How’s that for a cultural reference that dates me?
This is a short post about two surprises that happened today in quick succession.
Purely by accident, I discovered that Wikipedia is accessible in China. A friend told me she was moving to the city of Zibo in Shandong, so I did a Goggle search, and of course the Wikipedia link was the first result. Usually I don’t even bother clicking on those, but something in me said “What the heck?” and gave it a try.
Oddly enough, it came up – extremely slowly, but not the usual “Server not found” error. That was the first surprise.
Then, in the article on Zibo it said that FIFA has honored the city as the birthplace of football. Huh?
So there you go. The ancient game of cuju, played by both men and women in China over 2000 years ago is the ancestor of modern soccer.
Lately at work it’s been a kind of theatre of the absurd, and I really wish I could say more about it, but that story will have to wait until after the Olympics, if it can ever be told.
It’s been a year since I got my work permit, so that’s currently being renewed. I feel kind of strange not having my passport, but they can’t put a new visa in it unless they have it.
And I’m pretty excited that I’ll be resuming my language lessons next week. They’ll be private lessons this time, since none of my coworkers who took classes before seem to have time these days. I’m just going to make time.
Showing posts with label immigration. Show all posts
Showing posts with label immigration. Show all posts
2008/04/01
2007/05/11
The Soundtrack of My Week
I thought I might mention one thing about the music festival I went to last week. The name Midi is not related to MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) which is the way synthesizers and other digital musical instruments communicate. The name is from the Chinese 迷笛 (midi), which as close as I can tell translates as “crazy flute.”
Friday’s excursion to the festival was not the end of the week’s musical activities. RR and I went to the final night of the Apres Midi shows at Star Live to see P.K.14 and The Soundtrack of Our Lives. P.K.14 is a local band whose music I had heard before (you can hear it on their MySpace page). They’re a little on the punk side, but play well enough to be within my sphere of acceptability. TSOOL is a Swedish band I like quite a bit. I reviewed one of their albums in an issue of Exposé, and I had heard most of their others.
One thing I neglected to mention in my previous post was the fact that RR and I had dinner at a Russian restaurant called Traktir before the Tuesday night show. We had walked by the place many times (it’s on the path between home and office), but never been in. The customers consisted in large part of actual Russians, which we took as a good sign. If Russians go there, it’s probably good and maybe even authentic. We hit a snag right off when we found that our beer selections (Baltika 5 and 9) were not available, so we had to settle for 6 (or whichever is the red one). It’s a pretty good beer, so all was not lost. RR ordered the stroganoff, and I chose the breaded carp fillets with mashed potatoes. Aside from the slowness of the service, the meal was good. When we were about halfway through our meal, a pair of musicians took to the stage for our entertainment. There was a female singer and a guy playing keyboards with programmed backing. They did a few tunes in Russian (pop songs I’d guess), and then launched into a bizarre selection of music from around the world, including the strangest version of John Denver’s “Country Roads” I ever hope to hear.
For Saturday night we decided to skip the Russian place and get pizza at Napoli across the street. We’ve both been there several times, and the pizza is pretty reliable, though the service is slow. Musically, Napoli serves up a constant diet of Enya, which I must say is remarkably poor music to eat pizza by.
The show at Star Live was great. P.K.14 is an interesting band that might best be called post-punk – not that that is a very meaningful label. The singer reminds me more than a little of David Byrne on the early Talking Heads records, though the musical backing is much more aggressive than the Heads ever displayed in the studio. They had a tendency to go off on instrumental tangents, and some of the songs certainly topped the six or seven minute range.
Then The Soundtrack of Our Lives took the stage. Luckily it was a big stage, since there are six guys in the band. Leader Ebbot Lundberg is a very charismatic performer in spite of not physically fitting the image of “rock star.” The band was very good, tight but not over-rehearsed, and a lot of fun to watch and listen to.
After the show, we hung around and got to chat a little with Mr. Lundberg, acquiring some CDs in the process.
It was back to work on Monday, though it turned out virtually all of our Chinese staff took that day off as well. There were only a half dozen or so people in the office.
