Tidbits From the World

Here are some pictures from Xi’an taken in the vicinity of where I live.

The open-air porcelain market, located between two tower houses, that I featured in a previous article.

The most expensive article would probably cost around 元1000 (US$150). But there is always some way to bargain in China, especially in these informal markets.

Heavy traffic on an avenue, and a traffic police officer is standing in the middle, making sure that everybody gets their turn to pass. The cyclist waiting by the side of the policeman is riding an electric bicycle. Notice the crowded bus. If you hate rush hour in your country, it’s probably because you haven’t experienced Chinese rush hours yet! (This bus is not so bad compared to others).

Some cyclists are waiting their turn to cross the avenue.

A food stand on the sidewalk of an important arterial street (Chang’an South Street). You can also see a double decker bus which is part of Xi’an’s mass transit system. Its route crosses the whole city, travelling 28 km each way.

“[Commercial Space] For Rent”. In China, businesses come and go at a terrific rate. While one business goes bankrupt, two others are getting into the market, and vice versa. Last September, I took a picture of the woman working there and her child. In March, I was shocked to see that she was gone. Her sandwiches were very good, but she was working against a very tough competition, with many other people selling the same product for cheaper. Being the second business from the sidewalk, she had to pay a higher rent than her competitors. Also, she would bake the bread for her sandwiches herself, while her competitors would buy bread from the supermarket, which apparently is a cheaper way. And also, she would bake her bread in a coal over, while her competitors prefer so fry them in oil, which is cheaper but very disgusting and unhealthy.

I still don’t know much about the subject yet, so I won’t go too deep in my speculations, but I read somewhere that China is using Japan’s model for its economic growth. And in Japanese companies, there is a mentality where one has to put all his or her energies for the benefit of the company he or she works for. On the street, in China, in front of businesses, one can often see employees dancing or singing in front of their boss. Is it to prove their allegeance to the company? Pictured above: new employees of a business that will be opening soon, dancing in front of their boss, who is wearing a beige jacket.

One of the most complex Chinese characters. It is pronounced “biang” in a rising tone and is made up of 57 strokes in its traditional form and 42 strokes in its simplified form. One kind of noodles is called “biang biang mian” (=noodles biang biang). It is a specialty from Shaanxi province and it is part of what is elegantly called 陝西十大怪 (the ten great strange wonders from Shaanxi).

Construction of a fence in front of a tower house under the supervision of a suit.

Very impressive.

A panoramic view of this area under construction. A few months ago, all there was here were houses and small streets. Click here to see a bigger picture.

From these two holes will rise two great towers…

In six months, it will be difficult to imagine how this place was today.

A worker is climbing or installing the scaffolding.

An elevator to transport people and/or object to the higher floors of the building.

Some workers are also building the sidewalks for the new district.

These clients are choosing the color for the floors of their future apartment.

One last house is standing in the middle of the newly built towers. On the banner is it written: “I strongly want to say to the government…” the rest of the message is unreadable because the banner is folded in the middle.

The same house, from a different angle. Taking this picture was a little bit too much for the tolerance of the people working there. When I took the picture, I heard a car honking. Two people wearing black suits and black sun glasses inside a black car with black tinted windows were staring at me. By looking at the license plate, I could tell that they were not government officials, but probably real estate investors. But they probably have good “connections” to the government. So, they “escorted” me to the exit, slowly driving behind me, while I walked my way to the nearest exit.

If you are too sensitive about animal suffering, do not read any further. You should wait for my next article which will come out next week.

In Xi’an, you can find pets for sale very easily on street markets. One can purchase any kind of animal: turtles, fish, hamsters, dogs, anything.

This guy is selling puppies and kittens.

One puppy is being purchased.

Puppies are cute when they are still young, so many people give in to the temptation of having a puppy at home and buy them without further thinking about the long term responsibilities of having a dog.

As Ying and I were on our way to a restaurant, we saw this poor little dog who was left abandoned on the sidewalk inside black garbage bags. He had his rear legs inside the bags so he could not move forward; while his front legs and his head were outside. We took off all the garbage bags, so he could walk again. Then, he walked a little and stopped… and he put himself in defecation posture and blood came out of his anus. Ying knew there was a veterinary clinic very close, so she went in and asked if we could bring the dog over. The veterinary told her he knew the dog. His master could not afford the treatment, which cost 65 yuans, so he put the dog in some garbage bags, inside the cover of a box. He left a notice that read: “I am a poor student, I cannot afford the medical treatment for my dog, please help this dog”. It happened at noon and we found the dog at 7:30pm, without the notice which was removed by a street sweeper. Ying really wanted to save the dog, so she offered to pay for the treatment, which consisted in three injections over the time span of two days. Before she came back to me and told me the news, the dog had vomited on the sidewalk. He looked very weak. Then, we put the dog in the bag again and we went to the clinic.

