Culture Notes
Apartments
In Beijing, the shorter apartment buildings do not have elevators. In the taller apartment buildings, women attendants operate the elevators only during certain hours. If the tenants stay out late, they must walk up the stairs. Therefore, the upper stories have cheaper rents.
The guide told the story of how young men go together to have their own apartment:
The young men rent an apartment on the top floor of a 24-story building because it is the most affordable. Being young, they stay out drinking after hours. "Don’t worry," they tell each other, "Climbing so many stories won’t be a problem. We can take our minds off the effort by telling jokes and stories." They cheer each other upward from floor to floor with their tales and laughter. When they finally get to their front door, one says, "Wait a moment, I have a very sad story. I left the key in the car."
The Chinese are accustomed to hanging their laundry out the window to dry. Beijing city ordinances forbid clotheslines hanging out of high-rise windows. Therefore, each apartment has a sun porch for hanging clothes.
The government has changed its policy regarding public housing. While some apartments are designated for workers based on their years of service, the newest and most desirable apartments are for sale. Convincing the Chinese to accept the concept of debt, even a government-subsidized 2-1/2 percent annual mortgage, has been difficult. The guide had a story for that also:
Two women die and go to heaven. The American woman is asked how she enjoyed her life. She replies that she had a wonderful life with a nice car, a lovely home, and annual vacations. The Chinese woman is asked the same question. She replies that she worked and slaved her whole life, never owning a car or taking a vacation. Last week, she finally was able to purchase her dream home. Then she died.
The Little Emperors
The "Little Emperor" or "Little Empress" rules many one-child families. The only child is so-called because he or she has six doting adults (the parents and two sets of grandparents) to cater to every wish. We saw many beautiful and extravagantly dressed babies.
In 1964, after several years of a severe national food shortage, the central government instituted a family planning and birth control campaign. The government provided health care and education incentives. Now, however, the government has shifted to requiring families to pay for education.
Some exceptions are made to the one-child policy (for instance, in the case of twins). If a child is born with birth defects, the parents are allowed to try again. The policy causes problems when a marriage doesn’t work out because the parent cannot start another family with a different mate.
Incredible pressure is placed on the child to succeed. During the Cultural Revolution, children were made to learn musical instruments. Now parents expect children to earn a college degree and learn a foreign language.
Dogs
"Yes," the guide told us, "The Chinese do have dogs." We just didn’t see any because the laws do not allow dogs to be walked in public except very early in the morning and in the evening. Additionally, owners are taxed $320 per year for the privilege of owning a dog. This is obviously a hardship for people who make only an average of $200 per month.
Uniforms
The guide assured us that China really does not have policemen everywhere. The drab green uniforms are very popular among civil servants and are worn in all sorts of jobs, including ticket takers at the expressway tollgates. The government is now thinking of changing the police uniforms to black so that the gendarmes can be told apart from their impersonators.
