1.3 billion is a big number

I used to think there were quite a lot of chinese in Brisbane (especially living near Sunnybank), but after coming to China my notion of 'a lot of chinese people' has been revised. Xi'an isn't exactly an international city, even though it is a tourist destination.( I'm yet to see buses full of tourists though, probably because it's winter at the moment). So most of the time it's black hair, brown eyes and oriental faces everywhere you look. There doesn't seem to be a quiet period on the buses and roads either. Just crowded during off peak, and crammed during peak periods!

Everywhere you go, people people people, hoards of cars, bicycles, motorbikes. It always seems so noisy and busy. Many a time I've stopped along a footpath to look for something in my bag or look at the map, only to have some motorbike or toot toot come along and honk me out of the way. Feels like u can't find a nice quiet spot to pause in a China city.

You see that picture of a girl at my table at maccas. I don't actually know her. Complete stranger. Just cuz there weren't enough tables for all the patrons she had to ask me if we could share the table. Who ever heard of sharing tables at maccas?! Though to be fair this was next to the train station, so there would probably be a lot more people waiting around this one than a normal maccas.

It got me thinking of the scale of the chinese population. 1 300 000 000. That's a lot of people! Being in a foreign country I tend to look more at peoples' faces as I pass them on the street, trying to get some idea of their personalites, the life they've lived up to now, and how these contrast to that of a westerner. Theres that running joke of caucasians who say all asian look alike. I must admit I find it true. Since all asians have only one natural colour hair and eyes, it makes it harder to set us appart. I know i've looked at so many faces these last few weeks and it's hard for me to remember a particular one because they all seem to look so similar! I wonder if other people look at me and then confuse my face with dozens of other guys? Then it got me thinking, with 1.3 billion people in china surely theres must be a few guys here who look exactly like me! I haven't found any of my east-Alan counterparts yet though. I wonder if it's hard for each of ourselves to find someone who looks exactly like us. Because we ourselves see our own faces the most each day (some more than others in the mirror *LOL*), so we can pick out slight differences even when other people swear a certain person looks like us.

Unfortunately the harsh reality of a large population means theres less to go around. People have to be more competetive and pushy to achieve their goals and get around. Out on the streets it's reflected in the way people drive, cross roads, and especially boarding buses! When it's really crowded at a bus stop and the bus rolls up, people actually race each other to the bus door if it doesn't stop where it's supposed to. Then when the doors open people push their way through the door. There was one peak hour instance when I had to catch a bus, and it really felt like I was back in highschool. Everyone just pushed the person in front of them, those in front were crying out for everyone behind them to let up, and some were getting stuck at the doors because the crowd had pinned an arm or a bag to the side of the bus. This was a pretty shocking sight to me. Later my school liason explained that that particular bus route went out to many country areas and had many rural commuters. Still pretty shocking though. Actually, I think i've become a little more pushy and inconsiderate since coming here. I'm not at the stage where i'm pushing over old ladies yet, but if I come back to Australia and you find me being outrageously inconsiderate please slap me in the face!