The next night in Tehran, I lived in the home of a couple. The male host was Mohammed. He graduated from the University of Tehran with a master's degree. He was engaged in the import and export of electronic products. The hostess Parastu was engaged in the tourism industry.

At 10:30 in the evening, the hostess proposed to walk in the park. I was a little bit unsure. After all, this point was a time to prepare for a break in the country, but it was a rare opportunity to experience the life of the locals, so I accepted it.

On the way to the park, the highway was blocked for a long time by a car accident. Iran ’s high accident rate is really well-deserved. Every time I sit in the car, I am frightened. A “motorcycle” experience makes me stay away from Iran ’s motor vehicles. In China, the safe distance between vehicles and people is about 5 meters, while in Iran, this distance is only 1 meter. It is said that even the Iranian Minister of Justice died in a car accident in previous years.

When I arrived at the park, it was completely different from what I expected: the park was full of people at 11:30 in the middle of the night, the restaurant was full of people, and the children chased me on the grass, laughing and joking; adults also put blankets Spread on the grass and talk to relatives and friends; some young people, in groups of three or five, took turns smoking hookahs in the dark corner.

Tehran Suburban Park Still Lively At Night

"It's so late, aren't children and adults going home to rest?" I looked in amazement at the sight in front of me.

"It's late? We usually go to bed at two or three o'clock." Mohammed, the host, was very indifferent.

"How long do you get up?"

"Seven or eight."

"Aren't you tired?"

"Not tired"

It turns out that Iranians are owls. The hostess looked at me puzzled and explained: "But because tomorrow is the day of Imam (the sage in Shi'ite Islam) Sadeq, and the country is closed for a day, people will stay late tonight."

On the way, we met three friends of the sofa host, they are a family: brother, brother and sister. So 6 of us walked together in the park.

Looking at the ever-increasing citizens in the park, I asked, "Are you usually partying in the park? It's so lively."

"Basically, there is no other way of entertainment in our country. There are no bars, no music, and people only go to the park and chat to pass the time."

They seem to be out of touch with the modern way of life, but at the same time, I feel that this is also positive in a sense: this way, the “forced” interaction with family and friends can bring closer and more unite this group.

People sitting on the floor everywhere in the park

We also found a spot and sat down to continue our conversation. In the group of people next to us, a grandma patted Mohammed's shoulder, handed us bread, tomatoes, cheese, salad, and poured water and cola. So our group had a hearty dinner without any preparation.

The brother said jokingly: "Jerry, look, we lay here and Allah gave us food."

I am very puzzled. Although the people from Tehran who were riding from Azerbaijan were very enthusiastic and gave us water and watermelons, I have never seen so much food. So I asked if this situation is common.

The elder brother explained: "It's very common. In our country people often share their food with others. The Qur'an says that we are all brothers and sisters and we should share food with each other. There is a saying in Persian: "You get my salt." (Probably blessed to share.)

I nodded. After dinner, my friends took out their mobile phones. The first step was to open a VPN (virtual proxy server, suitable for connecting to network lines blocked by the government). Before I came here, I heard that 70-80% of Iranians use VPN, so I discussed the topic of VPN.

The sister said, "I did n’t use it at first, and I did n’t know what VPN was. In March this year, the government blocked telegearm (an encrypted social communication software, similar to WeChat), and most of Iran used VPN. .My mother asked me whether to use a VPN at that time, and I was shocked, because she was almost 60, and I used a VPN before me ... "The Iranian government further strengthened the Internet after a mass demonstration at the end of last year. Control, but the road is one foot tall and the magic one foot tall, the people instead find ways to avoid government supervision.

The Iranian network has more than just this problem. The speed of Wi-Fi in Iran these days is also generally slow. I want to know the reason behind this:

"Because the government does not want people to use the banned software. They think that if the network speed is slow in the beginning, the network speed will be slower after using a VPN so that people will not use the banned software." Brother Explained.

"But won't it slow down other compliant software?"

"Yes, but they probably have no other better way."

Behind this is a vicious circle after another: the more software the government bans, the more people use VPNs, the more restrictive the government will be, the more restrictive the government will be and the people will only Looking for more ways to avoid control, both parties have not benefited in the process ...

Tehran's KFC branch opened one day after it was forced to close by the Iranian government because of "unhalal"

In this country, women must wear headscarves, and no one can wear shorts when they are hot; men and women cannot walk together on the street if they are not married, so they can often only interact in each other's homes; alcohol is not allowed; public places Can't dance; only very little music can be allowed to play; satellite TV is not allowed to watch foreign channels ...

But people secretly drink alcohol, secretly listen to American music, secretly watch foreign TV channels. When most citizens are violating a law, are these citizens violating the law, or is the law and its makers unfair?

When we left, we saw that the roadside of the park was still full of cars. It was already 3am. People might have fallen asleep on the grass of the park.

Back home, I greeted my host: Shabahei (Good night in Persian) and turned off the light. I turned around and thought about what happened: In this rumored country, people still live a peaceful life, family and friends are sharing time in the park, getting closer, but in conversation I can still feel the dissatisfaction of the people under this majestic rule, hoping that the standard of living can be improved and more freedom can be touched.

I closed my eyes soon, looking forward to the next trip to Iran.