Weird Things I See on a Regular Basis

I know that I've been remiss in my blogging the past few months.  I take random photos of things that I see all the time but I never have enough of them to put together a whole blog post. So, to make up for time that I've spent away from my blog I will now present a collection of some of the odd and exciting things that I see on a regular basis in China.

 Unrefrigerated meat for sale (this picture taken at Walmart.) Or sometimes it's slightly refrigerated but it's in a giant open bin, unwrapped and exposed to the elements.  A couple of weeks ago I was a Walmart and I noticed a huge line, 15 people deep, forming in the produce section.  I looked to see what they were waiting for and at the front of the line was a woman with crates of eggs covered in chicken poo and straw.  They had obviously just    

I went to a Mexican restaurant in Suzhou and ordered a side of "Mexican Rice", this is what I got...

White rice with a tortilla stuck in the top.  Incidentally, all of the Western restaurants in Suzhou serve pan-ethnic food.  I've ordered burritos at German restaurant, Thai curry at an Italian restaurant, and Schnitzel just about everywhere (because like in every country I've been there are a lot of foreigners that are German.)  It's all the same.

 

American celebrities advertising random products that they'd never do ads for in the states because they would lose all street cred.

Strange, and sometimes incomprehensible English translations.  These are from a restaurant I went to with Tera in Beijing. It's always the most interesting when you see mystery translations on food items.  What are you actually eating? It's like restaurant roulette.

Yummy!

Mangy stray cats EVERYWHERE!  This is a mommy and baby pair I saw in Shanghai, both with some kind of nasty eye disease.  We named them Catty Rax and Catty Rax Jr. 

I feel like cats are as common as pigeons here, and it's so strange to me to see them running wild all the time.  Once I came home and Nicole had accidentally left the front door ajar, resulting in me finding a cat hanging out under our dining room table. I shooed it out, but it came back every day for a month crying to be let in at the front door, like this was it's home.

 Kids riding on a motorbike, unbuckled, (often wearing face masks). This is so common I forget to be surprised anymore.  Sometimes I see them turned around, facing their parent, hanging on with their arms around their mommy's waist.

Super safe right?  Side note: I've seen lots of twins in China and I've never seen them not dressed identically.  This is partially because the Chinese think it's cute, and partially because of an old superstition that twin babies share one life or one soul and you have to dress them the same until they are ten years old or one of them will die.

Chinese men that role their shirts up to keep cool.  I have a friend that calls it "Chinese Air Conditioning"

Once Nicole and I were walking down the street and we passed a group of seven middle aged men, strolling outside together in a big group with their shirts all rolled up like this.  They were unabashedly staring at us (because obviously we're weird foreigners) but had no idea that to us they looked ridiculous in their summer crop tops.

I don't see this as much in Suzhou as I do in Shanghai, but people transporting ridiculously large loads on bicycle carts down busy streets is always entertaining.  Love that this guy is on his cellphone.

 Scorpions and sea horses, among other things, sold for eating in Beijing. Delish!

Above is a friend's photo, not mine, but I love it because I see this all the time! The Chinese are the most extreme public sleepers I've ever seen and there are workers everywhere that lay down on the street to grab a quick nap.

Disturbing signs that exploit familiar cartoon characters.  I took this photo at a bar and I'd like to note something about the prostitution warning.  Prostitution is illegal in China, so is pornography, but it is present everywhere.  Back home, prostitution existed but I wouldn't be able to tell you where to go for it.  Here, more than once I've stumbled into a bar with friends and found out that it's a place for 'sexy ladies', I've stayed in several hotels where phone numbers for prostitutes have been slipped under my door, and everyone of my male foreign friends has been solicited.  

(Not even in bars, on the public bus and while unlocking an ebike!)

      I love that Maggie is gambling and their super shifty eyes.

Signs warning people not to stand on the toilet seat.  I know it's because most bathrooms have squat toilets but I can't imagine someone actually trying to stand up and squat on the toilet seat.

Unless you're a rebel like Tera Babb.

Fireworks! I see these everywhere, at all times of day.  Because they are set off for baby births, and even the smallest of celebrations they are firing off constantly.  This is taken from my balcony on a random Tuesday. They wake me up in the middle of the night, they chase me to the opposite side of the street while I'm walking to work, they have to be drowned out by the television.  I've always loved fireworks, but they've lost a little of their enchantment during my time in China.  Once I was staying in a hotel and the fireworks were so close to the building that I got out of bed and put my passport in my backpack.  I was convinced that I would have to make a fast getaway when the explosions set my roof on fire.

Couples outfits! In China, you're not in love unless your clothes match.

Pictures of American celebrities used in random places. For instance why is Jessica Alba's face the frosted image on the window of my bathroom stall? I can't explain it. 

Whatever this thing is. Can you guess?

This is Pleasant Goat, the most popular cartoon character in China after Mickey Mouse.

(And followed by Doraemon the Japanese Robot Cat)

His face is on everything and I see these scary supermarket kid rides in my sleep.

Taken in a bathroom. The Chinese words actually say, "Carefully slide." It's not even a translation thing.

Sundries?

No spitting into the hand dryer.

Point profess your excellency seat. Oh right, of course!

I never stop being impressed by the Chinese Crouch.  My three year old students, my 20 something friends, even little old ladies on the street all do it regularly and I can't manage to get my feet flat.  The Chinese have rock star leg muscles.

Pedicabs!  I've taken them lots of times with no problem but I did have an awkward once with particularly weak pedaler.  Clearly not used to carrying giant foreigners he labored along at a crawling pace. At a hill he actually got out and walked it up the hill with me and my friend in the back, I felt like I should get out and help him. Sorry, fella! 

Homemade taxis. Attaching a tin can to the back of a motorbike, now we're getting fancy.  I'll never forget when Tera came to visit and I couldn't get a taxi so I ushered her into the back of one of these babies.  After I told him where we wanted to go and negotiated a price she jumped in and was so mad
"There are so many things that can go wrong with this!  What if he takes us some place we don't want to go or we get dropped off in some random place, what if he over charges us or you THINK it'll be 20 kuai and you misunderstood how much it costs, or this thing gets in an accident! We could be crushed!"
I said, "I'm not gonna lie, those are real fears, any those things could happen.  But what choice do we have?  This is China."