In China now, where pure capitalism is evident daily

I have officially moved in with my parents again. I never though it would happen, but it is only temporary. It is strange being here because though things are cheap, you have no consumer confidence in even the stuff that is expensive. Quality is often poor. Another thing is the internet, which often doesn't work and is different. For instance, the blogger page can only be accessed in Chinese, which is ok since I am familiar with it, but I cannot understand what 编辑文章 means.

The great news is it is the perfect place to relax because doing things takes so much time and preparation, that it is often best to just relax. I have had several massages, have done quite a bit of shopping with my mom and sister. Now that I am settling in slowly, I have been able to get some pictures up (the one below is my mom and I SPR coffee, a coffee shop which has ripped off everything from Starbucks. Keep in mind, where my family lives is one of the few remaining places on earth where there is no starbucks.)

In the meantime, it is not at all obvious that this is a communist country. My dad and I went to get our hair cut and on the walk there he commented that since the last time he went, several new restaurants had opened, on the street mind you, as well as little shops offering all the strangest things. Here, the minute there is any sort of demand, a shop opens as very little is needed to subsist. Another example of how market driven the area is the rampant closing of western restaurants and shops where a recent Shell Oil community was just relocated. The shops opened to cater to the foreigners, and closed when they left.

After walking with my dad, the hair cut was phenomenal. It comprised of an excellent head massage which lasted for nearly an hour, and comprised several hair washes and conditioning. Then I got a neck, arm, shoulder, and back massage before finally being seated for my haircut. That only lasted about 30 minutes. The whole procedure cost less than $2. I can get used to this.