On Tuesday some of us went bowling to celebrate BG’s birthday. We went to the Gongti 100, and this time I took my camera. These are my own shots of what is supposed to be the world’s largest bowling alley.
This was taken from the vicinity of lane 9 looking towards lane 100.
Here is our gang on lanes 31-32.
For the record, BG had high score on the first game, with a personal best 174. For the second game, I had the highest with 123 – not my personal best, but good enough in this crowd! Our friend LW managed to finish on a Magic Number and win a cap as a prize.
After bowling for an hour or so, we went across the street to The Pavillion, where TG had previously dropped off a cake.
We had dinner, and afterwards they brought out this vision of deliciousness.
Afterwards, the manager came over and presented BG with a stuffed bear. She said she had decided to start a new tradition: that people who celebrated their birthdays there would get complimentary bears.
I mentioned in the last post that the water features here at Seasons Park were filled for the holidays. Here are a couple of pictures I took. Today when I got home from work, I found they’ve all been drained again. Sigh.
In other news, I did finally get my work permit. I’m good for a year on this, and will need to renew it next spring.
In other, less interesting or pleasant news, my sinuses have finally found something here they don’t like. I think it’s probably just the dust. Every day for the last couple weeks, I’ve had to take something to stop my nose from running and for headaches.
Friday’s excursion to the festival was not the end of the week’s musical activities. RR and I went to the final night of the Apres Midi shows at Star Live to see P.K.14 and The Soundtrack of Our Lives. P.K.14 is a local band whose music I had heard before (you can hear it on their MySpace page). They’re a little on the punk side, but play well enough to be within my sphere of acceptability. TSOOL is a Swedish band I like quite a bit. I reviewed one of their albums in an issue of Exposé, and I had heard most of their others.
One thing I neglected to mention in my previous post was the fact that RR and I had dinner at a Russian restaurant called Traktir before the Tuesday night show. We had walked by the place many times (it’s on the path between home and office), but never been in. The customers consisted in large part of actual Russians, which we took as a good sign. If Russians go there, it’s probably good and maybe even authentic. We hit a snag right off when we found that our beer selections (Baltika 5 and 9) were not available, so we had to settle for 6 (or whichever is the red one). It’s a pretty good beer, so all was not lost. RR ordered the stroganoff, and I chose the breaded carp fillets with mashed potatoes. Aside from the slowness of the service, the meal was good. When we were about halfway through our meal, a pair of musicians took to the stage for our entertainment. There was a female singer and a guy playing keyboards with programmed backing. They did a few tunes in Russian (pop songs I’d guess), and then launched into a bizarre selection of music from around the world, including the strangest version of John Denver’s “Country Roads” I ever hope to hear.
For Saturday night we decided to skip the Russian place and get pizza at Napoli across the street. We’ve both been there several times, and the pizza is pretty reliable, though the service is slow. Musically, Napoli serves up a constant diet of Enya, which I must say is remarkably poor music to eat pizza by.
The show at Star Live was great. P.K.14 is an interesting band that might best be called post-punk – not that that is a very meaningful label. The singer reminds me more than a little of David Byrne on the early Talking Heads records, though the musical backing is much more aggressive than the Heads ever displayed in the studio. They had a tendency to go off on instrumental tangents, and some of the songs certainly topped the six or seven minute range.
Then The Soundtrack of Our Lives took the stage. Luckily it was a big stage, since there are six guys in the band. Leader Ebbot Lundberg is a very charismatic performer in spite of not physically fitting the image of “rock star.” The band was very good, tight but not over-rehearsed, and a lot of fun to watch and listen to.
After the show, we hung around and got to chat a little with Mr. Lundberg, acquiring some CDs in the process.It was back to work on Monday, though it turned out virtually all of our Chinese staff took that day off as well. There were only a half dozen or so people in the office.
On Tuesday some of us went bowling to celebrate BG’s birthday. We went to the Gongti 100, and this time I took my camera. These are my own shots of what is supposed to be the world’s largest bowling alley.
This was taken from the vicinity of lane 9 looking towards lane 100.
