Some things I have learned about China………...

When I visited China the first time, I found  myself (largely) in Tourist areas shepherded by two lovely Chinese-Canadian Tour guides who made sure our meals were in 5-star hotels and the restrooms had "Western"  toilets. Living in the Hongkou district of Shanghai, I have experienced a very different China - the "locals'" version of China. As I move closer to the end of my contract, I need to document some of the things I have learned/experienced here:

For many - not all- but many - Chinese people, the street is one big garbage can. Food, wrappings, cigarettes, spit, urine, vomit, and excrement, - both the human variety and the animal variety end up in the street. I used to avoid stepping in random puddles- thinking it was urine- now I avoid them because it is often petrol spilled from the ubiquitous scooters here - and you slide though one of those and you land in the other stuff in the street!
In a country where even the locals don't drink the water, It's puzzling that no one "connects the dots".
The first time Vicky saw me put my cigarette into a garbage can she teased me " You know the Chinese will think you are crazy. They don't even know what these bit metal things are….they just get in the way of walking" She was right…………..

Thanks to Martine and Roy, I learned back in March 2012, that some Chinese people make their living by recycling the stuff they DO find in the garbage bins on the street. So, for ten months I have collected my paper, glass and plastic- as much as possible- and placed it in the bins on the street. I have done this many times on my way to a shop- and on my way back - 10 minutes later- it's gone.
Yesterday, I placed a lot of unused paper exercises into the bin by my bus stop going home ( and no, the school has NO recycling program whatsoever- the Foreign teachers were shocked- what to do with all the inevitable leftover paper stuff at the end of a term????)
An old man with a cart attached to his bicycle stopped  and picked it all up. Incredible.

This is from the Internet, But I see this every single day…………

So, yeah- the dirty nature of this country continues to amaze me. I have scrubbed the soles of all the foot ware I am sending home next week - along with my winter clothes- and I don't even want to think of what got left behind.
The government has posters here and there to "educate" Chinese people about garbage, but it is slow going, I think.

I guess my second "culture shock"- and one that is ongoing- is the absence of queuing in China. I think I have posted this before, but it continues to amaze me that the Chinese push and shove and elbow their way onto buses, the Metro - and on the streets. My most recent and extremely frustrating experience was the Monet exhibit last weekend. I paid 100 rmb ( $15.00 Canadian) to view 55 paintings in a very small venue ( two rather small halls) and did not get to see very much at all.
When parents pushed their kids forward to see the works, their heads hit my elbows. I felt bad for them, but there was nothing I could do. I performed this incredible "dance" meandering through the exhibition back and forth- each time I saw  little opening. I'm sure security thought I was crazy.

See   you another time, Claude…………..

Thankfully, my bus to school in the morning is at the beginning of it's route- and it is not a "popular" route, as it goes into the bowels of the neighbourhood- where elementary schools, middle schools, and high schools are located in and amongst the residences. The same five or six people take the bus with me, and they race to board when it shows up. We will all get a seat- the bus won't leave without us- but there is the inevitable race to be the first one on……………….

As recently as last Tuesday, when I did not board the Metro quickly enough, a man jabbed me in the back with his cell phone and mumbled something at me. I was so close to losing it and screaming at him. Vicky tells me that she has done this - and the response has been "terror" . I might just have to do this as an "experiment" before I leave this country.
The most"aggressive" thing I do is to stand my ground when the person behind me in the cashier line up push their hand carts or wheeled carts into my back.

Interesting observations:
The mandatory retirement age in this country is 60 years. Not surprising, given there are 1.3 billion people here ( I continue to maintain that this is one of the reasons for the non-queuing nature of the culture- you have to get to where you are going and always in a crowd).
The more affluent retirees are doing their best to stay fit. Their exercises- executed on the sidewalks, the bus stops and parks are quite interesting. First, Tai Chi in the parks……...

 Walking backwards………..yes, indeed.

But the most interesting one is the "pounding" of the body- either with your hands - or with a stick.
I randomly started doing this on the bus last weekend with Bianca and Vicky. Bianca burst out laughing and Vicky said (in her sweet Russian accent): " Merrie….stop doing thees- you are scaring me………."

 Whole families on scooters- no helmets, no seat belts……...

Yup - the kid doing his homework on the back of a scooter, while his Dad drives him to school
And, the dog craze here in China means you see this every day too.