Differences between China and Germany amidst the Corona crisis

First of all, I want to tell you that I am still preparing the other blog posts.

Another even more important point is that we are back in Germany right now and won’t return to China anymore. It is not possible for us to do so. While we were travelling in Asia, China banned all foreigners from entering China. I understand the significance of this decision to China. The virus (SARS-CoV-2, 新型冠状病毒肺炎 xīnxíng guānzhuàng bìngdú fèiyán”) has spread to other countries and now not only Chinese cities are staying under quarantine, but also European ones. To prevent the spread of the virus all measures have to be considered.

As you know by reading the topic, I want to discuss the differences between China and Germany handling the Corona crisis. Both countries have been hit hard, not too hard, but both will get out as winners and not as losers, like the United States and Russia will do. Why? Because there are certain factors contributing to the outcome of the crisis and now we will analyse them together.

Factor one: Toilet paper and vegetables

During every crisis people’s stupidity can be measured by examining their buying behaviour. It is obvious that people want to buy as much as possible. They know that harsh times are coming and the instinct tells them to buy a second bag of rice. But we all know that as long as we do have the right to go out and buy groceries, there won’t be a lack of anything in the supermarkets. It will be as always. You have to think in a more rational and altruistic way.

What we’ve seen in Germany is ridiculous. There was a huge lack of toilet paper (卫生纸 – weishengzhi) for weeks (and still is). In China, on the other hand, there were no vegetables for days and weeks. Still, the Chinese love toilet paper as much as we do. They don’t have these smart Japanese or Vietnamese “water ass cleaning pistols” (you probably don’t know what I mean). The day we went buying groceries in Zhuhai, we found almost no vegetables (蔬菜 – shucai) and had to wait till the other day (early in the morning I rushed into the supermarket and bought vegetables). After five long hours of searching for food I found eggs (鸡蛋 – jidan). But no meat whatsoever. The idea of having not enough to eat strook me very hard that day. What men had to undergo in the past during an even more serious crisis, I couldn’t comprehend. I never have found myself in such a situation.

The “German toilet paper crisis” in comparison still makes me laugh.

Factor two: People

Governments introducing new unseen measures and the people’s reaction on them are quite interesting to study. Most of the Germans are following the new rules set by our dear government. Still, there always are a few who do not. For example: Right now, we have rules how we have to behave while buying groceries in the stores and some people just don’t want to comply with those rules. But the level of legal compliance is regarded as high. Not as high as in China though. Their lockdown on its citizens is seen as very harsh by western media (They think of it more of an oppression by the government, see also “The Economist”). But it is a measure which has its upsides during a crisis like this. Furthermore, Chinese people are more willing to do something like this for the sake of their beloved country. On the other side patriotism can be unhealthy (see also “Russian unhealthy patriotism”, I call it the “Couch potatoism/patriotism”), too. But I’ve never encountered that during my stay in China. You hear a lot about it on the internet, but these have to be cases which are not that relevant, because I haven’t met them.

By the way, we all heard about the beach parties going on in the United States and people not staying at home there. Now, we see the result.

Factor three: Way of life and the healthcare system

As you probably know, our life in Germany and the amount of private housing we have here is considered as a very high standard compared the rest of the world. Most of the people in other countries can’t afford such housing. Furthermore, there is not enough space in the big cities to build such housing. It would be not even considered as an effective method building small houses instead of bigger ones where not even four families can live in (DO YOU HEAR ME, GERMAN GOVERNMENT, PROVIDE SOME CHEAP STATE FINANCED (big) HOUSING FOR STUDENTS AND POOR FAMILIES!!!). Our government is letting quite the opposite happen. But that’s a topic for another time.

So, China lives in big apartment blocks organised in even bigger communities consisting out of 4 to 20 (that is my experience) of these blocks (That only counts for the cities, but there are still old city centers left #oldvillagestyle). So there are quite a few people living in such communities (小区 – xiaoqu). Every community has only a few guarded entrances. Thus, it makes it more secure, and easier to be put under lockdown. Under lockdown you can still go out to the nearby stores (almost every big community has its own stores and restaurants), but to be able to do so you have to go out. The stores are located on the outside of the community. In addition, every community has its own small park with beautiful gardens and workout areas. In Zhuhai we had to pay a special “garden management fee” every month (about 20€). It is, indeed, a very beautiful sight everytime when coming tired back from school or work. Everything is tidy, everything is so green and everywhere you look are beautiful flowers.

What is my point? It is a lot easier to supervise, control and watch the people who go outside and return home, when half of the country is living in community housing and not in private ones.

Another point is the health care system. The health care system in China has developed a lot in the past few years. The best hospitals, though, can only be found in the bigger cities. China has shown the world that it can build a hospital in just a few days. But in Great Britain they also managed to build one in a very short period of time. Still, the Chinese healthcare was overloaded with patients in the first few weeks. The same happened to Europe and only the countries with a good healthcare system managed the rush of patients over time. The leading figure in this field is the German healthcare system.

Now we know, countries with good (not corrupted, see also Italy) state operated healthcare system, like in Germany or China can recover more quickly.

Factor four: Masks and their point of use

I advice everybody to wear a mask when going to crowded places like the supermarket, nowadays. The German government just started to demand this, but it’s too late. Masks have weaknesses, but if everybody wears them, we all have a bigger chance to get rid of this virus. Why? Because whenever you sneeze or cough the mask will make it harder for the virus to spread. Furthermore, it has another very underestimated feature: It prevents you from touching your face all the time! No matter what illness, we should all wear masks when getting ill to protect the others. I hope this time will teach the Europeans about it. In Asia all the people do it when getting ill. I believe their altruistic thinking is more developed than ours.

