I lived and worked in Shenzhen, 2016-2019. Amazing place! ~ author Jeff J. Brown
Photos #1a-1e:
Shi is a friend of ours. He owns a framing shop and sells all kinds of traditional Chinese bibelots, rock art, paintings, collector items, calligraphy, Buddhist bracelets and high-end tea and incense. He also hand carves stone stamps for documents. Quite the Renaissance man. Browsing in his shop is akin to visiting an old museum, endlessly fascinating.At the other end of the spectrum, just down the street, his son owns a classy tattoo shop and he looks and plays the part. Go figure!
Photo #1f:
We always drink great tea in Mr. Shi’s shop. He likes to serve Pu’er tea from Yunnan Province. Tea culture is emblematic of Chinese civilization: ritual, thoughtful and social. His quality of tea is so good that you can steep it 20-30 times before changing the leaves. Tea connoisseurs can describe differences in taste and aroma with each steep, much like wine lovers do with different years of grape harvests.
To understand and appreciate the Chinese people, knowing tea culture is essential.
Photo #2a:
In the Judeo-West we have to assume that those around us in public are dishonest, otherwise we’d be without belongings by the end of the day. In China, we assume people are honest and evidence of this attitude is everywhere you turn. Many small stores like this one have unlocked food and beverage coolers outside their stores for customers to pick what they want, then go inside and pay the teller. There is a camera on the ceiling above, but when you go inside, the CCTV screen is totally ignored by the staff.
Last night after dinner, we were walking down the street and got a block away from the the restaurant where we had just eaten. One of the customers came running to us with Evelyne’s purse, which had her telephone inside. It makes daily life so relaxing and reassuring to know that strangers have your back. Honesty in public is a freedom that Judeo-Westerners don’t have and can’t fathom.
Photo #2b:
How honest are the Chinese in daily life? This person left four tanks of kitchen gas on his scooter overnight. In the thieving Judeo-West, they’d be gone in a hurry. In France, thieves use metal cutting chain saws to break into gas bottle storage cages outside gas stations and grocery stores, even in broad daylight. The ambiance is totally different in Sinoland.
Photo #3a:
Art students volunteer to paint intersection traffic light control panels, maybe for extra credit. Impressionist artists are the most popular inspiration. Below is from Claude Monet and his Water Lily Series.
Photo #3b:
Below’s muse is Van Gogh and his many fruit bowl paintings.
Photo #4:
Three young ladies plop down in the middle of a wide sidewalk to chat and share social media. The Chinese learn at a young age to sit on their heels. Once perfected, it’s a huge advantage, as it is very comfortable and functions as a chair when there isn’t one. A rental bike is in the background.
Photo #5a:
Every Shenzhen neighborhood has a Communist Party Help Association. This is true all over China. You can go there for any problem or need you may have. Many neighbors work as volunteer and wear red vests to identify their role, like the woman on the right in the signboard picture. Notice the communist hammer and sickle in the upper left hand corner.
We go there if we have questions. They are always shocked to meet and talk to foreigners who understand their mission.
Notice the cop on the left. Like the People’s Liberation Army, Chinese don’t fear their police. The officers live in their respective neighborhoods and like good Catholic priests, know about the lives of the members. Your local cop is your neighbor and helper.
Photo #5b:
Every neighborhood is plastered with police signs to contact them 24/7. Since they live in your locale, they are only a few minutes away. Every sign has the cop’s full name and personal mobile phone number (181…) below his photo, badge number on his uniform and station phone number (266…). This sign at the local station even lets you know his whereabouts with red arrows: on duty, in a meeting, at the station or resting.
And he doesn’t even carry a gun!
Photo #6a:
Chinese LOVE cosplay, especially traditional costumes from early dynasties like Han, Tang and Song. They get dressed up and go out on the streets to show off their gear, take pictures and have fun. They love it when we acknowledge, compliment them and take photos together. This young woman is all gussied up to go by bus to Disney World in Hong Kong, in a Cinderella dress.That’s Evelyne at the bottom of the picture.
