The sound of a city

Zhengzhou is a noisy city. It is one of the first things one notices when entering the central shopping street. It’s much noisier than, let’s say, Shanghai or Beijing (let alone cities in the rest of the world). In fact the volume of background sounds is so high, that it might be better to speak of foreground sounds. Not only do you hear the humming of the traffic, and the chattering of people, but also hundreds of commercials.

Every shop, from the smallest barber to the biggest mall, has a speaker outside in the street playing a tape to attract customers. “Everything for 2 yuan!!! Everything for 2 yuan!!! Everything for 2 yuan!!!” Continuously the same message. “The best leather bags for the lowest prices. Buy now! The best leather bags for the lowest prices. Buy now! The best leather bags for the lowest prices. Buy now!” Well, you get the idea.

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