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Post by tyuti1668 on Jun 20, 2010 10:08:53 GMT -5
... I remember stealing water was a common thing as the metres were installed inside the premises. Another trick was to let water dripping slowly from a tap into a collecting vessel or holding tank. People think the slow drips would not set the metre ticking. Drip, drip, drip, slow Chinese water torture. The "older" type water meter can't measure drip ;D & easily "bypass" -- placing a strong mangnet around it . Ming must also heard someone interferace the electic meter by this method. Old days: Water copmany sells to main meter in village ONLY. The village network drips everywhere & NEVER cover the cost that collected. Villagers joke this as offical "grant" (the "dividend" receive each year is low in value Greedy village officals) The tap water tastes werid when "Salt tide" . Water from 南文's 好水井 is better That "oustside" meter is water copmany's newer network The story:http://www.dachong.com/main/open/view/index.action?did=8&id=2102
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Post by douglaslam on Jun 21, 2010 2:08:08 GMT -5
I always say to myself I don't think I want to get behind the wheel of a motor car in China. The traffic is simply chaotic even in Beijing. Drivers, riders, pedestrians all assert their rights, its everyone for himself. There does not appear to be road rules. Pedestrians crossings are just for show, do not expect courtesy from other road users. In some town centres, indiscriminant use of the horn is banned. Elsewhere any overtaking is accompanied by a loud blast or two from the horn. It is not unusual to see cars driven on footpaths to beat traffic snarls.
Another oddity is that pedestrians tend to walk on the roadways. It defies common sense. Most new roads tend to be well planned. They are wide and well landscaped with trees and flower beds. I like the idea of a clock counting down, showing time remaining in seconds of a green light at major intersections. This is done away with in Chungshan because it was blamed for a very serious accident.
Drink/drive is rampant in China. It got so serious that authorities imposed jail term to offenders, monetary fines were not sufficient deterrent. If you are caught above the alcohol limit, you go to jail. As a result some sections of the jails are full. A drink/drive offender may receive his invitation to spend time as guest of the people's govt at a guest house on a later date. Well done China.
When I was going to Hoiping, I was told there was no direct bus service going there. So, I went to Jiangmen first, then hopped on another bus. I paid twice 20+23 RMB. It was a different story coming back. there was a direct service albeit a stop-on-demand one. The cost was just 25. The driver was a maniac. He sounded the loud horn every few seconds He used the horn more times in ten minutes than I'd do in ten years. If there was a red light, he simply steered to the right went round the traffic light and travelled on. A very creative fellow. Running the red light is also common even in major centres like Zhongshan Port. It is no holds barred.
There was also a female conductor on board the bus. Her role was more of a spruiker than helper. Any one getting off was harassed, told to hurry on "kuai dian kuai dian". People who got on at any point along the way were apt to bargain with the conductor as to the fare payable. She was now canvassing like a carnival sideshow operator or a strip joint doorman. It is weird.
Yes, tyuti 1668, people do steal electricity but they don't brag about it. Stealing water is different; it is a lesser evil and it comes free from above. Therefore it is fair game.
