The Chinese are braver than you. Or crazier. These might be two sides of the same coin, actually.

Despite shaky economics, long work hours, no discernible safety standards, and inferior tools, the Chinese are able to build and construct spectacular structures… in the same way they have been doing for thousands of years. You won’t see metal scaffolding here, but instead bamboo grids lashed together with their version of zip-ties. These wooden scaffolds reach heights of tens of meters, easily (see what I did there? I’m all metric-system and shit, yo). Pictured is a bamboo elevator at the top of the 7th floor that appears extremely rickety. Nevertheless, the workmen don’t hesitate at all plunging up and down the side of the building in groups of 5, or carrying wheelbarrows full of concrete.

>That’s another thing, by the way. The wheelbarrows, though obviously very old, make so much more sense than ours do. They have two wheels, and they’re usually pulled rather than pushed. TWO wheels! So you don’t accidentally dump a load of gravel for lack of the strength to balance it. What a concept… so much for American ingenuity.