Stray Images of Life in Kunming, Part 1
by Al Stone, L.Ac. |
Right of way has yet to be determined as far as I can tell. Street lights and signs are guidelines, nothing more. At the major intersections there are guard posts overseeing the traffic. Sometimes that includes a guy in the middle of the street standing at attention and pointing this way and that occasionally.
In fact, traffic in Kunming is the most interesting of all modern phenomena that I've seen here. There's a real flow between the bikes, of which there are thousands at all times, and the cars which are less numerous, but louder, especially the many buses.
Everyone just flows around each other. Just like water. Nobody looks where their going, there is absolutely no right-of-way. Everyone just goes, and moves through each other without hitting each other very often. Nobody can go very fast since the streets are so congested, but that doesn't mean there aren't accidents. More often than not, its due to someone going the wrong way in the bike lane at night when nobody can see the errant rider. I've seen that a few times.
I wouldn't describe this vehicle ballet as the Blue Angels, but there's a real sense of water flow to it all.
Its interesting to see how when something as ingrained into the culture as old people doing exercises together in public places can evolve to accept a foreign influence, without really losing its own traditionally Chinese flavor. They did it with Buddhism from India, with communism from Europe, and now, with aerobics from the good-ole US of A.
There are some drop-dead beautiful women here. They ride bicycles with their skirts hiked up to areas that we, uh... don't needle without a third party in the room. That's all well and fine. I don't have a problem with that. The only thing that I don't get is why the Chinese men don't seem to notice.
I mean, even if they avert their eyes out of courtesy, and I support that, there are many women here who have gone to great lengths to appear as goddesses. And all I see from the men, is that they're staring at ME!
I'm at a complete loss. I asked around, it turns out that the culture did not, until very recently, support the voyeurism that is part of Western culture. Okay, that's fine. But what I've noticed, is that the women have embraced this new tool, seduction, but the men haven't. The women know what they're doing, but the men, except for a glance now and then, simply don't notice the women.
Something that I do like about China is their concept of beauty. It turns out that tall, fair skinned, deep-set blue eyes are quite the image of beauty in a man. A big nose is something that Chinese go to plastic surgeons for, and a receding hairline is a sign of intelligence. What is basically a lanky Jewish geek in the USA is Mr. Universe in China.
I don't have to understand everything to enjoy it.
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