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Post by tyuti1668 on Jun 21, 2010 5:35:52 GMT -5
I always say to myself I don't think I want to get behind the wheel of a motor car in China. "Fr(l)esh" chinese road user warning: China is like N America: Right on red is 100% legal unless have sign banned it !!! <<道路交通安全法实施条例>> ... 第三十八条 机动车信号灯和非机动车信号灯表示: ... (三)红灯亮时,禁止车辆通行。 在未设置非机动车信号灯和人行横道信号灯的路口,非机动车和行人应当按照机动车信号灯的表示通行。 红灯亮时,右转弯的车辆在不妨碍被放行的车辆、行人通行的情况下,可以通行。
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Post by douglaslam on Jun 22, 2010 3:26:32 GMT -5
Tyuti1668, the driver didn't simply make a right hand turn on red, which is permitted. He veered to the right, went past the traffic lights, turned left,then right and travelled on. It was a 180 deg. turn. There is no respect for double unbroken centre line, no respect for the pedestrian walk sign with the little green man showing. Several times when I was on the back of a motorcycle and waiting at a red light, large container trucks on the left lane just drove past the red light as if it wasn't there. ========================== When in china, I always allow myself a little luxury, I like to visit a hairdresser for a little pampering from time to time. Take for example the day June 7, when I went to Taicheng to call on Shi Cheng, Henry's nephew. I arrived at Tashan bus terminus and Shi Cheng was not to be seen. So, I decided to find a hairdresser to have a shampoo, scalp massage and a shave. I had not shaved for days It is very relaxing and soothing to have a gentle pair of hands, a woman's of course, working on my scalp, then a warm spray of water to rinse clean of the shampoo. Next it is the barber's turn to use a hair dryer on my hair and then a shave with a cut-throat blade. It is heavenly. All this cost just 10 RMB at a less fanciful place. Very affordable luxury indeed. One thing I wanted to try but did not get around to was foot massage or reflexology by blind masseurs, and to have my ears cleared of ear wax. Next time for sure. I was now good and ready to meet Shi Cheng. But he was still not to be seen. I called him again, and he was waiting for me at the wrong terminus. However did we get along without a mobile phone ? It was also in Hoiping, I went with my wife's cousin and his good mate Kwan for a couple of body massage (the honourable type) sessions at night. The masseurs were older women up to 40 years of age in my case. It was hard physical work. The masseurs who served me came from Sichuan and Hunan respectively. I tried to strike up a conversation even though my Mandarin is barely passable These two out-of-town women have one thing in common; each has left her young child in the care of grandparents. They told me each time they call their children on the phone, they children don't want to talk to them. It is heart breaking for the mothers, and this is a recognised social problem. The underclass people suffer so much in so many different ways. This is certainly an unintended consequences of seeking a better life for the family. www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iIdyhuUmhjMQqHNHql3wGRkb105QThe Hunan woman was so caring that she went out of her way to get a moxibustion kit to treat my frozen shoulder肩周炎. It was a very kind act. She invited me to come back for further treatments. Of course this wasn't possible because I was on a short stay in Hoiping only. Full mark to her and her colleague for who they are: mothers who sacrificed so much for their families.
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Post by douglaslam on Jun 23, 2010 1:50:36 GMT -5
Where there are Chinese, there are games of mah jong going on. This is what I found common throughout the villages. The games are normally played at small shops or dedicated mah jong parlours and there is one in my village. A well patronised mah jong table ( or card game) is essential to the survival of some small business. The big supermarket chain One Plus One is killing them.
I also saw for the first time the workings of an automatic mah jong table. It works like this: when a game is finished, you push a button on the centre of the table and a circular section like a carousel rises up. All the tiles are then pushed into the opening. Push another button, the carousel recedes with the tiles, the dice roll and a new set of tiles already stacked rises next to each player. A new game is ready to get underway with little time lost to shuffling, stacking and throwing of the dice. How very efficient!!
There are actually two sets of tiles. The tiles are heavier because they all have a magnet implanted. There is a small electric motor at each sitting position which sorts and stacks the tiles.
Then I thought wouldn't that also mean the end of small talks on the mah jong table ? Isn't it killing the social part of the game? There is no time to talk about your hard luck stories, how the family is doing, or ponder your strategies. It is go, go from the start.
I know of a few people who work the mah jong tables for a living. There is also another game of chance popular amongst the villagers. They bet on the outcome of the Lotto draw in HK. They only have to bet on the special or supplementary number. For a small outlay, the winner may pick up a few hundred RMB. Thus its popularity amongst all the non-serious gamblers.
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Post by tyuti1668 on Jun 23, 2010 3:18:16 GMT -5
... dedicated mah jong parlours and there is one in my village... ... outcome of the Lotto draw in HK. They only have to bet on the special or supplementary number. For a small outlay, the winner may pick up a few hundred RMB. Thus its popularity amongst all the non-serious gamblers. The official name is "老人中心" "Special no." is Fixed-odd ANYwhere in mainland which = "40". Most locals are non-serious about this game BUT the "migrants" take it VERY serious (Tips papers... & at least Y100 per bet) .
