Ran outside yesterday. I asked Mike if he had any interest in joining me at the Health Centre, and he instead suggested we head outside for a run… sweet. I’ve never dreamed of running outside in China. Not only am I afraid of getting lost (how in the heck do you landmark in a Chinese city?) but also getting glared at and potentially mugged. Mike has run a few times in China and said it wasn’t a big deal.
We had to cut through a few city blocks and traffic circles before finding our way to the river. The traffic circles were an interesting challenge. Think of that good ol’ video game Frogger, complete with semi-trucks, bicyclists, tuk-tuks, awesome tractors, and other frightened pedestrians (side note, speaking of vehicles, I’m really keeping my eyes peeled for these.
Anyway, we managed to work our way through the city, definitely drawing a few stares in the process but simply nodding in return, shouting “ZAO!” which means g’morning, and trotting past. Everything changed once we hit the river. We saw other people out there in the name of exercise. There were several groups of people practicing Tai Chi, mostly older folks… when a group of fifteen 70-year-olds is moving in fluidic, uniform grace (exercising, not sleeping in unison at a movie theater) it warrants a moment of observance.
We worked our way down a few miles, crossed a rickety wooden bridge, and found ourselves on an embankment straddling slums and rice paddies. For obvious reasons we flipped around to head back, but it’s worth noting that the Chinese we saw in this area, the ones curled up on salvaged cardboard living in houses made of scrap tin, wire, and foliage, were the most friendly encountered that day. All toothless grins and emphatic “GOO MORNY!”
On the way back Mike led us through a morning market three blocks from the hotel. This was not like the night markets in Hong Kong, all Coach purses and North Farse backpacks and iClone electronics; this market was the real deal. We stuck out like fur coats at a PETA rally: white, tall, decked-out in techie running clothes saturated with sweat, though comparatively much cleaner than the market denizens. It didn’t matter, and I really have to thank Mike for teaching me this lesson. We were there to experience the culture and be damned if we drew some funny glances.
The market seemed divided into three major areas: seafood, plants, animals; each section offering living or dead & butchered versions their product. What an eye opener, this was more raw (no pun intended) than anything I’ve seen in Asia, including our trip to Thailand. We didn’t have much time to browse, unfortunately, so we picked a straight tangent through and returned to the hotel. No time to go back, either, since we packed our bags and checked out that morning and have since relocated back to Shunde.
The schedule sucks. We’ve been working about twelve hours a day still, and most of those twelve hours are pretty boring. The positive is I am getting to blog again, something I friggin’ love but rarely prioritize these days. Anyway, good time to cut this off. Out.
