Health and safety? Lets just blow it up.

China is in the midst of an economic boom the scale of which I've never seen in Europe; and just like the West, not everyone is benefiting from this. 

There appears to be the same three classes of lifestyle (top, middle, bottom) but the gap between the top and bottom rungs is unimaginable to an English mind. 

There are the new uber rich that swish around with their lapdogs and Gucci knickers trying their best to run over anyone on foot with their monster 4x4's; think Gangnam style and you are on the right track (I didn't realise the song was a piss take of the new rich and that Gangnam is a district in Seoul, Korea). There is the middle, which like the West has its own sub divisions and its own pretensions. I have the impression that these people are under an immense amount of pressure to live outside of their means and to spend their money on luxury items that will show their status. Sound familiar so far?

The bottom lifestyle class is where the differences are very apparent. There are unemployment benefits… sort of. How much and how difficult it is to get depends on the province in which you live and if you have been working in the last 12 months. What is very clear though, is that the benefits are enough to stop you from starving to death for a very short period of time until you find employment; they will not pay your rent, your Sky TV subscription or have enough left over to pay your mobile phone bills. It is always preferable to undertake any work; in fact it is essential.

The street cleaners are not ashamed of their work; there is an army of them employed by the government to do this job (and another army privately employed for when there is not enough of the government supplied workers). Shovelling winter snow and ice in temperatures down to -30 and then when it thaws cleaning the detritus of the masses would be unthinkable in the UK. Ok it gets warmer here in the summer but will get a whole lot worse in terms of stink. Stopping for a minute to smile and laugh while a ridiculous looking lǎowài (foreigner) wants to take a picture of you going about your daily tasks is also just as unlikely.

   

Yesterday was the end of the spring holiday (Chinese new year) and they finished it in true Chinese style; loud, spectacular and very messy. The more money you have, the bigger your box of explosives. Many street corners had firework stands (complete with large handy fire extinguishers) which were maned by cheery looking fellas doing brisk business for the whole of the two week holiday period. 

It began at sundown and went on for around 5 hours over the whole city and was what I imagine a war breaking out sounds like, pure anarchy. People were wondering into the middle of a main street, placing a box of explosives on the floor, lighting it and then walking casually away. In the area where we are staying, they have a large public square. Public areas are very important here as people do not have gardens (it is an area full of tower blocks). Everyone contributes their bombs to the display. Children with bangers exploding them in mounds of snow next to 30 women dancing in snowsuits, no one bats an eyelid. 

People carefully lay out strips of bangers 5 meters long with a box of rockets at the end next to a watching group of men who are busy chatting, smoking and spitting.

The nice thing about it is that none of this relied on government (= taxpayers) funded organized displays. Everyone contributed their box into the display, everyone cooperated with each other in the organization and no one was injured. This particular display went on for about 1 hour and a half.

This morning at around 7am the street cleaners were out in force, by 10am it was as if nothing had happened. The only clue is the haze left in the windless air from the smoke, everyone is back to work, the holiday is over and the evil spirits have been frightened away for sure. 

A thousand tears of one hundred geese

Arriving at Harbin, Northern China in February to temperatures between -10 and -25 my main concern was whether or not my camera could cope with it. I need not have worried, the camera is doing fine. I on the other hand am having a few issues... 
In general my clothing is more than adequate, my new boots are doing the job of keeping my tootsies warm (to quote my mum who bought them for me) and my black ski mask which makes me look like I am about to eat the locals with a nice Chianti is saving my face from permanent frost bite. Its my fingers that are suffering. In order to operate my camera I need fingers that are free from gloves (well at least some of them). 20 seconds is the exposure limit before they begin to slowly die. But the real problem is when you put them back into the gloves and the feeling returns, I am instantly taken back to childhood and the pain of post snowball fights. 
When out and about I have had to operate the camera on program mode as I need to be able to keep it warm in the bag, quickly take it out take a few shots (while not breathing as it ices up the view finder and LCD screen) and cover it again. That said, I have witnessed many people wondering around nothing on their hands at all, smoking a fag with a giant Nikon SLR hanging off their necks, maybe I am just a wimp. Also, you may be surprised that I am sitting writing this my underwear, no not my long johns, my actual underwear. At a rough guess, inside the temperature is around 25-27 degrees. We have to open the window in order to cool down (currently -23 outside). My skin is drying out it looks like paper and I'm drinking so much water but not peeing...

I thought that by wrapping myself up outside with only my eyes exposed would do two jobs, keep me warm and stop the staring; it hasn't worked for the staring bit. 
For a place that is so cold, I expected a frostier reception; I am pleasantly surprised by the willingness of people to interact with me. Once they stop laughing, they are quite helpful and we can sort of communicate by waving our arms around wildly and pointing. Luckily I am with someone that is learning Chinese and so ordering food has not been as boring as it would have been because I know the sign for beef noodles...

Anyway, this is supposed to be a photo blog, so here goes.

Frozen fruit lolly lady

The most popular treat on the street is by far the frozen fruit lolly. At first I was convinced that the clear shards hanging off them were icicles (due to the fact that it is rather cold outside). But it isn't. We bought one and discovered that it is in fact syrup. Its like a toffee apple but really cold. 

Taking Grandad shopping

The next time you consider whether to take out the bike because its looking like it might rain... Just go for it. The owner of this tricycle left it parked on a busy main road and popped into Walmart for some spring festival shopping. My attention was drawn by the flowers in the basket and the bright colour against the snow. It was not until I got closer with my camera that I spotted the old man peering out at me smiling away. 

Fishing, Harbin style

 The frozen Songhua river. As we were wondering around the river bank daring each other to walk across to frozen expanse (apparently it is safe to do so until the beginning of February) we could see a few figures out on the ice digging holes. We decided that if they were there then it was safe for us and went to have a look. I made the international sign for fishing (you know what it is) and got a nod and a growl back. 

They were digging little holes and pacing back and forth as if listening for the fish under the ice. We were there for a while and concluded that this was going to be a long wait and left. 

Not before realizing that the ice was now only about 50 cm deep...