Duo Duo came in one day. "I'm glad my name is the same as this lovely bar's. I wish I had as many friends as it has,?she said.

Pierre was a French student on a study tour in Beijing. He enjoyed himself in the bar so much that he could not heip dancing like Charlie Chaplain and blowing on the suona, a Chinese wind instrument.

"Business has been good since the bar opened last year, but there were minor troubles when two or three rascals said they could not pay for their drinks. All we could do was ask them to write down their names on our credit list. Sometimes a rude fellow would drop in and talk too loudly. But the quiet atmosphere here would soon make him feel out of place and he would leave. I wish I could write a novel about society based on what I've seen and heard in this bar," Zhang said.

It was already midnight. Xidan Street was asleep and empty. But the lights in Duo Duo still beckoned lonely walkers. Inside the room,customers were still chatting or humming.

　

4. Night Life Thrives

in northern China people are asieep by midnight, but in Guangzhou most of the city's residents are still awake at that hour, living it up.

Television and radio blast and blare away until two in the morning. Cinemas are multi-purpose. Besides showing films, they present video shows, dances and they have a bar.

"I love the rich and coloarful night life in this southern city," a young Beijinger said when he came to Guangzhou for a business trip. "Sometimes when I come to the city, ,I visit the night bazaars.there."

"I usually go shopping in the evening because I work during tbe day," a middle-aged woman said. "Furthermore, after supper,I like visiting the night bazaars. It's a.knid of entertainment."

As most people in Guangzhou don't go to bed until far into the night, they usually eat a midnight snack. After shopping or leaving a concert, people often get a snack on the way home.

"I would like to spend 5 yuan ( $1.35) to sit down and relax and eat something in the evening," Xiao Zheng, a taxi driver said. "Meanwhile, I might .spend another five yuan to have my car washed, ?he added.

In Guangzhou, there are car washing services near some of the big bazaars which are popular with the drivers.

A lot of Guangzhou residenis take a second job at night to earn extra money.

College teachers have part-time jobs lecturing at night schools. Engineers

sometimes work on a project for another corporation. College students act as tutors.

Problems also exist in the South China city.

Prostitution is a bigger problem in Guangzhou than elsewhere in the country. And smuggling has increased recently.

5. Problem for Beijingers

Improving public toilets has long been a .erious problem in Beijing, as well as the rest of China.

There is a wry saying among Chinese people, "Follow the smell if vou want to find a toilet."

"About 80 per cent of Beijing's public toilets fit the saying," admitted Xue Baoyi, an official from Beiiing Sanita tion Bureau in 1989.

But at the we:tern gate of the chinese History Museum near Tian'anmen. Square, there is an unusual "luxury" toilet of ahout 300 square metrea, in wltich there are rockeries, fountains, fresh flowers, a sofa and piped music. The standard of cleanliness is extremely high.

But visitors have to pay 0.3 yuan. Some say the clean toilet is worth the price, but others complain that they can not afford it.

In Beijing there are now 40 such toilets at tourist sites.

On the opposite side of the museum, by the southern gate of Zhongshan Park, is situated another fairly clean pay toilet. Since last March, Liu Zhaomin, a retired sanitation worker from the West City District Cleaning Team, and his wife have contracted to keep the facility clean, and the once dirty and foul-smelling toilet has become one of the cleanest in Beijing.

The old couple charge 0.03 yuan per person, but disabled people and students are admitted free. Outside the toilet they also provide water and help people take care of their belongings-all for free.

Their service not only earns the old couple about 800 yuan monthly, but it also saves the government money. The toilet fees pay for maintenance

There are no public toitets in some areas of the city. About 200 WCs in downtown area have to have soil carried away manually, mostly by old workers who are near retirement, and it is now very difficult to recruit young people to do this job. Because of a shortage of manpower, tools and disinfectant, it's very hard to keep those public toilets clean.

"WC service in Beijing has four key problems," said Xue. "There are no places and money for building public toilets. And most of them are in a very poor condition, and are badly managed."

Xue also said that the users should take care of public toilets. Many newly-

painted walls in WCs are alre

上一页  [1] [2] [3] [4] 下一页