Photo #6b:
Cosplay goes cosmopolitan too. This Korean restaurant has a costume rental section. After dining in sartorial style, they hit the sidewalks to strut their stuff.
Photo #7:
There is a huge amount of entrepreneurial commerce happening on the sidewalks and streets of China. This mother of three is a janitor in one of the public toilets of the Shenzhen metro. Evenings, she cuts hair to make sure her kids have the money they need to go to university. That’s me in the chair. She does a great job and charges the equivalent of €1.75.
Photo #8a:
The lighting was terrible at 23:30, but this photo tells a good story about the Chinese work ethic. It’s almost midnight and this employee is still getting after detailing a customer’s car. Chinese work hard, work long hours and don’t make a big deal out of it. While we were sitting outside at a hot pot restaurant enjoying ourselves, this young man was working his ass off, when most Westerners would already be in bed.
Countless families live upstairs of their shops and businesses, start early and work late. They are able to do it, since two or more family members will play tag team and nap for a couple of hours in the afternoon, while keeping the business open to the public.
And Westerners wonder why the Chinese are running circles around them!
Photo #8b:
Some of the hardest working people in China are delivery workers, driving their own electric scooters and putting in long, intense hours. They buzz around town like a billion bees There has been a fair share of abuse by the companies and legislation has been passed to protect their safety, rest, rights and forcing the employers to pay social security taxes, while offering the same paid vacation as regular workers.
China’s economy would grind to a standstill without their tireless service.
Notice the Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant on the right. There are twice as many of them, 11,900 than McDonald’s, 6,000. Pizza Hut has almost 4,000, all staggering numbers in this country of 1.4 billion souls.
Photo #9:
Mandarin speaking foreigners are fairly rare, so we get approached a lot for people to talk to us. In restaurants, Chinese will come to our table to offer us beer or liquor. We don’t drink the hard stuff, but enjoy toasting a glass of beer together and saying, GANBEI! (干杯), which means “dry glass”, or in more correct English, “BOTTOMS UP”!
Photo #10:
In China, EVERYTHING gets recycled and nothing goes to waste. Throw in solar, wind, hydro, nuclear and garbage energy, electric vehicles, greening deserts and the Chinese are some of the most environmentally conscious people on Earth.
For recyclers, they often specialize, scouring the streets and garbage containers for one particular material. Below, this man specializes in Styrofoam. His truck is not big enough, thus he ingeniously added a long extension on the back, which he can get away with, since the stuff is so light weight.
Author
Jeff J. Brown is a geopolitical analyst, journalist, lecturer and the author of The China Trilogy: 44 Days Backpacking in China – The Middle Kingdom in the 21st Century, with the United States, Europe and the Fate of the World in Its Looking Glass (2013); China Rising – Capitalist Roads, Socialist Destinations (2016); and 3rd The BIG Red Book on China (2020). As well, he published a textbook, Doctor WriteRead’s Treasure Trove to Great English (2015), and he's the founder of SeekTruthFromFacts nonprofit foundation, and founding moderator of China Writers' Group.
Find Jeff on Substack and at RadioSinoland, where he's published hundreds of podcasts, interviews and articles. Also find Jeff's expert commentary on PressTV, SputnikGlobe, RT and more. Jeff can be reached at , Boosty, Facebook, Gab, Gettr, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Quora, Telegram, Twitter, VK, Wechat (+86-13823544196), Line/Whatsapp: +33-6-12458821 and Skype: live:.cid.de32643991a81e13.
Want to see more from the streets of China? Here are two other recent series that tell the real story of the Chinese people and their 5,000-year-old civilization:
Amir&Jeff’s Excellent China Adventure Series
ADVENTURES IN ASIA WITH LADYB, FASHU, LAOLAO & GONGGONG
https://radiosinoland.com/search/?q=ladyb
And my many articles about Taiwan Province
