Yes, they do import luxury goods, no, a shortage won't cause national issues. Yes, they have an energy challenge, no, that's not ignored ... in fact it's reasonably easy to argue that China is further on top of world energy challenges than any other nation.

What's it really like here? Most people live where they were born, or in the nearest large city. They might go to study in a larger city when young. They make ends meet, have a roof over their head, have cell phones, electric scooters or motorbikes (in the countryside), and the affluent and middle classes have cars and can travel.

As a foreigner, it's surprisingly comfortable once you get over the visa hump. A few days ago I came back from a major city with bottles of wine and cheese, about the only hat-tip to imported stuff except perhaps Steam games and the occasional Amazon book in my lifestyle.

Yesterday I rode my electric scooter to the morning market and ate a sort of bean soup with fresh coriander, chilli and garlic and lovely spring onion breads. I think a breakfast for two came to about $1. Then my wife and I went shopping for fresh vegetables for the family, in a massive market featuring produce picked the same day piled in much greater variety than any western supermarket. We spent perhaps $8 which is enough for perhaps 10 people for a day, otherwise for multiple days.

I worked during the day via VPN, then in the evening sat in front of the widescreen TV to enjoy some flat-rate video on demand from the extensive - despite our semi-rural location - international selection available through the local cable company. Afterwards, we got on Taobao and ordered a couple of wetsuits, some gloves and sailing shoes. Equally, we could have ordered arbitrary quantities of almost any chemical or object you can imagine.

This morning I woke up to a lovely salad with ample cashews and blue cheese, checked in to my email, then rode the electric scooter to go sail a catamaran on our local 210 square kilometre alpine lake for three hours. The weather was perfect, and it's practically November here in the northern hemisphere at an altitude of 2000m (6500ft). I'm getting ready to participate in the first national sailing competition to be held here next month.

After sailing, my wife, aunt and I sat down to a lovely meal in a restaurant featuring a sizzling beef hotplate, a plate of shitake mushrooms and greens, and a tofu and tomato dish with spring onions. Meanwhile, my mother in law looked after our child for free - no need for paid childcare here! Total cost of the meal? Perhaps $8. We discussed some plans to help our aunt open a new restaurant, since her last business partner was rather a nasty character. Decades ago, she was a star English student... perhaps she will open something western?

There are almost zero homeless people here, people have a family support network to fall back on, and tangible freedoms are in many instances more numerous than in much of the west. Yes, there are limitations in every society - it's just a matter of knowing where they area. Legal weed? It grows here wild, naturally, and you can buy sacks full of seeds in the market. Mushrooms? We're the world capital. Paragliding, sailing, off-road mountain biking, climbing, etc... it's all here.

Oh, poor China - how I loathe thee! 13 years and counting ;) Of course, I wouldn't want to live in the east coast cities...