First, let me start by saying that I have a new appreciation for Los Angeles traffic. I suspect that by the time I move back there, I will never complain about traffic again. This city is simply gigantic, and with it’s size there are plenty of cars to compliment that. The crazy thing is that, depending on the day and your license plate number, some cars are simply not allowed to be driving on certain roads….and yet STILL, it can feel like an eternity just to travel a few blocks.
We were intending to head outside the city yesterday to tour some property. It turned out to be quite an adventure for me. When I signed on to the project, I new that I’d be exposed to things I’d never encountered before….but I never thought that I’d be speeding down a bumpy dirt road dodging in and out of smaller “bung bungs” (little trikes/motorized carts) and children on motor scooters!
The highway led us through giant fields of corn….which I found a little strange as you never think of corn as being a staple of the Chinese diet. I suspect that it’s grown as feed for livestock…and I hope that that’s all it’s used for. Once we got off the highway, I noticed these large golden yellow patches on the road. As we got closer I realized that the farmers had taken over large sections of the street to dry out the individual corn kernels…yes, right there on the side of the road…amidst all of the diesel fumes and other crud that runs along the road. The closer we got to the center of town, the more patches of corn taking over the street…to the point that you end up weaving in, out and around of these random harvests. It was quite a sight.
Driving back to the city, it hit me. If this were happening in the states, the farmers would be battling the birds or even rodents that would come along and snatch their crops….and then I realized something, there are no birds here. It’s the strangest thing. I have not seen a single pigeon or seagull or crow….sorta creepy.
that's one of those little "bung bungs" in the road in front of us.
on a quick side note about the traffic, I found this article today....pretty sure that it was the same route I was on the other day....