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Q: Slippy pavements in your city?
Ok. I know many folks out there are skating about in sub zero temperatures, but down here in the south we have a different problem.
Slippy wet pavements, or sidewalks if your from the other side of the pond.
I don't know why they do it, but in Guangzhou they use some sort of fake marble to pave the streets. The slightest bit of moisture and it's like walking on ice. Especially the black marble bits. It's as if appearance is more important than function.
Do you have this problem where you live?
Should I just wear Chinese flip flops all the time? They are the only shoes that seem to get a decent grip on the stuff.
Sidewalks in Zhuhai are mostly OK, there are some of the slippery sidewalks/areas here and there. The new "landmark construction" Hua Fa Mall has slippery as hell floors, or that is, it is OK when dry, but the roof doesn't do a lot to keep it dry. 100000 square meters of poor construction work to celebrate consumerism. Hooray.
ScotsAlan:
So the solution..... put cardboard boxes at the entrance to shops to absorb the water and hide the step. It's like stepping onto a stray skateboard.
My daughter just done a face plant walking into a shop. Step onto the cardboard and the cardboard decides to go elsewhere.
Let's not even mention slippy tiles in the shower !!!!!
Scandinavian:
if only the floor could be covered with skateboards
for fun (because nothing would come from it) would you consider finding a lawyer and have them ask the shop for some kind of American style monetary band-aid for your daughters suffering ?
or go to local media with the story "Why does only China have shitty slippery construction"
ScotsAlan:
ha ha scan. The only thing that was bruised was her pride.
Scandinavian:
then paint her face with some colorful makeup and go threaten the shop owner !
They're called footpaths and here where I live in the extreme north west they are dangerously slippery, especially in and around the bus stops.
Like where you are, they use tiles. I believe this to be amongst the stupider things Chinese do.
Next time I slip and sustain a head injury I'm gunna sue the bastards all the way!
The marble pavement is everywhere in China. I was guessing, they must have mountains of marble somewhere, so it comes very cheap to pave the walkways. I don't think, it's fake, but you never know.
Marble is expensive stuff around the world.
Snow in N. EU today, temp. below 0*C, and the biggest problem I have is to remain serious.
I just start to cough, when somebody slips.
Yes, the stone is sllppery when wet. Some of my shoes are worse for wet walking than others. I've seen many scooters take dives from using the front brake. Don't use your front brake when it's slippery, that's why ABS is used.
Same problem here in Foshan, also in Shenzhen. They look good but are slippy like ice. This is the same poor urban planning as flat squares where the water stagnate for hours after the rain stops instead or gently curved squares that would be dry within minutes.
One day I asked a friend of mine who is architect why they do so, he said because they are dumb.
laowaigentleman:
Did he have any experience of architectural studies in China?
Maybe they used guanxi to get their jobs?
Eorthisio:
Yes he does, in fact all the good construction projects in China (e.g. the Ping An Financial Center, ...) have been designed by various architectural cabinets from abroad, as always creativity is not the strong point of Chinese minds.
laowaigentleman:
Do the designers from abroad recommend which materials are used on given areas of the project or are they subject to the discretion of the sub-contractors who put it all together?
The paving stones in my city are very slippery and many times if you lean on the stainless steel bannisters adjoining the stairs and ramps, you can rip them out of their mountings.
I'm sure if I leaned on the rail on the balcony of my house the same would happen. I'm not curious enough to try though.
All of my fixtures are crappy too. The shower head doesn't fit the socket, the sinks don't drain properly, the doors swing open when I close them. Surely this is the tradesmen trying to cut corners when labouring or trying save money by using sub-standard materials rather than the architect's design of the projects?
It's just so common, I'm not sure who to blame. Maybe everyone involved?
RandallFlagg:
With most things in China, not just footpaths, quality is not a consideration. At all. And if you don't realise that something is a problem, you can never change it. So it will not change.
Eorthisio:
laowaigentleman → Not sure about that, in the case of urban development the local government opens a specific construction plot and many architects submit their design, in most cases overseas cabinets win the design (and the price in $$$) but the plot is then built by Chinese development companies (e.g. Vanke), I guess once the developer gets the contract they do whatever they want because this is China.
I saw that in every city I've been in China. Marble like pavement, extremely poor or non-existent water drainage measures, like slight slope + properly made gully. Every rain turn those pavements into a super slippery surface. In general, urban public spaces are large and showy, but the practical details are overlooked, at the expense of the daily user. Crossways that join one side of the road to ... the bushes of the other side of the road are an other common example of this.
ScotsAlan:
And then footbridges appear that almost completly block the footpath.
expatlife26:
I agree, large and showy but details overlooked. As a visiting aussie businessman commented to me "Nothing looks finished"
France on the other hand has lots of charming little places tucked away even if they are not for show.
It is all more proof that Joseph Joffre did not die for nothing.
DrMonkey:
China used to have a lot of charming places tucked-in, and still have. But between batshit crazy episodes like the Cultural Revolution, rule-of-law with Chinese Characteristics and ridiculous greed, those places took a beating.
Bad construction, well... No training for crafts, sub-contracting sub-contracters, those who do the real job are poorly educated migrant workers with the common sense of a dead tree. They build a crossroad, they don't really understand how to use a road in the first place, apart from "I walk on it, no rule" Also, speed and appearance matter the most, the idea of maintenance does not exist, finitions are for loosers, etc.
expatlife26:
Yeah there isn't any dignity seen in being a skilled craftsman here and presumably no extra money to be had in being good at it.
I see it as very short term thinking...like if someplace receives a windfall directive to build a swimming pool they'll build the largest, grandest pool they can with the money they have without any sense of provision for it's operation over time. Where a sensible manager would budget a portion of their grant towards operating expenses.
Living in dusty dry Henan, I haven't really experienced this problem of slippery tiles much. What is a big problem here is the sheer shitty-ness of the tiling work. Even in the better parts of the city, many of the tiles are broken and sticking out at slight angles. If you're not careful, you could easily trip up all the way home... In some places, clusters of tiles rise up together, forming brick molehills. Incredible incompetence, the hallmark of Henan.
Yer fae Scotland, min. Yer born slippy.
And yes, some pavements are very slippery.
