The Long Journey Home

This is another post about my commute.
It takes a substantial part of everyday, during which I normally just relax and read, or listen to music, it gives me a chance to pay attention to what is going on around me in the city.
And then report the amusing things back to you.

I could take a taxi and miss the bus ride, this would save me from the squash, but cost €4 every day. Seems better to live with the inconvenience, pay €0.08 and travel along with everyone else. Hell it makes me feel more egalitarian, even if we enjoy a life in the city which is far beyond the reaches of most people.
Although, a student today did tell me the 'Typical' Beijing family has an investment portfolio, I think she may have been drawing a little heavily on personal experience. Most of my students are from well off families I think.

Anyway, tonight I missed the 628 to Datong Dong Lu deliberately, it was just too full. I should have known better, five minutes later the Yintong 110 turned up, but was at least as full and half the size. I took that bus to Huixinxiejie Beikou. On the bus there are TVs, this is pretty common in Beijing and I don't want to seem like a yokel, but it seems pretty technologically advanced to me. So often they show a home improvement programme, where a doe-eyed presenter knocks up some 'useful' implements for around the home. Last time I saw it, she was making a handy kitchen towel dispenser from a used oil bottle. You get the idea. Today however was a little different and illustrated two things I have noticed about life in China and the Chinese people in particular.

1. Green Tea can do anything. You may have seen that Chinese people often carry around little bottles with tea leaves in wherever they go. In many places there are water heaters, so you can fill up your bottle and drink tea til your thirst is slaked and beyond.
2. Hygeine is a big deal. No shoes in the house, face masks to block out pollution, etc. You might be fooled however if you saw the university toilets, but never mind.

So on the show this evening, the lady was showing how telephone handsets (the landline kind) can become infected with bacteria from people spitting when they talk into them. Ignore the obvious advice at this point and stay with me.
The obvious responseis to wrap some green tea in a piece of kitchen towel (dispensed with ease of course) and then place that between the mouthpiece and the rest of the phone. The Tea then acts as some kind of antibacterial agent while your not using it.
A smug chap popped up to suggest this wouldn't work with wall-mounted phones, but an elastic band soon dealt with that little problem. Not quite sure what you do when you want to talk into it though.

So out of the melee and onto the subway, line five to Yonghegong Lama Temple.
On the subway were a number of migrant workers, you can often spot them as they carry huge rolls of bedding around with them, presumably sleping near wherever there is work. You get the distinct feeling the city and indeed country would not function without their hardwork. This general feeling of respect evaporated somewhat when one of them whipped out his mobile and played what sounded like Chinese Celine Dion, accompanied by diso lights which actually shone out from the sides of his phone. Charver.

Then changing at Yonghegong for Line 2 and the single stop to Dongzhimen. Line 2 is one of the oldest and most established subway lines. Built in the seventies, it is one of the older modern things in the city. Beijing is curious in that sense, things are either ancient or modern, with little middle ground. Not likely to change in the near future either since the modern buildings often aren't built to last.

Anyway, there are also TVs on the subway lines and on line two there are three basic programmes. Educational shorts displaying the proposed behaviour of subway passengers, these are largely ignored and I frequently have to utilise my superior body weight to suggest passengers should stand aside and let people off before attempting to board.

The second choice is essentially meat adverts, evenly split between KFC, which in China thinks nothing of mainly advertising their beef wraps, I guess the C doesn't mean so much here. and a company you may remeber called Little Sheep. Who seem to make both backpacks as we have already seen, and lamb cutlets that send women weak at the knees. A curious business model if you ask me.

The final programme is a very short soap opera. It seems to be charting the 'will they-won't they' relationship of two young attractive Beijing urbanites. If you've seen the French movie L'Appartement, you'll know the plot.

So there it is another curious little insight into my daily travels and travails.