Surprises of China

China is pretty hard on our clothes, so off we went to Decathlon, the local sporting goods store.  Peter found a new shirt that matched his pants, so now we call him "khaki-man"  I told him we will lose him if he stands in front of a brown wall!

While we were there, we were shocked by a grandmother holding her 3-year-old over a garbage can in the store to pee.  In China, it's OK for kids to pee wherever they want to, whenever they want to.  It surprises us every time!
 

This big, beautiful, western style store also has a restroom, but why bother trying to find it when there's a perfectly good garbage can to  pee in!

Some of the other things that always surprise us...

* No fortune cookies!  I always expected that China would be full of fortune cookies since all of the Chinese restaurants in the U.S. seem to serve them, but none to be found here!

* No little white take-out boxes - In Chinese restaurants in the U.S., we have those little white take-out boxes with the wire rims, but none to be found here!  Here there are wide Styrofoam containers held closed with a hair-thin rubber band, that leak everywhere!

* The constant spitting! People spit all the time; inside, outside, at restaurants, from their car windows; wherever is convenient!  What a strange sight to hear someone hocking something up and turn around to find a little old grandmother.

* Delivery vehicles!  Most of the time, delivery vehicles consist of a bicycle or a mo-ped, stacked high and wide with goods, and the drivers never seem to lose their loads!

* Everyone dresses so nicely!  Even the construction workers wear suit coats, and most women wear heels.

* Litterbugs - As soon as someone is done with a bag or other piece of litter, they just throw it on the ground!  What's most amazing is how clean it is everywhere.  There is an army of street sweepers who are constantly picking up everything with their long handled tongs.

* Grandparents with children - While the parents are at work, the grandparents are tending to the children.  If you go to the park at noon, it is full of grandparents and their grandkids since both parents work.

 
* Tree-hanging underwear - When we walk by a tree full of drying underwear, we always do a double-take - but think of how much energy they save by not using a dryer!

* Safety is a personal issue - crossing bridges with no rails, uneven stairs, slippery marble floors or construction sites, safety is your own concern, not anyone else's.  If you get hurt it is your own fault, and there's no one to sue!  On the other hand, although we have to watch for hazards, we all feel incredible personal safety, no matter the neighborhood or the time of day.

I also showed pictures in class of St. Patrick's day partiers who were wearing green hats to my students.  If someone is wearing a green hat in China, it means their mate has been cheating on them, so they were shocked to see those pictures.  I guess we are just as shocking as they are!