As I mentioned in one post below, many of the escalators have sensors in them so that they only run if someone approaches them. Almost every electronic gadget for sale, from light bulb to fridge, has a standard energy rating ranging from 1 (great) to 5 (gas guzzler). Both hotels we stayed at when we first arrived were set up so that we had to slip the key card into the light switch before we could use electricity in the room (and therefore all lights would turn off once we left). We learned very quickly that restaurants and bathrooms very rarely provide their own toilet paper or napkins. One of the first items we bought here was a case of purse-sized napkin packs, and we are now very judicious in how we use these! The Wal-Mart here charges a nominal fee for plastic bags. Mopeds, bikes, motorbikes, and buses are also much more common here (though taxis aren't--see below! :).
Additionally, the university only includes 120 Kwh of electricity with the cost of housing--if we go over this amount, they'll shut off the electricity in our room until we pay for more (we know they will actually follow through with this threat, because it has already happened to a classmate of mine). I admit that I have no idea how long 120 Kwh of electricity will last us, but knowing that our payment only covers so much has made Brian and me extremely energy-conscious: we unplug everything in the room when we aren't using it, and we are very mindful of how we use our appliances. It seems like other students (foreign and Chinese alike) are also incredibly energy conscious.
Perhaps people here are so energy conscious out of necessity--if the entire population of this country used as much energy per capita as the US uses, we would quickly run through the world's supply of fossil fuels! Perhaps energy costs much more here per unit than it does in the US. I admit my ignorance on the various macro-level factors that influence this trend. I can only attest to my own experience of seeing laundry drying outside (clothes dryers are very rare here), sharing common kitchen appliances, and passing opened windows so the inhabitants don't have to run their window A/C units. Some may call this an inconvenience or technological retrogression--I confess that sometimes I see it this way. But I also see it as very wise, realistic, and necessary if all of us want to live sustainably in the 21st century.
Nowadays, clothes pins in the US are pretty much a novelty item or something we buy only for children's crafts--very few people actually use them. Yet the stores here carry a great variety of them in all sorts of fashionable shapes and sizes. When I do laundry in a couple days, I look forward to trying out the brightly colored ones I've bought!