It’s time for all the university sophomores in Tianjin to do their mandatory military training. According to my students, this means they have to buy a super-low-quality blue camouflage uniform (the seats split on several of my student’s classmates when they sat down) and march around in formation all day for a week or two. According to what we hear and see out our windows in the sports field beside our apartment, it means a lot of goose-stepping and yelling one-two-three-four. My students didn’t like doing it but said it made them more patriotic.

I didn’t set out to go get a picture, but we were out taking a walk happened upon a … squadron? … doing their drills. Here’s a shot of the young ladies:

I asked my students about it and this immediately led to a common and annoying language problem that plagues both English speakers learning Chinese and Chinese speakers learning English.

Basically, in everyday Mandarin it’s context rather than grammar that determines the difference between “they made me” and “they let me.” My EFL students routinely say things like, “My boss let me work late yesterday” or “they always let us work overtime” because in their heads they’re thinking in Chinese, and in Chinese they’d use the same verb to express both of the above concepts (ordering sb. to do something and allowing sb. to do something). A student today tried to tell me that the drill sergeants “let them” stand very still for a long time, so I hammered out some sentences with her and double-checked with my Chinese coworkers:

The military training officer doesn’t let us (让) talk or look around.
教官不让我们说话或者左顾右盼。
jiàoguān búràng wǒmen shuōhuà huòzhě zuǒgùyòupàn.

The military training officer makes us (让) goose-step for a long time.
教官让我们踢很长时间正步。
jiàoguān ràng wǒmen tī hěn cháng shíjiān zhèngbù.

Sure, people could use other words to say it more specifically, but they don’t! They just say “让” and expect you to know what they mean from the situation. If I try to use more specific words when speaking Chinese, it comes off sounding funny because usually they wouldn’t bother in most situations. Like much of China, that’s just how it is; you can like it, you can leave it, but you’re not gonna change it.

“Establishing a civilized community is everybody’s dream;
creating a beautiful and happy life has your and my contributions.”

建文明社区是大家心愿，创美好生活有你我奉献
jiàn wénmíng shèqū shì dàjiā xīnyuàn, chuàng měihǎo shēnghuó yǒu nǐ wǒ fèngxiàn

This is the new banner that went up in our neighbourhood this week. What it actually means is, “Sidewalk vegetable sellers are officially no longer welcome here.” When this went up, the chéngguǎn (城管), which are the low-level bylaw enforcers who deal with things like illegal street vendors, came and kicked out our neighbourhood’s vegetable sellers — a migrant couple from Húnán (湖南) who daily pedal in their vegetables on a three-wheel cart — and the noodle vendors with their push carts. All of them have been daily fixtures inside the front gate of our apartment complex since the day we moved in. Jessica’s buying noodles after a walk in the park in the photo below (vegetables in the background on the left):

The Pros & Cons
We like having these people in our neighbourhood. In a big, dirty, noisy, anonymous, soul-quenching concrete wasteland where you don’t even know the people in your own stairwell, having an informal community center inside the front entrance where people play, gossip, buy breakfast and lunch, etc. really changes the feel of the place. We get to smile and make small talk every time we come and go (and show off Lilia), and the old guys sitting around doing nothing all day get just as big a kick out of it as we do, I think.

But it’s not simply a matter of vain city officials disregarding the poor in a selfish rush to create a sterile urban facade that will advance their careers and prestige (though no doubt that’s a big part of it); there are real downsides to having these vendors around. The chǎobǐng (炒饼) lady, whom we call “auntie” (大娘), leaves a pile of eggs shells, cabbage, and other rotting food waste right by the entrance every night. More than once when biking home from work at night I’ve seen and heard big rats scrounging around in it. These vendors are unregulated, and in China that often means things like dìgōuyóu (地沟油), cooking oil that was skimmed off the sewage scooped out of manholes outside of restaurants and resold in used-but-new-looking containers, usually to street vendors but often to restaurants as well. Street vendors also create traffic nightmares in a city where the traffic is already beyond brutal. Tianjin used to be known for its bustling street markets, which was a nice way of saying ridiculously crowded streets that you could barely push your bike through. These days such markets are harder to find, but I videoed a bike ride through one a couple blocks away.

