Sunday, November 03, 2019

Rural Contrasts

In the cities, the people were younger, looked more professional, or looked as though they were students. As we moved into the more rural areas of China we were able to see a broader contrast of people..both the younger and older...much like the United States.



We visited a rural school that is sponsored by the cruise line and that was a lovely experience. We each were "assigned" a first grader to work with on English for about 15 minutes. My little gal was very shy and it took lots of drawing and hand motions to bring her out.  The school was very rustic and there was no example of technology.  A big contrast with our rural elementary schools.



The teacher was dressed very professionally and kept a tight reign on the little ones.  There were marks on her desk where she had banged the ruler with passion. I can imagine her in her house getting ready for this visit  by a group of old, rich, Americans. Chinese teachers can get credits toward further education if they teach for some time in rural areas.



Automobiles are expensive and hard to come by.   Getting a license involves a lottery and your license plate allows you to drive on the streets only certain days! There are many cars on the streets, but most people travel by motorcycles or motorcycle versions of transport or via bicycle.  Streets were crazily crowded, but I saw no accidents in the three weeks of my birds-eye view from buses.  I saw only one car with a dent. When there was a problem with two drivers I saw it handled with moderation and politeness, and usually finished before the authorities could arrive!


Chinese are very Zen about their lives.  It was not unusual to see someone playing jazz in the park.  There are always groups doing Tai Chi in the early mornings before work in the city parks.  I did see a few beggars, but they were severely handicapped in all cases, missing arms or legs or being blind.






These gentlemen greeted us on our walk toward one of the many pagodas we visited. Go ahead and caption it, or tell me what you think they are thinking...

10 comments:

  1. The photo reminds me of Picasso's, "Three Musicians." If the men were a painting, then I feel have more verve.

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  2. Marvelous that you could visit there.

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  3. I imagine the Chinese are too very different from us. we are all human beings. the difference is their culture. they are quiet and respectful and, I may be wrong about this, put the good of the whole before the good of one person. exactly opposite of here in the US. especially these days.

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  4. That is an interesting photograph, but giving it a caption escapes me. I also think the Chinese culture leads one to think more of the whole than about individuals. I enjoyed this post. :-)

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  5. The only caption that comes to mind from that photograph of the 3 men is "Americans..."

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  6. People seem content whether rural or urban, and I guess that is the main thing. As for captioning, I will leave that to the more creative folk, :)

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  7. That school visit would be my favourite experience, a great opportunity to see the children.

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  8. That teacher looks very capable of maintaining order in the classroom! i wouldn't want to see that ruler in motion if I were a kid in her class.

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  9. I notice the difference of younger people in Portland's downtown. I am not sure why but maybe jobs or that the activity level appeals less as a person gets older.

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Take your time...take a deep breath...then hit me with your best shot.