Multi-Use Public Space

Here in America, we have a hard time with sharing, even in public spaces. Americans have an idea of parks as passive recreation spaces, and beaches for swimming, and so on. We get mad when cyclists ride the trails we’re hiking, when people set up a sports game on the grass where we wanted to lie and read a book. We pass laws against bringing the family dog to a ball field or playground.

The Chinese have no such qualms. I guess that crowded conditions breed a certain flexibility. This man was fishing at Qingdao’s most popular beach, surrounded by swimmers and speedboats and kite-surfers and I was the only person who batted an eye.