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Post by douglaslam on Jun 24, 2010 1:25:52 GMT -5
In most villages, you can't help but notice the conspicuous presence of those overseas villagers in the form of donations they made. Some of the villagers who are doing well in Hong Kong, Macau, or further afield are keen to contribute something tangible to the general welfare of the villages.
These acts of generosity are enhanced by China's opening up to the outside world since the death of Mao. In the early years, donations may come in the form of a diesel generator for electricity or an ambulance. Now, the main emphasis is on building schools and hospitals. It stresses the importance we place on health and the value of education.
In my village, the modern primary school was mainly built by funds contributed by villagers abroad. Two of the contributors I do have first hand knowledge of. A large extension to the school was made possible by one Stanley Yee from Sydney. Stanley Yee is a successful businessman, though he is not from my village, his mother is. The extension was named after his mother. I know Stanley Yee and his mother only casually. The donor to building the school entrance was an older man who I knew when I was a little boy.
Acts of generosity now comes in different forms. Home grown donors now join their overseas brothers and sisters. Some people choose to sponsor outings for senior citizens by heavily subsidising tours. One such tour was to Fujian Province, amongst other things to find our link to that province. Other donors see fit to stage Cantonese opera to entertain the elderly, or made money available to pave a scenic walking track up a hill. These are all noble gestures
Most people of my generation or older who were born in China, do have strong affinity with the land of their birth. Many of them want to leave a legacy large or small in their villages. I had my chance to make a very small difference, but to my regret I let it slip through.
I think it was in 1996 when I was home to see my mother. Someone brought to my attention a well, a good water well 好水井 was in need of repairs. Many villagers and migrant workers who could not afford town water depended on the well for their water supply. Work was needed to make it child-proof and general improvement like non-slip surface. I turned down the opportunity to do something because it was towards the end of my stay, and money was tight. The amount was much less than my weekly take home pay. If I did make the donation, I could have a plaque made in my mother's name at the well for perpetuity.
It was a decision I always regret.
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Post by tyuti1668 on Jun 24, 2010 2:52:27 GMT -5
Although my dad was a bad student in school, he donated some $ (The donating project representative in HK was a villager service in the Catholic church) & recieve this years later.
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Post by douglaslam on Jun 25, 2010 0:12:56 GMT -5
Anomalies are abound in just about every village. There are houses big or small left vacant, and there are people living in appalling conditions. I can see solidly built two or three storey buildings unoccupied. Equally large number of traditional dwellings are left to decay. What is going on?
From what I can gather: it is fashionable for the newly rich to build big and gaudy. I visited a big house once with en suite in every room. A house of toilets. The next step, they want to move away to live in townships, and leave the big house standing forlornly empty. Their choice is probably the gated estate of villas or townhouses with artificial lakes, landscaped gardens, security patrol, club house and other mod cons. The family home on ancestral land for generations is no longer good enough. But they have no intentions of letting the big place. They don't need the money. Some houses are empty because the occupants have moved on to Hong Kong or overseas.
There is no shortage of renters, they are mainly migrant workers. The well to do villagers tend not like to have the migants as tenants. They are blamed for trashing the place. Money aside, the migrants look for cheaper alternatives and live in crammed conditions.
Rightly or wrongly many of the community ills are blamed on the migrant workers. Deja vu? Take the water wells. I know two cases of perfectly good wells were fouled up by outsiders who thoughtlessly put up sewer lines and contaminating the ground water. Prostitution in the village is also introduced by outsiders, I am told. Petty crimes too, are conveniently blamed on the migrants.
Yet, it is a love/ hate relationship. Without the migrant workers, the villages can hardly function for they provide the labour for most of the menial work. Without the migrants, there can't be too many people left in the village, and the small business will suffer even more.
