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Published: March 24th 2015
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I will always be grateful to Zhengzhou for my gorgeous little son.
Here are some observations of the city of my son's birth.
Rapid Development The city has been developing incredibly rapidly. The Hilton Hotel in which we stayed was built only a year ago. Many of the buildings in the business district are similarly new. Construction occurs everywhere. On our way to the shopping precinct just across the road from our hotel, we observed a bulldozer working perilously closely to passing pedestrians. Government officers in Australia would have heart palpitations at the daily, manifold OH&S infringements.
Pollution The corollary of the development has been the significant pollution levels. Air pollution in China is generated from multiple sources, including construction and industrial dust, coal consumption and vehicle exhaust fumes.
While I had been prepared for some pollution, I was surprised by the levels we encountered. The sky is virtually sunless and the nearby buildings fade into the toxic mist. There have been a few nights when I couldn't believe there wasn't someone puffing on a cigarette right next to the bed (and not in a fabulous post-coital kind of way), so strong was the odour
of smoke. An American pharmacist staying at our hotel told me that her son, whose asthma was virtually non-existent in Wisconsin, had to take steroids soon after arriving in Zhengzhou, after he used his entire “precautionary” inhaler on their first day.
Pollution particles with a diameter of less than 2.5 micrometres (PM2.5) are the deadliest – the smaller the particles, the deeper they penetrate. A Danish study published in 2013 demonstrated that there is no safe level of PM2.5. In Europe and the United States;
readings over 35 are thought to be “high” or “unhealthy”. According to the World Health Organisation,
Zhengzhou's average reading is 102.4,
but this is thought to be an underestimation. (1)
I worry for the people of Zhengzhou, especially the children. I can only imagine the long-term effects of the pollution on the population's long-term health.
Traffic While the majority of car owners drive as though they are immortal and the space between cars on motorways can sometimes be measured in centimetres, it's the scooter drivers who are particularly astonishing, because:
- there are no rules regulating the use of scooters;
- there is no requirement for scooter drivers to wear
helmets;
- scooters are frequently driven on footpaths; and
- we observed children and even babies being blithely carried on scooters with no method of restraint other than a parent’s arm.
Our hotel was located in the business district, right next to a major intersection with no traffic lights. Cars travelled in a ceaseless wave down the main thoroughfare. Invariably, a couple of intrepid pedestrians would venture out against the traffic and the masses behind them would surge forward, inviting the cars to hit them. Tiger advised us when crossing the road to surround ourselves with other pedestrians, using them much like a human shield. Dubious principle, but it worked a treat. I finally know what it's like to be the frog in Frogger.
People This was not my observation, but Tiger’s. He asked me to look carefully at people’s faces as we passed them on the street, and tell him what I saw. I had felt a strange Twilight Zoney sense ever since I arrived at Zhengzhou, but I couldn't put my finger on it. When I actually observed the people, I noticed that no-one smiled. Not in a have-to-get-to-work-very-focused way, but genuinely dour. Shopkeepers, pedestrians,
bureaucrats - everyone is grim. Only the Hilton Hotel staff are cheery, but usually only when they see you coming and their faces artificially light up. This was true even in the more affluent area of the city - when I ventured further into the more impoverished areas of the city on my long walks with the kids, it was even worse. This was simultaneously disconcerting and depressing. Tiger said that people have so much to contend with, as Henan is one of the poorest and most polluted provinces in China, that they develop a survival-of-the-fittest mentality. It made our stay a bit miserable, both to be around such sadness, and knowing the significant difficulties that many people in Zhengzhou experience on a daily basis.
MAYA It is very smoky here. Sometimes it's hard to breath. When I blow my nose, my boogers are black.
The cars and scooters drive on the footpath – even the cars!!!!!! Every time I pushed Sammy in the pram – and I push Sammy all the time thanks Mum – I had to be
VERY careful.
People always bump into me. Mainly the women. Mum says I shouldn't
but now I push back. Ha ha.
(1) Wolf, D.
Financial Review, 06/12/14
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Katrena
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So happy for you all.
I am so looking forward to seeing you all again soon and meeting Sammy. I think Sam already knows how lucky he is to have such a wonderful mum and big sister. Maya you sound like you are doing an amazing job of looking after Sam with mum. I hope things continue to go so well. Love from all of us in Tassie.