Here is our gang on lanes 31-32.For the record, BG had high score on the first game, with a personal best 174. For the second game, I had the highest with 123 – not my personal best, but good enough in this crowd! Our friend LW managed to finish on a Magic Number and win a cap as a prize.
After bowling for an hour or so, we went across the street to The Pavillion, where TG had previously dropped off a cake.
We had dinner, and afterwards they brought out this vision of deliciousness.
Afterwards, the manager came over and presented BG with a stuffed bear. She said she had decided to start a new tradition: that people who celebrated their birthdays there would get complimentary bears.
I mentioned in the last post that the water features here at Seasons Park were filled for the holidays. Here are a couple of pictures I took. Today when I got home from work, I found they’ve all been drained again. Sigh.
In other news, I did finally get my work permit. I’m good for a year on this, and will need to renew it next spring.In other, less interesting or pleasant news, my sinuses have finally found something here they don’t like. I think it’s probably just the dust. Every day for the last couple weeks, I’ve had to take something to stop my nose from running and for headaches.
2007/04/14
Where's the thermostat?
First off, I’d just like to make it clear that Japan is not the only country in the world in which trees are blooming this time of year. I took this here on the Seasons Park grounds.Aside from a cold apartment, I have returned to a new office, which is also cold. There seems to be something wrong with the heating/cooling units in the lovely G-Box. With some of the thermostats, we get cold air no matter what temperature they’re set at. We’ve resorted to just turning them off in much of the office and wearing coats and sweaters, which seems like a pity in a nice new building. At least the carpets and the furniture are clean and we have room. And I can connect to a printer without having to play around with USB cables.
Just to bring you up to date on the progress, here is a series of pictures of the same part of the office.
26 January
6 March
10 AprilIsn't that lovely?
This is the reception area as it now appears. In case you can’t make it out, the sign taped on the wall says PLACE LOGO HERE. That’s our office joke, since we’ve been here several months and do not have a logo for the company yet.
This is the reception area as it now appears. In case you can’t make it out, the sign taped on the wall says PLACE LOGO HERE. That’s our office joke, since we’ve been here several months and do not have a logo for the company yet.
We have a vending machine. It looks a lot like the ones I saw in Japan.
And here is my cubicle. Things to note:- Astroboy (AKA Atom) – a souvenir of Japan
- Map of China so I won’t forget where I am
- Pennant that’s a memento of the Athens Olympics
- Dual monitors with a picture of downtown Tokyo
- Wallace and Gromit
- A pineapple, widely used as a sort of natural deodorizer, handy since the office smelled of paint when we moved in. We have dozens of them all around, though they’re starting to become more offenders than mitigators in the odor department. Pineapples are hugely popular here – you see vendors with carts full of them on almost every block. The fruit is a traditional housewarming gift, in addition to being a tasty treat.
We’re getting ready to process what could be millions of order forms, so we’ve bought a bunch of boxes to store them in. That madness will begin very shortly, and it’s likely to get very busy around here. We’ve added a few dozen people to our staff over the last couple weeks, with interviews for more taking place every day.The delivery of the boxes was an interesting event in itself. As it turns out, our lovely 15-story building does not have a loading dock, so everything has to be brought in through the regular doors on handtrucks or dollies. Furthermore, city regulations prohibit large trucks from city streets between the hours of 6:00am and midnight. Furtherevenmore, the security guards won’t let unauthorized people into the building and are not allowed to call anyone in the building to get authorization. So a portion of the boxes were delivered in a truck small enough to be allowed in the daytime, and when they arrived, the shipping company person had to call the box vendor and the vendor called us and we sent someone down to let them in the building. I’m wondering if the same situation arose when all the A/C units were delivered.
As I write this on 14 April, the weather has turned very nice, and my apartment gets enough sun during the day to stay comfortable almost all night. I’ve been opening windows from time to time to get a little circulation going. Leaves are appearing on trees, I can walk around without a jacket sometimes, and the Ewoks have been replaced by normal children.
