Life in Beijing — five new mind-grabbers
Since relocating to Beijing in September 2015, smog has been a recurring theme in chats with friends, much like weather was a fixation when I was in the United Kingdom. (It was consumerism in Singapore, and movies and cricket in India.)
My mind, it appears, has decided to move on. “Smog? Gimme a break.” Reconciliation? Resignation? Acceptance? Saturation? Don’t know. But, the mind, being the mind, has to have something to chew on, especially during those rare moments when the smartphone is quiet. During such nanoseconds, I caught my mind grappling with the following:
The hideous card-dropper: At first, I thought some- thing belonging to a fellow sidewalk user, who was coming in the opposite direction on a tiny e-vehicle, had fallen to the ground. I almost bent down to pick it up and return it before he sped away, until I realized it was a business card, rather than a flyer advertising personal services.
As we passed by each other, he looked at me. Our eyes met for a split second. How I wish I hadn’t looked at the most hideous face I had ever seen. What he was doing was even more hideous — littering the sidewalks. I could trace a trail of such cards snaking through the sidewalk. My mind experienced “Eureka!” I’ve always wondered how exactly Beijing gets littered with these colorful cards. Mystery solved.
Sidewalk art: But Beijing sidewalks are not a disgrace always. Of late, graffiti-type paintings have been sprouting at street corners. No larger than a meter square, they depict flowers, fruits, slices of fruits and such. A mystery actually — am yet to figure who is/are the artist(s). Are primary school students secretly using sidewalks as drawing boards? While waiting at intersections for the lights to turn green, the colorful art catches your eye, reminding you about nature and healthy food.
Three-wheeler taxis: These charmless electric metal cuboids are somehow surviving the onslaught of the sharing economy (bicycles for rent), providing lastmile connectivity to many. How about regularizing them through an app, making them part of taxi-on-demand services like Didi?
Municipal bikes: These red-and-white precursors to today’s trendy, GPS-enabled bicycles appear to be caught in a time warp. Haven’t seen any response from their operator to the fast-changing market situation and competition. Their docking stations are useful infrastructure. Shouldn’t all bike companies ponder ways of sharing it to meet new regulations? Can’t the old bikes be installed with GPS-enabled locks and made part of the existing apps, deepening the sharing economy?
Food wastage: The remains of restaurant meals are not pleasant: More than half of the food is wasted. China is now importing rice, other staples, fruit and other food. It takes extreme logistics, hard work, money and luck to get food from farm to the table. Millions still starve on our planet, but Beijingers appear to be profligate. Dear Beijinger, order only what you can eat. And eat what you buy. Take leftovers home. Or give to someone needy.