Pudding and Chopsticks

I guess you may think that I hate China. I don’t. If I lived in America still I might show photographs of people doing dumb things, interesting and possibly culturally different things than what I may be used to.

There are a few things that China could improve on. But that’s just my view. A view of a person who would rather not get his new Chuck Taylors soaked in come kids bodily excrements. But if I did it would be my fault for not watching where I was walking.

Mother doing her job teaching her little girl where to go to the bathroom.

I took these photos today out my office window.

This is NORMAL.

Awesome right?

And these dudes where digging something and throwing the dirt in the canal? river? moat? thing..

And they wonder why they have problems with drinking water and what not.

Maybe you thought I waited a long time to take the photo of the car parking over the curb. Then say it happens all the time thus making this city and China look bad. Uh, yeah, ok check this.

Yesterday

A week ago

So in the last two times that I have gone to this specific place, I have taken the same photo. For those who can’t do math that 100% of the time.

I wonder if they teach this crap in driving school here.

So, I may be guilty of this a little. I carry a messenger bag with me sometimes. Usually it has my laptop or iPad and a book. What I do not carry is a LV or Gucci man bag. I will not stoop to that level. Anyhow, in the area that I live there are a massive amount of rich people and people in general. Most all of them carry man bags. It’s kid of amusing. But to each their own.

I also always see guys carrying purses for their girlfriends or mistress. Hard to tell. But yeah, they carry them things with pride. I will say that I will do that, if she is say, picking out fruit or something. But I am sure as hell not going to walk around and carry her bag. It’s her damn bag, she should carry it. But nonetheless I always wondered why and how they are ok with this. This photo explains it all. It appears that I have photographed a mother training her little cub to carry his future GF or wife’s purse. By making him carry hers he has now been official trained into becoming a Chinese man. What a lovely mother.

This has been blogged about many times before.

Check this out:   Here

and Here

So just think. This car, the Ferrari 458 Italia is a machine. A fine damn machine. It represents the finest that Ferrari has to offer. Powered by a 4.5L V12, mated to a 7 speed dual clutch paddle shifted gear box. You give it the beans it will get you to 62mph in 3.4 seconds. This is an impressive machine. In the States it will set you back a cool 240,000USD or so. Give are take a few thousand. But in China that will set you back 813,771 USD. Yep that’s right. The import taxes, mark up, and all that government red tape will mark your baby up by 3 fold. I’ve also heard that it’s more like 1 million USD for an official 458.

So, this guy spent 1 million, maybe, US dollars on this car. So what do you do when you go out. You have someone drive a unplated Land Rover and park in the middle of the road parking you in. Thus stopping all the idiots from hitting your car. More interesting is how much this guy is probably worth. Think if he spent 5% of his net worth on this car. That would mean that he has 20 million some where. Jesus.. Anyway.

Yep, this is China. You can do whatever you want.

There is an upper scale mall in the city that I live. Very upscale. We’re talking Ferrari, Porsche, Hermes, LV, upscale. The underground parking charging money for it’s use. The parking on the street does not.

So what happens, well, no one pays to park because they are super cheap. Just think that you bought a car that costs 100,000 RMB but can’t pay 5 RMB to park. Well, whatever. So this causes some problems as in, tons of cars and no parking. Couple that with Chinese people’s perspective that troubling anyone but family is ok, along with no repercussions of peoples actions:

We end up with this.

So for the most part Western countries only hear about how China gives foreigners the run around. Mainly because Chinese people don’t really have a vehicle in which they can speak of such matters. I found this on Chinahush which found it on a Chinese writers blog. It was originally posted in Chinese and was translated after.

In July, me and my husband visited HK for the book fair. And recently I needed to go on a trip to Hong Kong again. Knowing that the second time to apply for HK entry permit, you can just fill a form online and mail the permit certificate to your registered police department for approval. So I mailed both of our certificates to respective departments since my husband’s from Chenzhou City Hunan Province, and me Changde City Hunan Province.

Weeks later, my husband got his permit approval, and I got a call telling me that my application was rejected because Changde people could only apply HK entry permit once a year.

The call hung up before I could ask why. So we called the immigration department of Changde City, a man explained to me on the phone that the one-time-only limitation was because Changde has the biggest percentage of Hunan people involving in illegal activities in HK, and if one really needs to go to HK, he must go to the registered police department in person presenting group traveling certificate or other proves to apply, but not necessarily succeed.

I questioned: “Is it reasonable to ban all Changde people from entering HK again just because the number of illegal activities involve with Changde people is high?”

