Five things you might see, walking in China

Walking in China is endlessly fascinating.  Whether you are walking in a park, at one of the historic sites, or just around the block, you see life taking place outside, communally.  Local street workers weed the median.  Cars, bikes and motor-cycles share the sidewalk with pedestrians. People exercise on the sidewalk; children play.   Maybe it is because the community is closer.   Maybe it is because apartments are small.  Food and small businesses are everywhere.   Whatever the reason, you will always be surprised on a simple walk in your neighborhood.  Come.  Follow me as I give you a tour!

A motor bike with a huge load going home.

1.  Cars, bikes and other things that go “vroom”:

Bikes and electric motor cycles rule the sidewalk.  Cars drive on the road. Two-wheeled vehicles also use the road. But in addition, they also use any place else, including sidewalks.  As a matter of fact, they can go anywhere and do anything.  Red lights don’t apply to motor-cycles or bikes.  If you can squeeze between that big BMW and the Lincoln Town car, go for it.  Also, if there is a “walk” light for pedestrians, that applies to bikes/motos as well.  They yield to no one,

Cars are more law-abiding in China.  However, they also view the sidewalk as potential free parking.  As you dodge the motorbikes, you also have to pick your way around the parked cars. We have seen tickets on the driver’s side door.   But they must not be too expensive, because many seem willing to risk it. 

Finally, you also will see all of the adorable scooters, all lined up while the kindergarten kids go to school.  No one watches these scooters.  No one takes them.   They just sit there, all day, waiting for their owners to find them and then use them to ride home. (Often we see grandma pulling the little tyke on the scooter at the end of the day.   Grandma looks exhausted, but the kid still expects a ride home, courtesy of  nai-nai!)

2.   Exercise!

Vehicles aren't the only thing that you will find on sidewalks.  Exercising and dancing happen on sidewalks.  Sometimes it is a group of the very old, barely moving grandmas and grandpas, gently waving their arms in the air.  They step to the left and raise their hands, and then to the right.  Sometimes there is an energetic leader in front. More often, there are just people in the front row who seem to know what they’re doing.  As you get farther back, you see more and more conservation of energy.  As I took this picture, a cute little old woman tipped her head to the left as they moved to the left and then flicked her wrist for the rising-arm movement, slowly moving in time with the music.

Not to be outdone, the young also exercise on the sidewalk.  Here is a group of younger folks doing yoga in front of the grocery store.  People pick their way around the group to make their way into the local Vanguard.

You also can see the middle-aged women (something that I've talked about in earlier posts), square-dancing their way through a complicated musical routine, practicing for something...I don't know what!

Badminton, Soccer, Stretching, Jogging:  All can be found on the streets of Xi'an

Foreground:  you can see a stand selling calligraphy brushes. 
Background:  a pickup game of badminton!

3.  Enterprise!

For a Communist country there is an awful lot of private enterprise.  People sell goldfish, food, masks, handmade clothes, art – if you want it, someone is making it somewhere, and they are more than willing to sell it to you on the sidewalk.  Food, in particular, is ubiquitous.  Due to the impact of the COVID virus on small businesses in China, the government has recently relaxed guidelines on sidewalk carts. For a while they discouraged their presence.  Food carts were considered a nuisance and unsanitary.  But, because so many people were financially impacted by the closures, a few months ago, small carts began to appear.   We also see people without carts who have set up shop all over the sidewalk:

Squid!

A stuffed camel in the street selling Camel's milk

Dried Fruit!

Cotton Candy Sculptures

Fruit Wagon

Eggs!

Vegetables!

You can also buy fish -- both for dinner as well as a pet goldfish for your home:

A Pet

Dinner!

Due to COVID we also see a lot of outdoor dining.  It is more make-shift than what you’d find in the United States: a card table and a couple stools, and you’re good to go!

There are also people who are selling clothes, masks, plants, pots.  You can get a haircut. You can get your horoscope read. One couple sells noodles that they made from their home out of the back of their SUV truck!

Balloons and Hair-ribbons 

A Haircut!

Paintings

4.  Children

Children are central to our sidewalk strolls.  They frequently point and say "waiguoren" -- meaning foreigner.   We correct them and say "meiguoren"—American.  This sends them into fits of giggles.  Most want to practice their classroom English:  How are you?  I am fine!  I am Chinese!   Dave always carries scrap-paper in his backpack to make paper-airplanes.  This is a huge hit.  The parents of a few of the recipients of these planes have become close friends and colleagues.

One fun kid-thing that we see periodically on the sidewalk near the East entrance to our village is a cute contraption.   It has a central pole and then plastic airplanes on swings -- a mini-ride that goes in a circle, gently swinging little tots  for a few minutes.   The ride is accompanied by saccharine music to accompany the ride. Here is a picture:

Children are sometimes dressed in the style of the Tang dynasty.   At some of the major historical sites there are shops where you can rent costumes and be a Tang dynasty emperor or his top concubine, or one of the glamorous courtiers.  You frequently see teens with their boyfriends or girlfriends, posing in lavishly embroidered silk and gauze, and can briefly be transported from your walk back to 8^th Century Xi’an.

Family dressed in Tang Dynasty style

Dragon blowing dried ice

5.  Magic

Because we live in a city that is steeped in history, we frequently are suddenly surprised by the magic of history.   We’re walking in a square, and a water show with fountains and music materializes in front of the Wild Goose Pagoda.

Or walking on the sidewalks of the Muslim Quarter, a dragon blows dry-ice out into the streets to encourage people to come into the department store.

Many streets are decorated by magical lights, red lanterns and festive music.

That is how a simple walk can become magical.

Evening comes to the Wild Goose Pavilion

Statues of two Tang Dynasty courtiers

Street art on a wall that comes alive:
Ancient meets modern

A man practices his calligraphy

A little Shaanxi opera performance, projected up on a wall . 7/20/20

From artists to food, kids to cars, the vibrancy of an ordinary walk almost always turns into a thing of wonder for me.  We will miss our neighbors, strangers and everyone in between!