I just left China after four weeks of travel and, wow, it was one surprise after another. Whatever you’ve heard about the Chinese government and whatever is true about the Chinese government, it appears the Chinese government views its role as taking care of the many rather than the few. And it appears to be doing a lot to take care of its (very large) corner of the earth. It seems to be thriving. Explaining even what I observed as a tourist would require a short book, but I’ll just provide a few generalizations, with the understanding that these are my impressions combined with some simple research.