While exploring the Hutong's (old city) of Beijing today we came across some workmen repairing one of the tradition dwellings and cutting round timbers. One of the workmen was holding a machine resembling a wheel barrow with a large circular saw at the front driven by a petrol engine. As we squeezed through the narrow passageway it occurred to me that if the wheel barrow operators hands should slip the wheel barrow would fall on to the blade and be propelled forward straight into us. If we were lucky we would get by with a few severed limbs but more likely we would all be cut in two!
Whilst I've always felt that England is over regulated, there have been occasions when I've actually wished for an officious health and safety inspector to come along with a clipboard and a luminous jacket. Take crossing the road for example. Both in Jinan and Bejing traffic lights are considered as gentle guidelines only and this is bad enough for the cars but is particular problem if you are a pedestrian. In Jinan the ‘green man’ is usefully animated showing a runner to indicate both when and in what manner you should cross. In Beijing the green man is accompanied by a countdown and when your time is up a red man flashes on, standing in what looks like a pool of his own blood (I'm told that this is a status bar indicating the time to the next green man but I have my doubts). I can only think that traffic in China is considered a form of population control weeding out the weak and infirm – which is really bad news for my mum and her bad knees!
I don't want to worry my blog readers but China is a dangerous country...and don't get me started on the toilets!
Whilst I've always felt that England is over regulated, there have been occasions when I've actually wished for an officious health and safety inspector to come along with a clipboard and a luminous jacket. Take crossing the road for example. Both in Jinan and Bejing traffic lights are considered as gentle guidelines only and this is bad enough for the cars but is particular problem if you are a pedestrian. In Jinan the ‘green man’ is usefully animated showing a runner to indicate both when and in what manner you should cross. In Beijing the green man is accompanied by a countdown and when your time is up a red man flashes on, standing in what looks like a pool of his own blood (I'm told that this is a status bar indicating the time to the next green man but I have my doubts). I can only think that traffic in China is considered a form of population control weeding out the weak and infirm – which is really bad news for my mum and her bad knees!
I don't want to worry my blog readers but China is a dangerous country...and don't get me started on the toilets!
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