A friend of mine who moved to Beijing a couple of years ago told me that his mom warned him to be wary when walking near manholes in the city. She had read a story about a man in China who fell into an uncovered manhole at night and was found dead a few days later.
A mom’s worst nightmare.
As a mom, she was, naturally, worried that this was part of a larger problem, and that road work sites in China were more dangerous than ones in the US.
As silly as it seemed, her concern stuck with me, and whenever I bike in Beijing I always glance at manholes before speeding over them. Today, I biked past a road work site and saw this …
Apparently, the construction crew ran out of cones and had to get creative. It doesn’t look safe, but I guess it might keep you from falling in.
Slightly Reworded 
We seriously need to replace the term “manhole”. Perhaps something like “access hatch” would do.
I don’t know … Then all my manhole jokes wouldn’t make sense among future generations.
I can totally relate! I’ve seen these on the road and sidewalks. Just under a year ago, I saw this on the part of the sidewalk designated for blind people, BLIND people…ha! –> http://instagram.com/p/ePWGMkqvvc/?modal=true . Low and behold, the next day, it was covered because of some cultural reason –> http://instagram.com/p/eUPfJYqvjf/?modal=true . Thanks for posting!
Geez, that’s nuts! Thanks for reading!
Jimmy
It seems you’d notice it. When David was alive, he always got lost in what he was doing, especially playing music. It would not have worked in that case. Enjoy reading your blogs.
Thanks for the compliment Ellen. It sounds like I’m like David in that way. I’ve been accused several times of zoning out when writing, driving … Just about anything really, ha.