricate painting work on a plain bench on a cement floor with the simplest of supplies and a lightbulb.

Of course there are exceptions, like I say... not everyone is like that. But what you saw above was not the exception, as far as I know. I think a lot of Americans would be surprised at daily living conditions if they went to China (especially if they went off the beaten track to non-tourist places, like homes, schools and businesses). For example, in Beijing the government decides when to turn on and off the city-wide heat. They pick a date and that's that. It doesn't matter if it's freezing cold six weeks before, or a month afterward. Places where non-Chinese live are usually privately heated on a more comfortable schedule.

There's nothing wrong with living a simpler lifestyle, of course, and we Americans are generally materialistic and wasteful, but I just wanted to point out that there are certainly differences in how things are done and differences in lifestyle, it varies from one country to the next! That's why it's educational to travel! Tweet