A Tour of Beautiful China With Eyes Wide Open

China Today = China Yesterday But With Better Technology (Part II)

Dateline: October 2025. People adore Ancient China with its style, grace, and fabulous art. Public appreciation rises even higher when swirled together with the admirable ferocity of China’s warrior tradition. For example, even today, cultured (educated) people read with great admiration “The Art of War”. This little pocket rumination on war and the meaning of life was written by General Lao Tzu in the fifth century B.C. In contrast, people hate Modern China for its cruel oppression and cut-throat capitalism; that somehow co-exists with its opposite; that is, all the horrors of Marxist-Leninist Communism. The smoke-shrouded dragon of Ancient China has transformed into a nightmare industrial monster — Modern China — that threatens to eat our collective lunch….. or worse. How did this happen? The way to understand this transformation is to understand at modern China = ancient China with upgraded technology. See, for example, “Apple in China” by Patrick McGee. To understand the continuity of “ancient” and “modern” China requires us to see clearly through the kaleidoscope of history, a daunting task indeed. This direct connection between Ancient and Modern China is explained in Part One of this article on this website templesandtribes.net under the title “The Chinese Emperor is Dead: Long Live the Communist King” https://templesandtribes.net/__trashed-4/

This Part Two of the article will highlight some of the ancient, and modern wonders of China and try to weave a connection between the two. This article will also highlight the intrusion of modern technology to spy, surveil, and control the entire population. How does the Chinese use of intrusive technology affect daily life? What does this level of social control mean for the workings of the larger social order?

This writer has studied China from afar for many, many years, beginning with university studies, decades ago. Peering and pondering Chinese deveopment at a distance gives an observer an incomplete picture, at best. Finally, in May 2025, this writer went with friends on a rather full tour of China that included five major stopping areas —bcities and towns that were used as the embarkation point to explore a significant chunk of China. This tour allowed direct experience of just a slice of vast China, but it was still an eye-opener.

Every stop was a study in contrasts. China, both ancient and modern,is so beautiful and so interesting for tourists. At the same time, our entire trip was dogged by censorship, cameras, monitoring equipment plus tour guides and hospitality workers, who literally had toe the party line, the Communist Party line. Every fabulous learning experience about tourist China has been paired with a true story of the jarring reality of the government control over every aspect of daily life.

First Stop: Beijing

This writer traveled to Beijing, China with friends in May, 2025 Beijing is the showcase of well, everything about China. There is so much to see, do and experience in Beijing. The photo gallery below tries to recreate the variety of sites, sounds, textures — the range of experiences of Beijing. the photos below are just some of the highlights; ranging from the nearby Great Wall at top left down to the Forbidden City at the lower right.

From upper left: The Great Wall of China from a viewing area just outside of Beijing. The Gate of Heavenly Peace in Tiananmen Square which ix a portal to the adjacent Forbidden City. Next photos are: busy pedestrian mall; acupuncturist medical office; first department store in China,; street food-octopus on a stick; An alleyway in the Forbidden City; more street food, the start of a banquet held in the honor of my travel friends, Hugh and Diana; the writer waiting for a bus; and one of many, many ornate buildings in the Forbidden City.

Chinese Internet Censorship — The first day, this writer noticed his computers could not connect to the internet with the hotel wifi. The hotel receptionist said that the internet worked fine. She wandered off ignoring any reply comments. The writer then brought his Ipad to the lobby. He showed a different receptionist the Ipad screen as he tried unsuccessfully to pull up either the New York Times or the Washington Post. We then reviewed the other programs. The writer and receptionist could pull up nothing; no google search, no email, no Netflix: nada. The receptionist said the hotel wifi works fine. She had no idea why there was no access the internet. The writer was confused until his brain was struck by ball lightning (yes, that is a real thing). His realization: the internet is totally blocked in China — not a single “normal” website can pole vault over the firewall. . And the hotel staff lied to his face. This writer hates gratuitous lying. But more importantly, 1.4 billion Chinamen are blocked from ALL western websites, platforms and application. Plus, the censors have blocked Chinese programs like TikTok. This Chinese company can not be seen by the people of China.

