Rant Warning!
I forgot to mention the appalling things I observed while in downtown Linyi last night. I don’t like to harp on the hygiene issue in China but I find it all so abhorrent that I am going to call them out on every indecent thing I see. It’s just not right.
Case point #1: Walking through the biggest supermarket in the city, located in the heart of the downtown (so I’m not referring to some small rural outpost here), I observe a twentyish male emptying the contents of his nose directly onto the floor of the frozen food section. Need I mention that the supermarket is always extremely crowded?
Case point #2: Walking towards the staircase which leads down to the supermarket, holding my breath to avoid inhaling noxious fumes emanating from the public bathroom at the foot of the stairs, I observe a mother holding her child while he pees an impressive stream of urine all over the top of the stairs, splashing passers-by and leaving this observer wondering why she didn’t a) take him to the free bathroom located only steps away or b) take him to a heavily vegetated area also located steps away.
For those of you who say that China is a developing country and we need to be patient and understanding, I respond – basic hygiene is not really something one needs “first world status” to understand. This is common decency we are talking about, common sense. Ever wonder why SARS thrived so well and traveled so fast? Huge, globby spit slicks, people. China is coated in thick, slimy, living spit slicks, expelled with incredible gusto in the most unlikely of places, including the hallways of my workplace, carpeted areas and restaurant floors. Yummy.
Update: Check out these propaganda posters exhibiting state-sanctioned hygiene practices! (You can read translations of the posters by pausing your mouse over the picture.)
End of rant. Now back to our not so regular programming. 
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
During my first week here in Linyi, I was in the downtown area during rush hour. Suddenly a shiny black sedan with tinted windows pulled over onto the side of the road. The mother took out her two kids, where they proceeded to deficate on the bike lane and drove off.
A few nights later, there was a guy who came out of a noodle shop on Tong Da Lu and decided to pee on some bushes next to the restaurant.He then returned into the restaurant and into the kitchen…
Yuck. The other night in RT-Mart, (The BIG department store in town), I counted myself lucky to see only ONE kid peeing. This time it was in the noodle aisle. Mom held the kid while he peed and then walked off, leaving a huge yellow puddle in the middle of the floor. Oh yea, nice!