Chai le means demolish.
I came home one day and the guard stand at the gate and the hair cutting place attached to it was chai le-ed. Chai means demolished but its really like razed. As in, the neighborhoods has been razed. Just a pile of concrete blocks. Apparently the developer [company that is funding the buildings] from next door [formally the Home of Tycoons now the Cosmopolite] came over with the police and the government and said that this area was their property now. The saddest part is that they are going to turn it into a through road, and take away the walking neighborhood feel from our cute little apartment group, apparently just 10 years old. My apartment buildings look like they were built in the late 60s, but really just built in 1995. Will the buildings going up now be chai-ed in 10 years?
The saddest thing about this razing incident was the bed that was out on the street; a little boy in his school uniform- yellow baseball hat and red bandana sitting on the bed, an older woman comes up to him and says: “Bao Beir [precious], now you have no where to live, so sad.” The hairdresser is my cleaning woman’s husband. Did he get compensated for the destruction of his place of business? Fortunately they don’t live in there. I guess it’s all part of raising the standard of living.
My snack for the day is really spicy lotus root. I got it at the stand where they sell spicy duck necks and heads. One of my Angels had that for breakfast one day [this does not appear strange to them at all] and I sampled the lotus root for lunch, and I’m a big fan, so I thought I’d buy a whole bag. A little too spicy for eating it just with Doritos though [which I buy for a whopping $3!]. Yum.
I’ve been very MIA recently, having now received not one but two emails from my father with the subject “Alive?” so don’t feel bad if you haven’t received anything from me recently. I want to tell everyone about the ridiculousness of my job but I’m going to write some folks back first, starting with my mother, so don’t hold your breath but I’ll be giving observations of the China new –money sector of life soon.
The saddest thing about this razing incident was the bed that was out on the street; a little boy in his school uniform- yellow baseball hat and red bandana sitting on the bed, an older woman comes up to him and says: “Bao Beir [precious], now you have no where to live, so sad.” The hairdresser is my cleaning woman’s husband. Did he get compensated for the destruction of his place of business? Fortunately they don’t live in there. I guess it’s all part of raising the standard of living.
My snack for the day is really spicy lotus root. I got it at the stand where they sell spicy duck necks and heads. One of my Angels had that for breakfast one day [this does not appear strange to them at all] and I sampled the lotus root for lunch, and I’m a big fan, so I thought I’d buy a whole bag. A little too spicy for eating it just with Doritos though [which I buy for a whopping $3!]. Yum.
I’ve been very MIA recently, having now received not one but two emails from my father with the subject “Alive?” so don’t feel bad if you haven’t received anything from me recently. I want to tell everyone about the ridiculousness of my job but I’m going to write some folks back first, starting with my mother, so don’t hold your breath but I’ll be giving observations of the China new –money sector of life soon.
posted by Claire at 8:34 AM
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