2018-11-02
昨日阅读1小时，累计阅读442小时
Continue to read book "Strange Stones: Dispatches from East and West " by Peter Hessler
On an average day, a recycler passes through every half hour - buying cardboard, paper, Styrofoam, broken appliances, books. Everything has value - even a burned-out computer cord (5 cents), worn-out shoes (12 cents), two broken Palm Pilots (37 cents). One day a wig vendor came through - he'd just bought a long black ponytail for $10. Most is exported to the U.S. or Japan. Long hair was what he wanted - nothing short.
It wasn't long before the 2008 Olympic Games would arrive, and Beijing constructed hundreds of outdoor exercise stations to boost the athleticism and health of average residents. In Hessler's area, they are especially busy at dawn and dusk - older people meet in groups to chat, briefly exercise, and smoke cigarettes. His alley is too narrow for auto traffic. The public toilet is next to his building - residents bring their chamber pots and chat to/from.
The government also rebuilt the public toilet at the head of a major street near Hessler's apartment. The building had running water, infrared-automated flush toilets, and a lit of detailed rules printed onto stainless steel: "Number 3: Each user is entitled to one free piece of common toilet paper (80X10 centimeters).Full-time attendants were housed in a small room, imported mostly from the poor province of Anhui as no self-respecting Beijing resident would take such a job. The local bicycle repairman shored his tools and extra bikes in the public space fronting the new toilet, cabbage vendors slept on the bordering grass strip, and some ripped-up couches, folding chairs, a wooden cabinet stocked with beer glasses, and a chessboard were contributed. It was called the W.C. Club, with membership open to all. Weekend nights brought barbecues in front of the toilet, a driver for a news service discussed what was in the papers. In 2002 the W.C. Club acquired a T.V., plugged it into the bathroom, and mocked the national team as it failed to score throughout the World Cup.
Beijing had once been home to over 1,000 temples and monasteries, but nearly all were converted to other uses by the Communists. Other members of the proletariat were encouraged to occupy the homes of the wealthy. The former compound of a single clan might become home to two dozen families. By the time Mao died in 1976, about a fifth of old Beijing had been destroyed - including sections of the Ming dynasty city wall 40' high, and formal gates to the city.
Wang Zhaoxin and his brother sold cigarettes next to the public toilet. Their parents had moved to the area in 1951. Wang was offered the title of Chairman, W.C. Club, but refused. Hessler, being a foreigner, was ranked as a Young Pioneer. Wang always contributed more than his share to a W.C. Club barbecue. Old Yang, the bicycle-repairman, also passed messages among people in the neighborhood, including one from a local matchmaker named Teacher Peng (not an actual teacher).
The fee for meeting someone was usually 200 yuan, for more for a foreigner - 500, even 2,000 ($240). (It was illegal to work with foreigners - they might corrupt/trick Chinese women. Hessler, out of curiousity and to avoid causing Old Yang to lose face, agreed to meet - at the McDonald's. Many meet there without ordering - reading, children doing homework, balancing account books, sleeping. His 'date' was a middle school music teacher. The next time he walked past the matchmaker's office whe asked if he wanted to invest in a karaoke parlor.By 2005, 75% of old Beijing had been torn down. The remaining quarter consisted mostly of public parks and the Forbidden City. Pedicab men joined the vendors and recyclers - giving tours to mostly Chinese tourists. Nearby was a boulevard with streetcars and busses, two supermarkets, and a McDonald's.
Sometimes he drives north from Beijing for about 90 minutes to reach Sancha, a quiet village where he rents a farmhouse. The road dead-ends at the village, but a footpath continues up to the Great Wall. The first known historical reference to the Great Wall dates to 656 B.C. - the defensive barriers then were made of packed earth. Hessler once walked eastward along the wall for two days without seeing another person. In 221 B.C. the wall was extended to about 3,000 miles - to keep out the Mongols. It wasn't until the Ming Dynasty that durable materials were used. Guard towers rise every hundred yards or so over 20 feet. An inscribed marble tablet notes that in 1615 A.D., 2,400 soldiers built a section of wall that is around 650 feet long.
The Mongols liked to attack in the night, during Fall - too hot in the summer, too cold in the winter, horses were too thin in the spring - lacked energy
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