Guangzhou has seemed like a pretty rugged and raw city to me, since I moved here. The city's either dusty and hot, or wet and dank. I figure that's why everyone seems agitated all the time.
Cars don't wait for pedestrians to cross, they park on the sidewalk, they drive on the wrong side of the road. People spit in the street, on the bus, and in the hotel pool. They also seem unable to have normal conversations that don't devolve into yelling matches.
It could be the nuances the Chinese language, I don't know. But it seems that many people enjoy yelling at eachother instead of talking. Last week I took a taxi back to the school after one of my attempts to sort out my plane tickets. While driving past a big line-up at the gas station, I asked the driver if all the people wanted more oil.
I don't know the word for gas, so I just said oil, figuring he'd know what I was talking about. I said something like "Niga duo ren yao jia you ma?" That means "Do all those people want more oil?" I guess I was hoping he'd say "Duay...jia you tie guay la. Duo ren." Which would mean "Yes, more oil is expensive now. Many people."
Instead, he began shouting at me "BU SHI JIA YOU! BU SHI JIA YOU! SHI QI YOU!" Which means "It's not oil! It's not oil! It's gas!" To emphasize his point he began to agressively thump his steering wheel. Easy there, Big Shovel. It's just a question.
My impression of Guangzhou has been that it's an unfriendly city, with most of its 10 million Chinese inhabitants being agressive A-types, like the taxi driver. Of course that's not true, but it seems like it sometimes. It seems like most people rush around and push people, unless they're yelling at them. They've always got somewhere to go, and want everyone out of the way.
It was much to my surprise when I came upon this ping pong park last week. It seemed to be good times all around. Here are some pictures. They're not fantastic, because I was feeling pretty conspicuous as the only foreigner there. I think I rushed my pictures as a result, since I felt a bit embarassed and touristy taking them. They came out blurry, but you can still get a pretty good idea of the set-up.
It was about 10pm, and there were tonnes of people enjoying the evening with a game of ping pong! The tables are big slabs of concrete painted green, including the net. Since the net is the same piece of concrete as the table, the balls are constantly bouncing all over the place.
There was a badminton section as well, with just as many people enjoying that. There were between eight and ten nets, all strung up in a row.
Also, there were many games of cards going on, with nobody yelling at eachother. People were playing, others were looking on, and it seems like a great atmosphere.
This ping pong park presented me with an alternative and softer side of Guangzhou. It had probably twelve tables, and they were all full. Girls in frilly dresses were playing, grandparents were playing, and young ping pong rock stars in jerseys were playing. Some people held a paddle in one hand, and a cigarette in the other, and most were laughing and enjoying themselves. It was fantastic.
In the badminton area, every court was full, with people waiting on the sidelines for their turn. The people waiting were just having a relaxing time with their friends, and enjoying a cool evening.
I hadn't seen Guanzhou residents really enjoying life too much since I came here, but now it's nice to know they're capable of relaxing and having fun with their friends.
I would love to have a ping pong park near the school, and show up every night to see who's there and up for a game. It'd be so fun. One Chinese guy was keen to speak English, and in the course of talking with him, I learned that he and his friends meet every night at the ping pong tables, as long as it's not raining.
That's what Canada should have...ping pong and badminton parks. Maybe they have them in Vancouver and Toronto's Chinatowns. I might just seek them out. I don't think Canada has any similar set-up, for any sport. I can't think of anywhere other than the pool tables at a bar, where you just show up and look for a game.
Canada could learn from the Chinese and set up ping pong parks. You don't need a lot of space, and who doesn't like a good game of ping pong?
No comments:
Post a Comment