“I don’t know, I am just doing my job.” He replied in Changde accent.

“For so long you work there, hasn’t any other Changde people filed complains?”

“I can’t do nothing about it, it exists so it is reasonable. You have to understand that there is region difference. For example, do our Hunan kids share the same enrolling standards with Beijing kids when they are applying for the same college? Big difference! And you know that in Hunan, only Changsha people can apply for individual HK & Macao entry permit, people from other cities have to go the group traveling way.”

Then I asked: “You are from Chengde too, right? Put yourself in my shoes, if you are the one who needs to go to HK, can you appreciate this kind of rationale?”

He still talked in our shared accent: “I don’t know you are really inquiring or interviewing, if you don’t have other questions, I think our conversation should be ended.”

We went on calling the immigration department of Hunan Province, and a woman explained that the provincial police department didn’t rule how many times a person can apply for the permit, it is up to the city level police departments.

I felt confused at this answer, and recalled what I wrote last time after applying for passport “in this country, there are countless people like this, working their ass off to fill your life with misery”. But this time it is different, it is not because of irresponsible people, but chaotic management system. Provincial don’t specify the rules, so city level police department puts forth whatever regulations and rules they see fit? In a big country like this, to deal with various authorities is just like facing a mountain of barbed linen – there is no way to start and you get hurt trying. Seeing my husband making inquiries everywhere, being pissed, disappointed by people at the other end of the phone, I feel sad.

This is what it’s like to do just about anything in China. You see that the local police actually made the rule that people from Changde and only go to HK once per year. It was not China’s overall government. It wasn’t the provicial government. It was the local city government that was making a rule that people from that city could only go to HK once per year. Yes that actually happens and happens with everything. Sometimes if can work in your favor, but other times like this one, it works against what you need to do.

Then there is the aspect of the workers. In their defense it is likely they are just doing their job and don’t know. But other times they just don’t want to deal with people that start to ask questions. The first person hangs up on her. They don’t want to deal with it. The second person, the guy, gets a little uneasy when she starts asking as to why things are like this. Then the conversation is pretty much over.

Yes sometimes it feels like there is a country full of people’s sole purpose is to piss you off and make it as hard as possible to do anything. You personally don’t offer anything to them. They get paid either way. You complete your task or not, they get paid. Your happy or sad they still get paid. Their boss probably doesn’t give a shit whether or not they did their job. They care that their boss is happy not you. So basically there is no incentive for anything in China. Thus is why you have to bribe people. Then that frowny faced skinny guy across the counter has a reason to actual help you. He personally is getting paid.

And life goes on..

I personally wish I had some job as a photographer here which allowed me to be outside and interacting with people. But I don’t. So my photographs are limited to the days off I get and so on and so forth. Maybe someday.

Anyhow enough with the sap and on with the goods. Boston.com has a section called “The Big Picture” it’s a photoblog that is edited and contains photo on whatever subject they choose for that specific post. Today is daily life in China.

It’s a very good view about what life is like here. You see a boy that wears a mask. You see what his bedroom is like and his school. Where he lives. I work with people like his father. I live very near areas where people live like that. People in America see these types of photos and see how dirty it is, crumbling buildings, etc. I see this everyday. In fact I don’t even notice much of it anymore. They probably live better than his father did when he was a child.

As for the rest of the photos, it’s a pretty good clip as to what it’s like here. Although it’s a generalized it’s pretty good as to what daily life is really like here. So take a look, see what I see everyday. It’s interesting, I promise.

http://www.boston.com/bigpicture/2011/09/china_daily_life_2.html

I read this little tid bit a while back but it just hit news in America. Or something like that I guess.

Personally I am not sure how I feel about it. Its been going on for 600 years and now it’s canceled because of outside pressure I would imagine.

As dog ownership increases in China, many view the annual dog-eating festival as cruel and unusual

The local government in Jinhua City, China, has decided to end a 600-year-old tradition — butchering, cooking, and eating dogs at an annual festival. Here’s what you should know:

How did this tradition begin?
According to legend, a Ming dynasty military leader was trying to invade Jinhua in 1389. To avoid detection, his troops killed all the area’s dogs so their barking wouldn’t alert the local population. After the successful invasion, “the army held a celebratory feast and served the meat from the slaughtered dogs,” says the International Business Times.

And they kept killing dogs year after year?
Yes. As many as 10,000 dogs were eaten each year by attendees at the celebration. ”Dogs would be stabbed, strangled and even beaten into comas and thrown into boiling water,” says activist Wang Lingyi, as quoted in the Los Angeles Times. But after overwhelming protests on Chinese internet sites, the government elected to make the festival a thing of the past.

