Yesterday, was I think, the first sign of winter. We had about two weeks of beautiful fall weather (my favorite season) but yesterday it got COLD! It was about 4 degrees Celsius or 40 degrees Fahrenheit, with a cold breeze and a slight rain and from here on out it is only expected to get colder. Winter weather in Beijing is similar to Ithaca, NY, where I went to college, so I am used to the cold weather. But I am sad that autumn was so short.
You may be wondering why I am devoting a whole post to the changing of the seasons but the thing in Beijing that is so different from Ithaca, is that there is no heat in almost all buildings until November 15th!!! That is the first day the government allows most apartment buildings to begin heating the buildings. It is a way to conserve energy, I think. In other words, my apartment is FREEZING. I only wear sweatpants, sweatshirts and two pairs of socks. I also have about five candles lighted to give off heat. I am seriously considering buying a small space heater, it is that bad. The only good news out of all this, is that in the morning I get ready so much quicker and get to school earlier because the sooner I get my clothes and coat on, the sooner I am warm.
Hope everyone is warm in America!
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Saturday, October 16, 2010
Underground Bike Bunkers
Today, my friends and I made a fascinating
discovery. We had found out that we had been living
and going to school on top of a massive underground
bunker...filled with bikes!!! I don't have words to
describe how bizarrely cool this place is, I will let
the pictures I took show you. Also, we found out
that this isn't the only bunker, we have discovered at
least 10 so far, each filled with bikes!
Previously, in an earlier post I mentioned how Chinese want the world to see how much China has changed and thus build huge, beautiful buildings yet have awful water quality etc. Well, I wanted to mention another funny thing about Chinese mentalality. Today, I was buying some books with friends and we had picked out three that we liked. Two of them were pretty normal size books, and so they cost 15 RMB but the third book was a long one, and so the cart owner thought since it was bigger it should cost more and wanted to charge 25 RMB!
On another occasion, I was trying to buy a pair of Converse sneakers with friend and my friend got hers for 35 RMB but the stall owner wanted to sell me mine for 75! When I asked why so much for mine when my friends were 35 RMB she said it was because they were bigger and used more material!!! What!?!? If only I spoke enough Chinese to explain how bulk purchasing of raw materials and an assembly line work!
The lesson to learn here is that Chinese people think the bigger something is, the more it should cost.
Last, but certainly not of little importance and something my Dad will be happy to hear, is that last night, I found cartons of ice cream for sale in my Apartment convience store, first time I have seen that in China! So obviously I had to buy some. Sadly, it cost 28 RMB or about 10 RMB more then I had spent on lunch and dinner combined. Oh well, there is nothing better than a movie and ice cream in bed!
Monday, October 11, 2010
My Short Take on Liu Xiaobo and Democracy in China
I try and stay away from political topics as much as I can but this one is just way to important.
I have read much about China's political system, politics and society these last few years and every time I became more unsure of the future of Democracy in China, and for that matter if Democracy is even right for China. However, in these last few days, I have realized that for as much as the Communist Party has accomplished in the last 20 years, that without the very basic of human rights what does it matter. How can the Party profligate all of their successes while ignoring all that they have taken from people?
There were and are many excuses for why Democracy could never work in China, from to many people to the type of social structure Chinese society is, but I say if you never give people the chance then of course Democracy won't succeed. I have only been here for a month (3 months living in China total) but I can say that the Chinese people are dynamic and resourceful and even with 1.3 billion people they could make work.
I have read much about China's political system, politics and society these last few years and every time I became more unsure of the future of Democracy in China, and for that matter if Democracy is even right for China. However, in these last few days, I have realized that for as much as the Communist Party has accomplished in the last 20 years, that without the very basic of human rights what does it matter. How can the Party profligate all of their successes while ignoring all that they have taken from people?
There were and are many excuses for why Democracy could never work in China, from to many people to the type of social structure Chinese society is, but I say if you never give people the chance then of course Democracy won't succeed. I have only been here for a month (3 months living in China total) but I can say that the Chinese people are dynamic and resourceful and even with 1.3 billion people they could make work.
Thursday, October 7, 2010
McDonalds
Have you ever laid in bed late at night, hungry but to lazy to get up to cook something and didn't want to have to put clothes on and go out to your local fast food restaurant? Well have no fear, because in China, McDonalds has a 24 hour, English/Chinese language hotline you can call to place your order. What's even better is that you don't have to figure out which McDonalds is closest because the hotline does all that for you AND there is no delivery fee, tip or surcharge of any kind. Lastly, to top it all off they show up in a bright red McDonalds jumpsuit! Sorry for no picture but I didnt want to be mean to the guy and take his picture. Oh and after placing my order, the guy was here in less then 15 minutes!