Getting Kicked Out
Here’s the best shot we have of the vegetable selling scene, pre-eviction. It’s hard to see, but there are shelves of vegetables along the wall on the left, behind the chair and cabinet:

And here’s afterward, with their shelves and things torn down:

It doesn’t happen as sinisterly as I could make it sound in the telling; it’s not like there’s a squadron of stone-faced riot police that show up and bully people around. In our neighbourhood it means an unenthusiastic middle-aged guy, who looks just like the other middle-aged guys in our neighborhood aside from his rumpled, ill-fitting, cheap-looking uniform, standing off to the side smoking, almost apologetically telling the vendors they have to go. He’s just the messenger; he has no real power, but the people that sent him do and there’s nothing anyone can do about it except comply. He’s the opposite of intimidating.

That’s how it is here and elsewhere in our area: the vendors don’t get mad at the messengers — they even stand around and chat, taking their time. But that’s not how it is elsewhere, where chéngguǎn are often violent and beat the street vendors, in some instances provoking violence in return — not to mention the controversy surrounding the alleged leak of a chéngguǎn manual explaining how to use violence to enforce bylaws. In Kunming people are even getting creative in their resistance. No such drama for us, though.

I leave for work on my bike around 8:20am, and on the morning all this happened I passed the chǎobǐng lady on my way to the subway. She was pushing her cart down the road after being kicked out that morning. She’s funny because she’s tiny, can’t be more than 5 feet tall or more than 80 or 90 pounds, but she’s a real firecracker. I asked what happened and she animatedly told me that the chéngguǎn made her leave. I asked when she could return and she said, “After 9:00.” I double-checked, “You mean you can go back after 9:00? You just have to wait until after 9?” Yep, that was the deal apparently, at least for her and the other push-cart vendors. Maybe there was an inspection coming through. Since then they’ve all been back every morning like normal, except for the vegetable sellers.

Other stuff about street vendors, street markets, and city clean-up:

• Tianjin Street Market Dash (video)
• Behaving yourself… with Tianjin characteristics
• Before & After: Tianjin’s transformation at ground level
• GROOOOOOOSS!

One of my students, mid-40′s, manager, mom to an elementary aged son, this week during class:

“I like watching Desperate Housewives. I used to think Americans are all selfish and don’t care about others. But now I think they do care about others because the wives in Desperate Housewives always help each other.”

“Really? But you know the stuff on T.V. isn’t always real.”

“Of course, but I think Desperate Housewives is like the real America. Americans are like this.”

The word “propaganda” (宣传 xuān​chuán​) doesn’t carry the same sinister connotations in Chinese. A range of promotional material and activity that we wouldn’t automatically consider insidious in North America would be called “propaganda” in Chinese. (So maybe it’d be most accurate to use the word “propaganda” more broadly like the Chinese do but retain the negative connotations?) Anyway, this April contained a lot of propaganda. Before the gov. started spinning its role in the earthquake relief efforts, an unrelated propaganda campaign was already underway in Tianjin.

I mentioned in before how our teacher warned me about this April’s campaign in Tianjin to enforce previously unenforced laws; she was afraid I’d get a ticket for the way I bike. Our neighbourhood got some colourful new posters detailing the rules in pictures, though the photo at right of our neighbourhood notice board shows how much people seemed to care. Our Chinese teacher’s explanation of how people feel about these little campaigns (“行动“) fits right in with what we’ve seen in our area. After all, they’ve been through this drill before.

According to her, there’s an understanding between the front line guys who have to make a show of implementing these kinds of campaigns and the people who are supposed to alter their behaviour/business activities: play the game, let us put on a show for our bosses so they can report to their bosses, and we’ll continue looking the other way just like we’ve always done once this little xíngdòng blows over.

I won’t bother translating all the text from the posters, but here’s the main parts (left to right, top to bottom). I followed the Chinese grammar as close as I could for fellow language students’ sake. Not the most exciting material, I know, but this is our neighbourhood; all the behaviours mentioned are ubiquitous around here, though some more than others. Besides, you know you’ve always wanted to know how to say “propaganda poster” in Chinese!

“Tianjin City City Administration Regulations” Propaganda Poster 1
《天津市城市管理规定》宣传挂图
tiānjīnshì chéngshì guǎnlǐ guīdìng xuānchuán guàtú

City residents ought to abide by City Administration laws and regulations and behaviour norms, cherish public facilities, protect the public environment, and maintain public order.
市民应当遵守城市管理法律规定和行为准则，爱护公共设施，保护公共环境，维护公共秩序。
shìmín yīngdāng zūnshǒu chéngshì guǎnlǐ fǎlǜ guīdìng hé xíngwéi zhǔzé, àihù gōnggòng shèshī, bǎohù gōnggòng huánjìng, wéihù gōnggòng zhìxù

