All things Chinese

There are things that I love about life in China and things that I loathe. I love that no one can get angry at me when I do something wrong because I am a foreigner. I went to the train station to buy a ticket to Beijing. There were over 50 people in line. I walked up to the counter, shoved my elbow in front of someone (I learned about this technique in Israel, the only people just as rude as the Chinese), and promptly bought my ticket.
I loathe the pollution. Even during the windy days in Shijiazhuang, it is impossible to see that the sky is blue. You look up and all you see is brown-grey haze.
I love going home for a warm lunch every day. I wish that my break was a bit longer so that I could take a nap, but this works for me.
I loathe that people smoke everywhere. Today, there was a man smoking in the elevator. Gross.
I love the way they eat. It's not just the chopsticks, but the communal dishes that everyone plucks their food from. Each person usually has a dish of rice or rice porridge or soup of some sort, but then there are always 4 or 5 dishes that you eat out of during the meal. You can tell this is a first come first serve culture.
I loathe the over population. This makes everything incredibly difficult, from riding your bike on the streets, to finding a spot to park your bike, to getting a decent table at a restaurant, to finding a seat on the train. I don't think I've been anywhere in my travels where on every city block there is some sort of public school (elementary, junior middle, or senior middle school).
On the topic of food, I love the many varieties of tofu that are available. I think since I arrived, I've had at least 12 different preparations of one of my favorite foods. Today, it was in a soup with ginger, parsley and green onions. Unlike miso soup, tofu was the central ingredient. Amazing.