Is dog-eating common in China?
Not like it used to be. It’s still socially acceptable, and dogs in cages are a common sight at meat markets. Dog meat was even consumed by Chinese astronauts in space. But dog ownership has increased in recent years (it was banned as a “bourgeois habit” during China’s cultural revolution), and many middle-class and one-child families now keep dogs as pets.

Is everyone happy about the festival cancellation?
No. “Some villagers argued that they had emotional attachments to the festival, as it had been passed from generation to generation,” says China’s Xinhua news agency. But many applauded the decision, and an online poll on the Chinese social networking site Weibo showed that some 90 percent of voters wanted the practice ended.

Yahoo.com

 

I grew up living in the country. I would hunt, fish, and eat everything that I killed. I see both sides of the debate and story. But not commenting on that but focusing on the change. This is what is starting to happen in China. The internet is starting to be able to show people these things and allow them to speak out more than they normally would. People are also becoming richer and with that want to show off their wealth. Owning a dog is one way they do that. The city that I live in has a massive amount of dogs. I bet that not one rich person would allow dog to be eaten in front of them. But would themselves eat pigs. Interesting isn’t it. But dogs are pets, uh, yeah, let me tell you something. I actually had a pig growing up. So… pigs are pets too.

Anyway, I thought this was an interesting way that China is been changing and I imagine will change in the future.

Ok, so let me give you the back story.

I was in the warehouse over a week ago and needed to cut some material. I asked the warehouse people for some scissors. They gave me some big ass awesome ones. Probably would of cost the same as a Honda Accord in the States. But here with cheap materials and labor, they are super cheap. Anyway, I used them and gave them back. The next day I needed to do the same thing. I asked again and again they gave them to me.

So I haven’t had to use the scissors in a week or two because I bought my own. I wanted some so I went and paid pennies for a pair that I could cuddle at night with.

So what just happened. The warehouse women rolls into my office and says something like, the scissors you used last time where are they. I reply I don’t know, I gave them back. She said are you sure. I was like yeah, it was a long time ago. Pretty sure I gave them back but I don’t really remember. They’re not here.

She rolls out bitching about something.

I go to the warehouse where I worked and found no sign of said scissors. I then looked in my work area and again, no scissors. She finds me and I saw, nope, no scissors. I gave them back to that guy. She then replies, you forgot. How could you of given them back if you forgot. I said they are not here and I gave them back. The then says that I am a cheater/lying and something else. Now I am thinking that there is no way that I can no convince her that I don’t still have them. She probably already made up her mind. For one because I was the last one she actually saw use them. Even though it is possible that someone else asked the other guy and or knows where they are. They are big scissors and hard to loose. If I still had them I would of found them, they are like a foot long. It’s also easy to blame me because I can afford to by new ones. White guy is rich right.. Also because I don’t think anyone here actually likes me and when it comes down to it they will bury me with whatever they can find. Think Dalian oil spill. Perhaps the Chinese are responsible for the spill, no one will ever know, but by god, they spun it to make it seem like it was the foreigners company that was at fault. Thus it doesn’t matter who has the scissos, or if she will ever find them. I was the last person she physically saw having the scissors in their hands over two weeks ago. So before she even asked me she already made up her mind and was going to throw me under the bus.

Now this could happen anywhere. But lets take a look at what would or at least I think would happen in a civilized country.

Hey, Pudding, have you seen those scissors. Uh, no sorry. I’m pretty sure that I gave them back. Oh, really, I can’t find them.. huh. Well let me help you look for them. (look all around) Yeah pretty sure I gave them back. It was a bit ago I can’t really remember but I can’t find them at any of my work stations and I always give the tools I use back so, I can say with almost absolute conviction that I did in fact give them back to the other guy. Oh ok, well, I’ll just keep looking.

Done. Because really, wasting time on one pair of scissors is actually keeping you from actually doing something productive. But here in China, penny wise dollar short. I bet for sure she is going to keep looking wasting hers and everyone’s time and them bury me saying that I have them and there is now way in hell that anyone else does. The evil over paid foreigner did it..

So after she said that I was lying to her or cheating her I let her have it. I don’t take that crap anymore. So I just agreed. Yep, I’m lying to you and cheated you. I still have your scissors. To which she slams the door and locks me out of the warehouse. Good times..

Anyway, just thought like sharing this little gem..