On Customs:
As in border crossings, not cultural nuances. The US sniff dogs wear little jackets that say "Protecting America". Cute. I also got complimented on my kiwi Macbook by the airport scanners twice. Hill, I grabbed for you a 747-400, 737, 757, A319 and A320; I know you got at least two A320s already, but this one's from United. ;)
On Traffic:
Many of the roads are built by the central Communist Government, so there are a lot of roads to nowhere that are 3 lanes divided either side. A lot of laws are silly, and an automated fine system has been installed, so there's almost an attitude of paying traffic infringements like a cable bill.
"Dammit, I'm going to have to pay for running the red now"
"If you saw the red, why did you run it?"
"I stopped over the line and the cameras saw, so I might as well"
There's definitely some kind of anarchy in action on the the roads and the only thing preventing accidents is that no one wants to trash their Audi. At least it's better than India I suppose.
On Classes:
You hear a lot about the rising middle class in China, and also about the problem of class division. What I always assumed was that the middle class in China is like the middle class of Western countries. Nope, being upper middle class means you're living the high life. Like, maids, Audis and chauffeurs.
My uncle lives in Shenzhen, a special economic area and was pretty much a city built out of a village overnight by the powers of the Communist government. They like to joke about the silliness of owning property on nice land, because it could be "communized" by the government at any time.
This is a shot from my uncle's apartment, which is actually pretty nice. My mother always talked about how big my uncle's place was, I guess she was talking about my other uncle.
Oh, what? He has a house too? It's cavernous! I much prefer it to my other uncle's place in Texas. As an aside, I wonder why my Texas uncle needs such a huge house, I thought it was excessive with my house the size that it is and only having 3 full time inhabitants; his place is larger and has about 2 full time inhabitants. >_<
Those aren't townhouses...
Oh wait, looks like my mother was talking about my other uncle's place. Sure is a bitch keeping the house heated though.
This house actually has a proper tea room, which is sic as hell; what an excellent way to entertain guests.
On Consumers:
Yeah there's a lot of pirated stuff, but there's also a burgeoning middle class ready to feed their egos, so legit items are actually booming. The Louis Vuitton store stopped accepting patrons because they were already full and shoppers needed to wait for people to come out before they can enter.
The malls are more targeted towards middle aged consumers in newfound wealth. So you won't find an Aéropostale store there, instead you get things like Chanel. Don't buy any brands in China though, the items are marked up from here.
Also, there's no hip-hop playing in their stores or any music at all for that matter, which is lame.
On Cars:
Audis are popular among those that can afford it. Massacring the Beemers and Benzs in sales. They are sweet though. Buicks are also popular, for some reason I can't comprehend.
Conclusion:
Still love you, Canada. <3
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