I saw these transmission towers going up and over the mountains just like the Great Wall does.
I was struck by how much construction was going on, out in the middle of a sparsely-populated province. I saw tunnels being bored through mountains and perilously tall highway pylons stretching out to seemingly nowhere.
I saw a freshly-built gas station ready to open with a woman pushing a handcart of vegetables in front of it. I saw janky, Mad Max-looking vehicles struggling to keep up with car carrier trailers delivering new cars to distant cities.
It’s like half of the country is living in some bright, utopian dream of tomorrow and half the country is living in some post-apocalyptic dystopian nightmare.
Maybe this is what the Great Depression felt like. The story of great civic works projects intertwined with the story of humans just trying to survive.
Or maybe this is just life itself. Growing and dying, all at the same time.