Retail Spying The hotel staff was undoubtably trained, when talking with foreign guests, to obscure the true nature of government control. To ensure staff compliance, the hotel lobby had wall cameras with listening capability to monitor the staff and foreign guests. This heavy-handed oversight of retail, and all public sites, was seen repeatedly on this trip. For example, this writer tried to buy some overpriced gewgaw (showy, cheesy souvenir) at a souvenir shop. He had a lot of Chinese cash but no credit cards. The store accepted only bank cards. He asked why. The clerk leaned into him and whispered: “They have cameras watching us all the time. But they still won’t trust us with cash.” The clerk then glanced up at the camera on the wall. In a similar fashion, our tours were monitored by cameras not only on the tour bus, but in public streets, squares and all tourist attractions. In all ways big and small, it was obvious that the tour guides were parroting back to us what they had been instructed to say, all laudatory of the Chinese system. That old adage is true: The victors get to write the history books. And in China’s case, they also get to control the content of information and keep track of what every person says or writes.

The monitoring goes beyond mere snooping on staff interactions with tourists. Members of our tour group needed to get antibiotics. The tour guides accompanied the tourists to the pharmacy to negotiate for the medicine. Ultimately, the tour guides had to call the police department and register the prescriptions in their names. Now there is a police record of the tour guides getting the prescriptions filled — a prescriptions for standard, run-of-the mill antibiotics.

We Slouched Towards Xi’an — Home of the Terra Cotta Army

Xi’an is a historic Chinese city known for its role as an ancient imperial capital, a major Silk Road depot, and a cultural hub. What really put Xi’an on the map is the town’s major attraction, the Terracotta Army.

The Terracotta Army is a vast collection of life-size terracotta statues of soldiers, horses, and chariots, created to guard China’s first emperor, Qin Shi Huang, in his afterlife. The 8,000 soldiers with all their attendant horses, chariots and the live were all buried near the mausoleum of the the 3rd century BC Emperor upon his death. All of this funerary art was accidentally discovered in 1974 by local farmers. The army was intended to protect Qin Shi Huang and serve him in the afterlife and is a big improvement in humane burial practices. The soldier replicas replaced the ancient practice of burying live servants and soldiers with the deceased.

The terracotta warriors pictured here are all from the one site, Pit One. This pit is the largest single excavation area on a sprawling funerary complex that has many, many other nearby sites with burial chambers, shrines, mausoleums,, cemeteries and the like. The 8,000 soldiers are buried with untold numbers of terracotta horse, bronze chariots and mounts, weapons, martial gear, household equipment, and much more.. While many warriors share the same stock body parts formations, each of the 8,000 warriors are unique individuals, No two warriors are exactly the ame, Each warrior has a distinct features including a different face,, clothing, and hairstyles. These realistic warriors vary in height from 5 foot 9 inches (1.75 meters) to 6 foot, 7 (2 meters) inches a diverse army with various ranks and roles including infantry, archers, cavalry, charioteers, and generals (taken from Wikipedia, Terracotta Army.)

We Are All Democrats Now, Comrade. While in China, this writer found the Global Times, an on-line Chinese newspaper written in English. Suffice it to say the articles contained a lot puffery or propaganda. The articles extoll China as a benevolent government and society China is a role model that promotes peace, justice and fair dealings at every turn. For example, China is a shining example of democracy in action. In fact, other countries should emulate China’s democratic ways. All levels of society work together to create the government policy. Grass roots discussions in Communist Party affiliated political, social and work groups channel the people’s ideas and wishes. After local discussions and voting, they send the conclusions up to regional organizations. The oonclusions are reviewed and forward up and up until they reach the Central Commintion. The Committee then uses these bottom-up plans to create the national goals and directives.

In truth, China has a series of five year plans that are the blueprint for all government and social action. The five year plans are created by the Central Committee, the small group of politicians and technocrats that run the country. Currently, there are 207 members of the Central Committee and they are supposed to be elected to their posts. In reality they are privately appointed through selecttion by the much smaller Politburo and the Standing Committee. And local community groups also elect officers but only committed members of the Communist Party are allowed to run for office. Wikipedia explains how the Central Committee creates the Five Year Plan: “The Central Committee’s formulation usually takes two to three years and involves series of rounds such as evaluation, preliminary research, drafting and revisions, and soliciting public input” This small component of “soliciting of social input” is what the Global Times triumphs as democracy in China.

So, not only does China trumpet itself as a democracy, The Global Times chides America as a money-grubbing dictatorship with meaningless elections. American corporations, corrupt billionaires and well heeled lobbyists own and control the American political system. Global Times editorials exhorted America to follow the peaceful, harmonious Chinese and transform into a democracy, Sino style.

