A Kiwi Cellist in China

The life & times, ups & downs, of a Kiwi / Australian cellist in Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra.

Monday, June 26, 2006

Puddles in the street

China’s not a country renowned for its honesty: “SARS? Not here. Bird Flu?! Nay ‘tis but a chest cold…” In fact it’s such a problem here that university students must sign a waiver allowing the college to video-tape them when they sit exams. The tapes of those that do well are scrutinized for suspicious behavior. So coming here to work on a tourist visa without a contract was possibly not my smartest moment. In fact I’d rank it about as intelligent as giving the Central Bank of Nigeria signed copies of my ATM card with the PIN written in vivid red marker on the front.

It’s hardly surprising that, since I’ve arrived, certain things have not been exactly as promised. Firstly the pay, it’s not what I was offered in Australia. The difference isn’t too much but it wasn’t such a great salary to begin with. I finally have permanent accommodation, however there are certain creature comforts that are conspicuously absent, like the front door (well there is a front door, it just doesn’t shut…). The air-conditioning only cools one room, I had to steal the TV from my last apartment, and there are live electrical wires running under the shower. I also had to spend the last two days cleaning the 3 feet of dirt off the floor and a large pile of nails from the bedroom. What’s really sad is I know this is far nicer than the majority of my neighbors, and not just the Chinese ones. There’s a horn player here who has a four room flat courtesy of the orchestra. Three of the rooms leak when it rains. It’s also on the 8^th floor and of course there’s no lift.

One refuge I have from the crummy apartment is shopping, which, frankly, is amazing. There’s a giant shopping centre here that’s five stories high and sells nothing but fake designer goods. In fact some of the tourist guides advise people to skip Shenzhen altogether with the exception of this one building. I have Dolce & Gabanna Shirts (AU$10), a Diesel watch ($10), Prada shoes ($15), a bespoke four piece tux with tails (AU$200), and an 8 gig “ipod nano” (AU$100). I’ve been back to this center a number of times (purely on account of the extra fittings for my tux of course…) and the scale of it always blows me away. But during my last visit my Australian co-workers and I saw a sight that was unique to china (well… maybe not unique to china but certainly foreign to Australia).

Seeking a reprieve from the hawkers, who will actually try to physically drag you into their shops, we decided to head upstairs for lunch. Whilst standing on the escalator I casually glanced upwards to be presented with a mother and friend and a young baby. They were holding the child over the bin at the top of the escalators while he pood into it, and holding him in such a way that every poor soul on the interminably long trip up had to shut their eyes (not a good idea thanks to the pickpockets) or stare right into the heart of the action. We decided to delay our lunch for a couple of hours.

I’ve since discovered that it’s not at all uncommon here for people to defecate in the street – and not just young children. I’ll be keeping a watchful eye for fear of puddles on sunny days...

Posted By charlesbrooks at 5:00 PM 1 comments

1 Comments:

Can I meet your tailor? I need a good business suit. Let me know how yours turns out.

Why do you think Chinese people leave their shoes outside the home? ;-)

http://www.shenzhenpeople.net/shenzhenren

By Anonymous, at 11:50 AM  

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