China Environmental Law

On this otherwise slow newsday in China (well, slow on the environmental front anyway unless you count the air pollution from burning stores and cars and lead emissions from. . . –but we don’t cover that kind of news here), let me give you this little essay.

Many ATMs in China ask if you would like to “print advice?” at the end of a transaction.  I always punch “yes” expecting to find “a penny saved is a penny earned,” “don’t take any wooden nickels,” or other such bankerly wisdom on my receipt.  Alas, all I get is my “balance available” with the depressing news that my dollar denominated account is worth ever fewer RMB. 

Fortunately, advice is never in short supply in China. Although they are frequently “enraged” (if the press reports are to believed) by foreigners offering them advice, the Chinese are very quick to offer helpful hints to the hapless foreigner. When the temperature is below 10° C, if my children step out of the apartment with one square inch of skin exposed, they are immediately told to cover up or risk catching their deaths.  Cold air contacting the skin you see causes colds, that’s why they call them colds. . . . Well, never mind, it has something to do with TCM. 

Even during a recent stroll in a Sanya park we were offered helpful  advice:

I must say I was not familiar with the international symbol for “Mind Crotch,” and I’m still not sure why they selected this image. Perhaps one is to focus on the purer or higher things (metaphorically above one’s head) rather than be driven by the baser instincts of the nether regions.  Or, it could be trying to communicate that one should be careful about the hijinks that can occur under a table.  Does anyone have any other suggestions?  The words are plain enough, however, and they offer sage advice for all of us.