Er Lu
Er Lu, or 2nd Street, is just a couple of minutes walk away from our apartment. We often buy our fruit from the stalls which are open until 2 or 3 a.m. Almost every street has similar vendors and tradesmen plying their trade and trying to make a living in China's free market environment.
This has allowed many individuals to set up shop with savings and borrowings from family or friends and by virtue of enterprise and hard work they relish the opportunity to own their own business and improve their lot in life. As the late Paramount Leader Deng Xiao Ping once said, "To get rich is glorious." Right on!
Our fruit vendor removing the husk from young coconuts. Among the familiar fruits such as apples and oranges there are the tropical fruits such durian, mangosteens, star fruit, papayas, mangoes and longan to name a but a few.
At the other end of Er Lu a couple of sidewalk cobblers ply their trade. Also in the vicinity was a bicycle repair man and a woman selling sticks of sugar cane. She strips the bark off and one just chews and sucks on the cane to enjoy the sweet taste - a favourite with kids!
