I have just read an earlier blog about the beautiful sunny Chinese
countryside and now we are in our fourth Chinese mega-city I am
missing it. Our days are ruled by cloudy smoggy skies and I have
sympathy for the people who live out their lives so far from the green
countryside. We have seen countless people living and working
practically on the street. Little shop fronts with a bed and TV at
the back or even a lightweight fruit & veg gazebo with a bed in. We
as tourists are charmed by the Hutongs - back street districts - as
opposed to the multitudinous high-rise apartment blocks, but living
without plumbing or other basic necessities must be difficult. There
is an upside to street living though - community. In early evening in
particular people are everywhere cooking and eating together on the
pavements, playing chess or cards in groups, and children are
playing. Exercise groups take place on the pavements and music
practise for the Sichuan opera happens in all the parks.
We particularly enjoyed the Muslim Quarter in Xi'an which is a network
of alleys buzzing with traders, food and drink, shops of all kinds,
and crumbling old mosques. It would be easy to get run over by the
numerous bicycles, electric scooters and trishaws here as they come
zooming up behind you silently so we were constantly jumping out of
our skins - and the gutter - with much hooting of horns. We take our
lives in our hands to cross the bigger roads too. To cross a 5 or 6
lane highway you just have to step off the kerb and walk in between
all the moving buses, cars and bikes. Red lights seem to be more of a
suggestion than a rule. Before we got here, I thought it might be fun
to hire a bike in China but the only place i've had the nerve has been
on top of the city walls of Xi'an where there's no traffic at all!
Ian however is more courageous - he is currently out on the streets of
Chengdu on a bike while I'm at 'home' recovering from a bout of d&v -
not pleasant. I've been feeling rather sorry for myself but Ian as
always has been the perfect nurse and bag-carrier. What would I do
without him?!
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