Bicycling Barber

"A professor who is one exam short of a course", Lonnie B. Hodge, of the Blog  OneManBandwidth: An American Professor in China tells of a wonderful story in China:

Jing Qui is the bicycling barber of Beijing. He is 91 and has been cutting hair for 77 years. He pedals a bike to his clients, most of them elderly friends, a few of of whom can’t get out of bed.

He has had a storybook life in China old and new: He barbered for Qing Dynasty officials, warlords in Gansu Province, Japanese diplomats, and a famous Kuomintang general. He has known a certain kind of fame and notoriety.

And, though much differently, so it is these days: In his community he is known as an “everyday saint”, a mobile memory chest, and a keeper of community among elderly Chinese. This at a time when China, like other countries, is giving way to all that is younger, faster, higher, and more efficient for economic success.

“Steady work is what I believe in; if you are working and thinking, you don’t get stuck.”

Read more: The Bicycling Barber of Beijing - Recycled.

One more thing: Blogging in China, for ordinary Chinese, is a dangerous enterprise. Americans, who live in China, and also Blog, Like Lonnie, are not immune to concern about this issue either.

Your Blog or Your Freedom.

Technorati Tags: Blog, Blogging, Bike, Bicycling, Barber, China, Beijing