Spaced Teacher Vs. The Yellow Knights Of The HaNazee
If You Go Carrying Pictures Of Chairman Mao { # 4 }
By Spaced Teacher
I'm sure that by now most of you have figured out that these articles entitled " If You Go Carrying Pictures Of Chairman Mao "{# s 1 , 2 , 3 and 4 } are my explanations of why I don't think , in spite of what The Higher Minds Of Governments the world over think , that China will ever rule the world. Now I'm sure you're asking yourselves " Well Stanner why should we believe you and not them. " I will answer you this way. Because I have lived in China for ten years consecutively and not in the relatively civilized and modern Chinese metropolises such as Beijing , Shanghai , Hangzhou , Guangzhou and Qingdao but rather in the Chinese hinterlands where The Higher Minds never go. I'll let you be the judge of the accuracy of my assertion upon the completion of your reading of my articles.
The Chinese will never rule the world because they are expert at " fouling their own nests ". Industrial pollution is rampant in China. That is to be expected in a rapidly developing industrial economy and can be dealt with. I'm speaking of a far more pernicious pollution which is rooted in the culture and psyche of the Chinese people. Sanitation is also abysmally bad in China. This problem is also rooted in Chinese culture and the Chinese psyche.
In the apartment building I currently live which is on campus there are seven floors.The first three floors have a small overhang which is not quite big enough to be considered a small patio but is big enough to put some plants on. The people that live on floors 4 - 7 seem to feel that it's ok to throw their trash out the window onto these ledges. It does not matter to them that they are fouling the view and the aesthetic pleasantness of the people that live below them. The rubbish you see is out of THEIR view and thusly is not a problem to THEM so it is not a problem -- PERIOD !! If you go to West Lake in Hangzhou which is one of the premier tourist spots in all of China you will see Chinese people throw there trash in a symbol of their country that is world reknown. If you go to the Longman Grottoes in Luoyang which is a World Heritage Site you will see Chinese people throw their trash in and urinate in the caves that people come form all over the world to see. You will also see them wash their clothes in the Po River which divides the two sides of The Longman Grottoes. It's THEIR country and they just don't give a damn what the rest of the world thinks about this behavior.
The school neither cleans up the mess or discourages the behavior. The fact that us lao wai { foreigners } don't like this behavior with good reason does not matter to them.When we inform them that this makes us really uncomfortable and ask them why they won't do anything about we are told " Because it is the Chinese way to behave like this. " That my friends concludes the conversation. Now I am no shrinking violet when it comes to expressing my opinion so I will tell you that I don't give a DAMN if it is their culture and it's been that way for 5,000 years. It's rude ignorant behavior that needs to stop and if it takes the lao wai to tell them so well I'm happy to oblige them. One would think that aside from this behavior being rude and ignorant the Chinese authorities could have figured out by now that this trash attracts all manner of vermin. In short it's a health hazard. They have had 5,000 years to get it right and STILL they are apparently clueless or arrogantly indifferent. This campus also has a small but potentially beautiful pond and a small and potentially beautiful brook where lots of trees and plants grow on the banks. The same sort of behavior affects them also. It's truly sad because absent this self inflicted pollution this could be a beautiful campus.This behavior will also take place in the classrooms. The classrooms here are disgustingly filthy and always trash strewn.
Chinese toilets in the vast majority of China are STILL of the squat variety. Picture a long trench with a series of holes dug into it. You squat down and aim as best you can. To say they are extremely uncomfortable and highly unsanitary is an understatement to the max. 95 % of the time you will not find deodorant or soap in a Chinese public toilet. Those things cost MONEY you see. Most of them will also have no curtains for the same reason. When the bathrooms are cleaned they will be cleaned with cold water and very little if any soap. Bleach apparently doesn't exist in China. Once again those things cost MONEY. It never occurs to them that all the disease they are forced to pay to deal with costs far more than the solution to the problem would. Penny wise and pound foolish to the maximum extremes. Another example of this sort of poor sanitation habits which are rooted in culture is that Chinese people will spit anywhere at any time. They will spit on the classroom floor, they will spit on a restaurant floor, they will spit on the sidewalk directly in the middle of the sidewalk where people are walking. It's thoroughly disgusting behavior. They will also let their children urinate or defecate on the sidewalk in broad daylight in public and walk away without even cleaning up the mess. Are you getting the picture here?