And there’s an addition the Dramatis Personae. RR is another American expat, I think the last of the long-term non-Chinese employees. He arrived while I was in Japan, and now has an apartment in the same building as me. That’s five of us at Seasons Park. RR is currently overseeing the process of paper form data entry.
My first night back in Beijing, TG, RR and I walked to a nearby restaurant called the Red Rose, which on the sign is described as a Xinjiang Muslim Restaurant (that’s the farthest west part of China for the geographically challenged). The place is plastered with Budweiser signs, so we ordered Buds (the only beer listed on the menu). Yes, beer in a Moslem restaurant. But this is China after all, not Kuwait. Anyway, the food was really good, and before long the large restaurant was quite full. Then music started playing over the PA on the stage, and a dancer came out wearing a beautiful dress. The music was kind of electronic, with Middle Eastern and Indian sounds, and reminded me of a contemporary Bollywood soundtrack. When she finished, she swooshed into the dressing room and another dancer came out – belly dancing this time. After one more dance from each of the women, a trio took the stage, two acoustic guitarists and a percussionist. They were excellent musicians, with a style that melded flamenco guitar with Middle Eastern and reggae elements. They played a few tunes, then left the stage for the dancers’ second set. On one song, which I think was a well-known Bollywood hit, a man from the audience jumped up and danced on the stage. And for another one of the dances, there was a snake, and the dancer came out and danced between the tables. For some reason she singled out RR, pulled him out of his chair and handed him the snake, then pulled him up to the stage, where he joined her for the past part of the song. While he was on stage, I grabbed his mobile phone and snapped a few pictures. As soon as we figure out how to get them off the phone, I’ll post one here. The musicians played a second set, and when we left were still playing. Bottom line, the place was hopping on a Sunday night. And the dancers were much better at their craft than the ones at the Indian restaurant I’ve been to.
On the immigration front, I’ve handed in my passport along with still more photos and paperwork to complete the process of getting a long-term work permit. I should have it back week after next.
2007/02/13
Yes, I would like fries with that
As part of getting a proper work visa for China, one requirement is a health check. It’s not like a thorough physical or anything, however. Yesterday morning, a woman from one of the firms helping us with immigration issues met me here at 8:30. We got in a taxi and went to the clinic where they do these checks on foreigners. It was a dingy old four-story building on the north side of town, not terribly far from our office at the Huabei. We started out by going up the stairs to the top floor, where I went into a room and provided three passport-size photos (in addition to the two others already on the rest of my paperwork). I filled out a form about my medical history – no, I don’t have AIDS or tuberculosis or any number of other things, but I marked yes on “operations” and wrote in “tonsils removed in childhood.” Then I went over to a little desk where there was a woman with a computer that had a camera attached to it. I sat down and she entered info from my form and added an electronic picture to the data file. She attached my passport photos to various pieces of paper. I was given one of the forms with my picture.
Then we went down the hall to a waiting area surrounded by doors. At the reception desk, they looked at the form, took some money from my immigration helper, and pointed me at the door labeled “General health.” A woman in a lab coat looked at the form and typed in the ID number. My picture popped up on her screen along with some boxes to fill in. I gave her my height in centimeters and weight in kilos. She pointed at the “operation” line on my form. I tried to explain tonsils with sign language, and she must have got it. She took my blood pressure, typed it into her computer, and put a checkmark in a box on my form.
Then I went to the next room, “Blood sample.” I made a fist and the woman took a small vial of blood, scanned the bar code on the vial, then marked a check on my form. The next room was “ECG.” The woman there had me pull up my shirt and lie down on an examining table. The machine was quite archaic, but did the job. She clamped things onto my ankles and wrists, then attached little suction cups to several places on my chest. She told me not to move, and I heard the little printer go. Then she pulled off the sensors and said I could get up. She looked at the printout for a moment, then took a red stamp and put NORMAL in a box on my form.
Then we went downstairs for a chest X-ray. Pretty much the same as any other X-ray I’ve had, though the machine looked 20 years old. Another checkmark on the form.
