Negotiating the Negotiation.

There are many things I could talk about in regards to Beijing, but one thing stands out in particular.  Social rules here seem to exist within a fluid world.  Imagine social mores as a tectonic plate, solid, yet susceptible to the shifting, liquid world below them.  Social encounters are loosely formed within expectations of social norms, but they are far from limited to these narrow boundaries.  There are variable paths that every interaction may or may not pass down.  Situations change shape, change direction, and outcomes change right in front of your eyes.  Roads may be designed for cars for example, but here in Beijing that doesn't mean you can't take your dog for a walk down the highway.  Being stopped for a traffic violation doesn't have the predetermined outcome here in China that is expected in the west.  It becomes a dialogue, a chance to prove your case.  There exists a stretchable circumference that gives and takes.

Unrelated tourist photo:

Traffic is a great example of this.  Under these fluid rules, traffic in Beijing is akin to a dance.  There is no right of way--simply way.  Cars buffer one another, squeezing past, changing lanes, making new roads and taking new directions.  A rush hour highway is not an ordered series of lanes with cars flowing down them like blood in our veins; it is a river of separate currents, all heading in the same direction, but not limited to any one path.  The white lane markers are merely a mutually agreed upon starting point, and in no way limited one's set course.  At first, like most things in China so far, riding in traffic can be intimidating, chaotic, but over time it becomes natural, comforting, and feels more flexible.

Obligatory photo op:

So far I prefer this form of social negotiation.  It gives every situation a new quality.  Everyday encounters are no longer limited to a singular path, no longer guided by their preordained outcome.  Visiting a restaurant is no longer a run-of-the-mill scenario.  Maybe you can bargain a better price.  Like the seat by the window?  It could be yours if you offer the right argument.  In essence, the situations life throws at you resemble negotiations rather than set social norms or expectations.  They hold many shifting outcomes, just like the writhing legs of an Octopus, each one is available to you, all depending on how well you negotiate the encounter.  They shift and squirm, cross-over one another, and never remain constant.  To me, life seems much more exciting this way.

After that rather dry observation, I offer you semi-naked, painted Chinese women, from a restaurant we visited.  Enjoy!