Children and other things of interest

We saw children everywhere we went but not as many as you might expect. China's population policies limit the number of children a couple can have. It was decided that because there were not enough resources to adequately supply China's growing population needs, the state would regulate the number of children allowed.

In the 1970s couples in the city could have two children while couples in the rural areas could have three or four. Since the 1980s the policy has been one child per family. Using propaganda and various social and economic pressures, family size was tightly controlled. With life expectancy increasing, more women working, and more people moving into urban areas, children were not an economic asset.

In any case, everyone in our group agreed that the children in China were very cute. They also seemed well cared for and loved. There was an unofficial "cutest baby picture" contest going on during the trip, but it was hard to decide which one was the cutest.

The little boy on the right most likely is wearing pants that are open at the crotch. The first time I saw a little child with these pants open to the birthday suit, I thought maybe the pants were ripped. But then I saw several more like this and I realized that was a fashion design that solved one of life's problems.

Photo by Gene Field

Check out her shoes! Right in style.

Photo by Gene Field

This little boy was in one of the side streets in the area where we got off the boat on our Grand Canal cruise. His mother, off to the right, watched as Glenn Arnold swung him up in the air.

Photo by Sheryl Arnold

Little girl with her grandmother at the Lingering Garden in Suzhou.

Photo by Gene Field

This little girl was part of a large group at the Lingyin Temple in Hangzhou. They were all holding what looked like a yellow paper-folded design of some kind.

Toilets in China
On the left you can see the traditional toilet in China. In our hotels the toilets were all Western style. But when we were out during the day to factories, gardens, restaurants, etc., many in our group had to decide whether to wait for the one or two “sit-down” toilets or just go with the flow.

To get to the stall you had to climb up one step (maybe so that the whole toilet area could be hosed down) to the stalls. Sometimes the stalls were very clean, there was toilet paper (which, by the way, had to be tossed, once used, into the trash bin so as not to clog the plumbing system) and the floor was dry. Sometimes there was a woman standing inside the room handing out small wads of toilet paper. Sometimes there was a little dispenser and you had to grab the paper before going in. Most of us carried miniature rolls of t.p. just in case.

Also, if you were lucky, there was a place to hang your purse or backpack. Although some toilets we came across left a lot to be desired, this did not seem to stop anyone from enjoying the trip.

Photo by Sheryl Arnold

Vendors
Everywhere we went, we encountered vendors. They knew where the tour buses were going to stop and as we got off, they clustered around us like a swarm of mosquitoes. They were very persistent and hurried along beside us yelling “three for dollah!” or whatever. They were obviously working hard to make money. Men and women, mostly younger, sold all kinds of things, but what tempted Lucie the most was the Chairman Mao watch. One man in our group bought an entire case of watches after haggling with the no doubt overjoyed vendor. Then he sold them to others in our group. I am sure Lucie still has regrets about not buying a watch.

Photo by Lucie Field

More Vendors
As might be expected, we came across McDonald’s in several places in China. I can’t say that any in our group would have preferred eating here when we were being given so much wonderful Chinese food every day. Our guide told us that the largest Kentucky Fried Chicken was in China, three stories high I think he said. Our group did go in Starbucks, a treat they missed from home.