Then we went to the main lobby and handed in the form. I got to keep the heart graph. They’ll have the results of my tests with the final determination of my fitness for living in the PRC in a few days. I was back home by about 9:30. My helper told me that was the quickest health check she’d ever seen. No lines to wait in.
Today for lunch TG and I went to KFC. We didn’t want to take a lot of time, and it’s actually better than KFC back home. I ordered a combo meal (spicy chicken sandwich, fries, Pepsi) for ¥20 and for an extra ¥22, got a special toy.
Meet Doraemon, a Japanese character who is apparently quite famous in Asia, though I had never heard of him. I think his show plays in China – AB saw me bring it into the office and recognized it right off. I put a banana next to him so you can judge the size. Bigger than your average American kids’ meal toy, but it’s also not free with the meal.
For this adventure, Doraemon has pulled musical instruments out of his four-dimensional pocket. When you push the button on the top of his head, he plays a bouncy little tune, probably the theme song to the cartoon show. The tune sounds different depending on which instruments are attached. My flat is much better off having him around.
It looks like he’s supposed to spin around in circles, but either mine is defective or I’m not doing it right. In any case, he looks just fine sitting on the shelf.
Then we went down the hall to a waiting area surrounded by doors. At the reception desk, they looked at the form, took some money from my immigration helper, and pointed me at the door labeled “General health.” A woman in a lab coat looked at the form and typed in the ID number. My picture popped up on her screen along with some boxes to fill in. I gave her my height in centimeters and weight in kilos. She pointed at the “operation” line on my form. I tried to explain tonsils with sign language, and she must have got it. She took my blood pressure, typed it into her computer, and put a checkmark in a box on my form.
Then I went to the next room, “Blood sample.” I made a fist and the woman took a small vial of blood, scanned the bar code on the vial, then marked a check on my form. The next room was “ECG.” The woman there had me pull up my shirt and lie down on an examining table. The machine was quite archaic, but did the job. She clamped things onto my ankles and wrists, then attached little suction cups to several places on my chest. She told me not to move, and I heard the little printer go. Then she pulled off the sensors and said I could get up. She looked at the printout for a moment, then took a red stamp and put NORMAL in a box on my form.Then we went downstairs for a chest X-ray. Pretty much the same as any other X-ray I’ve had, though the machine looked 20 years old. Another checkmark on the form.
Then we went to the main lobby and handed in the form. I got to keep the heart graph. They’ll have the results of my tests with the final determination of my fitness for living in the PRC in a few days. I was back home by about 9:30. My helper told me that was the quickest health check she’d ever seen. No lines to wait in.
Today for lunch TG and I went to KFC. We didn’t want to take a lot of time, and it’s actually better than KFC back home. I ordered a combo meal (spicy chicken sandwich, fries, Pepsi) for ¥20 and for an extra ¥22, got a special toy.
Meet Doraemon, a Japanese character who is apparently quite famous in Asia, though I had never heard of him. I think his show plays in China – AB saw me bring it into the office and recognized it right off. I put a banana next to him so you can judge the size. Bigger than your average American kids’ meal toy, but it’s also not free with the meal.
For this adventure, Doraemon has pulled musical instruments out of his four-dimensional pocket. When you push the button on the top of his head, he plays a bouncy little tune, probably the theme song to the cartoon show. The tune sounds different depending on which instruments are attached. My flat is much better off having him around.
It looks like he’s supposed to spin around in circles, but either mine is defective or I’m not doing it right. In any case, he looks just fine sitting on the shelf.
2007/02/10
Dispatches from the land of Ewoks
It’s been busy lately at work, so I have no exciting outings to report. And since I can’t really write any details about work, I guess I have nothing at all to write about. OK, bye, everyone.
What? You’re still here? Oh, maybe I can think of something.
A few weeks ago I wrote about my experiences with my gas meter. Last week I had to put some more money on my electric meter. In a closet outside my apartment there are three meters, one for each of the units on the twelfth floor of my tower. The display on the right is mine. It just shows three dots until it gets below 200 units. For a couple weeks it had been slowly counting down, from two to five units a day. If it gets to zero you have no power.
