I lived as a student at Beida for a full year, between 96 to 97. I saw Deng die, and the return of Hong Kong. At least at the time, three things always struck

I lived as a student at Beida for a full year, between 96 to 97. I saw Deng die, and the return of Hong Kong. At least at the time, three things always struck me: 1) The pollution was awful -- we were in in Qinghuadaxue for fully one month before the sky finally cleared enough that we could see the Fragrant Hills - we literally had no idea they were there. I re-visited China again in 2013 I think, and it's just worse. There can be no overstatement of how bad it is, and this is what I thought of immediately when Mr Barra mentioned his health. 2) Culturally... No one queued. Ever. For anything. At the McDonald's at Tiananmen square, you had to physically shove your way forward through a solid crowd 15+ feet deep, wave your money at the cashier, and once they had taken your money, then you could give them your order. In 2013, I didn't see this sort of no-queueing behavior, but I had only two weeks in country that time. 3) Social mores are a little odd. You could have a conversation in a private place with a local (like, a taxi driver in cab) and they'd talk all about how awful and stupid the government was. But prostitution? No, we don't have that here. HIV? Oh, that's a foreign disease. Gay people? We don't have them here either. And about that last, I don't think this is any longer the case, but at the time in 96, there was one gay bar in the entirety of Beijing (Yi Ban Yi Ban, IIRC), and they were raided/harassed on a semi-frequent basis. At least in 2013, the public spitting was greatly reduced, but I still saw children being guided by parents to pee on the street. China was an amazing experience as a student, and the Chinese people I got to know directly (i.e. outside of official functions) were wonderful and welcoming. But boy howdy, there were some rough edges to public life.