BlogSpot and China
BlogSpot and China do not appear to get along very well. This editing interface (blogger.com) works intermittently, but does work most of the time. However, my page at blogspot.com is simply not available to me.
If you are one of the nice folks whom have posted a note, I cannot reply (I only know about them because of the moderation interface) except in this very public way (or via Email). Thanks for your notes, and here are some public replies.
Lost Day in China
TD, When I say I went the wrong direction, it is that — not as far as I walked this day — in a different direction is the Zhong Guan Cun Shopping District. KFC and Cold Stone Creamery would have agreed with me on the Lost Day, but instead I went the other way, and found nothing very interesting.
Short Update in China
TD, The tea was probably oolong, but I haven’t had it again to ask someone to confirm. Considering how simple tea is, it can really have a lot of flavors.
I thought I would mention though that Japanese restaurants are not actually so rare. I’ve seen two (which also means I was able to recognize them as Japanese). This is a fairly large metropolitan area, and even though I can’t read much (about 10 to 15 percent of public signs and product labels have English translations – only about 5% of business signs). That’s not to say that all of the locals “like it”, there is no shortage of Mazdas on the roads either.
Big Night in China
TD, No, I’ve seen no traffic accidents. “The Other American” did - but only the aftermath. A mangled bicycle, a dented taxi and broken glass.
TD & DH: After about a week you realize that along with the insanity of breaking all the rules, everybody in cars move with a determined sense of caution, which often makes traffic ooze instead of move. The merge thing is part of that ooze. Those whom are a little less cautious will simply get around those who are a little more cautious.
Crossing streets - especially large streets - the dynamic changes with crowds. The crossing is simply done in the form of safety by numbers. Where the lead - least cautious - walkers take the risk and lead the way for the rest of the group. Crossing a street alone is pretty much what I described though.
DH: I think HongKong tracks more closely to Brittan - as they were the law of the land until fairly recently. Audio crossing is definitely a downtown London sound.
UD: Hey, everyone… It’s my Uncle! … I’m still working out how to get some photos in the blog, there are lots of sites that can help don’t exactly agree with me from here (either intermittent or non-existent).