“Sure is cloudy out”,
Bert thought to himself. Upon further reflection, he realized it was not fog
that was blocking his access to Mr. Sun; it was pollution.
Did you know that
you can buy air from Canada that has been bottled up and you can breathe in
some of that sweet sweet Canadian air?
We are selling bottle Canadian air on planet Earth…I can’t wait for
robots to fix this problem…
A 7.7
Litre can of crisp air taken from Banff National Park in the majestic Rocky
Mountains range sells for roughly 100 yuan (£10), which is 50 times more
expensive than a bottle of mineral water in China.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/12051354/Chinese-buy-up-bottles-of-fresh-air-from-Canada.html
Occasionally I will
check my phone and glance at the AQI which is the Air Quality Index. Never
heard of it? That’s probably because you live in Canada where you can breathe
without worrying about making it to your 40th birthday.
Anything
under 50 is considered good.
Over 200
you should start to consider changing countries and anything over 300 you will
be lucky to book your flight out because you most certainly will be dead by the
time you reach the airport.
Now I’m not sure how
reliable or accurate statisticbrain.com is but they rank Mongolia, Botswana and
Pakistan as the three worst countries for air pollution.
I’m looking at a map
right now from http://aqicn.org/map/ontario/ and it looks
like the average for Ontario is around 30. Map of China/Shanghai is around 150.
I could easily do a
deep dive into why air pollution is bad and cite stats and research but I just wanted
to shed some light into what life is like her vs. Canada. To sum up what I
would have found, breathing helps you live long and pollution is detrimental to the
planet.
About two months ago,
your favourite 31 year old from North Bay living in Shanghai visited something
that took him almost a year to finally witness in person which is a Shanghai
staple and a sight to behold: Shanghai Marriage Market. A market for marriage.
Every Saturday and
Sunday morning, throngs of Chinese parents and grandparents pack up their
umbrellas, notes and pictures to make their way to People’s Square park where
they hope in earnest to find their son, daughter, grandson or granddaughter a
mate. I would imagine these younger adults would be horrified to know that
their family members have taken their love life into their own hands or they
might not be that shocked since they are already 25 and without a life partner.
(I’m fairly certain my mom does this in her free time but is not surrounded by
older Chinese ladies but by concerned onlookers)
What struck me the
most about attending this Chinese phenomenon was the sheer amount of family
members trying to find love for the younger generation.
Hundreds and hundreds of
umbrellas are set up with the major stats of the single person in question:
age, height, occupation, hobbies, salary, home ownership and who knows what
other quirky stats some grandmother might find the need to publicize to the
world. While there are many people umbrella stations set up, there are also
tons of interested moms and dads who are looking to set their children up for a
life of presumed fairy-tale happily ever after. Imagine this happening in North
America?
I can imagine this happening on the interweb but to post a picture of
your daughter on a poster at a market in downtown of a major metropolis as
thousands of interested and curious tourists gawk and take pictures at this phenomenon
is incredible. I also went in the slow season which makes me ponder how much
busier it gets. Chinese parents and grandparents seem more outspoken about
their desire for marriage and grandchildren compared to parents in the West
which adds to the urgency in this market set up for love or for at least
economic partnership.
One weekend, a woman
from America dressed up as a bride and held up a sign auctioning off herself to
the highest bidder who would then get American citizenship. I wouldn’t be going
to many markets showing off I was American these days…
If you ever come to Shanghai, it is certainly
worth something checking out or if you are especially bold, start one if your
own city; if you are worried about being the only one in the town square with
an umbrella with vital stats of your offspring, don’t worry, my mom will be
right there beside you.
“I was neglected by my family because I had
disappointed them-I’d run away from being forced into an arranged marriage, which was a big blow to them.”
disappointed them-I’d run away from being forced into an arranged marriage, which was a big blow to them.”
