China The Same And More

Susan doing domestic.

 A popular saying in India The Same But Different has a sister version in China “The Same And More”. In 2005, we arrived at the Vancouver International airport only to be told that our bags where grossly overweight and deemed totally unacceptable. Poor Frank had to hustle down the airport corridors to buy a third luggage bag. I had provoked the over packing because I thought there wouldn't be any  conveniences in China. What a quality lesson learnt. China has the same as every other country in the world and way more.

We have pollution in Canada and China has more. The sky in Yichang, Hubei Province, where we taught for six months was sometimes green. It smelt like metal and tasted like car exhaust. We have goods in Canada and China has extra. Frank and I walked to the food market regularly and were thrilled with the abundance of fresh vegetables and fruit, live animals ready for slaughter, flopping fish of every variety including eels and frogs. "Anything that walks, swims, crawls or flies with its back to heaven is edible." Cantonese saying.

What we found most intriguing was the lack of wild birds. According to our guide, “They’ve all been eaten. You will only find birds in cages.”

Canada has people and China has more. Our population is approximately 36 million, nearly the population of Beijing. We have lots of vehicles in Canada while China has way extra. You will see that there is not enough room for the cars and so drivers have taken to parking on the sidewalks. Exploring your neighbourhood will be the most fun you’ve likely had in years. We guarantee a busy, noisy, friendly, polluted and crowded adventure.

Tip No. 2: Don’t over pack. China has the same and more.

Sidewalk Scenes

Students Curious About Food

Frank Joins Workers