Tricia’s ethnographic adventures roundup

With her permission, we decided it would be fun to give a roundup of Tricia’s ethnographic adventures during the spring & summer of this year.

Hanging out at a bar, the ever evolving third space, “After a rock band performed, the stage became a tattoo station.”

Talking to a female massage worker in Changsha, “She tells me that it’s only the young males try to sleep with the workers. We both started laughing and said almost at the same time, ‘that’s because the older ones know where to get sex.’ She then added, ‘the young guys just want to save money and try to sneak a service in.'”

Spotting the world’s first Barbie credit card on the street.

Taking a break at a restaurant: “Lunch time is sleeping time for some and bonding time for others. The male cooks bond over games and/or pictures of “pretty girls” on their cellphones. The waiters and waitresses nap before the doors open at 4pm. ”

And last but not least, mapping the city of Wuhan starting with its sex workers: “This restaurant was open but my guess is that it also doubles as a front for a brothel. I asked the driver to stop and asked my assistant to buy some oranges and water at a small store. They cashier asked her when she arrived, which is code langauge for trying to get information from my assistant on when she started working as a sex worker. I stayed in the car to chat with the driver to find out more information about the city.”

Read them all over at Bytes of China.