"China is the most totally controlled place I have ever been. Everyone appears to be exactly like everyone else. To begin with, they all dress alike, even though it is not obligatory to do so.

We may laugh at their uniform dress, but we cannot dismiss their uniform good health. They look a lot better than we do. For example, you never see anyone who is obese. Nor do you see anyone who is underweight. The Chinese are doing something right, and I tried to figure out what it is. Partly it may be their way of life, which because there is little choice in anything, is less stressful than ours.

Other factors, like breathing relatively unpolluted air and working or studying by daylight instead of by overhead fluorescent lights may have a bearing on health. But the two things that are most obvious are probably the most important. They are exercise and diet.

There are no private cars whatsoever in China, and no school buses, so everyone does a lot of walking or bike riding. The children walk to school.

The diet of the people is also regulated by necessity. China produces almost all its own food, and to obviate shipping and processing, most of it is produced near the place its consumed. The rice is only partly polished and all the vegetables and fruits are fresh. But probably the most important thing is that they get almost no junk food.

What impresses me is their lack of emphasis on food. Unlike us, who seem obsessed with eating, these people, from what I see, eat when they're hungry.