Only the Cameras Kept This Writer From Running Up the Bus Aisle This writer was on the tour bus traveling through Xi’an, when the tour guide explained why the Chinese government was so happy to welcome USA tourists. American tourists in China would witness for themselves the peaceful and democratic ways of this country. She repeated almost verbatim the Global Times talking points. Chinese democracy is evidenced in local elections within community groups. The local debates and decisions on governments plans get forwarded and debated up the chain of command. Finally ,the Central Committee sets the Five Year Plan in accord with the guidance from below. The tour guide said that she personally, along with the government, hoped Americans learn from Chinese democracy. The tour guide hoped Americans would return to the USA inspired by Chinese self-governance. With new insights, the American tourists would work to transform the USA from a dictatorship to a Chinese-style democracy.

With that exhortation, this writer almost keeled over from his bus seat to the floor. He kept it together. His tush remained on the cush. Previously, the tour group had been warned not to move around in the bus while it is moving. The tour guide explained early on that with all the cameras around, the tour company would be fined if tourists do not remain in their seats. And it would not look good for the tour guide, either. Members of our tour group all liked our guides. Instead of running up the aisle, this writer simply bit his lower lip just short of drawing blood and moaned softly to himself. The following day, the tour guide filled us in on the camera angle story. We all had to stay in our seats when the bus is moving; not only for the camera staring at us from the bus ceiling. The guide explained with a straight face that there are so many camera on the highway that the government can monitor all road traffic in real time. If the cameras caught drivers honking their horn without an emergency or speeding, the driver would be immediately sent a traffic ticket, including point on their license. In fact, if the bus driver goes over the speed limit he will get a text message on his phone within a few minutes warning him that the second speeding violation will be punished. Really? All this writer knows for sure is that the utter chaos of traffic in Beijing and other cities is done in silence — no honking horns at all. The monitoring includes peering into our bus windows. Our tour group was being monitored not only by the obvious bus cameras but by innumerable cameras on the highways and byways of China.

The Government Social Programs are Extensive and Effective

Chongquing Town Is the Jumping off Point for the World’s Largest Dam

The town of Chongqing is the starting point for the Three Gorges Dam. The Three Gorges Dam is a monumental hydroelectric gravity dam on China’s Yangtze River, completed in 2006. The dam controls floods, allows for extensive river navigation, and generates vast amounts of hydroelectric power. The project generates 22.5 gigawatts of clean electricity, making it the largest hydroelectric power station in the world. The dam and it’s construction also caused significant environmental and social impacts, including mass displacement and increased seismic activity.

The reservoir inundated 1,711 villages, 356 communes, 116 towns, and 20 cities, submerging cultural sites and significant archaeological remains.  See: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1193&context=nebanthro#:~:text=As%20of%202008%2C%20approximately%201.25,2013). The Three Gorges Dam project displaced over 1.3 million people, making it the largest development-related population displacement in history. The refugees were forced into inadequaate housing, surrounded by new neighbors hostil to the necomers. For example, the refugees received promised farmland which had been confiscated from the locals. The former owners just. came and took back their land, forcing out the refugees. Housing, santation, utilities, and food supplies were so inadequate that these areas had increades of infctious disease such as malaria and schistosomiasis a parasitic disease caused by river snails in contaminated water. Cite: Wikipedia 3 Gorges Dam. Don’t take this writer’s word for the nightmare of living as a dam refugee:

‘Failure to involve local people in selecting designs led to a near-universal rejection of the contractor-built houses…’ (Daguangba)⁽¹⁾

‘Resettlers are experiencing very high unemployment rates and most remain dependent on government grain rations…’ (Yantan)⁽²⁾

’60 per cent of the resettled residents still live below the poverty level…’ (Wuqiangxi)⁽³⁾ Excerpts taken from ‘Failure to involve local people in selecting designs led to a near-universal rejection of the contractor-built houses…’ (Daguangba)⁽¹⁾ Quotes taken from: https://www.fmreview.org/stein/#:~:text=Coercive%20developmental%20resettlement,’%20(Wuqiangxi)(3)

