Lowgene
The most recent "that's Shanghai" cover story is about the differences between Shanghai and Hong Kong, both being large and important commercial port cities in China. To me, however, there really is no comparison: Shanghai still has a long way to go if it wants to even sniff Hong Kong's reputation as an international cosmopolitan hub. In fact, I think Shanghai should begin to do some sniffing of its own; it will find a discernable stench rising from its sewers and public transport stops...yup, that's the stench of dirty people.
You really can't expect much from China in terms of hygiene; in many ways, this is a city that's growing too fast for its own clean britches. The progress made here has been more than remarkable, with sparkling new skyscrapers, modern apartment buildings, and dozens of trendy dining and drinking spots popping up monthly. Not to mention all the Starbucks cafes, those beacons of Western fidelity, that have popped up on the face of this city like a bad case of adolescent acne. Still, all the newness lies atop a gargantuan mound of cultural mores and societal traditions that can't be eradicated with the swipe of a bar of Dial.
"Wakkkaaaaaatoooooooooooop!"
Ah, the familiar sound of the impending loogey, ubiquitous as oxygen and still shocking to the most hardened of foreigners. Still, grotesquely fascinated, I can't help but look in the direction of the ghastly noise, trying to make out the transgressor of etiquette, as if pinpointing the culprit will bring me some sort of moral consolation. Perhaps if they saw me glaring, they would somehow suck the slippery glop back into their deteriorating lungs. No luck so far and not likely to come across any soon; nevertheless, it's like watching William Hung on American Idol: no matter how painful the images and the sound, you JUST CAN'T TURN AWAY.
The majority of loogey hawkers are middle-aged to old men, but there's a healthy number of old women that do it, too. You almost have to forgive them, and tell yourself "Hey, these people lived through the Cultural Revolution." That phlegm, dear sirs, is a historical artifact.
I exaggerate, of course, as I always do, but the city isn't moving quickly enough to eliminate the casual loogey hawking and the general lack of social etiquette afflicting so many that walk these streets. From the "that's Shanghai" article: To Xia Lin, a local TV personality, what Shanghai needs is simple. "It needs people with better social etiquette," she says. In the past 15 years, this thirtysomething has divided her life between Hong Kong, Shanghai and the United States and has come to decide that what defines a city as "international" is the "quality" of its people and culture.
I believe that in Xia Lin's case, "quality" consists of daily bathing, teeth brushing, nail clipping, and hair trimming...from all parts of the body. It probably does not leave room for the spontaneous loogey hawk, the long yellow nails, and the mole hairs that could be used for trout-fishing.
I'm not passing judgment here, just making observations and hoping that the time will soon come when people discover hygiene and say goodbye to "low-gene." Recent episodes of SARS and bird-flu should be capitalized to educate the masses on how to take care of themselves in order to take care of greater society. Sadly, such mass re-education is usually not effective in the long run (see aforementioned Cultural Revolution), and as with most behavior, change must be tied to economic well being. All the fancy skyscrapers in the world can't cover up the millions and millions of people who would like to take daily baths if they could, but need to find a place to live, first.
So here I am, preachy clean Eric...and all I wanted to do was write about that old lady that nearly hawked a loogey on my shoe this afternoon.
You really can't expect much from China in terms of hygiene; in many ways, this is a city that's growing too fast for its own clean britches. The progress made here has been more than remarkable, with sparkling new skyscrapers, modern apartment buildings, and dozens of trendy dining and drinking spots popping up monthly. Not to mention all the Starbucks cafes, those beacons of Western fidelity, that have popped up on the face of this city like a bad case of adolescent acne. Still, all the newness lies atop a gargantuan mound of cultural mores and societal traditions that can't be eradicated with the swipe of a bar of Dial.
"Wakkkaaaaaatoooooooooooop!"
Ah, the familiar sound of the impending loogey, ubiquitous as oxygen and still shocking to the most hardened of foreigners. Still, grotesquely fascinated, I can't help but look in the direction of the ghastly noise, trying to make out the transgressor of etiquette, as if pinpointing the culprit will bring me some sort of moral consolation. Perhaps if they saw me glaring, they would somehow suck the slippery glop back into their deteriorating lungs. No luck so far and not likely to come across any soon; nevertheless, it's like watching William Hung on American Idol: no matter how painful the images and the sound, you JUST CAN'T TURN AWAY.
The majority of loogey hawkers are middle-aged to old men, but there's a healthy number of old women that do it, too. You almost have to forgive them, and tell yourself "Hey, these people lived through the Cultural Revolution." That phlegm, dear sirs, is a historical artifact.
I exaggerate, of course, as I always do, but the city isn't moving quickly enough to eliminate the casual loogey hawking and the general lack of social etiquette afflicting so many that walk these streets. From the "that's Shanghai" article: To Xia Lin, a local TV personality, what Shanghai needs is simple. "It needs people with better social etiquette," she says. In the past 15 years, this thirtysomething has divided her life between Hong Kong, Shanghai and the United States and has come to decide that what defines a city as "international" is the "quality" of its people and culture.
I believe that in Xia Lin's case, "quality" consists of daily bathing, teeth brushing, nail clipping, and hair trimming...from all parts of the body. It probably does not leave room for the spontaneous loogey hawk, the long yellow nails, and the mole hairs that could be used for trout-fishing.
I'm not passing judgment here, just making observations and hoping that the time will soon come when people discover hygiene and say goodbye to "low-gene." Recent episodes of SARS and bird-flu should be capitalized to educate the masses on how to take care of themselves in order to take care of greater society. Sadly, such mass re-education is usually not effective in the long run (see aforementioned Cultural Revolution), and as with most behavior, change must be tied to economic well being. All the fancy skyscrapers in the world can't cover up the millions and millions of people who would like to take daily baths if they could, but need to find a place to live, first.
So here I am, preachy clean Eric...and all I wanted to do was write about that old lady that nearly hawked a loogey on my shoe this afternoon.