PDA has just hit Beijing, China - and I am honestly not used to it. In NYC - couples are not even this touchy in public. Here, they kiss, they sit on top of each other, hug and are constantly nuzzling. It's like they discovered human intimacy but forgot that it should be left for private spaces - but wait - they don't have private spaces at home where they can take their "girlfriend" or "boyfriend" home and fool around. Most people live with their parents until they marry - it's totally normal for someone who is 28 to live at home if they are unmarried. So I guess public trans is the new makeout spot for now.
Some of the buses here have TV's installed - and usually they play some Mr. Bean, CCTV news, Soap Opera Recaps - but today they showed a NYC Fashion Week Lingerie Show on the fREAKIN BUS!!!! Is this not the funniest moment ever? But hey when this came on, the bus became silent and all eyes were glues to these model's bodies. here is one lingerie model's behind in a black thong.
I have yet to find a Fashion Titillation in Beijing yet - but this man pulls off this baby fox like animal off so well that he wins the award. It's not easy to wear a baby fox you know - but PETA is far away and plus I think it's quite practical to wear this fox in the winter - it's feet can tickle his chin when it's get's really cold.
I have yet to find a Fashion Titillation in Beijing yet - but this man pulls off this baby fox like animal off so well that he wins the award. It's not easy to wear a baby fox you know - but PETA is far away and plus I think it's quite practical to wear this fox in the winter - it's feet can tickle his chin when it's get's really cold.
Beijing is more active at night - that's when all the trucks and workers can build without pedestrian, biking or automotive interference. All your village workers (waidiren, nong ming) emerge and blend their dusty skin into the night. If there're not adding more floors to a new building, they are transporting dirt away to build the foundation of a new building.
This site is where the New Fashion Quadralateral of Sanlitun will be located -it will be a taste of LA's Santa Monica, NYC's 5th Ave, Milan and Paris.
I snuck in here in between trucks unloading dirt - the video is short because the next truck was coming in to take dirt away so I had to stop. But this gives you an idea of the rapidness of Beijing's growth. I would not be surprised at all if I were to walk down this street tomorrow morning to see that the entire foundation of this building has been built.
Non of the workers are from Beijing. there are from villages and other provinces. The situation parallels California's hypocritical relationship with Mexico. Just like California, Beijing welcomes the villagers/farmers as construction workers, but they have no other priveledges and they are expected to go back to their province when the work is finished. they are not given a Beijing residency card - without this card - they do not have access to the social services that Beijingner's have access to - like schools, health care and etc. The workers here are recruited from their home province to Beijing by these large construction corporations - as these companies know that they don't have to pay them as much as Beijing citizens. The workers live in squalid buildings and they definitely do not shower everyday. It's 16 hr workdays 7 days a week. There are a lot more workers during the winter because they do not have farming work back in their province/village - so they come here to Beijing for construction work and send their earnings back home. But there has been so much corruption lately as bosses have not paid the workers when the work is done - the boss or entire company will vanish. A lot of these workers are illiterate - so they sign contracts without truly understanding the stipulations. Hey starting to sound more and more like how USA treats their "alien" un-documented workers right? You can tell who a villager/non-beijingner is right away - they have dust,dirt, grit in every crevice of their body. Their skin tone is darker and more wrinkled - their Mandarin is noticably not on tone. I like riding the public buses b.c it's the only time I can listen to them talk, and be in the same space with them as equal riders. You won't find them really on the trains.
I am absolutely fascinated by how much they love Western fastfood here! This is the most empty I have ever seen KFC since it opened on Christmas eve. Note the music that is blasting out of KFC - goes with the whole fried chicken theme right? Usually they are playing some generic reggae.
9pm on Sunday Most people are usually sleeping on the train but one girl here is cutting her splits ends, the other talking about how she doesn't like her black nail polish anymore.
This is my blog from 2005-2006. My new blog is here. Everything else is here.
Me eats a lot a lot a lot, seriously addicted to Bed-Stuy's Shakoor's infamous sweet potatoe cheesecake, obsessed with 99cent stores, always looking for badminton partners, takes pictures of fashion titicacas and titillations, and documents social gaucheries.
