Random Points

Just a few things we've noticed that I thought I'd share:

First, pending the actual arrival of our package, China Post rocks!  It is so cheap to ship things (we shipped to Hong Kong) and they package everything for you.  We went in with some clothes and a few souveniers, including some framed paintings, and this lady went to town, bubble wrapping and using my clothes as padding.  She didn't have a box big enough so she taped two boxes together, and then they use this machine that puts those plastic bands around the box to hold everything in place.  I wish I had video taped it because it was quite amazing.  I don't think you're even allowed to prepackage your own stuff, because the lady thoroughly checked through everything we brought to the post office.  Her face upon seeing some of the stuff we were trying to send (tea pots and the framed paintings) was not amused.  I think she knew she was in for a tough pack and seemed rather disgusted by the amount of effort she had to put in.  But she was fantastic.

Second, hard sleepers compared to hard seats on an overnight train make a world of difference.  Ten times better.  Our trip from Beijing to Luoyang was fantastic.  We laid down, fell asleep, woke up, and we were in Luoyang.  There were two old men below us (who fell asleep immediately) and a younger couple above us who were hygenic and clean and didn't smell.  It was fantastic.  No random picture taking, no stinky feet in our laps, all smoking was in a designated area away from our beds, and the toilets were actually clean and usable.  It was amazing!  We even booked hard sleepers for our five hour trip to Xian (even though it's not overnight).

Third, no matter where we go, if I wear my hair down, the number of random people who ask to take pictures with us seems to double, almost triple.  It's strange, however, there also seems to be a mass amount of women with perms, extensions, and sometimes even wigs.  I think it might be because my hair, is the exact OPPOSITE of theirs- not sleek, smooth and straight, but course, curly and huge.

Also, does anyone have any guesses as to what this traffic sign is supposed to mean?  Darren thinks it means that you're not allowed to drive your exploding car down the street, or that you're not allowed to burn your car down that street.  What do you think?

More oddities to come.