red banner month

There are lots of red banners all over town, all over Shandong.

They say lots of stuff. I can't read most of it. But I'm told that it's generally about Dongying being a model city.

The thing about model cities is that they don't have vendors, beggars or motorcycle taxis. It's harder to negotiate with taxi drivers in a model city. A model city has little blockades that prevent taxi drivers from making u-turns. That one seems like a fine idea excpet that Chinese sidestreets don't go anywhere. A taxi that can't make a u-turn is frequently doomed to go along the same road for quite a while.

Model cities also don't have pirated DvDs.

The residents of Dongying seem rather nonplussed by the model city business. But, then again they rarely complain to foreigners. They've conspicuosly not praised the program either.

One of my freinds did ask me if I had ever been treated rudely by a vendor. I told her no. Eleven year olds, many times. Random old fat guys, sure. But vendors are a pretty polite bunch, save for that one ice cream seller outside my apartment who always yells, "hey foriegner! Eat ice cream!" at me when I walk by.

I reckon that this model city business is a failure as far as shaping Dongying into a model city goes. I hear it's rather successful as a way to line some Beijing bureaucrat's pockets. But chasing away the cheap food, and cheap rides with no noticable uptick in politeness is a net loss.

Model City Program: I don't like you. I want to live in a non model city that ignores the crazy unworkable laws that it's supposed to follow. (Note to the ruling powers of the world, if they should ever happen to read this blog; ALWAYS REFORM THE LAWS BEFORE YOU REFORM ENFORCEMENT OF THEM! ahem)

We won't even talk about the Dvds. It's a non-issue. I'm gonna swallow my tongue.