When I arrived at the University where I taught in China, I was taken to the Director of Foreign Affairs office to do some paperwork, and I had somethings explained about teaching and living in China. A nice young man named Mr. Lu was assigned to take me to my apartment, so we had a nice stroll across the campus.
When we arrived at the building where I would live, we walked down a semi-paved alley. When we got near the entrance I would use, Mr. Lu bent down and picked up a brick. I asked him why he picked up the brick, and he said it was to keep the rats out of my apartment. Without hesitation, I bent down and picked up a brick also.
When we toured the apartment, Mr Lu showed me a drain in the kitchen floor that rats could use to gain entrance to my home. He placed his brick over the drain, and so did I. Later, I placed a mixing bowl of water on top of the two bricks just to give it more weight, because I had seen the size of the rats and I knew they could easily move the bricks if they wanted to!
I am thankful to say, I never saw a rat in my apartment. The people in China were very good to me!