Chapter 112
Things You See On The Street
These are some pictures of things I took that I thought were interesting. Look close at the pictures. I will write below the pictures so you know what to look for.
The first five pictures you will see workers sweeping and cleaning. Both men and women do this job. A lot of the workers are older and retired. Like for older people in the US, it is a way to make some extra money and it gives them something to do.
The first time that I was in China, I would see people throw paper on the streets. I am talking about things like candy bar and ice cream wrappers. We used to do that in the US but then we stopped because we wanted to make everything look nice and not have trash all over. Besides that, we would get fined and have to pay money when we did that. In China, I realized it gave these workers something to do but over time they have quit throwing trash and there are more garbage containers everywhere but the workers are still needed to keep the streets and sidewalks clean. The brooms that they use are quite big.
Notice that the business places aren’t open yet, the big doors are still closed so it is early in the morning. See the sweeper’s cart sitting in the road. Not much traffic so it is ok to do that.
Repairing the road
Replacing the cement blocks but the area is not blocked off like we do in the US. People can still walk through the area.
Want to buy an electric bike? I actually thought about it once. A lot of them were only $450. But then, I figured it would be safer for the Chinese people if I didn’t drive.
A police golf cart. No high speed chases with this.
In the middle of the picture, notice the cart sitting in the street where the gray van is coming. The people that have that cart were selling food, (jidan bing-it’s kind of like a big flat pancake), down the street. They were pushing the cart on the street going home and for some reason left it there to maybe go into the grocery store to grab something or say hi to a friend. No big deal, that’s the way things are done.
Bike lanes are everywhere so it is safer for the cars on the streets and people on their bikes and walking.
Selling coal
A bike repairman. Do you need a tire fixed or some part on your bike repaired or replaced? These people are found here and there on the streets. There also people that are on the sidewalks with sewing machines. If you need some piece of clothing repaired or zippers, they will do what you need to have done. I have also seen shoe repairmen.
This lady is selling different things. This is common everywhere.
Notice the men across the street sitting on the sidewalk playing cards.
Here are some more men playing some game. The carts sitting there are theirs. They must be taking a break from their work. I’ve never seen women do this kind of thing. I guess women work harder and don’t have time for a break. They must have to take up the slack for the men.
Men playing Chinese checkers. Must be a lot of retired men around.
What’s this? More men sitting around. At least it’s a warm day. They are probably talking about how good life is or why women work so hard.
In this picture and the next one, look at the top of the walls. Those are pieces of glass embedded into the cement so no one can crawl over. On the right is a bus stop. They are display boards advertising something and a small roof so the people waiting to get on the bus can be protected from the sun or rain.
The cages over the windows are also there to prevent someone from crawling into the apartments.
Do you think this would work in the US? If a road needs some repair, put a branch there with a red plastic bag on it so people can see it and not get hurt. This road is Han Tun Lu. I lived about three blocks down the road from here.
In the middle of the picture is a man on an aluminum ladder leaning against an electrical wire. Let’s think about that shall we. The lady in the red coat walking on the street and looking up at him is maybe wondering what’s wrong with him.
In the middle of the picture, there is a blue car on the other side of the street. Notice the red bike between that car and the one in front of it. I wonder what will happen to that red bike if either of those cars move?
This picture and the next are together. This man was drawing Chinese characters on the street. This was the first time that I was in Luoyang. I was in a new world. I had been there about a month. Notice the boy on the right watching. The man doing the calligraphy is probably thinking-what is this foreigner doing? He’s in my way.
See the bricks with the lines on them between the regular bricks? Do you know what they are for? I didn’t pay any attention to them when I had been out. One day, someone told me that those are for blind people to follow.
This and the next picture show parents and grandparents waiting to pick their children up. It is noon and an elementary school is letting out for lunch.
See the entrance gate at the school? There are gates and walls everywhere in China; by schools, apartment buildings, whatever. There are also people that are gatekeepers. Maybe we should do that in the US for safety and security reasons.
The people waiting in line are elderly. Coupons are being handed out to use in the pharmacy.
Vendors selling clothes, shoes and other things. This picture was taken in January. It could be a long cold day sitting there.
Mom and daughter all bundled up out for a walk in December. This is a common site in the winter. The children are so cute dressed up like this. Some of them look like a ball. I saw one child fall over once and roll down the sidewalk. Just kidding.
This girl is wearing the prettiest earmuffs I have ever seen. Love the ears.
It looks like the boy has fallen asleep on the back of mom’s bike. Put a picture like this on Facebook or Twitter in the US and see what happens.
Chapter 113
Bargaining
If you buy something on the street, people will bargain the price. For example, you find something that you want to buy, you ask what the price is, the seller tells you, you counter offer and it goes back and forth until a price is agreed upon.
As for me, I don't like bargaining. I have seen two people argue and yell back and forth. Get angry, yell, your blood pressure goes up. I don’t think it is good for your health. You may have a heart attack and die. Why do they bargain? Because it is something they do in their culture, that’s just how it is. I have been told that if a foreigner bargains, he is respected by the Chinese. I guess they don’t respect me. Mary was good at bargaining. She would even do it for Chinese friends that were not good at it.
Discounts are a big thing there also. We have sales here of course but it is done a little differently. If I would tell a Chinese friend that I needed something, it is possible that they know someone and they could get a discount.
I will give an example. I told a friend that I wanted a whip like I saw some people use in the parks. She knew of a place where they were sold. She had bought one and we went to pick it up. She got it for 100 RMB ($16). The man said normally he would have sold it to a foreigner for 200 RMB (It pays to have friends there).
Over time, I found out that many people knew many other people and could get discounts. This brings up a question. If everybody knows somebody and so many discounts are given, do the people giving the discounts make any money? Think about it.
Chapter 114
Hauling Things
One of the most amazing things that I saw in China was how they would haul things. The pictures will speak for themselves.
These are plastic pipes. You can see the handlebars and they have mittens on them to keep the driver's hands warm as he is driving. These first three pictures are taken from my apartment window at the Number 19 High School.
Many things here. On the lower left of the picture is a bike carrying windows and frames. Across the street in the middle of the picture is a bicycle with a freezer on the backend. To the right, on the sidewalk between the gray van and black car is a motorized three-wheeled bike with a cart on the back and the person is selling something to eat that he will make right there.
The stores in the background. On the left, where there are two people are standing under the canopy with the green sign above it, is a husband and wife selling different kinds of meat. I would go there to buy chicken and beef. The next store to the right with the characters over the open doors is a little restaurant. The next store to the right with the red board with the white bird on it over the door is a clothing and shoe store. The next store with the green board with white characters over the doors is a pharmacy. To the right of the pharmacy, it is out of the picture, is a grocery store named Da Zhang. It is a chain store and there are several in Luoyang. The green roof over the stairs going downstairs is a farmer’s market below the Da Zhang grocery store.
In the following pictures below, you can see how they load up and go down the street. I wonder if they have training and get a degree to learn how to load things? It is amazing how they are stacked.
Above are paper products like toilet paper.
The blue cart on the left is carrying five gallon water jugs.
No, this is not a one way street. It is a two way street. The cars by the sidewalks are parked. The two lanes in the middle are going to the left. Somehow there weren’t any cars coming from the left so the rest made two lanes like a one-way street. If any cars come from the left, all of these cars are going to have to form one lane. And the person on the bike in the middle hauling things will just have to blend in. No biggie, this is just how it is in China.
A three-wheeled truck like this is common.
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