I read this in a news article earlier today and it piqued my interest particularly after some of the harrowing, uncivilized experiences I have lived to tell the tale of:
In a survey of 770 local Chinese living in Beijing, the majority stated that "spitting is what they hate most about living in the city, among the multitude of anti-social behavior to be witnessed on a daily basis. Following close behind spitting is parents' allowing their children to publicly urinate or otherwise excrete."
That? Bothersome? And perhaps at least a little gross? You don't say. Spitting is so prevalent in Beijing and, at the same time, so unseemly that the city has created a new campaign charging a 40RMB fine for those caught spitting in public, with the goal of stamping out the spitting habit before the Olympics in 2008.
I only wish they could charge more than 40RMB. If you charged someone 150 kuai every time they spit on the street, I could finally walk with my head held high - not only with pride for the city which is my temporary home. But I mean literally walk with my head held high facing forward. Instead of staring at the ground constantly to avoid stepping on mounds of mucous, et cetera (I'll leave the et cetera to your imagination). Lovely, no? |
