Observations on China so far

I missed a bunch of little observations, so I'll interrupt my journal to write a few of them down:

The Beijing subway
I think I mentioned that the Beijing subway is pretty easy to navigate, but I failed to mention how absolutely jam-packed it is, especially during rush hour. During our first rush hour experience we saw a guy determined to get on even though he only had the tips of his fingers and toes inside the car. The security guard tried to pull him off but he wouldn't budge and started screaming until the guard pushed him into the car leaning into him with all his weight. Tanny and I waited for the next train.

Also, I forgot to mention that there is a range of trains on the subway line. On one car the lights kept dimming with a ver sci-fi ZZzzzzt sound. They eventually went out for about 30 seconds. Luckily there were sufficient emergency lights to keep everyone calm. Well, I'm sure all the regulars would have been calm regardless... just us tourist who were wedged into the crowd who mightn't have liked pitch darkness.

Pekinese Dogs
Almost every pet dog we saw in Beijing was a Pekinese! I guess that makes sense since Beijing is Peking.

Energy Efficiency
Contrary to what I expected, people are very energy conscious here. Every light in the hotels and restaurants I've seen has been compact flourescent or just plain flourescent. In Chengdu there are a lot of scooters on the streets - all of which are electric. Even some of the conventional bicycles are power-assisted. I'm assuming your peddlling charges a battery which then keeps you going for a while.

Litter
In Beijing and Chengdu I haven't seen much litter. In fact you continually see people (City employees) sweeping the streets and sidewalks and picking up litter.

Kid fashion
Every "baby" we see wears bum-less pants. Cheeks to the breeze. Not exactly sure why this is better then diapers. Erica - should we pick some up for the new baby?