Standing in China Again: 3 Days Feeling the 'Now' of the City

I visited China for the first time in about three and a half years.
Information in Japan is full of talk about China's economic downturn, so I wanted to write about what I actually saw and felt during my very short stay to see what it's really like.

First, my impression of the city.
I spent about an hour riding a shared bicycle around the city,
and I felt that there are significantly more electric vehicles.
If you look at the cars driving in the center of Guangzhou, I get the impression that over 70% of vehicles with Guangzhou license plates are electric. Cars with out-of-town plates or luxury foreign cars seem to be gasoline-powered.
While I think the total ratio of gasoline cars is still higher, the proportion of electric vehicles among the cars driving in the city was overwhelmingly high.
I think one reason for this is that there are many taxis and ride-hailing cars (like Didi's 'Kuai Che') on the road.
And, perhaps because it was a Sunday, there were a huge number of food delivery riders zipping around.
They drive so selfishly that it was scary while I was riding my bicycle.
In any case, there were people, people, and more people everywhere in the city, and I felt a sense of vitality.

Regarding prices.
In the urban areas (Guangzhou, Dongguan, Shenzhen), I didn't feel that they had risen that much.
I went to an AEON near Guangzhou East Station to check prices, and it seemed there wasn't much change in fresh foods like meat and eggs.
There were quite a few discounted daily necessities, and I had the feeling that maybe they had even become cheaper; there was no particular sense of change here either.
Perhaps prices rose during these three and a half years, then entered a downward trend, and are now at a similar level to before?
That would mean there is a possibility they will continue to fall in the future.

Next, regarding restaurants, I feel like McDonald's and KFC might have raised their prices slightly, but I'm not sure.
I went to a Chinese restaurant I used to frequent, and I get the impression it's about 10% more expensive.
Small snack shops have raised their prices.
I went to a Japanese restaurant, and this felt quite expensive.
When converted to Japanese yen due to the exchange rate and compared to the price of an izakaya in Japan, it feels like more than double.
Since I can't say it's the same level of food, it might even be more than double.

Then, regarding urban development and apartment construction, it looks like things are moving quite a bit.
I went to my former company (in the Guangzhou Development District), and there were more route options to get there.
I felt some changes, such as new overpasses and newly connected roads.
I also felt changes because subways and light rail lines that weren't open before have now opened, and I actually used them.
However, these were just projects that were planned before the economic downturn being completed, and I didn't have the time to look into new urban development in detail.
Tier 1 cities are still doing okay, but maybe the situation is worse in Tier 2 and 3 cities?

I also visited two factories, and from what I heard about the situation, the economy doesn't seem very good.
While it's hard to say for sure as it also depends on individual management capabilities, the feeling is that while new customers are expanding, the overall order volume is flat, making things quite tough; it seems like it would be very difficult if they didn't have new business.
The mindset seemed to be that while they are proceeding with capital investment in things like automated machinery that leads to efficiency, they are holding back on large-scale investments such as expanding the scale of operations (like building new factories or adding equipment).

It's roughly as described above, and to summarize, I don't get the impression there have been any major changes.
However, because Japan is so sluggish, I felt like I was able to share in some of the energy for the first time in a while.
I was able to see that the factories I had guided in the past were still properly implementing the systems, and there were moments where I could feel the results. Also, I felt energized by the surprises I received over these three days and by being able to talk with many friends during meals and factory visits.
Perhaps it's because I have a long history of working overseas, but I felt once again that it's no good to just stay within Japan.
I am planning to go see friends in Thailand soon, so I felt that taking this opportunity to include regular overseas travel in my action plan would be a big plus for my own mindset.