I have about twenty minutes to kill before I take off for a cruise down the Li River, so I thought it would be a good time for another random thoughts entry. Want to hear it? Hear it goes.
Spitting: There’s a lot of spitting here. The first few times I noticed it was in Beijing when old ladies hocked up something huge and left it on the sidewalk. Evidently, it’s something of a cultural phenomenon. There have been attempts to stop it, at least in Beijing, but non-spitting laws don’t seem to be discouraging much of the activity there. In Shanghai, there are No Spitting signs in all of the subway cars. It could be much worse, though, I suppose. It’s still better than the dog poop avoidance games that are necessary in Paris and Buenos Aires.
Smog: I had always heard about the smog problem in China but I don’t think that I was mentally prepared for what I was about to encounter. It’s not as if I feel like my health is in danger, but then again, I don’t live here. From my perspective, it’s just a little sad because of all of the beauty that I know I’m missing because the visibility is so low. It’s worse in the bigger cities, of course, but I haven’t seen a good place with respect to smog, either.
Trains: So far, I’ve spent a lot of time on trains here, particularly in the hard sleepers. During the first twenty-day leg of my journey, I spend 73-hours on trains, or a full 15% of the trip. Needless to say, they become important to me. The hard sleepers are cabins with six beds in them. Usually, there are about a dozen cabins per car. At the ends of each car are squat toilets of variable cleanliness. Of all the various modes of transportation, trains have always been my favorite. I can’t say that the Chinese trains have changed that opinion. From what I can gather, the worst part of the train rides is the glaring snoring that comes from a certain person all throughout the night. Having never heard it myself, I like to think that they are exaggerating the night terrors, but I sleep well.
Toilets: Most of the toilets in China, especially in public restrooms, are squat toilets. I still haven’t had the pleasure of enjoying one, but it’s just a matter of time. With respect to western-style toilets, I have learned that what they say about flushing toilet paper down the toilets is true. They clog at the drop of a hat. My roommate already has killed two in the two weeks I’ve been here.
Okay, it’s time for my boat tour, so that’ll do for now. I’ll let you know about the Li River later.
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