Random Tidbits

It has been a busy week preparing for the seven week field venture I am about to undertake. Busy enough that we have had to postpone our departure date from Sunday until Tuesday. That means two less days in the field, but also means a slightly clearer conscience for everyone as the ratio of "well thought-out plans" to "flying by the seat of our pants" is a little higher. Before I leave I am going to provide a bit of geographic background (with maps!) of where I'll be going this summer and perhaps describe a bit of those aforementioned plans. However, in the meantime, I had marked on my a schedule a post for today and I thought I would offer some random tidbits of information and observations I have accumulated since arriving in China.

First I will start with a little photo montage. Beijing is infamous for its air quality (or lack thereof). It was a major concern prior to their hosting of the 2008 Summer Olympic. Back then, in order to improve upon the air quality in both appearance and in practice, the government here mandated a variety of rules, restrictions and aggressive strategies. These included a strict driving schedule for individuals with cars in order to drastically reduce motorized vehicle emissions. I am not certain as to how it was organized, but it was something along the lines as X people could only drive on Tuesday and Thursday, Y people on Monday and Wednesday, etc. In addition, multiple factories that were particularly bad air polluters had their operation suspended (who knows the costs to those industries, much less to the employees who couldn't work). There was also diligent cloud seeding to force rain and thus help to clear the air. Following the Olympics things have returned to normal, as all the various new rules were forgotten, and the smog has returned in force (providing an interesting experiment for health scientists). The photos below demonstrate that in a 24 hour period the power of a couple hours of rain and a little breeze can really do wonders.

These photos were taken from the 10th floor of a hotel I stayed at upon first arriving in Beijing. The vantage point is looking west across the Peking University campus. Top photo was taken at about 7:00 AM, bottom photo at around 6:00 AM the next day. This is definitely smog. I checked the weather and the system that was bringing in the rain was still another 10-12 hours away. Those of you who have spent time in southern California are familiar with this dichotomy.

A couple more tidbits, and I should add the disclaimer that I am in no way passing judgement on these people or this country, but rather pointing out some things that have struck me as peculiar:

1) Titanic is still pretty popular in this country. And by Titanic I mean the movie. I have seen at least a half dozen t-shirts (guys and girls); an otherwise normal dude walking down the street with a satchel over his shoulder that displayed a sequined image of Leo and Kate in passionate embrace; and I have heard that damn Celine Dion song about 1/2 the times I step into any sort of shopping area that plays music (I'm looking at you Carrefour grocery store!).

2) Women spit a lot. I don't know what else to say, but it is a phenomenon that I have continuously witnessed in all sorts of settings by all sorts of individuals. Guys spit all the time, so it's not a big deal, but in the US it seems to be such a rarity to see a woman walking down the street turn her head and, well, let the spittle fly. What's up with that US ladies?

3) You know how in big city driving, on crazy 10-lane interstates, that you have to drive bumper to bumper because if you leave any room between you and the car in front of you someone will just go ahead and use that space? It's the same thing here when you're lined up at the ATM, to get a subway ticket, really at any queue. If you're not breathing down the neck of the person in front of you, someone (men and women) will just go ahead and fill that gap. At first I was astounded at the boldness of just cutting in front of me, but it's happened enough that I now understand it's the way of the world.

4) Upon first seeing me walk by, almost everyone immediately looks down towards my feet. At first I thought people were just really excited to see the latest footwear fashion coming out the United States, but upon asking some of my Chinese friends they guessed it was probably because they're more fascinated with the fact that I have hairy legs. As such, I guess they don't see me so much as a barometer of western fashion, but maybe the missing link?

5) A second characteristic of mine that garners a lot of attention is that I'm left-handed. I have met two students who, upon this revelation, informed me that when they were children they had been left-handed before they were "corrected" (or for something more robust, try this). Given that this custom of correcting handedness continues to be practiced in China, I can only imagine what people here must think of my parents for allowing me to grow up with such an affliction. But perhaps they're coming around? Today I was signing the credit card receipt at a camera store (a new polarizing filter for my new lens!), and as soon as I started signing the woman and man attending me instantly went into a tizzy, speaking back and forth rapidly in Chinese and gesturing with their left hands. I smiled and said something stupid like "yep, I'm a lefty." After I handed back the signed receipt, perhaps feeling a little chagrined at the outburst, the woman told me it was "a handsome way of writing." So, at least I have that.