Snippets from China IV

It seems that a day doesn't go by when something strikes you as interesting in a "wow, never thought I'd see that" kind of way - sometimes it's just plain strange. I often forget how privileged the life is that we lead in China - the equivalent of the middle to upper middle class I believe - and I like to take little detours down alleys to remind myself of how other urbanites live. I am also looking forward to seeing some of the countryside as I'm sure that the difference between the average annual income in Xiamen city and that of Xiamen rural will be plain to see. The government website says that in 2007 the average annual income (net) was RMB7637 for rural and RMB21503 for urban residents. With the exchange rate at approximately 7RMB per US$/5.5RMB per A$ that's not much. Sobering to think that our rent for the year is more than the average wage.


Tap water is not drinkable in Xiamen - it should be boiled before drinking (although many people buy special drinking fountains). Here is a public drinking water dispenser I pass on my way to my (expensive) coffee shop.

In the parks around Xiamen there is usually an amusement section that has rides (and sometimes a jumping castle) for children. These strange looking creatures are a ride on four wheels that you sit on and push your feet on the stirrups to move the legs (both front and both rear) - together then apart to make your way around the small area.
Our apartment complex had a swimming pool, once. Apparently it is now broken and the children here use it to play badminton or soccer.We consider China to be dirty compared with what we are used to - but we can't imagine how bad it would be if the street sweepers stopped work. There are about five different types of sweepers - the manual pushbike ones who have brooms like this:the electric bike ones who also use these brooms, the scooter ones, the truck ones (I don't have a photo) and the water tanks (hope to get some video soon!) that play Happy Birthday, Jingle Bells or Chinese Opera to warn of their impending arrival.

Split pants - oh yes - you know that summer is here when all of a sudden you see very many more of these on the streets! I bought Sebastien a pair of chinese pyjamas and they came complete with instructions to cut between the seams to make them split for ease of potty training (click on the photo to see the little scissors sticker!). We haven't split ours.
In some parks, the government tries to make everything seem "natural" - which means rubbish bins look like this:
In every public park (and indeed, on the street too) there will be large groups of people performing group exercises - usually a variant of tai chi. I am yet to take a photo of the people at Zhong shan Park who do an amazing amount in a small space with a bat and ball (a little like a pingpong bat and ball) - it certainly amazes me!Hairdressers advertise their presence with black and white stripes (sometimes checks) on rotating poles.
In spite of the poverty, cognac and brandy are held in high esteem. It is seen as being the drink to have if you want to impress/demonstrate your wealth and it is common to have bottles of this on wedding tables for guests.
I'm not sure what the registration requirements are here in China - I just remember the hoops you needed to jump through in both Australia and the States to get your vehicle registered.I've seen various ways of decorating the front of a bus, from a little set of shelves to hold all your requirements to various gods and prayer items but I loved the idea of a vase of flowers.