Text/Li Chuan
My son asked 2 questions, which were mediocre, but they stumped me.
1
The first question was asked on the streets of Shanghai.
We were shopping on Nanjing East Road at the time. He suddenly asked me: Dad, why are there so many public phone booths in Shanghai, but no one uses landline phones now?
I was stunned, and I took a look at it that day, and sure enough, there are many public telephone booths on the streets of Shanghai, especially near People's Square, which are red, very foreign, very retro, and very beautiful.
As we all know, almost everyone has a mobile phone now. Landline phone booths, something that was popular almost 20 years ago. Basically since 10 years ago, major cities around the world have been demolishing. Nowadays, it is difficult to find a public phone booth with an IC card on the street.
So the question is: why do Shanghai still keep so many phone booths and have not been demolished?
I thought about it and replied to my son: 1. The public phone booth is a scenery in Shanghai, a memory of the common people, a sense of history, and a value from the perspective of tourism. Second, not everyone has a mobile phone, such as the elderly, children, etc., can use a public phone booth to call the police.
The son agreed. When I got home, I thought about it, and it was still weird. Because these two answers do not answer a fundamental question. There are historical memories and can meet the needs of the elderly and children, which exists all over the world, so why are most of other cities demolished, but Shanghai continues to be retained?
I checked a little information today and found that something like this has really been reported. There were 10,000 units at the peak in Shanghai, and another 5,000 units in 2020.
About two years ago, Shanghai decided to renovate these phone booths to include features such as free three-minute calls and one-click taxi hailing. Search the Internet, there were a lot of reports and propaganda at that time. No wonder you can still see so many on the streets.
If you think about it a little deeper, how does it work? My observations, probably not good. The main thing is that the added features are too "chicken ribs" and can be met on mobile phones. I stayed in Shanghai for two days, and I changed a few phone booths halfway, and a lot of them fell some dust, and I rarely used them at first glance.
As a scenery and memory, it is enough to keep a few in the downtown area and scenic spots. Large-scale renovation and daily maintenance, the cost is not small, the effect is not high, and it is speculated that it will have to be demolished in the future.
2
The second question is: why is Xuzhou a battleground for soldiers?
Last night, Derpy asked while listening to "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". He said that in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Liu Bei and Lu Bu were always fighting in Xuzhou, and they all wanted to rob Xuzhou? Why?
He also asked me at once.
I am not familiar with the Three Kingdoms, but when I read other history books, I often see the saying that "soldiers must fight for the land". Most of the time, it's just a glance.
In ancient times, most of the so-called battlegrounds were related to geographical situation, transportation, and population. Especially in places where the mountains and rivers are steep and easy to defend and difficult to attack.
Each city is different, and so are the points of contention. So where is the particularity of Xuzhou? I couldn't really answer at once.
After checking the information on my mobile phone, I noticed that Xuzhou has at least two particularities:
First, geographically, the surrounding area of Xuzhou belongs to the hilly area. Out of Xuzhou, out of the northeast, the rest are plains. Xuzhou City is easy to defend and difficult to attack.
Second, in terms of location, it is located in the center of Jiangnan, Guanluo, and Youyan, which is about the same distance from these three plates, and is the junction of the three major spheres of influence. Later, the railway was opened and became a transportation hub again.
These two reasons directly determined that it became a battleground in ancient times. There may be some demographics, water conservancy and other reasons, and I don't have time to think about it.
I told Derpy the answer. Praise him, pay attention to life, and think of good questions. It also touched my dad to think about the different perspectives behind those accustomed lives.
3
Two feelings.
1. Being able to ask good questions is a very important ability.
Anyone who has ever given lectures or researched may know that asking questions is a very challenging thing. If you ask accurately, you may find the answer. If the question is general, it is big and inappropriate, and it can only be talked about in general.
I think "why there are so many phone booths on the streets of Shanghai" and "why Xuzhou is a battleground for soldiers", for a seven or eight-year-old child, it is very good to be able to ask. We adults often come into contact with these lives, but often because we are too accustomed to them, we can't be new and surprising.
Second, the child raised a question, parents should pay attention to it, treat it equally, answer as much as possible if they can answer, don't be embarrassed to ask, admit it honestly, search for the answer on the mobile phone, and discuss it together.
For example, this time Derpy asked "why Xuzhou is a battleground for soldiers", and I was really confused. After checking the answers, I took the topographical map and province map of China at home and flipped through it with him.
(It is also recommended that you post a few more maps at home, which often inadvertently have miraculous effects)
On the topographic map, Xuzhou happened to be in a small basin, and the other three sides were plains, and he understood the particularity of this geography at once. On the administrative map, Xuzhou to Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Xi'an, and the generation are basically equidistant, and I believe that Derpy understands it somewhat.
Not much of a deal. But I think that's what it means to raise children and grow up with your children. So share it in particular. Share.