When I send friends in Australia emails they have mistakenly thought I was in some little country town. One response I received was from a reader who said that he had looked up the city I was living in and was surprised to find that it had a population of over 3 million! This was my response to his amazement.

Daqing has a population of 3 million. Well, we are in China, so the population of many cities is in the millions. Harbin, about 140 km away, has a population of about 10 million and Qiqihar in the other direction has a population of about 6 million. Yes we have the technology, we have motorcars, we have computers, we have iphones and all the latest gadgetry you could imagine but believe me when I tell you that these cities I have just mentioned really are in the rural back blocks of China when you compare them to cities like Shanghai and Beijing.

Without me going into a long explanation about my perceived mentality of people that live in out of the way cities in China, particularly in the North East and North West who remain steeped in traditional customs and culture going back 5000 years (so I am being constantly reminded) even if they drive an Audi or a BMW, you will just have to believe me that some of the stuff that goes on here would not be tolerated or would even occur in the big cities further south.

The greater area of Daqing is swimming in oil and the Daqing Petroleum Company is one of the biggest companies in the world but their work practices and the way they employ staff is reminiscent of the Australian public service in the 1950s and 60s. The petroleum company is so rich that the residents of Daqing don't pay taxes I have been told (I doubt that but......) and nearly all the developments and improvements within the municipality are paid for by the petroleum Company.I suppose that's why you can see huge oil pumps located in children's playgrounds, parks and gardens and even right outside apartment windows. If there is oil there then a well is drilled and a pump is installed and to hell with any environmental concerns. The photograph shows oil pumps situated inside the Children's Park.

The petroleum company probably funds the Orange Brigade which consists of thousands of what appear to be elderly people whose job it is to sweep the roadside gutters, tend the gardens, sweep up the snow minutes after it has stopped falling, chip the ice off the roadsides and the footpaths and push the water from rainfall that sits in huge puddles all over the roads and sidewalks because of useless drainage here. The Council or government do have snowploughs and street sweepers but prefer to use manual labour. I don't know whether that's because they consider it is cheaper or whether it's a way to keep those that would normally be unemployed at least doing what can be considered to be useful jobs. I believe these people are paid a stipend or some sort of monthly allowance and if it doesn't rain or it doesn't snow, then, they have nothing to do, but when the weather does turn foul they are expected to be out there doing their job - and believe me they are!

And speaking of foul weather the rain here over the past few days has been torrential accompanied by thunderstorms. A couple of times I have arrived at school to teach, absolutely drenched, after battling through the rain and veritable swamps caused by the non-existent drainage . If nothing else it gave the kids a reason to laugh.