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Published: December 26th 2008
24 December, 2008.
We’ve been in China for nearly 5 months now and sometimes, it is made up of tiny exquisite red paper cuts, or the heavy fragrant scent from yellow plum blossom and at other times it’s made up of walking in pedestrian areas down the lanes, struggling against bikes, motor bikes, mopeds and people and dogs then trying to cross the huge road at the end of the lanes where no one adheres to a red light and you have to take your life in your own hands to get across. There are no rules. One day, you can see a man on the outside of the 35th floor of a building with his safety rope swinging freely across his back - without fear. He seems not to notice the world below or care of the dangers. He runs along the gang plank to wave and his mate joins him to shin up the building and you cannot believe your eyes.
You can come across a crowd of girls who gather around the dog - not wanting to touch it through fear but wanting a photograph of it whilst in the background, a wedding photo shoot takes place
and no one sees the bride. You can come across beautiful poised elderly, in total control practicing their life-long ti qi in perfect harmony with themselves whilst the water calligraphy dries on the ground in the early morning sun - left every day by its anonymous author. You can laugh and laugh at the underground ‘pusher’ who physically pushes people into the already too crowded underground car only for them to have the last laugh because your mobile gets stolen out of a zipped pocket in your coat the next minute.
There is so much traffic and sound and honking of horns serenaded by spitting and shouting that sometimes you walk along and cannot think anything positive because there is no space and then there are moments when you pass the old man on his old ladder watering his plants on the roof of his old low house with an old cup and he looks and smiles and all the noise fades away.
China is all this and more. I cannot ever possibly show or tell you everything because you need to see it, feel it, be in it to understand its chaos and beauty. To learn to
shanghai yoyo
very sophisticated - with his christmas scarf and his little happy christmas pin badgelive within it, along side it.
Today, I am tired. The world wore me out in one short walk with the dog. The noise, the bustle, hustle, unruly dogs, the stares, shouts and cars ignoring the people trying so very hard to cross the road. The weather is cold now. The outside sinks in the old lane’s have water drip icicles from their taps and the boiled water seller is doing big business. I don’t know why the tailor has her door locked and if that women doesn’t get a lead for her brown ugly dog that attacks mine every day, it’s gonna get ugly.
In the regular city- the cold goes unnoticed except for the girl student who answered my poster at work to ask if anyone would like to walk the dog for an hour on Saturdays or Sundays for a payment - she was desperate to do it so I agreed that she could after her and the dog had met and she she seemed to manage him. But then (surprise) on Sunday - the day it was agreed for her to walk the dog for an hour, she turned up at work to collect the
house key only to exclaim
“ but it is not good weather.”
“I’m sorry, what did you say? !!!!“
“ it’s not good weather to walk the dog. It is cold and rainy.”
Someone - GIVE me strength.
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Jane
non-member comment
Merry Christmas!
Hello you 3 - what a great video, much better than the actual queen's speech. Your parcel arrived this morning and then this, we just watched it and when you showed Mir's present J said "You didn't send anything". Oh dear. I feel very bad but If I start knitting now Yoyo might have a coat to match Hui Hui's by next Xmas. Lots of love xxxxx