No matter when I’m there, no matter how hot it is – there are hundreds of people on the go. No matter how early I start to climb – I will always meet other “mountain climbers”. They go alone, in groups or families; often Grandma and Grandpa come along and remain behind with the grandchildren half-way or quarter-way to the top, while the young parents go on till the “summit”. Foreigners are represented at less than 0.5 %.
Many take a normal speed, some and not too few walk at maximum pace and run down again at a trot; quite a lot wear a jogger’s dress. I guess that at the weekend, tens of thousands have been on the hill, I know from conversations with fellow “climbers” that they meet regularly at least once a week, including rainy days, to assail this rise, and even the slowest walker has no opportunity for contemplation here, but stamina is required (and strengthened).
Until his physician advised him against, because of knee problems, our driver Fang ShiFu was climbing for exercise almost every day on the hill, and during the course of three years he has thus lost 15 kg in weight, which he is very proud of.
City life: anonymity
“In China, you can observe an increasing anonymity in cities and pervasive individualization of life.”
It may be, but I cannot judge, that this is again true for BeiJing. One reason could be that many residential areas in BeiJing are residential only, so that restaurants and shops cannot be accessed walking. For ShenZhen with its many “villages”, this claim is in my opinion not true. Not only that life on the streets is anything but anonymous, but also people know each other: I know more people in ShenZhen, and more people know me, as at my primary residence in Germany.
Even in the settlements (“gardens”), at least in those I know, and I do know several of them, no one needs to remain anonymous. Those who want to meet people from the neighbourhood visit the small parks in the settlements, sit on a bench or walk around and address other people. Of course, children and dogs are the best tools for making contacts, both I do not have either in China, dogs I don’t have even in Germany, and my children have already grown up, so that I use football (at the weekend) and the laptop (in the restaurant), but also my bike provides for making contact, such as to craftsman Wang.
Those who do not want to do that, may visit many dance events on Saturday and Sunday evenings, outside on the squares and in the parks, or the gymnastics club, tennis squares, pools or anywhere else where hundreds of people may gather and the whole village meet. The residential areas in ShenZhen do not favour any case of possible anonymity, and when considering those many groups of people who meet and do something together, I do not believe it. At least not in ShenZhen.
Barber shops
“Hairdressers are open until well after midnight, but why are only men their clients? Caution – there will be offered different services.”
In other words, in BeiJing the barber shops seem to be brothels. I cannot confirm that nor deny from ShenZhen, not having visited by far all the hairdressers in the city. I know of no brothels, only of three or four hairdressing shops.
They are, however, not to be qualified as craft, but as decorative art. Everything is arts: the washing, the cutting. First of all, the local hairdresser turned out to be “threeclass society”: With regard to hairdressers, the classless society of communism is obviously not what they subscribe to. Class A (the lowest) is for reception, sweeping and the cash – no artistic activity, there may be women/girls or men/boys; class B assumes a part of artistic craft with hair washing and scalp massage, by girls or boys; class C covers the real artists, the hairdressers – only (preferably young) men.
We begin with washing: you will lie down, your head rests on a cushion, and underneath is the water basin. If you have weathered several nights working half of the time, you must be prepared to falling asleep. The washing is not restricted to wetting, shampoo on, rinse, done – not at all! After applying the shampoo it will be rubbed in with rhythmic head massage and rinsed after endlessly relaxing minutes. Then again a serve of shampoo with the same intensity, according to the performer’s progress in training, with some artistic quality.
Those who think that this had been the head massage of which they heard before, will have to think again: Now we get into the real stuff, including shoulders, arms, and hands.
Next you are asked whether you would like to have your ears cleaned – go for it! It is done with extreme caution (not too deep!) and care.
Follow me to the artist. The real hairdresser is using comb and scissors like other artists would their brushes, chisels or carving knifes. The artist is ready to listen to customer’s suggestions, as long as the customer does not interfere with his artistic licence. The haircut is almost never completed. Before the blow-drying here and here and everywhere another tiny hair still has to go, a slight unevenness ought to be corrected, here something is protruding. Even more so after the blow-drying, how many faults will still show up then!
After that, you are washed again, not quite as thorough as before, for there is only half a grasp of hair left, and then blow-dried again. And again, here and there and everywhere tiny faults are discovered that must be addressed urgently.
Only then can you go and pay, according to which shop you are in, three to five Euros per hour and a half for the arts ...
“Safety pins that bend, and the pedals of my bike dropped off ”
A local newspaper of the German district in which I live published an article about a couple in a neighbouring town who had returned to Germany after spending several years as lecturers in China. The article mentioned an occasion at which the couple wanted to report in public about their experience. Among other things, it was stated: