Jul 2008

Things we take for granted at home are not so in China. Water is probably the biggest thing we take for granted even though we are suffering from the worst drought.

At home we turn on the tap and have a choice of hot or cold water. Some of us drink the tap water. In China if you were to drink the water you would be extremely ill. So too would the Chinese.

In China it is unusual for hot water to come from a tap. The Chinese get their hot water from a central supply and use large thermos flasks to carry it. In their homes they would use this water to fill their wash bowls and that would be their bath.

We do live in luxury in comparison to their lives. We have hot and cold running water, shower cubicles, hot water system, 'western style' toilet and reverse cycle AC.

The Earthquake hit on the 12 May 2008. The initial reports did not tell the seriousness of the quake. Or the tens of thousands of deaths where schools and hospitals were destroyed.

The tremor was felt as far away as Hong Kong, Vietnam and Thailand. We did not feel the tremors in Tai'an.

The earthquake was quite devastating. In a Country with a population of 1.3B there is little regard for life. However this situation was quite different. China has a 1 child policy to curb the population problem. Due to this situation some families have been completely wiped out. I wondered whether this would encourage the government to change their policy.

This was not the case. What they have done is given those families with only 1 child who lost their child in the earthquake the opportunity to have another child, but they must register. The other option is for those children who are now orphans they can be adopted by the families who have lost their child. After this those children will be offered to the remainder of the world for adoption.

We had 3 days of mourning for the earthquake victims and their families in Sichuan Province. Everyday for the 3 days we had 3 minutes silence at the time the quake hit. Flags were at half mast. Every entertainment venue was closed ie movie theaters, KTV's etc. If you went onto the internet you were diverted to the quake site, Cable TV was also diverted to the quake channel, in fact every channel was the quake channel.

It surprises us Westerners that people meet every night to dance in the Mall. They come from all ages, some with partners, some hoping there are others there without a partner to dance with. If not they will dance with a 'virtual' partner. Which believe me is quite entertaining to watch.

Amazingly, Ball Room Dancing is very popular in China. You will see 50 - 60 dancers each night in full swing with accompanying ball room dancing music. If it is a special occasion you will then see the band playing their little hearts out whilst the dancers are doing their thing. I am told it is quite common around the whole of China. I'm guessing it's a form of exercise for them.