Among the many puzzles of China, what strikes a visitor from India is, where are all the people in the world’s most populous country?! In India, you throw a stone in any direction and a group will surface from nowhere. In China, the crowds may be visible in some public places, but there are vast expanses of empty spaces as well. Our government offices are filled with petitioners and complainants, files in all corners and paan stained walls. In the government headquarters of Pudong, the largest financial district in China, except for the receptionist, there is no one to be seen. The large plaza outside the 21 storey office building is deserted. One hardly sees more than a pedestrian or two as you drive past the Sozhou economic zone where dozens of American companies from Delta to Cal-Comp have their manufacturing units and offices. In the two day train journey from Beijing to Lhasa, very few people are visible in the countryside.

After a fortnight, I can only conclude that the reason the Chinese are far less visible in their country than we are in ours, is that unlike us, the Chinese know their place in the scheme of things and do not stray from it. On the roads, cars drive in neat lines in the middle, cyclists on a separate side road, and pedestrians on the pavement. And during office hours, they don’t indulge in “time pass”, unlike us. As our guide Bernie explains, perturbed by the constant inability of our entourage of Indian women journalists to reach the bus on time, “Time is money. I have no time for my father or girlfriend, I can’t waste it waiting for you!”

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