The electric card is similar to the gas card. I put ¥200 on it and stuck it in the slot on the meter. Aw, gee, the electric company is an Olympic sponsor.
It clicked up to 461, then went back to dots when I pulled the card out. Isn’t that exciting? Gas and electricity must be paid in advance, like minutes on my cell phone. Water, on the other hand, is actually metered and billed. I don’t know how often they bill for water usage – I’ve been here a full three months and have not got a bill yet. I know from my lease that it’s my responsibility to pay that, not the landlord’s. A maintenance man came by last Monday and (I think) read the meter, so maybe I’ll get it soon.
I’ve started the process of getting a proper Chinese work permit. It required a ridiculous amount of different papers to be filled out, many of which require passport-size photos. I’ve been through one full set of 16 photos, plus almost all of a second 16, between applying for the original entrance visa, moving into the apartment, applying for Olympic credentials (still in the works after more than a full month), and now the work permit. I may go get another set of pictures taken, just in case. Next Monday, I’ll go for my health check. From several of my coworkers who have already gone through it, it’s a pretty minimal sort of exam. I was disappointed to learn I will not have to make a trip to Hong Kong to apply for my permit. Maybe some other time. (And look, I got a bowl to put my fruit in.)
And now some random thoughts, observations, and photos.
I’ve mentioned a few times about the different kinds of taxis you find in Beijing. On most mornings, there’s a whole line of them outside Seasons Park, making it easy to get one to go to the office. This picture was actually taken on a Sunday afternoon, but it’s the basic idea. The first one is a Hyundai, followed by a couple of Citroëns and I think a VW.
I took the camera along with me to the grocery store, and snapped a few shots along the way.
Several things to note in this one… Clothes hanging to dry along the sidewalk are a pretty common sight. Apparently theft is not a problem. A little further along you can see what JW refers to as an Ewok: a small child bundled up so he or she waddles when walking and can’t put the arms down, moving rather like the small furry beings from Return of the Jedi. The shops along here consist of a beauty salon, a cheap little restaurant, and a vice shop (as I call the ubiquitous tobacco and alcohol stores).
Further along the same street is where I buy some of my groceries. April Gourmet carries many European and American goods, and everything is marked in English in addition to Chinese. It’s a little more expensive than the stores that don’t cater to expats, but at least I can get cheese and cereal there if I feel a hankering for something familiar. I’ve also bought meat at the butcher shop next door, and been quite satisfied, though I’ve heard some of their sausages are on the bland side.
On the way home, more laundry out to dry. Note the name on the building in the background. I’ll have to take another picture to provide a more dramatic contrast between the word “Mansion” in its name and the reality of its appearance. The building on the immediate right is empty and has been since I arrived in the neighborhood. No signs of impending construction – don’t know what’s up there.
At various locations all over Beijing you see public exercise equipment like this, which is inside the Seasons Park grounds. I see people using it fairly often. There’s also a proper gym indoors with treadmills, stationary bikes, and other modern machines. I’ve been going there three times a week, trying to keep myself from turning into a complete blob considering all the hours I spend sitting at a computer. I miss playing soccer, but this will have to do, along with all the walking around town. By the way, the building in the background is the one I live in.
Look, it’s a cat! I’ve seen this one around the grounds a few times now. I’m pretty sure it’s a stray, but it’s not starving.
Forgive the blurry nature of this one – it was taken from a moving taxi. This is along Dongzhimennei (Dongzhimen Inner) straight down my street towards downtown. I’m told this street is well-known for its restaurants among locals. Aside from the bank in the center of the picture, I think every single storefront here is a restaurant. Most of these places don’t cater much to foreigners, but I hope to visit some of them over the next couple years.
Another taxi shot. This is where Dongzhimen meets the Second Ring Road (which is actually down below the railing you can see). Just to the left of the middle is a building that tacks traditional Chinese style roofing on top of a modern building.
What? You’re still here? Oh, maybe I can think of something.
