My father in law is currently visiting extended family overseas in China. He flew in through Hong Kong, then spent three weeks traveling up the mainland by rail to Beijing and back again.

I’ll preface this review of his visit by noting that he is a dyed-in-the-wool big-L Libertarian. He was part of Gary Johnson’s Texas campaign staff in 2012 and personally introduced me to him that same year. He recommended “Road to Serfdom” to me in one of our first meetings. And he generally dismisses anything"socialist" as a trick to make people miserable.

Anyway, this is his take:

I’ve spent extensive time in the 3 largest cities in China and you can walk their streets freely without the slightest concern for violence.

I’m staying at my friend’s flat on the 4th floor of a 45 story high rise. It costs her $1000/mth. It’s nice but not opulent. My sister-in-law’s less affluent uncle, who lives in Zhuhai had a much more modest apartment than this, yet he was happy, a wonderful host and you could walk his neighborhood without concern for your safety.

Shenzhen has the advantage of having been purpose built 60 years ago to be an extremely large city. Therefore the avenues are wide, with plenty of parks and common areas. Cab rides are super cheap in these very nice Chinese made electric cars. Everything is super clean.

Zhuhai too, is a beautiful attractive city but has a population of “only” 2.2 million, about the same as Houston.

The Chinese cities are superior to the US in a number of ways. If Trump were to actually visit, it would eat his heart out.

He’s absolutely in love with China. We’ve heard similar praise of the mass transit system - speed, cleanliness, accessibility. He marveled at the effectively of civic planning - short, efficient commutes achieved by putting high ride housing right beside commercial and industrial sites. He repeatedly gawked at the absence of homelessness and poverty. He was thrilled with the museums in Beijing and Hong Kong. And, of course, had nothing but good things to say about the food.

Probably his biggest gripe is the cashless currency system (virtually everything is paid for with debit cards that are very difficult for a visitor to access). But otherwise, it has been something to see him come around so hard on a country he was deeply cynical towards for so long.

Just thought I’d share the virtues of a little cultural exchange.