I'm hoping to see some other areas of China as much of Xiamen has been or is being knocked down to make way for new construction. So not much remains in the way of older style construction. Here are a couple of photos of some older construction that are near where we live. Dilapidated though they appear, people are still living in them.
Child proofing is an interesting business here in China, I'm still trying to work out how to child proof the doors leading out to the balcony (there is one in the kids room). Here is an example of a playpen that is used very often in China - barely big enough for the child to sit down in, this grandmother is feeding the child in this photo. I hope to take a photo of one that isn't on a neighboring balcony so you can see it more clearly.
Sebastien and Alex have always loved taking the bus, even in C-U, and more so now in China where they have tvs on buses. Many times these tvs show programs highlighting public safety (eg use the overpass to cross the road), health (eg refrigerate food, wash utensils carefully, ways to combat the heat of summer) and, surprisingly, manners (eg wait in an orderly line to get onto the bus, enter from the front door and exit from the rear door). Alex and Sebastien love a character called T-boy who is the protagonist in many of the cartoon messages of not littering, not spitting gum onto the ground, crossing the road correctly etc.
Recycling is big in Xiamen at least. Many people wander the streets looking in garbage bins for recyclable objects and take them to many shopfronts that accept (and pay for) cardboard, cans etc. The first few rubbish bins we came across didn't have very clear pictures on the side, just some chinese words but we soon came across some where we could tell the difference. It is usual, however, to see a chinese person simply drop something on the ground, or if they make it to a bin, have poor aim and make no attempt to pick up what is now on the ground.
What I've come to call "hairy trees" are everywhere in Xiamen. Sometimes they get a good haircut but most of the time the "hair" hangs almost to your knee level.
Perhaps it's where we're located, but groups of (mainly) older people congregate in the early morning (anywhere from 5.30am-7.30am) on the roadway - yes, not just on the footpath - to do variations on calisthenics. Others might run backwards on the roads whilst in various parks around town mainly women gather to do various styles of Tai Chi. I'm trying to get some surreptitious photographs of them as they are quite amazing!
Part of the "sun" culture is protecting yourself from exposure to the sun which means that if your transport is bike (be it regular, electric or scooter) then as a lady you wear a covering . Often I see peopl wearing their jackets back to front to cover their fronts when riding along. Alex will also tell you that when she goes out to play in the sandpit at school, they wear sleeve covers (these are tubes of material with elastic at either end that you wear to cover the arm from wrist to above the elbow) as well as shoe covers - photos to come!
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