It's been one week....

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Now that I have been here one week, I am no longer running into many firsts and many of my firsts are becoming everyday events. So now I would like to direct my writing to some of the more subtle differences I have noticed in Beijing, as compared to my normal surroundings in the United States. The first subject I would like to talk about is with respect to the sidewalks in Beijing. Unfortunately I don't have a picture of a sidewalk as of yet, but I am sure I will be able to get one without much trouble in the near future.
The sidewalks in Beijing are all brick tile in various colors, with a yellow rubbery path following the inside of every sidewalk (as opposed to the outside next to the street). Now the point of this discussion is mostly to do with the yellow rubbery path, which has oval shaped bumps rising out of it. At first I hadn't the slightest clue why this yellow path seemed to occur on every sidewalk around the city. Was it an exercise path? Or the designated speed walkers lane? But then someone in the group suggested that the path was in fact for orthopedic reasons and better for your feet. Now this explanation made sense, I could see the Chinese actually thinking about the affects of a lot of walking on a person's feet and trying to reduce the adverse affects. But now after doing some research on the internet, I came across another possible interpretation of the yellow rubbery path. Some sources suggest that this path is in fact for the blind, so that they can feel the raised bumps on their feet and know where to go. Apparently the shape of the bumps change when going around corners and coming to intersections. The reason the path is yellow is so that the rest of us will make way and leave this area for the blind. I don't know which explanation is the truth or if either is even close to the intended purpose of the yellow rubbery path. Just something to ponder.
Now, to answer Carla's question about the weather here in Beijing. It has been very hot (probably 90 degrees F) and humid, which is difficult for me to understand with the desert being so close. Only in the past couple of nights have there been thunderstorms. The gray you see in the pictures is fog or smog. I'm not really sure if the pollution or the humidity has more to do with the haze that rarely leaves the sky. The lack of sun is to the point that one day when a group of us were out being tourists, someone said "Hey look, take a picture, I see the sun!".

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Comments

[Carla]

beautiful gardens/smog
So if it seems to always be foggy or smoggy, how do they have such beautiful gardens that we hear of and see pictures of? There MUST be sun at some point during the season. Or maybe the gardens are fake? That's very interesting about the yellow path. It's a neat idea that it's for the blind. How do they cross the street tho? does it continue across the street? Your adventure has been fun for me! I start looking for the email informing me of a new blog around 10 am each day. It came rather late today. I believe you're 12 hours ahead of us.....why aren't you in bed?

[Lisa D]

Yellow Rubbery Path ....... to Oz
Hi Tekla, when I first started reading what you wrote about the path, is it possible that they are there more to stop people slipping?? We have them here in Australia near and on steps, and at the railway station. I know there's more in other places too. Unless of course.... it's the yellow brick road leading to oz.... hehe.