A few weeks ago I wrote about my experiences with my gas meter. Last week I had to put some more money on my electric meter. In a closet outside my apartment there are three meters, one for each of the units on the twelfth floor of my tower. The display on the right is mine. It just shows three dots until it gets below 200 units. For a couple weeks it had been slowly counting down, from two to five units a day. If it gets to zero you have no power.
The electric card is similar to the gas card. I put ¥200 on it and stuck it in the slot on the meter. Aw, gee, the electric company is an Olympic sponsor.
It clicked up to 461, then went back to dots when I pulled the card out. Isn’t that exciting? Gas and electricity must be paid in advance, like minutes on my cell phone. Water, on the other hand, is actually metered and billed. I don’t know how often they bill for water usage – I’ve been here a full three months and have not got a bill yet. I know from my lease that it’s my responsibility to pay that, not the landlord’s. A maintenance man came by last Monday and (I think) read the meter, so maybe I’ll get it soon.
I’ve started the process of getting a proper Chinese work permit. It required a ridiculous amount of different papers to be filled out, many of which require passport-size photos. I’ve been through one full set of 16 photos, plus almost all of a second 16, between applying for the original entrance visa, moving into the apartment, applying for Olympic credentials (still in the works after more than a full month), and now the work permit. I may go get another set of pictures taken, just in case. Next Monday, I’ll go for my health check. From several of my coworkers who have already gone through it, it’s a pretty minimal sort of exam. I was disappointed to learn I will not have to make a trip to Hong Kong to apply for my permit. Maybe some other time. (And look, I got a bowl to put my fruit in.)And now some random thoughts, observations, and photos.
I’ve mentioned a few times about the different kinds of taxis you find in Beijing. On most mornings, there’s a whole line of them outside Seasons Park, making it easy to get one to go to the office. This picture was actually taken on a Sunday afternoon, but it’s the basic idea. The first one is a Hyundai, followed by a couple of Citroëns and I think a VW.I took the camera along with me to the grocery store, and snapped a few shots along the way.
Several things to note in this one… Clothes hanging to dry along the sidewalk are a pretty common sight. Apparently theft is not a problem. A little further along you can see what JW refers to as an Ewok: a small child bundled up so he or she waddles when walking and can’t put the arms down, moving rather like the small furry beings from Return of the Jedi. The shops along here consist of a beauty salon, a cheap little restaurant, and a vice shop (as I call the ubiquitous tobacco and alcohol stores).
Further along the same street is where I buy some of my groceries. April Gourmet carries many European and American goods, and everything is marked in English in addition to Chinese. It’s a little more expensive than the stores that don’t cater to expats, but at least I can get cheese and cereal there if I feel a hankering for something familiar. I’ve also bought meat at the butcher shop next door, and been quite satisfied, though I’ve heard some of their sausages are on the bland side.
On the way home, more laundry out to dry. Note the name on the building in the background. I’ll have to take another picture to provide a more dramatic contrast between the word “Mansion” in its name and the reality of its appearance. The building on the immediate right is empty and has been since I arrived in the neighborhood. No signs of impending construction – don’t know what’s up there.
At various locations all over Beijing you see public exercise equipment like this, which is inside the Seasons Park grounds. I see people using it fairly often. There’s also a proper gym indoors with treadmills, stationary bikes, and other modern machines. I’ve been going there three times a week, trying to keep myself from turning into a complete blob considering all the hours I spend sitting at a computer. I miss playing soccer, but this will have to do, along with all the walking around town. By the way, the building in the background is the one I live in.
Look, it’s a cat! I’ve seen this one around the grounds a few times now. I’m pretty sure it’s a stray, but it’s not starving.
Forgive the blurry nature of this one – it was taken from a moving taxi. This is along Dongzhimennei (Dongzhimen Inner) straight down my street towards downtown. I’m told this street is well-known for its restaurants among locals. Aside from the bank in the center of the picture, I think every single storefront here is a restaurant. Most of these places don’t cater much to foreigners, but I hope to visit some of them over the next couple years.
Another taxi shot. This is where Dongzhimen meets the Second Ring Road (which is actually down below the railing you can see). Just to the left of the middle is a building that tacks traditional Chinese style roofing on top of a modern building.
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