And it's really cool. We went there yesterday.
To begin with this is the building it's in:
Inside, there is a scale model of that part of Shanghai that lies within the so-called Middle Ring Road. The model is just amazing. It's so big, you simply can't take a picture of the whole thing. But I did take several pictures, each one focusing on a part. I thought you might have wanted to see the building that the Carrefour department store (where we go for food shopping) is in, so I have a picture of that. And there is a picture of our apartment building as well. Oh, and another of the China Pavilion of the Expo Site. Go here for those pictures.
I haven't really written anything about H1N1 in China. Maybe I should.
You've probably heard about the measures that the Chinese government has taken to protect its population against H1N1. I have seen some of these measures in action. Today for instance, I was going to one of the Shanghai schools for expatriates' children — doing some volunteer work in the form of serving as an accompanist to a student for his upcoming winter recital — and as I entered the gate to the school grounds, the guard used a device to take my temperature, and directed me to "wash" my hands with some germ-killing gel (this was not a "suggestion"). If I'd been running any fever at all, I would not have gotten in. Not only that. I would, in all likelihood, have been taken directly to an H1N1 testing station and have spent some time in some form of quarantine, while tests were done to see whether I had H1N1 or not. As another example, the Wash Bakery I've written about in previous posts has for a couple of weeks now posted signs stating that the handles of all the doors, as well as the trash can used by patrons who consume pastries on the premises, are disinfected once an hour.
China has produced its own H1N1 vaccine and innoculated upwards of 26 million people with it. You may have seen a headline that four people have died after receiving the innoculation. However, the deaths of three of those four have proved to be coincidental and unrelated to the vaccine. The fourth case is still being investigated. A few thousand of those receiving the vaccine have had some form of adverse reaction (fever, swelling, etc.). That's actually not a bad outcome, as these things go. The real problem is a shortage of the vaccine — there's only enough for some 7% of the population.
China has also produced an official public health awareness cartoon about H1N1. We've seen it on the planes we've taken inside China. It's kind of entertaining, but also kind of spooky. The characters in it are all pigs. If you're a kid, they just look cute. The messages are all the usual ones about washing your hands, covering your nose and mouth when sneezing or coughing, and even staying home if you're sick.
The jury is still out on whether all these measures were necessary, whether they have worked, or, indeed, whether any sort of measures could ever really have kept H1N1 out of China completely. China has taken some hard knocks in the press. They've run the risk of looking paranoid, xenophobic, or both. But some at the UN have said that it appears that the measures, intrusive and uncomfortable as they may be, seem to have helped. For example, they mave have bought enough time to get the vaccine developed.
Meanwhile ordinary citizens have responded to the H1N1 situation much as they always do, I suppose. They try things that can't possibly help, and don't do enough of the things we all know work. So, for example, there are reports that the price of garlic has been driven up, way up, actually, presumably because people are consuming it to try to avoid getting H1N1. (Read more about this here.)
You also see people wearing surgical masks in ordinary public places (i.e. not in operating rooms). Now people have actually done that here for a long time I'm told, and in all of Asia, not just in China. I do think there are more masks in use due to the H1N1 situation, though. Of course, people should be using the real surgical-quality 12-ply cotton masks that actually can prevent the spread of disease — and they should be using them once only, and disposing of the used masks properly afterward. Which is not the case. Especially not in Shanghai, where these masks have morphed into fashion statements. Many of the masks you see are clearly knitted or crocheted. They come in pastel "ice cream flavor" colors, stripes, plaids. I saw a woman on the subway today (this is what actually reminded me to write about this today) that was wearing a leopard pattern mask! Clearly these masks are not being thrown away after one wearing. They are probably being washed in cold water.
We in the west are not used to seeing people — other than surgeons and nurses — wearing surgical masks, so this calls for some "decoding." It's not tremendously common, just common enough to take note of. So, whatever motivates the act, it's not a universal condition, it's something particular. What could that something be? Are the people sporting these masks especially paranoid people who cannot bear to breathe other people's air without filtering it first? Or are they just people who might have "a little something" and are taking care not to spread it? One kind of hopes it is the latter rather than the former. But if it is the latter, why don't they simply stay home until they are better again, which is what public health recommendations always advise?
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