Snapshot of Nanning

12/8/06 Nanning is a very large city. It also has the largest amount of scooters per capita for all of China. Everywhere you go people are zipping around on all types of scooters and small motorcycles. Crossing the street is a real challenge there are very few streetlights and virtually no crossing signs. You just step into traffic then bob & weave your way through. It is crazy! The weather is warm, about 70 degrees, and very muggy. But, you never see the sun. There is a constant “cloud” of pollution over the city and sometimes it is hard to breath. The government rations out electricity. So, no shops have lights on and nothing is sold cold. The kids have not had milk since we left home. At night all the buildings downtown shut off every light no matter what. The buildings are completely dark, neon signs are turned off and even the hotel sign goes dark. If it were not for the inside lights of the hotels the city would be completely dark.

A few days ago my dad and I did a walk-about and it is amazing. They are not building the Great Wall anymore. China may be the next super-power but if the construction is any indication of how they do things their status as the super-power won’t last. Everything is in a state of disrepair. Even the buildings just built. Sidewalks are all falling apart. Many buildings stand incomplete, not enough materials (like windows) to go around. The waiting time must be very long for certain building materials. No concrete job is done in a single pour; you can see the many different levels and ages of concrete in buildings still under construction. And the concrete must be mixed with poor material to begin with because it is all falling apart. The best I can figure is that there is simply no incentive to maintain things. Buildings are either government owned or if you build with private money you only get a land lease for 70 years. So there is just zero incentive to build or maintain for the long term. As flawed as our system can appear, I’ll take it. The opportunity to look into this world has been fascinating.

The haze in the picture is not the camera. It is the pollution. It is very hard to breathe when you go for a walk.