6 Things That Are Obvious In China (But Not in Australia)

Kashgar in far west Xinjiang, China, has had a fresh injection of investment and its old town spruced up

1. China’s bigger and more diverse than we can imagine. And it works surprisingly well.

The 400km Karakoram Highway, ancient silk route, resembles one vast construction site, with investment from all over China

2. Facebook is small fry compared to China’s WeChat, and is forced to follow them. Chinese tech companies are in the ascendancy, and the likes of Apple and Google know it.

WeChat is how most people in China chat, share and, increasingly, WeChat Money is how they buy and sell things

3. The runaway economy in China’s east may have slowed to a steady jog, but the boom in the west is just beginning: the riches on the coast are being invested inland. And it will carry countries like Pakistan and Afghanistan with it.

Evening crowds in front of Kashgar’s Id Kah Mosque

4. Whatever concerns we might have with corrupt governments in China, Central Asia and the Middle East, they’ve probably got a bright future ahead, and we’ll have to adjust.

A tourist in the shiny new part of Turpan, an ancient Silk Road city

5. The benefits that we once enjoyed just for speaking English, or for having a western education, are becoming less and less. Our children can’t afford to ignore Asia’s languages and cultures, to be as complacent as we were.

After dark snacks and juices in Kashgar’s freshly-renovated old town

6. Electing leaders who are clueless about and dismissive of the Middle, Near and Far East will not make anyone great again. It will only accelerate our decline.