Local Surrounds March, 07

I don't work in the heart of Beijing -- on purpose

I want to live in the REAL China.... not near McDonald's and hundreds of other foreigners - what would be the point in coming all this way and live in the centre of Beijing or Shanghai.

I work and live on the outskirts of Beijing where no other foreign people live. I am the only one.

Then up the road there is a stretch of road with run down houses, shops a few of them are ancient. The mostly they look quite run down in a modern way, not in a 1300's kinda way more like new 1800 -1900's way. some even so modern maybe the 50's & 70's (turquoise coloured tiles).

I like the way people use sheets for curtains. Sticky tape back windows together, make their own mops out of shredded materials, bound together straw for brooms, that there are rotting couches and chairs out the front of houses/shops.

it is very markety. things for sale on the back of bikes. (i saw a lady with about 4 big fish tanks on the back of a bike packed with orange and black fish. i talked to her a little. i took a photo. i swear anything can go on the back of a bike. can you imagine riding that around? she was selling the fish. on the streets or on the back of bikes there are stalls. fruit, live animals, nuts, tacky stuff.

Some people in this area do stare at me. I must look weird to them. What is a foreigner doing here?

Bought some stuff at the corner store. Prices are comparable to Auchan (coles). Saw a few pool tables outside out the front of shops, pple playing. saw motorcycle mechanics and hardware shops. but with all the shops i have to look at them and think "what is that??" then i peer in the window and look a bit closely and think "oooooh that is a hardware shop".

In the corner store I saw something that surprised me and made me laugh.. Bread. I said to the shop assistant "oh!". She said its name in Chinese. It looked so weird, so foreign.

It is very nostalgic - like when you see memorabillia, or when they replay 'Hey Hey its Saturday" or "Young Talent Time" or "Countdown" you think ---- "Oh I remember that".

I saw an image on television of a family eating with knives and forks. It looked so weird. "what are they doing? Operating?" Seriously they looked like surgeons to me. It looked very clunky to be using metal implements to eat with. It looked horrible. LIke a mechanic should be using those implements, not people eating. It looked very crass and just a horrible thought to put a metal object into ones mouth. Now I know what my ex meant about it being barbaric me using a knife and fork.

Yeah I have not seen a knife or a fork for a month. There are some spoons in my kitchen. When I cooked noodles with water I thought - I need a fork, it is entirely impractical, awkward and slow to eat noodles with chopsticks. however, it is just as fast and easy. just my belief, my assumption