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Post by douglaslam on Jun 26, 2010 0:06:28 GMT -5
Not ten metres across from where I was staying in the village, there live two migrant families in very confined space. I am only having a guess because I couldn't make a head count. There is no partition, the main timber door is open at all hours for natural lighting and ventilation, privacy is not assured. This is typical the kind of living conditions migrant workers have to live under. Many people live in crude shelters partitioned off in disused village halls. I could only look on with great respect to the two families who carry on life and bring up children under difficult circumstances. They had to get on well to avoid conflicts in such tight living quarter. Now on the question of children. I saw each family has three children each. One family has three girls. The other has, wait for it , not one, not two, but three boys!! What has happened to family planning and the one child policy? I heard horrendous tales from villagers of forced abortion at close to full term pregnancy, I heard of sterilisation or else losing your secure government job. The law is applied rigorously on the villagers because they have the houkou 户口, local residency permit. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hukou_system This makes law enforcement easier. The migrant workers openly flouting the one child policy because they move about and don't have the local houkou. It is more difficult to keep track. One thing I don't understand is how they managed to enrol their children in schools. Without houkou paper, a marriage certificate, or permit to have a child, any offspring is an non-entity. The child enjoys no rights, not even education. Tyuti1668, perhaps you can make sense of it. And please tell us more about your father's donation to a school. It is a very commendable thing to do. I wish I had the means to make a meaningful contribution.
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Post by helen on Jun 26, 2010 0:43:44 GMT -5
When an elder died here in NZ about 5 years back, he donated $3,000 NZDollars to the village school . Not a lot here, but worth a lot over there. It's the thought that counts
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Post by tyuti1668 on Jun 26, 2010 1:08:17 GMT -5
...perhaps you can make sense of it. And please tell us more about your father's donation to a school. It is a very commendable thing to do. I wish I had the means to make a meaningful contribution. Non-Han minority OR can afford their so called home's 社会抚养费: several thousand yuan ONLY in those backward country area. The poorest migrants will send their child back "home" for education. There's also "private" shcool if they can afford in town. That representative visits many Longdu ppl traditional trades for the project in HK Dad met him in Central Market when buying chicken for festvial from a "Longdu"er. No ATM card (that was 80's) in hand, so just donated a few hundred HK$ .
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Post by douglaslam on Jun 27, 2010 4:11:08 GMT -5
This is my first attempt at Photobucket with a lot of help from my child. It is messy. There must be an easier way to share my travel snaps. This is supposed to be the best eel rice in all of Siyi. The restaurant is in fact in Toishan, a short drive on an unlit narrow country road. The restaurant is not eye-catching, located in a sleepy village off the beaten track. We walk past a dim shop front, past the smokey kitchen, up two fights of stairs for the bigger dining area. It overlooks vegetable patches. If it is decor, spotless tablecloth, napkins, a comprehensive menu,and smartly dressed waiters you are looking for, then you'll be disappointed. There is no menu, not even a blackboard. Your choice is the vegetables only. And boy, they are good! The buc choi is crunchy and tasty. The eel rice is served without prompting. That's what people come for. And it did not disappoint on this occasion. We pour hot water on the burned rice sticking to the cooker. It comes off like pork crackling and tastes like pork crackling. It costs less than half what I paid for the first outing. My wife's cousin and his friends are regular patrons. This is my first eel rice experience for the current trip. The sign reads Toishan's #1 Eel Rice Hing Wah Restaurant. Of course, this is in Chungshan. The cost for the three of us was 243RMB (incl. liquor), rather expensive.
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Post by tyuti1668 on Jun 27, 2010 6:47:40 GMT -5
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Post by chansomvia on Jun 27, 2010 18:48:53 GMT -5
Hi Douglaslam,
I can see the beginning of a very good series of photos once you get the hang of posting them on the internet, your excellent comments need no tuition! I agree with tyuti168 that picasa is easy and learning curve less steep, give it a go.
There is however one thing you need to check, we now use high definition digital cameras which gives excellent print pictures but takes ages to load all the pixels into the internet. For pictures intended to be posted into the internet a 4MP is very good, a 2MB is highly acceptable. 8MP or more is hard for loading. There are free software for reducing the pixels to increase the speed and number of photos that can be loaded.
As an aternative you can use Flickr directly, or get the youngsters to put the photos on Facebook with a link to Flickr. In any case I can see you spending many happy hours on reliving the memories of your fantastic trip; we have enjoyed your tales and look forward to hearing more.
Joe
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