In public places it is strictly forbidden everywhere to spit phlegm, spit chewing gum, strictly forbidden everywhere to pee or relieve yourself, strictly forbidden to carelessly throw cigarette butts, paper scraps, fruit peels and pits as well as all kinds of other waste material. [Sign: Prohibited everywhere to poo or pee] (Fine: 50元/$7.45)
在公共场所严禁随地吐痰、吐口香糖，严禁随处便溺或者乱倒粪便，严禁乱扔烟蒂、纸屑、瓜果皮核以及其他各类废弃物。[禁止随地大小便]
ài gōnggòng chǎngsuǒ yánjìn suídì tǔtán, tǔ kǒuxiāngtáng, yánjìn suíchù biànnì huòzhě luàn dàofèibiàn, yánjìn luànrēng yāndì, zhǐxiè, guāguǒ pí hé yǐjí qítā gèlèi fèiqìwù. [jìnzhǐ suídì dàxiǎobiàn]

It is strictly forbidden from buildings or vehicles to toss out any kind of material.
严禁由建筑物或者车辆向外掷各类物品。
yánjìn yóu jiànzhùwù huòzhě chēliàng xiàngwài zhì gèlèi wùpǐn

It is strictly forbidden on buildings, construction and other installations or trees, residential passageways and other places to exhibit, post, hang, carve, scribble, any kind of urban eyesore slogans, propaganda articles and other materials.
严禁在建筑物、构筑物和其他设施或者树木、居民楼道等处摆放、张贴、悬挂、刻划、涂写各种有碍市容市貌的标语、宣传品和其他物品。
yánjìn zài jiànzhùwù, gòuzhùwù hé qítā shèshī huòzhě shùmù, jūmín lóudào děngchù bǎifàng, zhāngtiē, kèhuá, túxiě gèzhǒng yǒuàishìróng shì mào de biāoyǔ, xuānchuánpǐn hé qítā wùpǐn

It is strictly forbidden whatsoever for work units and individuals to privately put up disorderly buildings.
严禁任何单位和个人私搭乱盖。
yánjìn rènhé dānwèi hé gèrén sī dā luàn gài

It is strictly forbidden on residential buildings outer eaves to add new doors and windows, open windows and alter doors or increase the original door and window dimensions. [Privately owned beauty parlour]
严禁在住宅楼房外檐上增设门窗、拆窗改门或者扩大原有门窗尺寸。[私家美发]
yánjìn zài zhùzhái lóufáng wài yánshàng zēngshè mén chuāng, chāi chuāng gǎi mén huòzhě kuòdà yuányǒu mén chuāng chǐcùn. [sījiā měifà]
(A whole strip of first floor street-facing businesses next to our complex have just filled in their illegal doors half-way and either posted signs saying “Normal business hours, go around” or provided steps for people to step over the recently laid bricks. After the first two three of the campaign, some of the businesses have already knocked most of their brickwork back down.)

It is strictly forbidden to illegally occupy the road, in public locations to display and sell, food and drink, or engage in activities like motor vehicle washing and repairing, etc. [Intersection Jianbing][Sanitary and clean]
严禁违法占用道路、公共场所从事摆卖、餐饮、机动车清洗和修理等经营活动。[道口煎饼][卫生干净]
yánjìn wéifǎ zhànyòng dàolù, gōnggòng chǎngsuǒ cóngshì bǎimài, cānyǐn, jīdòngchē qīngxǐ hé xiūlǐ děng jīngyíng huódòng. [dàokǒu jiānbing][wèishēng gānjìng]
(Around here this means that all the street cart vendors have started crowding the entrances to neighbourhoods rather than being right out on the street corners.)

It is strictly forbidden on the road and in neighbourhood unappointed places to burn funeral wreaths, paper money and other funeral articles.
严禁在道路及社区非指定区域内焚烧花圈、纸钱及其他丧葬用品。
yánjìn zài dàolù jí shèqū fēizhǐdìng qūyù nèi fénshāo huāquān, zhǐqián jí qítā sāngzàng yòngpǐn.

It is strictly forbidden for individuals to raise aggressive dogs, big-size dogs. (Penalty: 1000元 fine and the dog gets confiscated.)
严禁个人饲养烈性犬、大型犬。
yánjìn gèrén sìyǎng lièxìng quǎn, dàxíng quǎn.

