Bag's end
On Sunday, the entire country of China went relatively bag-free. The central government mandated a ban on what are referred to as thin-walled bags while permitting a controlled use of thicker-walled grocery bags. Grocery stores are allowed to charge for the plastic grocery bags, but these are now in limited supply.
As an American, it was amazing how quickly this rule has taken effect. I made a quick stop at a small grocer by our apartment building on Monday and was surprised that they were already prepared to charge me 0.30 RMB for a medium-sized grocery bag. Returning there later in the day to buy some water, I was unable to buy a bag.
At Carrefour yesterday, the bag racks were empty as the grocery bags were now being kept under lock-and-key under the cash registers.
Of course it is hard not to wonder that the grocery stores are welcoming this change. They get to charge for the grocery bags that used to be free, and now they can sell reusable bags, probably at a great margin.
We were already prepared for the move to bag-free. As part of our assimilation project (ha!) we had already purchased a grocery cart.
Like our other efforts to blend-in, like speaking Chinese or taking public transportation, Myles pulling a grocery cart just gets us more stares. And the occasional picture-taking.
As an American, it was amazing how quickly this rule has taken effect. I made a quick stop at a small grocer by our apartment building on Monday and was surprised that they were already prepared to charge me 0.30 RMB for a medium-sized grocery bag. Returning there later in the day to buy some water, I was unable to buy a bag.
At Carrefour yesterday, the bag racks were empty as the grocery bags were now being kept under lock-and-key under the cash registers.
Of course it is hard not to wonder that the grocery stores are welcoming this change. They get to charge for the grocery bags that used to be free, and now they can sell reusable bags, probably at a great margin.
We were already prepared for the move to bag-free. As part of our assimilation project (ha!) we had already purchased a grocery cart.
Like our other efforts to blend-in, like speaking Chinese or taking public transportation, Myles pulling a grocery cart just gets us more stares. And the occasional picture-taking.
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