day eleven: down to the general store for nothing specific

"China is a developing country,...and it's reached the 'headless chicken' stage in this process; everyone madly running around consuming, acquiring. From a historical perspective, this is perfectly understandable. Not only can you buy a fridge, there is even a choice of fridge"

the above is part of an article from the ex-pat english magazine here in Beijing called "Time Out Beijing" (the print version but I've linked the title to the online site, not as useful, except more travel info).

William and I have come to rely on it ( and That's Beijing) for addresses to restaurants, events and stores, usually which appear in Chinese characters and English so you can ask for directions and show it to a cab driver, if necessary.

Anyway, I thought that the quote was so poignant for this country, at this time. It is exhausting to see the way that people endlessly buy things here. It is a chinese shopping mecca, gone awry!

Sometimes we have to join in ourselves, for basics and food etc, but I usually grumble, shopping with the masses can be exhausting.