Off to enjoy my late night snack! Loving China right now!
Off to enjoy my late night snack! Loving China right now!
Saturday, October 2, 2010
Air Quality
One of the things that I have been meaning to mention in a post has been the air quality here in Beijing. I remember running up to the Olympics that there was a lot of coverage on the poor quality of air in Beijing. When I was in here two years ago, I think there were only 10-15 blue sky days in two months and that that was mostly during the Olympics, when the Chinese government seeded the clouds to make it rain and clear the skies.
This time around, I think there has been a drastic improvement in air quality and overall "blue sky" days. Just in the last week, outside of the one rainy day, five or six of the days have had blue skies. From what I have read, the government has made a strong push to move heavy industry out of Beijing and into the suburbs or even into Central and Western China, in an attempt to provide a higher standard of living for Beijingers. Whether this is the reason that the air quality is better or not, I do know I am happy for the change.
Here is a picture of today, from my apartment window. It is a perfect autumn day, warm in the sun, accompanied by a soft, cool breeze.
This time around, I think there has been a drastic improvement in air quality and overall "blue sky" days. Just in the last week, outside of the one rainy day, five or six of the days have had blue skies. From what I have read, the government has made a strong push to move heavy industry out of Beijing and into the suburbs or even into Central and Western China, in an attempt to provide a higher standard of living for Beijingers. Whether this is the reason that the air quality is better or not, I do know I am happy for the change.
Here is a picture of today, from my apartment window. It is a perfect autumn day, warm in the sun, accompanied by a soft, cool breeze.
School and Iphone 4
Sorry I haven't posted in a few days but there honestly hasn't been a lot to post about. I have gotten into a routine of school, tutoring, studying. There really hasn't been that much time to do anything else. However, yesterday was National Day, the founding of the PRC and so I have a week off from classes because of it. They call the week off a Golden Week. There are two per year in China, for National Day and Chinese New Year. The reason why they give the whole country a week off is because it is the only time anyone can return to their homes. Long weekends just aren't enough time when your traveling by train from Beijing to Chongqing or wherever. So for this Golden Week, Chinese people get one of their two opportunities to travel home each year and over 150 million will take advantage of it this week.
I was planning on traveling to Shanghai this week for both the expo and to see the city but I just decided I didn't want to deal with all the hassle of traveling with so many Chinese people. But I will be making a trip out to the Beijing suburbs, perhaps to Chengde. So, I will have plenty to talk about then.
In other news, the Iphone 4 has been released in China, and people have been going nuts. Scalpers have been going into the Apple store here in Beijing and buying 20 to 30 Iphones for around 5000 RMB. They then go and sell them right outside the store for 7000, 8000 or even 10,000 RMB. Sanlitun Village (where the flagship Apple Store is) has turned into a circus because of it and there are now always police officers hanging around trying to bust sellers. I think its more likely they are just hoping for a discount on an Iphone and then they wouldn't arrest the scalpers. Here is an article about the Iphone pandemonium.
Also, here is a picture from the deck of my favorite cafe, called The Bridge. Many expats and middle-class Chinese college students come here to study. The building across the street is Houlian and it is the main shopping mall in Wudaokou, which is a 15 minute walk from my apartment. Also, many students hangout here because Peking Univ, Tsinghua, BLCU, Renmin my school and at least 5 other schools are all withing walking distance of Wudaokou.
I was planning on traveling to Shanghai this week for both the expo and to see the city but I just decided I didn't want to deal with all the hassle of traveling with so many Chinese people. But I will be making a trip out to the Beijing suburbs, perhaps to Chengde. So, I will have plenty to talk about then.
In other news, the Iphone 4 has been released in China, and people have been going nuts. Scalpers have been going into the Apple store here in Beijing and buying 20 to 30 Iphones for around 5000 RMB. They then go and sell them right outside the store for 7000, 8000 or even 10,000 RMB. Sanlitun Village (where the flagship Apple Store is) has turned into a circus because of it and there are now always police officers hanging around trying to bust sellers. I think its more likely they are just hoping for a discount on an Iphone and then they wouldn't arrest the scalpers. Here is an article about the Iphone pandemonium.
Also, here is a picture from the deck of my favorite cafe, called The Bridge. Many expats and middle-class Chinese college students come here to study. The building across the street is Houlian and it is the main shopping mall in Wudaokou, which is a 15 minute walk from my apartment. Also, many students hangout here because Peking Univ, Tsinghua, BLCU, Renmin my school and at least 5 other schools are all withing walking distance of Wudaokou.
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