Meanwhile on our tour, a local resident became our temporary tour guide to the Three Gorges Dam reservoir area. This guide said yes indeed her family was displaced in the construction. She and her family left their ancestral famland, sacred temples, family cemetaries and communal areas; all left behind to live in a small apartment in town. Her relatives and prior neighbors are all scattered around the region. However, that is okay as she has made new friends in her new apartment complex. The guide told us that her families and her old neighbors are so much better off now that they no longer forced to live on their ancestral land. While listening to this patter, this writer remembered reading about the open revolt and actual rioting by the damn refugees; a rare instance of mass, public uprising against the local authorities. Plus, outside experts, community activists and governemtn agencies themselves have openly agreed to the woefully inadequate displacement and resettlement. None of this was mentioned by this local guide. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-pacific-13451528

Bonus: The Temple of Hell is also in Chongquing Town

The “Temple of Hell” is found in  Fengdu Ghost City in Chongquing. The Temple of Hell is not a single edifice, but rather a sprawling complex dedicated to the Chinese underworld and its administration. The actual hell part of the Temple of Hell contains shrines and depictions of the afterlife, including the 18 Levels of Hell as represented n eighteen different demons who oversee Hell.  Thus, the larger Fengdu complex consists of numerous sacred temples, monasteries, shrines and diorama, which were built up over time, the oldest of which date back almost 2,000 years. The complex is a synthesis of Buddhist and Taoist traditions and. Indeed, this big complex has both separate ancient Buddhist Temples, some ancient Taoist Temples and some sacred spaces that combines Buddhist and Taoist traditions; and all with a liberal sprinkling of Confucian ideals incorporated into mix. However, there most striking part of Fendu Ghost City is the Temple of Hell which, serves to illustrate the consequences of sin and the path to reincarnation. Literally, the Temple of Hell is a literal scream as it depicts torture of the damned. The tortures are a fitting retribution where the punishments fits the crimes . See if you can figure out the earthy crimes of the damned based on the type of torture. For example, greedy man who pilfered money gets an eternal Royal Flush where his screaming heads is endlessly plunged into a swirling pool of money. Or, the woman who lied to her husband has her tongue and teeth pulled out endlessly. Adulterers are strapped to an upright gurney and get their private area disemboweled for eternity.

What is Up With All the Spying and Snooping in China? Early Protestants mocked Catholic theologians who pondered if multiple angels could occupy the same space. The Protestants reworked this inquiry. They threw this upgraded taunt into the face of Catholic dogma: “How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?” We can update that conundrum: How people does China need to surveil the population of over 1.4 billion people? China operates Skynet, a vast surveillance network that monitors the locals. Skynet is also the name of the artificial intelligence villian from the Terminator movie franchise. The Chinese Skynet is more than just cameras everywhere in public. Surveillance cameras have also been installed to monitor the homes and activities of dissidents, religious groups, feminists, and LGBT rights activists. The government al so employs other surveillance methods, including facial recognition technology, surveillance drones, big data analysis of online platforms, mobile apps for national security, citizen reporting, and extensive government documentation of daily activities.

This much surveilence raises an ugly question.How many people are needed to keep tabs on bajillion cameras and listening devices and monitoring programs that spy on over a billion people? And logical follow-up: What is the government doing with the treasure trove of spy data, aside from fining tourists who walk up bus aisles? Keep in mind that the government is also monitoring all citizens tax and financial records, data from government agencies and private companies, purchasing patterns, online activity — everything. This once private data is now melding into your online survellance records of a person’s public doings — everything from public altercations, littering, spitting in public, walking home drunk, noisy parties, unkempt front lawns, everything. All of this swirling data is rendered into a social score, a point system for each person. China’s “Point System of Social Behavior” Is the basis of still developing Social Credit System (SCS) All of this creates a comprehensive system of scoring citizens and businesses based on their behavior to promote trustworthiness, compliance with government standards and their behavior in public, High scores can result in benefits, including access to loans, travel discounts, and other social advantages.  Low scores can lead to restrictions: travel bans, slower internet speeds at home, restrictions on accessing financial services, loss of employment, denial of the right to move to move, and being shunned by friends and family, While the extreme punishments are rarely invoked, just the fear factor has a chilling effect on social behavior.

Bonus Photo:

May 2025. The writer with friends and traveling companions, Hugh and Diana from Arizona USA. We are admiring the view at the top of the Great Wall of China. China is a great country to visit. IF you have not gotten there yet, put China on the top of your “to-do list”. Definitely worth seeing. Never mind this writer’s piss and moan stories. Hop on the tour bus, Gus. Make a new plan that includes China, and you will be glad you did.