Mystifistiske Kina (part 1)

Før Påske var Søster og jeg et smut i Kinas land. Og hvordan var så det?  Altså... bizart, spændende, interessant, frustrerende, overvældende, sjovt, sært. Meget svært at sammenfatte i få ord, og af og til lidt svært at navigere i, da mit kinesiske viste sig at være yderst mangelfuldt (sært nok). Fuldt af folk (er det ikke 1.7 milliarder eller deromkring). Fuldt af meget interessant mad. Som af og til smiler til en...

Yummy! 

PS - is it just me, or does this photo remind you

of the movie Face/Off (the one with John Travolta

and Nicholas Cage)?

Børn i Kina nyder generelt et højt serviceniveau

og er således i stand til både at indtage drikkevarer

og spille bip-bip spil (hvad hedder det i dag?) samtidig.

If you happen to be a Chinese child, you may also happen

to have very service-minded parents who are happy

to hold your drinks for you, so you can devote your full 

attention as well as both your hands to your game pad

whilst enjoying a refreshing drink...

Skiltet siger "Love in the butt".

Er der en kinesisk-kyndig til stede, som kan

fortælle mig hvad denne plakat rent

faktisk reklamerer for? For alle de ting, jeg kan

forestille mig, er simpelthen for blog-uegnede...

This poster advertises

"Love in the butt"

I should like to know what it is about.

I have an idea or two.

But I hope I'm wrong.

Altså, jeg havde godt nok set det i historiebøger -

de der kinesiske børne-bukser, som ikke er syet helt

sammen i skridtet. Men jeg troede faktisk ikke, de stadig blev brugt.

Der tog jeg fejl.

Når man tænker på, hvor stor en belastning, engangsbleer er for miljøet 

- og hvor mange børn, de trods 1-barns poltikken har i Kina -

så er det vel på sin vis godt nok.

Men når jeg ser folk gå med deres delvist barnumsede børn på armen

så er min eneste tanke bare

"nøj, du tager godt nok en chance med dit tøj"

- og jeg gloede lige en ekstra gang, da en dame satte sig på hug

og lod sin lille dreng tisse en sø (Tissø?) af anselig størrelse

lige midt på fortovet i Beijing.

I didn't actually think Chinese children still wore these well-ventilated

trousers (I'd seen them in books, but honestly thought it was something

they did in the olden days), but nope, I was mooned by several small

children.  Considering just how many Chinese children there

are, I suppose we should be grateful that they're not all wearing Pampers

(I'm picturing a landfill the size of Hong Kong), but I must confess

I did a double take when a woman squatted down and let her

toddler take a wee, right in the middle of a crowded sidewalk

in Beijing.  But hey, we all know how squeamish I am.

And so, you won't be surprised when I tell you that every single

time I saw a person carrying a scantily clad toddler on his/her arm,

the only thing I could think was, "wow, you're not very careful 

with your clothes now, are you"...

Fortunately, most things are translated into English.

Which helps a lot.

Hangzhou, 1-1½ times togkørsel fra Shanghai

We took the highspeed train from Shanghai to Hangzhou.

Highly recommended!

Travelling in late March/early April is also highly recommended - we had

22-25 degrees Celsius (= about 75 Fahrenheit) in Shanghai. A bit

less in Beijing which is further north, but it was still okay.

Din ærede blogger, ved Vestsøen i Hangzhou

Flere billeder følger!

More pictures to come. I need a bigger memory card.

And a better camera.

Also, more time to blog.