Eric's Beijing Diary

Cabbage anyone? Interesting story here about a market that is giving away free cabbage heads once a day to seniors (and anyone else, actually) who line up and wait for hours. If you didn't know anything about Beijing and saw that line, you might be inclined to think that people are really desperate. The truth is that cabbage is not really that expensive. But there are lots and lots of senior citizens in this country. Most of them remember the days when cabbage was dumped in the streets of Beijing to keep people from starving. Young people don't relate to this, but the older ones know from deep experience that if you have a head of cabbage in the house, you are not going to starve to death.

But there is another issue. There are so many, many people who have lots and lots of time and nothing else to do with it. Standing in line once a day is a social activity for these people. China is a diverse society, so it is dangerous to generalize--some have been known to work into their seventies. But many government workers are forced to retire at the age of 50. This can be quite a blow, because they are still active, and able to work, and because the amount of their monthly stipend is a tiny fraction of the salary they have to give up. I know at least one very bright young lady who gave up her plans for graduate school because her mother was forced into retirement. Young people (especially if they are the only child) feel a real obligation to provide the financial support for their aging parents.