All sales final

Last week, before winter winds swiftly moved on the city, large stacks of Bai Cai cabbage (白菜) and other various veggies were being sold en masse on just about every street corner.

The scenes were frantic. People lined up (or didn't) and stocked up on cheap, fresh vegetables for winter soups. Likely, the farmers and sellers had many excess heads and wanted to move them before they froze, spoiled, or both.

Going for only a few cents per jin (a Chinese measurement eq. to about .5 kg), I saw wheelbarrows arrive empty and leave full. Other patrons simply strapped the bagged heads onto the back carriers of their bikes. This kept the gloved lettuce peddlers more than busy haggling over price and shucking off brown and yellow layers while moving literally tons of product.

Once people buy the greens, they often don't have the space or the freezer room to put the veggies inside, so they are left to sit outside. I'm sure this is really safe and should be encouraged. On the left is a picture of one pile chilling out in front of my apartment door. They look... delicious? Maybe?

Now, outdoor markets are very common here and most produce is left out to the elements before being sold or spoiled. Never before have I seen massive piles in the streets though.


These stacks stayed outside my flat for about a week before being brought inside to their owner's freezers, perhaps slightly smaller due to evaporation and rot. Mmmm...


Bai Cai was by far the most common veggie sold. Yet, at a few corners one could pick up different varieties of onions, potatoes, gourds, carrots, and other root vegetables. These, of course, didn't require the above 200 jin scale, but a more tactful 20 jin one below.

For more pictures of these markets, visit my flickr photos. I'll post more soon.

peace, love, and tons of cabbage. paul.








Above: Large bundles of of onion stalks draws spectators and lucky buyers.

Left: Women sift through carrots and potatoes to find the season's best.

Taxi Cab Politics, Lost in Translation?

One main reason I chose to move to China's capital, Beijing, was because the environment is distinctly more political. Most people are well informed (from state run media) and willing to discuss their perspectives. For some reason, in the past week I've had interesting political conversations with red blood cells of Beijing, taxi cab drivers.

For some reason, probably my complexion, drivers can tell I'm a foreigner. After I state my destination, the logical follow up question they ask is, "What country do you come from?" I calmly reply that I'm American, and brace myself for the reaction. In the past two weeks, I've received the best reactions to date.

The first was last week. The cabbie asked me what I thought of Bush. (His Chinese name, Bu shi, sounds phonetically similar to "no" or "am not"...) "I didn't vote for him. What do you think of him?" I said.

That's when it started.

"Well," the driver started, "I think he's like Chairman Mao Ze Dong." "什么？What?" I said. "Yeah, just like Mao, Bush is 70% right and 30% wrong," he said, reporting the official government line on Mao's service to China. "Bush has done some bad things, but has there been another 9/11? All of the war has moved to Iraq! Sure, the economy isn't where it was. Even Europe isn't where it used to be, though," he said. I was blown away.

We continued talking about the state of the world for awhile, but I still couldn't shake his comparison to Mao. Bush has done some heinous things, but nothing compares to the images conjured up in my head when I think of Mao. Maybe, just maybe, Mao was more than 30% wrong.

The second conversation was yesterday morning. I missed the bus and had to take a cab. The driver asked where I was going and what country I came from. "America is very very strong*!" he said, "Very very strong*!" I nervously laughed and waited to see where he was going with this. "What do you think of Bush?" I prodded. "Bush? He's very ugly. I don't think he's a good president. Too ugly!" "难看？什么？Ugly^? What?" I said. "Yeah, too ugly. Clinton was very beautiful**! A good president and so beautiful**!" "So, he's a bad president because he's ugly? What about all of Clinton's girlfriends? Should a president have girlfriends who aren't his wife?" I asked. "BECAUSE he was beautiful** he had so many girlfriends. Lewinsky wasn't beautiful** but HE sure was! ... And a great president! Bush is too ugly to have girlfriend or be a good president!" I'm not sure whether we're talking about a leader's ability or attractiveness!

"How about [former Chinese President] Jiang Zi Men? With those large glasses, was he handsome** and a good president?" I asked. "Jiang Zi Men? He was handsome**, but Bush is too ugly^!" I had so many things to ask him, but just as my convulsive laughter allowed me to speak, we'd arrived at my school. WOW.

These conversations gave me a lot to talk and laugh about with my teachers today. Now, everytime I'm in a cab, I'm going to ask the Bush question...maybe I'll take a poll of cab drivers. I'll call it Bush: Hot or Not. Or maybe Bush: 70% or 30%? Stay tuned for the results, I'm curious to see the margin of error...

peace, love, and politics. paul.


*The word he used was: li hai 厉害，which can also mean fierce.
^Nan kan 难看, means ugly, or embarrassed.
**Piao liang 漂亮, which is commonly used for beautiful women, can also mean intelligent. Shuai 帅 is handsome, and in different context, commander in chief.

My 'hood

When the weather is clear in Beijing, the color of the sky can be remarkable. This tree is in my courtyard. peace. paul.