Grass on the other side of the fence is not always green.

Being a Canadian, I am often asked the best places to immigrate in Canada, with lots of jobs and good salaries, free university, and no food contamination, traffic jams, pollution and corruption.

Is there such a paradise on Earth? Twenty years ago, the blue skies of Montreal with light white clouds were remarkable; now, we can see the same in Beijing. However, some travelers and residents still confuse fog and pollution.

Caught in a traffic jam in Beijing, my Chinese friends say, "You would never see that in Canada!" The difference is that in Canada, the problem is an old one while it is recent here. The low temperatures of Canadian winters badly damage the roads' asphalted surfaces. China uses concrete instead, but it's too costly for Canadian tax payers who have been squeezed enough. Roads are continuously under construction to the great annoyance of users.

A Vancouver-born Chinese girl came back with her parents after 10 years. She finds it easier to play with friends now. "In Beijing, the public transportation system is very convenient, and I can get anywhere on my own."

The number of bus lines and their frequency amaze visitors in Beijing. In Montreal, the waiting time for a bus may be 25 minutes and for the subway, 15 minutes.

Many Chinese think that schooling is free in Canada. There are no tuition fees in primary and secondary school and books are lent to the students, but other fees (notebooks, physical education uniform, science laboratory, compulsory extra educational activities) easily pass the amount requested in Chinese schools. In college and university, minimum fees are $5,000 (according to the department) including tuition, basic textbooks, insurances, student association membership. Students seldom live on campus (expensive and not enough availability) but share small apartments in town. Public transportation costs are high. Almost all students work part-time.

Several Chinese friends ask me whether they should abandon their stable jobs and hard-earned apartments for a new country. My advice is, "No". Chances to find the proper job in one's field, well paid, with convenient location, are too low to risk it all.

Canada welcomes mostly political refugees, students with financial support, big investors (a way to fight the high rate of unemployment), and highly qualified persons needed in specific fields. A Chinese scientist heading to Toronto was offered a post in Calgary, a city newly populated by Chinese immigrants. Once there, he was sent to a remote area where his companions are cold. He is looking forward to coming back at the end of the two-year project.

New immigrants need time before they are inserted in political and social life. Scandals like ministers owning castles; pet food made from rotten meat; corruption in the building industry; nomination of judges; financing of political parties; poor health of forests, all this remains unknown to most immigrants.

The worsening shortage of "family doctors" is probably unknown. Doctors all have their quotas and one out of seven Quebec citizens is unable to find one. Patients can only wait in emergency halls, and sometimes, late at night, they return home without having seen a doctor.

In that country where human rights are a priority, homeless elderly and teenagers live on the streets. Defenders of animal rights can't do miracles when a veterinarian charges $2,000 for a problem with a guinea pig's teeth. "I had no choice," said a Chinese father, "but to hand my daughter's guinea pig to the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. I felt like a criminal, but how could I pay that amount while a lot of African children are starving?"

Instead of dreaming of paradise abroad, why not appreciate the huge progress China has accomplished and continue to help this country develop?

China Daily