Outside

Anyone who knows me, knows I love to be outside. I sit outside until way past dark, reading or watching the sun set…thinking about things….messing with my plants…I’d rather be outside than pretty much anywhere else.

In China, it’s a different experience but still one I enjoy, even when it’s hard to breathe. I don’t get to hang out by my fire pit and mow my acre yard here, or pick yummy tomatoes from my garden but there are plenty of eye opening things to see. If can get enough bug spray on me so I am not literally devoured by the most tenacious mosquitoes on the planet, I’ll take my backpack and start walking. I usually walk around my neighborhood for 4-5 miles and see what is around me – outside my compound.

Inside my compound- or gated community, looks pretty much like a neighborhood in America. There are kids, bikes, people walking dogs, bbqs in the back yards…but outside? Once through the electric fence, the gate and the guards and the cameras, the neighborhood becomes different. Everything is dirty. Sometimes it looks like the apocalypse. There are no lawn maintenance workers or well groomed clubhouse employees who speak English. A completely different world.

There’s bicycle repair man, who recently lost his little homemade hut – must have been the storm. He’s very nice. Always waves or gives me the nod of respect. He sets up shop by the side of the road. And the plant people who bring in their plants and flowers to sell by the side of the road. They live in rural farm communities and are very poor. My favorite plant lady, Lei, has 3 children. Periodically, I drop off a big bag of clothes, shoes and coats. My kids have so much. I don’t know where they go at night. For all I know, they sleep right there.

Usually, I walk down to my favorite DVD store and back. Until recently, it was located in an old hutong neighborhood on the main road. In July, the government was alerted to the fact that there might be illegal businesses there. (I think they were all illegal) They came and bulldozed the entire hutong into rubble. I watched them do it. These people all lost their businesses and their homes. These were people I have known since the last time we were China, back in 2006. I spent so much time in all their shops- and bought furniture from several places. Peter made my lime green altar table from a drawing I gave him. And Vicky’s had beautiful handmade furniture- we have a couple of pieces from her. Who knows where they are now.

Tom has set up shop in another old hutong area- one that has mostly been torn down. I used to ride through there with baby Peyton on my bike…it’s such a shame to lose this interesting part of culture.

Still. Life goes on. People adapt. Tiny trucks rip around delivering packages, doctors have tiny local offices where they perform acupuncture and cupping. And tiny restaurants and jianbing carts serve lunch. My favorite is “Jianbing Ding”. Ding is also from a rural farming village and makes less than $1 per jianbing.

I’m fortunate to have a great driver, who likes to hang out and talk. That way, I can get everyone’s “story”. It’s all so interesting. And this is how everyone really lives. Day after day- until it gets really cold. The plant people go back to their farms, Ding goes home to her village for Chinese New Year and stays until it gets warm again. I know summer is starting, when I see them all slowly coming back to their little spots by the side of the road.

And the neighborhood starts to come alive. And I know it’s time to start my walks again. Outside.