Some interesting things about our area...

We had heard that China is so dirty.  And I would have to agree that the air is pretty polluted.  As we drove home from the first day of school last week, I had to grab the camera and document the BLUE SKY. This was the clearest we've seen it here.  Usually, you can actually look at the sun without hurting your eyes, and can only see a quarter mile or less.   Here in TEDA, they work hard at keeping things clean.  A street sweeper goes by daily, as does a street washer--a truck spewing water with enough force that it wets down 4 lanes of asphalt at a time.  And pity the bicyclists who didn't have a chance to get out of the way.
   By the way, the yellow & red sculpture is in the middle of a huge intersection.

Not all the streets are 8-lanes wide.  The street that goes by the back of the hotel is 2 lanes.  Another thing I've been amazed by is the amount of hand-labor that is done.  These bushes are clipped with hand clippers.  At the side of the expressway going into Tianjin, there are flower beds and sculpted bushes. On our trips, we'll see a couple of vans parked (or a whole bunch of bikes parked), and 20-30 workers hand weeding, or doing some upkeep.  I understand that wages are low, so hiring a whole bunch of people isn't that expensive.

As we walked down this street, we heard a rooster crow!  Here in the middle of a megalopolis!  And sure enough, there were chickens being kept at one apartment.  As we took a closer look, there were rabbit runs by several of the ground-floor apts.  Supplementing their diet?  Or just wanting to raise their own food?

 I heard Obama praise China for their nice roads and bridges, saying America needed to follow their lead in spending more for infrastructure.  I would have to say that the roads are smooth and nice--but then, they are pretty new (at least for the 2008 Olympics). In 1994, there were only 2 expressways in the entire country.  Now, they are everywhere.  And what is built fast isn't necessarily built well.  This spot in the sidewalk is not rare.  You have to watch where you walk to avoid broken-up areas.  A friend of Kevin's at work got a broken collar bone when bicycling, when he rode over a manhole cover in the street and it disintegrated.  The workmanship in the buildings is sometimes appalling.  China might be a powerhouse, but they haven't arrived yet!

But there are some beautiful things (named Ellie and Alice.)  No, really, the Chinese do love beautiful things, and it seems that in an area like TEDA, where many foreigners live, they have a high standard.

 I wish I would have brought more dressy clothes.  We feel so casual, when all the Chinese are dressed so nice.  The women wear chiffon tops, or gold lame, or the kinds of things we would only wear for a nice evening out.  Here, they wear them grocery shopping!  And they are all so petite and slender.    

    And I finally dared take a picture in a clothing store.  If a shirt has English words on it, you can bet that it won't make any sense.
  Some of the shirts' sayings stop in mid-sentence.   Ellie is keeping track of some of the more interesting ones.  

But I think I'll remember this motto:  If you broke my heart, don't worry it.