Factor five: Reopening the country

How do you re-open a country effectively? For serious measures, good and very self-confident politicians are needed. Germany already announced its reopening plan. But we will do it in a slow kind of way. China already began loosening the lockdown. I heard about opened bars and clubs in Shanghai, and I am shocked. In my view, it is too early to open up these kinds of facilities!!! Three weeks ago all the foreigners were banned from China and now they are opening up clubs?! Are you kidding me?! This is outrageous. Part of re-opening the country is also letting foreigners back in and its own citizens out. Sadly, this won’t happen a long time from now on. Universities and a lot of other facilities are still closed and won’t open till the end of May, then why open up clubs?

Factor six: Limitations of freedom

We know that countries which can or have the power to limit the freedom (自由 – ziyou) of their own people very easily are also more likeley to do so amidst a crisis. But – SURPRISE – democratic countries can do that, too. That’s why a few people in Germany say that they miss their “freedom” and that our state, literally, “took it away” from them. But still, there are not many of them. But when it comes to limitations of time and more work or school, the Germans can organise an uproar so big, you’ve rarely see another one in such dimensions. Meanwhile in China students and factory workers work from early in the morning till late in the evening, sometimes even on saturdays. A Chinese friend told me that he is doing his internship right now and has to work from 9 in the morning till 9 in the evening. I asked him wether it’s due to the Corona Virus to catch up with work again. He told me that it always has been like this for internships.

We Germans are lazy. We are even so lazy that we become stupid… It disgusts me to see how people argue about why it is not right to sacrifice two or three weeks of their summer holidays (this is about schools only) to keep on studying and reach their study goals. While our state is working hard on minimising the losses resulting from the crisis, you are not even ready to just sacrifice a few days? These extra school days are great! Do you know why? Because it makes you smarter and school is a great thing. Not every child has the privilege to go to school. I understand that it’s a complex topic and that you have to consider all factors, but the general hostile attitude towards this idea is disgusting.

Another problem in China right now: The attitude towards black folk. It always has been harder for black folk than for white folk to live in China (this especially concerns things like “dating, marriage and feeling of acceptance), but this time it hit them even harder. The reason: A guy from Africa who got infected with the new virus and didn’t want to be treated in the hospital, bit a nurse in the face. Another few also got infected and didn’t follow the quarantine rules, thus infected other people. Now, black people are forbidden to access a few areas. And the government is monitoring them even harsher.

But not only they are being watched, all foreigners are. Most of the foreigners are back to their home countries again. There are less and less foreigners willing to come to China for travelling or for work. In the next years China will see an all time low of foreigners in their country. Did somebody accomplish his goal there?

Factor seven: Universities

This one isn’t really important, but it concerns us students and so that’s why I decided to write about it. While we were asking ourselves what to do and when university will start again during Corona, our Chinese university didn’t tell us anything. We had to try to inform us via our Chinese student friends, but they weren’t informed either. So I tried to contact the university itself and our teachers a few times, but I just got the message to be patient and wait for further information. The thing that I love about the Chinese the most when it comes to their working abilities is that they answer very quickly. Our Chinese University doesn’t. My final attempt was to write a letter to Beijing. Then, only then, I got my answer! The answer was: We won’t start any online classes and university will start in April or May.

During those two months we got a few e-mails from our German university in Cologne about the new Corona virus. We received only one e-mail from the Chinese one saying that we have to wash our hands. That’s it. Very short and without any important information. The Sun Yat-Sen University failed in coordinating, organising and informing us students about important events and didn’t care for us as it should have.

Meanwhile in Germany which education is so underdeveloped and unready to face the new crisis that it struggles to keep its students busy, schools and universities try to do their best (or not) and prepare some online classes. Online classes will begin on 20th April at our university in Cologne.

The Sun Yat-Sen is not an example for all Chinese Universities! And most of our teachers are great! But in most of the universities online classes for foreigners have even started back in february. Why does our university not manage to start online classes, too?! It’s stupid… I won’t go any further.

To sum up,…

… we lost our hope and expectations. The Sun Yat-Sen is (in most parts) a good university but it let us down, didn’t help us (european students) when help was needed!

China is already recovering from the virus, but in some cases is opening up too fast (clubs) or too slow (no online classes in our university, handling of foreigners). Germany understood that it can’t survive by living in a constant lockdown. People will die. People always die. The economy situation is very bad. A country like Germany can’t let its economy die. Meanwhile, China and Germany’s both healthcare systems are doing a great job. The best in the world (+ South Korea and Taiwan). In Germany, half of the beds in the hospitals are not occupied. Both countries are investing great money in stabilising the economy and, especially, the minor businesses. Those minor businesses, restaurants and hotels are, unfortunately, dying out in Russia, right now. On the other hand, Russia closed its borders immdeiately. Thus, preventing the virus to spread even faster. The United States are in turmoil. They still haven’t got control over the virus. They closed their borders too late. Some countries are lying, others are telling the truth. I won’t put myself in the dangerous position by telling who is and who is not. The numbers can never be accurate, that is for sure. South Korea seemed to be in great danger a few months ago. The nimbers went up to the thousands in just a few days. Now, it’s in perfect order. Thanks to its fast reactions and good healthcare system.

Some countries will come out as losers, others as winners. As always, the best ones with the leading economies, healthcare systems, smartest politicians and fastest reactions will win the fight.