It is strictly forbidden to make use of high-volume broadcast loudspeakers or to produce other high-level noise to interfere with the surrounding residential life; if engaging in household indoor entertainment, renovations, etc., activities, you ought to restrict the time or take effective measures to alleviate noise pollution. (Amen!!!)
严禁使用高音广播喇叭或者发出其他高噪声干扰周围居民生活；从事家庭室内娱乐、装修等活动，应当限制时间或者采取有效措施减轻噪音污染。
yánjìn shǐyòng gāo shēng guǎngbō lǎba huòzhě fāchū qítā gao zàoshēng gānrǎo zhōuwéi jūmín shēnghuó; cóngshì jiātíng shìnèi yúlè, zhuāngxiū děng huódòng, yīngdāng xiànzhì shíjiān huòzhě cǎiqǔ yǒuxiàocuòshī jiǎnqīng zàoyīn wūrǎn.

It is strictly forbidden to illegally occupying city streets. It is strictly forbidden to change the purpose of approved road occupation or move location, expand area or extend occupation time length without approval.
严禁违法占用城市道路。严禁未经批准改变占路用途或者移动位置、扩大面积、延长时间。
yánjìn wéifǎ zhànyòng chéngshì dàolù. yánjìn wèijīng pīzhǔn gǎibiàn zhàn lù yòngtú huòzhe yídòng wèizhi, kuòdà miànjī, yáncháng shíjiān.

It is strictly forbidden in the first place to illegally damage park green spaces. It is strictly forbidden after occupying park green spaces to delay in rehabilitating.
严禁违法占压、破坏园林绿地。严禁占用园林绿地后迟延恢复。
yánjìn wéifǎ zhàn yà, pòhuài yuánlín lǜdì. yánjìn zhànyòng yuánlín lǜdì fòu chíyán huīfù.
———————————
And here’s some other recent sloganeering from near our old neighbourhood:

“Implement the Scientific Development Concept, strive to establish an economically strong district, cultured greater area and an ecologically suitable-for-dwelling city. (A Binshui Nanli Neighbourhood Committee announcement)”
落实科学发展观，努力建设经济强区，文化大区和生态宜居城区。（宾水南里居委会宣）
luòshí kēxué fāzhǎn guān, nǔlì jìnshè jīngjì qiáng qū, wénhuà dà qū hé shēngtài yí jū chéngqū. (bīnshuǐnánlǐ jūwěihuì xuān)

“Support the motherland, love Tianjin, behave like civilized Hexi district people!”
赞祖国、爱天津、做文明河西人！
zàn zǔguó, ài tiānjīn, zuò wénmíng héxīrén

For an interesting, unflinching window into contemporary China, I’d suggest checking out this large photo collection of translated slogans and photos — some are funny; some are very, very sad. Once you get out of the higher-profile cities on the coast, the slogans become much more… galling.

• Happy Learn From Lei Feng Day!
• Meet Mr. Lù – a “living Léi Fēng”

I’m not kidding; that’s exactly what these signs say:

Currently in the Chinese media, and now all over the English China blog world, is the news that China is considering passing a law that would make it illegal to eat dogs and cats. But even if it passes, I have my doubts that those hypocritical pork-eating bourgeois specie-ists will succeed in enforcing their shameless attack on cultural practices that go back thousands of years.

The image on the right is a bag of dog meat one of our Chinese teachers gave us as a gift.

Anyway, I just couldn’t pass up sharing a photo of a sign that says “Cats are friends, not food!” （猫是朋友，不是食物）。 Also visible in the photo:

• “Refuse to eat cats.” （拒绝吃猫）
• “Please show humanitarianism, set them free.” （请发扬人道主义 放过它们）
• “Cherish humanity’s good friends! Refuse to eat cat and dog meat.” （爱护人类好友！拒绝吃猫狗肉）
• “Refuse to eat cat and dog meat. Cherish humanity’s friends.” (拒食猫狗肉 爱护人类之友)
• 请口下留情 is a play on the phrase 手下留情 (“restrain your hand”), as in showing mercy or sparing someone’s feelings by not meting out more punishment than is needed, often in the context of criticizing. On the sign they switched “hand” (手) for “mouth” （口）, so it might mean something like, “Be merciful; please restrain your mouth”.

For our personal encounters with cats and dogs as food in China, including a downloadable translated menu from a local dog meat restaurant, see here:

• Dead puppies (don’t look, Grandma!) – menu included
• Obligatory cat eating post
• 龙虎斗

This is a dog meat restaurant near our old apartment:

The last time we ate dog, at a Korean restaurant with one of our teachers and her Korean fiancé:

Honestly, it tasted better at the dump-of-a-restaurant two photos up, but it wasn’t great at either place. Not like some of the donkey I’ve had.

