Interesting Beijing Sights

Sometimes the unexpected sights catch my eye. All of the pictures for this post were taken on the way to or from school over a period of time. I noticed quite quickly that the Chinese don't like to get rid of any old wires. Maybe there isn't room for them in the garbage dump. I am not quit sure. I guess rolling the wires up and leaving them makes some kind of sense somewhere. The part I really had a hard time understanding was why they left the wire hanging down where people and cars could come in contact with it. I assumed it wasn't a hot wire, but I didn't grab it to find out. They did eventually get rid of the hanging wire.

This next few pictures are of a remodeling project in the hutong nearby. I couldn't see exactly what they were working on because the changes were on the other side of the wall; however, based on all of the bricks and roof tiles they carried away, they were completely redoing home of some sort.

But the fascinating part was where the workers set up their home away from home while they worked on the project. The blue tin building was their kitchen and washroom. You can see the pipe where they connected up to the water. There also was an electric cord that came over the wall into the shed.

Last of all came the bedrooms which I am sure were very hot when the sun hit them, but it didn't stop them from taking a little nap after lunch.

Good thing no one was inside when I snapped the picture. 

This last picture shows a great way for UPS or FedEx to get rid of some of their overhead. Every morning between 7:00 and 7:30 a truck arrives and unloads boxes onto the sidewalk. About that same time, 5 to 8 delivery tricycles arrive, and the work begins. The men toss packages back and forth to each other until they are all sorted, and then they drive off to make their deliveries. Forget all those big warehouses with fancy conveyer belts. You really just need a few "stout hearted men" who are willing to sort the packages in sun, rain, snow or wind.