The name of his disease, as told in Chinese by the veterinary was 细小病毒 （canine parvovirosis), an illness due to a very aggressive virus. The mortality rate in untreated puppies is 91%, while the survival rate resulting from effective therapy is 80-95%. The illness is not transmissible to humans, but only to dogs, from the feces.

The veterinary estimated the puppy’s age to be less than 90 days. He told us his sex, male and his race, a young Siberian Husky. An expensive dog that was introduced in China only a few years ago. Upon its introduction into the Chinese market, the cost for one Siberian Husky was around 10000 yuans, but today, the price has dropped to 1000 yuans.

He lost hair on his head, above his eyes. This is a typical symptom of canine parvovirosis.

The veterinary is smoking a cigarette and wearing Cultural Revolution jacket. He got his diploma in veterinary medicine in 1957.

The veterinary said: “If the dog doesn’t die within two days, he will live forever”. And then, the treatment began. He installed the solute.

But there was a problem with the solute. Some bubbles were stuck inside the tube.

But in the end, the veterinary successfully removed the bubbles.

The solute was successfully inserted.

It’s time for a cigarette break, after injecting the solute into the dog’s leg.

And now, the treatment.

After the shot, the veterinary administered the dog an oral medication. I was to be the one to administer the second dose the following morning, so the veterinary showed me how to secure the dog’s head in my hand and how to administer the medication directly on the gums.

Then, the dog was put back in the bag, so I could bring it home. The following morning, I was to administer myself the medication in my house and at 10am, I was to return to the veterinary clinic to have the dog get the second of three treatments.

At home, the dog made himself comfortable.

And he came to me. It was as if he understood what was going on. He knew that he was being saved, and he wanted to be caressed. To show me his ’gratitude’, he lied on his back as a sign of respect.

He was gradually growing stronger. He stood up and he walked around a little. Now he seemed willing to survive, which was not the case when we discovered him on the street. Ying suggested me to name him “Wiki”, because she thinks that I spend a lot of time on Wikipedia. Now Wiki had a name. There was no doubt in my mind anymore that he would survive. Only two difficult days were ahead, then I would have a healthy dog, that I would probably give to Ying’s mother, who wants to have a dog. I looked for some informations on the Internet (on Wikipedia!) about Siberian Huskies. Life expectancy: 15 years.

But little Wiki would not live that long. He lived at most three months. At one thirty, at night, I was awakened by a sound, which at first I thought was coming from the fridge, but when I went to check, I realized that it was Wiki who could not breathe anymore. His heartbeat slowed down gradually until completely stopping. He died in his sleep of heart failure.

I put him in the same garbage bag that he came from, and then in a box.

“This box contains a dog that died of a disease”.

Rest in peace.

The following afternoon, Wiki was gone.

Language:

I just arrived last week in Xi’an, and I went to my first class on Monday, this week. The semester started on March 1st, so I have four weeks of study to catch up. By chance Mandarin Chinese is such an interesting subject, otherwise, I don’t know where I would find the motivation to study as much as I have been doing since I came back! Nevertheless, I took some time last Sunday to take a walk outside, from my apartment to downtown – a two-hour walk. There was a kind of bazar at the foot of a tower, where I sent Ying to buy Mao Zedong’s official portrait in a frame. (If the salesman had seen me, he would have risen the price at least three or four times higher than what he charged Ying). Then, we walked together. She insisted on carrying the portrait, so that I could take some pictures of her, that she then uploaded to her Xiaonei.com account (Chinese Facebook). Here are the pictures that I took on that day:

Some people are playing mah jong.

The avenue that takes to my place.

On this avenue, the traffic is really hectic. Cars are going from any direction and they never yield to pedestrians. To a newcomer, it is difficult to get used to it. When I first crossed this street, last summer, I panicked. I thought that one day, I would certainly be hit by a car. But I haven’t gotten hit by a car yet, and new traffic lights were installed at the intersection, which should make the place more orderly, and less dangerous.

Can you recognize this tower? I took a panoramic picture of it last year. At the foot of the tower, there was a little bazar where one could buy articles made of porcelain.

Mao Zedong’s official portrait, printed on porcelain.

颖 (Ying).

As she was posing for the picture, a baby went to 颖 and pointed her finger to Mao’s face. Her mom asked her “who is the man on the picture?… it’s grand’pa Mao!”

A photographer at a camera shop.

Tower under construction. (The windows in the middle are still missing).

“Hard hat required in this area”.

“Our business is still open during the construction”

A tent, probably for migrant workers who come from the countryside to work in construction sites in the city.

The site of the future Chinese Time Square, under construction.

An old factory near the center of the city.