The China I found was not the China I was told about

I must admit that I arrived in China carrying images that had accompanied me for virtually my entire life. Like many Brazilians of my generation, I grew up hearing that everything that came from China was counterfeit. That the country was synonymous with cheap products, poor quality, and backwardness. That communism controlled every aspect of people's lives. That there was scarcity, repression, and a reality far removed from what could be seen in Western countries.

One week later, as I leave Shanghai for the final stage of the Missão Internacional Porto & Mar 2026, the feeling I take with me is simple: the China I found was not the China I was told about.

Before continuing, I would like to make an important disclaimer. I am not writing about China as a whole. A country with more than 1.4 billion inhabitants certainly encompasses vastly different realities. Nor am I writing as an expert in international politics or geopolitics.

I am simply reporting the experience of someone who spent a week between Beijing and Shanghai observing people, cities, companies, streets, transportation systems, commerce, and infrastructure. And what I saw deeply surprised me.

The first surprise was realizing that the image of the so-called "xing ling" China seems to belong to the past.

Over the last few days, I visited some of the most advanced companies I have ever encountered. Artificial intelligence centers, automated logistics operations, smart factories, highly digitalized ports, and technology complexes that seem to have come straight out of science fiction movies. On many occasions, I felt as though I was witnessing something that will still take years to reach much of the rest of the world.

The second surprise was the level of organization. Public transportation operating with remarkable precision. Clean streets. Well-maintained public spaces. Integrated systems. Technology present in virtually everything. From purchasing a simple product to boarding a high-speed train, everything appears to have been designed to function quickly and efficiently.

This does not mean the absence of problems. Traffic congestion, for example, is striking. In cities with tens of millions of inhabitants, commutes lasting an hour or more are part of daily life. China's scale creates challenges that few nations face.

Even so, what impressed me most was the country's capacity for execution. China seems to have developed a rare ability: turning planning into reality. While in many places major projects spend years being debated, here they appear to move from concept to implementation at an astonishing pace.

The sense of security was also remarkable. Throughout a week of walking around Beijing and Shanghai, at different times of day and in various areas, I did not witness scenes that are common in many major Western metropolitan centers. I did not encounter deteriorated neighborhoods, I did not observe people living on the streets, and I saw residents using their mobile phones and moving about with a level of ease and confidence that drew my attention. Again, this is my perception as a visitor. But it was impossible not to notice.

Another aspect that left a strong impression on me was the behavior of the people. Instead of the image of a closed and distrustful population, I found people who were curious, polite, and often proud of the country they had helped build. In the conversations we had, there was a clear sense of confidence in the future.

Perhaps the greatest reflection from this trip is precisely that. For decades, we have become accustomed to viewing the world through predominantly Western lenses. We are often given ready-made explanations about who the good guys are, who the bad guys are, and which models work or do not work. Traveling has the power to challenge those certainties.

The China I found does not seem to be a country stuck in ideological debates. It appears to be a country obsessed with growth, productivity, infrastructure, technology, and competitiveness. The impression it leaves is that of a nation managed with long-term goals, a focus on results, and an enormous capacity for execution.

This does not mean that problems do not exist. They certainly do, as they do in any major power. But it does mean that reality is far more complex than the stereotypes that often reach us.

By the end of next week, I will leave China with more questions than answers. But also with one conviction. If the rest of the world still sees China through the eyes of twenty years ago, it risks failing to recognize that one of the greatest economic, technological, and social transformations in contemporary history is already unfolding before our eyes.