"Eating Bitter"

It's bizarre that in this city where on the streets you can see Chinese mainlanders driving Porsche Turbo Cayenne's and Range Rovers, while in other parts you can see outsiders, people not from Beijing, working all hours to make a living, which they will not use themselves, but instead send home to their families.

He's 26, married, with a three year old son. Works in a hotel's basement shower house. He's from Henan. And just another outsider. Though, after talking with him, I just wanted to write this little bit. He has no set income each month. Instead he gets paid based on how many people ask for the 搓澡 (cuozao) or loofa service. Quite literally it's the scrub down while taking a shower, you can lie down and this guy will do the work of scrubbing off the dead skin so you don't have to. While, to a foreigner, it might seem like a weird service, and something that should be done by oneself, in China it's a service for someone else to do. It might be best to think of it as a massage type service, which are perfectly normal

Well, he has no income except from what he makes each month from people paying him to scrub. It's 8 kuai each time for a 10 minute scrub. I originally assumed that he made an income from the hotel, but in reality, he's basically a squatter. He and his "coworker," the other guy that works in this shower house, sleep on the massage tables that are the benches in the locker room.

The income this Henan worker makes he sends home to his parents, who are watching his 3 year old son while he and his wife are here in Beijing working.

I bring up this man because he's 26. Born in 1983, he is of the '80s generation. 80后，the after '80 generation in the cities means that you were born after China's opening up, and that you can't 吃苦 (chiku) literally "eat bitter." Basically, you've been raised with a silver spoon, never known working hard without pay or worrying about whether or not you will eat today. While this may be true for people born in cities, in the countryside this new term "80 hou" just would not and can not apply.

It really speaks to these two worlds, which parallel each other in Chinese society. On the one hand there are the city people who may not be driving the Landrovers and living in international grade apartments, but who are still able and willing to provide for their children; and on the other hand, the countryside parents who must rely on their post-1980 children in order to live day to day.

"Place for Ratcide"

The other day I was walking to meet some people and I saw yellow flags placed in the corners of planters and patches of grass and dirt along the east third ring road. On closer inspection I found them to be placed around three or four bright blue objects about the size of a chocoloate easter egg...

And on closer inspection, they turned out to be ratcide. That's right, here in Beijing the ratcide is left out on the street, well, clearly marked, but still left out there for any unsuspecting dog, cat, or child that isn't being watched too closely. I'm not sure if this is how it's done in the States, but I was a little taken aback. I hope it got to its intended target!