Half Measures

There is no such thing as half measures in Beijing, or it seems China as a whole. The motto seems to be, 'If a jobs worth doing, its worth doing outrageously over the top.'

At first I thought this motto only applied to Public Address systems, as everytime I've ever seen a Chinese person operate a PA, they have gone straight for the iconic, setting 11, on the amp. After all, if you can't hear it on the moon, there's no point using the bloody thing.

Then I noticed that the extreme view of public address had spread to all areas. It was no longer just the opertors of PA systems. I've started to notice that anyone tasked with addressing a crowd of more than one, needs a loudspeaker, and you guessed it, the volume is set to 'bleeding ears.' Nothing says, please wait behind the line more than burst ear drums.

Now, this half measure problem is not just isolated to sound. Ah no, we also have the internet problem. You know the one, there are about 3 websites in the world that write bad things about the Chinese Govt, so, the Govt has simply banned all websites that are slightly interesting. Facebook, Twitter, all blogs, all data sharing sites, Youtube, google... the list goes on. Why ban one when you can ban them all!

Nor is it isolated to the Govt. Just the other day and perfectly normal farmer, put down his plow, picked up his pig sticking knife and went down to the local kindergarten and started slashing the kiddies. There seemed to be no motive (according to the papers) except that he was somewhat unwell mentally! (luckily Freud was on hand to work that mystery out)

You see, there is simply no middle ground. Normal one day, psycho the next.

For a while I couldn't figure it out. Then it hit me this morning. Picture this:

Two saturday's ago I went hiking. At the top of the mountain there was snow. On the sunday, it snowed heavily on those very hills just outside of Beijing. Last saturday, one full week later, I went hiking in the same hills. It was 32 degrees celsius.

Winter lasted for 7 full months. Thats below zero temperatures for 7 whole months. Then, with one weeks turn around time, its 32 degrees.

Spring and autumn simply not exist in Beijing. And so, there is no role model for the local punters to follow. Beijing weather is all or none. And its people are exactly the same!

Now, where did I put my knife...