The Jungle Bar

The first month I lived in China was spent at a big private school outside the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone. It was indicative of China and Shenzhen's glaring gaps between the urban, industrializing areas and the rural, farming poor. While we were within Shenzhen city limits, by going out the back entrance of the school and walking for ten minutes, we'd be in a world of run down homes with little tying them to the modern world, basic farming on small plots of land, and the "Jungle Bar".

The Jungle Bar was not a bar, but the little shop the local villagers went to for everything from soy sauce to Pringles. Its shelves were packed with one or two of all the basic necessities, and thanks to their electric scooter anything could be procured from the industrial area a scant 10 minute ride away. Just on the other side of the school were large factories, apartment buildings, electronics shops, grocery stores. The Jungle Bar side was jungle.

We drank their beer at cement picnic tables under the shade of aluminum roofing and some spotty palm trees. The local dogs would lie in their stench nearby while we hooked up some speakers and listened to ODB. The Tsingdao cost 3 RMB.

That is how I spent 4-5 nights per week for my first month in the country.