… what would it sound like?
“VerdantMountains Cannot Stop Water Flowing; Eastward the River Keeps on Going”

…the sincerity, confidence, resolve and effective efforts Premier Wen brought to Copenhagen, which fully demonstrated China’s image as a responsible big country dedicated to development and cooperation.
[...]
History will remember the important contribution of the Chinese government to the success of the Copenhagen conference.

Now, imagine that all day, every day, everywhere that anything important is mentioned. And that’s just the intro…

In Canada the Province of British Columbia gave us a free CD with a hippie/new-age reading of a poem for infants about how “YOU. Are a chiiiiild of the UUUNiverse…”. In Tianjin our friends who had their baby here got this free bib with a One Child Policy slogan on it:

“Fewer births, scientific and healthier births, lifelong happiness”
or
“Fewer and better births make your life happier”
or
“Few births, scientifically bearing children, happiness for whole life”
少生优生，幸福一生
shǎo shēng yōushēng, xìngfú yìshēng

Other One Child Policy stuff:

• “There are too many Chinese!” (translations of One Child Policy signs in a Tianjin village).

Some other Vancouver stuff:

• China takes over world, starts with 2010 Olympic mascots, exacerbates Canadian identity crisis
• Chinese tattoos in Vancouver
• Aiya, Wen-ge-hua… 哎呀，温哥华……
• A “foreigner” in my own country, “yellow” people, and other funny Chinese racial talk
• How to: Confuse the traffic in your hometown

As soon as I learned how to survive in Tianjin traffic, which necessarily involves blatantly ignoring traffic laws, the traffic culture started changing. More than once during this second stint in China I’ve found myself the lone bike rider stopped in the middle of the intersection while the horde of cyclists obediently wait behind the stop line. That never would have happened in 2007. At first I wondered if it was just me, but after asking around local friends confirmed that, yes indeed, people are increasingly respecting traffic laws, and traffic laws are being more strictly and consistently enforced.

Then this morning I saw this banner near our neighbourhood when I went for my routine Friday morning Tianjin breakfast:

“Strengthening publicity & education regarding the legal system,
serving socio-economic development
Wanxing St. Judiciary Booth/Office Dec 4 Popularize & Publicize Knowledge of Laws Day”
加强法制宣传教育，服务社会经济发展
万兴街司法所 “12.4” 普法宣传日
jiā​qiáng​ fǎ​zhì​ xuān​chuán​ jiào​yù​, fú​wù​ shè​huì​ jīng​jì​ fā​zhǎn​
Wàn​xìng​ jiē​ sī​fǎ​ suǒ​ “shí èr sì” pǔ​fǎ​ xuān​chuán rì​​

There’s a local campaign on to educate regular folks about the laws, to make them realize that, yes, laws do in fact matter; enforcement isn’t going to be totally arbitrary anymore (they may not be that explicit on the second point ;) ). So today there’s either a temporary booth set up or an office is open for people to inquire about various laws. Time will tell whether this is all just for show (as per usual) or whether this will make real changes to society (as the changing traffic culture would suggest).

Tangentially related stuff:

• Staying Alive and On Your Bike in Tianjin
• How to: Ride a bike in Tianjin (Part 1)
• Today’s commute by the numbers

Went back recently to Tianjin’s old Nanshi hutongs to see what (if anything) was left, and found some slogans. A few months before the 2008 Olympics everyone was moved out and the partially demolished city blocks wrapped in high, long walls of billboards. The walls are still there, but inside it’s mostly flat and barren.

“Establish a sanitary city district, construct a beautiful homeland”
创建卫生城区 建设美好家园
chuàng​jiàn​ wèi​shēng​ chéng​qū​, jiàn​shè​ měi​hǎo​ jiā​yuán​

“A safe community is everyone’s duty, everyone participates in a safe community”
社区平安 人人有责，社区平安 人人参与
shè​qū​ píng​’ān​ rén​rén​ yǒu ​zé​, shè​qū​ píng​’ān​ rén​rén​ cān​yù​

These buildings house a primary school. The 200-year-old traditional courtyard compound featured in the posts linked below was attached to the side (picture’s foreground). Other than a small handful of occupied lowrise apartment buildings and some squatter camps (scavenging building materials), this is all that’s left; the entire place is flat. Even most of the rubble is gone.

Nanshi hutong pre-demolition photos and stories:

• Magazine article: Reduced to Memories: Tianjin’s hutongs
• Photo Gallery: Tianjin’s 南市 hutongs
• Photo-blog: Tianjin’s forsaken places – two months before demolition
• Photo-blog: Tianjin’s forsaken places – Part II
• Photo-blog: Tianjin’s forsaken places – Part III