More of Day 2

This day we decided that we wanted McDonalds for dinner. The golden arches are a ten minute walk away, but in that short distance you cover a lot of ground and experience a whole new world. Along the way we saw a little naked boy pooping on a newspaper on the sidewalk with his mother's help, many dark and scary looking alleys, little restaurants that sell mainly noodles, three rug stores, a shoe store, a salon with one chair and a sink, and some bike shops. This is a photo of the largest bike shop. It had a couple hundred bikes and scooters and business takes place right on the street. There are workers everywhere working on bikes and scooters in front of a one stall garage that mainly holds the parts. It is quite a site and when I took this photo a man started yelling at me, "no camera, no camera!" Chinese workers work very hard and from what I see they all believe that they have a shot at a better life through hard work. All of these small, dirty little businesses along a short ten minute walk speak to that reality.

Ronald's throne is right outside the Chinese McDonalds entry. The restaurant was clean, cool, and friendly. The food was hot and fresh. The standard of service we have gotten from the Chinese people is incredibly good. Large genuine smiles, head nods, kindness, respect, and a true effort to help you even in the midst of a language barrier is the norm. I will never forget some of the beautiful smiles that I have gotten from the hotel workers. It is common for service workers to use an American name with Americans. When you walk through the lobby of the hotel, a young worker will often come alongside of you and ask if they can be of service. Even if you are just walking out the front door, they may escort you out and say goodbye. Today a young female worker escorted me to the elevator, rode the elevator up to my floor with me and escorted me off. She said that her name was Sofia, and she was a student worker and it was her first day on the job and I was the first person that she got to talk to. Her english was okay, but you could tell that she was studying hard. I just thought WOW, she was so kind and to receive a tip is not her goal. The only people entitled to tips in the hotel are the luggage carriers. One US dollar per bag. It is no wonder China's economy is growing at the rate it is.