Chapter 4 - Around town...

I went shopping in a local shopping district where the streets were blocked
off and filled with shoppers.  Along the edge of the streets were
individual vendors in well designed booths about 6 feet wide by 8 feet
deep.  They sold everything!  They were all numbered and apparently rented
out to the vendors.  As we walked down the street, behind these vendors and
the sidewalk were the regular stores.  They were all very small, each one
specializing in something:  a store for purses, one for dresses, one for
blouses, etc.  They were about 12 feet wide by 20 feet deep.  They had a
small inventory and what made it easy for them is that most of the items
were all one size.  Most of the chinese people are thin and about the same
height, so there is a "uni-size" that fits most.  Unfortunately (or
fortunately) nothing would fit me...  I have to find tourist places that
have XL or XXL sizes since the uni-size is about a size 6 for women and
about a 24 inch waist for men!

There was a Kentucky Fried Chicken store on the block.  It is the first
fast food in China and consists of a 3 story store with the food on the
first floor and small tables for at least 100 people, and seating at larger
tables on the 2nd and 3rd floors for at least 200 each floor.  There is a
kiddie play area on the 2nd floor just like in the US with slides, etc. and
the children were having a grand time.  It was good to see that they were
no different from other children anywhere, and we exchanged smiles with
them and their parents.  In this area we could hear music over the noise of
talking and playing, and it included "Happy Birthday" and some Christmas
carols!  Beyond the play area was a hand washing area which consisted of a
long counter on one wall with 3 sinks with hot and cold water, and electric
dryers on the opposite wall.  There was an attendant present keeping the
floor mopped, and there were plenty of people using it.  Beside this area
were small men's and women's toilets which were relatively clean but
lacking the smell of disinfectants that I am used to.

Outside this store on the edge of the street were street vendors offering
local "fast food" competition.  There were at least 15 booths all selling
some specialization of chinese local food... one chicken, one beef, one
pork, one vegetables, etc.  Many had noodles or rice to go with the
offering but there was obviously no place to sit, and the people ate out of
white styrofoam containers which doubled as containers and kept the food
hot.  The utensils of course were chop sticks, so everything was disposable
wh en they were done.

Down the street there was a McDonald's, also large, but with only one floor
of seating space.  We tried their food on a different day and it was just
like home!

Around the corner the street booths thinned out and we went into a type of
grocery store which was really in the basement.  It was fascinating, as
they had many varieties of nuts and dried fruits, cookies, pastry, breads,
and they were all in large open containers where they could be scooped up
by the pound or number of pieces.  It made me less interested because they
were not in individually wrapped containers.  There was also 2 varieties of
dried beef, and Quaker Condensed milk (instead of the expected Carna tion
brand).  They sold paper diapers although I have noticed that paper
products in general are somewhat less available than in the US.  We did not
see paper towels much or paper plates, etc.

We went into a department store that was 6 floors tall.  At first it seemed
very similar to the US but then we noticed some interesting differences.
There were counters or tables everywhere and it seemed like each one had a
clerk attending it.  There were easily 4 times as many clerks as we have.
When you purchase an item, a clerk writes up a slip in triplicate and then
you have to take it to a cashier (only 3-4 to a floor) in a special booth,
pay her for the item, bring the 2 slips back to the clerk, exchang e one
slip for your purchase and keep the other as a receipt.  The store was
divided as usual into clothing categories with several floors catering to
dress suits, and the top floor having very expensive dresses.

We entered another larger department store near closing time.  It also had
6 floors and 2 sets of escalators and an elevator.  All the counters and
displays lacked the quality and decor that you would see in the US.  I
could not figure out what else was different until it came to me that there
is a general lack of the use of color everywhere.  Everything is off white
and plain in construction sort of like what you would see in the best
wooden buildings of a state fairground.  Our hotel room (where I am now
writi ng) has good use of color and blending of furniture with that color.
Then we had a real treat!  It was time for the store to close, and we heard
some music (nothing special, but soft in nature) and all the employees went
to their special position next to their display and faced the exit (or at
least everyone faced the same direction).  As we walked out of the store it
was curious to see all the employees lined up in this way as if to say,
"good night".

In some of the larger stores we hear a soft jazz style of american music,
and we also have the same music in the hotels.  The TV shows are reruns
from the 40's and 50's.  My theory is that these movies do not contain the
violence of today and are better suited to "a positive influence on the
culture".  The MTV channel is more up to date with mostly women sort of
acting out the music being played.  You see the "lost love" theme and other
less specific "mood" backgrounds where the women just move around a resort
type setting during the song.

Last night we went to a Muslim restaurant and sat around a large table in a
private room with the Simplex manager and 6 of his employees.  In the
corner of the room was a large stereo karaoke system with 2 microphones.
It works like a juke box where you look in a book for your song listing and
then punch in the number(s) you want.  You do not pay for individual
songs... it is all open.  When the selection comes up, you see a video of
the song and hear the accompaniment and have the words (in Chinese) appear
at the bottom of the screen similar to the children songs videos but no one
sings the song.  Instead, the mic is passed to someone who wants to sing
and they sing the melody while everyone else joins in.  It really sounds
great with echo surround sound and it is very enjoyable.  The employees
surprised us at being very good singers.  They are all college graduates
and are very talented.  There were several songs that we knew in English,
and some very beautiful songs from asia.  There were an equal number of men
and women in the group, and it was a great way to share an evening.  They
have a very good sense of humor and enjoy having good fun.

The food was very good, Chinese style, and featured about 8 different
dishes which we all used chop sticks to enjoy.  The table was covered with
a huge lazy susan which we used to select what we wanted to put on our
dish.  Among the dishes were shishkabob lamb, grilled chicken pieces,
flattened pieces of lamb baked with sesame seed covering, beef in a dark
curry sauce, strips of pickled cucumber skins (the inside was removed for
another dish), a different type of pickled sauce over pieces of chinese
cabbage, two whole broiled fish in a sauce, pieces of candied watermelon,
and mixed fruit pieces similar to our cans of mixed fruit salad.