~ K. T. Jong
A Small Sampling
I've previously included some of the sights of China, but really, if thats all you get, you're missing out. Here is a little taste of what I hear in China on a daily basis (made possible in part by my paper-thin walls that allow the real-life sounds of China to be right in my bedroom with me at all times - a great feature my apartment provides).
Call for Trash. Not "trash" per se, mostly useful items like old bottles, boxes, and containers. But I call it that because when I first heard it, I told Michael I thought it was a religious call for prayer. You'll see these guys biking around the city in these big carts picking up odds and ends, and a few of them come around to the back of my apartment complex where they shout for stuff in this sing-song voice (what they say exactly, I'm not sure). Needless to say, some days its difficult to sleep in (even for me, which should tell you something).
Honking. Incessant honking, luckily, does not appear to induce road rage, it is just a normal part of driving (and when you watch the flow of traffic and pedestrians, you see why it is often necessary). The only time I've been really annoyed is when we took the bus from Ningbo to Xikou; I was trying to catch a quick snooze but the driver literally laid on the horn every ten seconds (for no apparent reason) which startled me awake every time.
Water Trucks. When I first heard the familiar nursery jingles pass by outside, I thought maybe ice cream trucks had found their way to China. No. The songs are actually warning of the coming water truck, which blasts the debris (and sometimes unlucky bikers and walkers) to clean the streets. Watch out.
Hangzhou-nese. Every city has their own dialect. I had trouble enough with Chinese as it is - but now I'm not sure if the conversations I'm eavesdropping on are even standard Mandarin or not. Luckily, since Hangzhou was once an ancient capital, its dialect is closer to the norm than other places; in one district, for example, the dialect is actually closer to Japanese (so I've been told).
Fireworks. You'd think the Chinese invented fireworks, for crying out loud (oh wait...). While typing this entry, I heard three separate rounds of firecrackers go off near my apartment. It is very common (especially on the weekends) to hear or see fireworks in the city - usually a sign that somebody rich just had a wedding.
Eminem. I thought I could escape him. I thought if maybe I went to China, a Communist nation on the other side of the world still in a developing stage, I would be safe. But no. My second night in Hangzhou, Michael took us to this pizza place, and yes, ol' Slim Shady was played during dinner. To be fair, I haven't heard him since, but I cannot escape American pop music - but often the most random songs become outrageously popular here.