June 15, 2007

The day before yesterday we decided to hop on the subway (which I had learned how to do the previous day on my quest for $2500/ RMB 19,500 in cash – had to travel to the fancy bank district of Beijing) and venture into the heart of the city. We got off the subway at Tiananmen West station, and climbed the stairs up into the massive square and imposing buildings of the center of the Chinese capital.

Walking through the square, we were regularly accosted by people wanting to sell us nifty souvenirs: Beijing Olympics caps, enormous kites in the form of Beijing opera masks, postcards, guidebooks, etc. We asked one persistant salesman what it would cost for an enormous kite, and he told us 240 kuai. Eric said “One hundred kuai” and some light bargaining ensued: 220? No, 100. 200? 105…and so on. Meanwhile, the girls and I agreed that we didn’t want this particular style of kite anyway ‘cause we thought it was ugly, so Eric said “no, forget it, we’re not interested.” As we continued to walk across the square, our salesman followed, dropping his price at every step. By the time we finally shook him off, we could have had the enormous kite for 50 RMB. He probably would have come down further still. One positive outcome: the girls learned how to say, "we don't want it, thank you!" Also, it provided us with a good lesson in how inexpensive things in China really are.

Speaking of which, yesterday we did some more house set-up. These days nearly everyone seems to have one of those water coolers with a giant water jug upended on the top. It seems that progress in other areas has not yet extended to improving the country’s sewer system to a point that will support potable water. We went to our local superstore, a Chinese version of Target called Lotus, and looked over the options for one for our home. We picked up a small version that now stands in the corner of our kitchen, dispensing hot water from one spigot and cold from the other. The total cost of the machine was 95 RMB, or about $12.00. We have water bottles delivered to the house for about $1.50 per bottle. Again we are struck: this is not Japan. Though interestingly, our standard of living here is much higher than that we were able to have in Japan, especially in terms of our housing.

But back to Tiananmen. In fact, having walked around the square, there’s not a lot to do there beyond gawking at the enormous scale of the whole scene. So we took ourselves off to the northeast of the square and walked back in the general direction of the Forbidden City. By this time, the girls were beginning to feel tired and hungry, so we decided to find a place to eat. We wandered into a beautiful little park that followed a waterway (perhaps a kind of moat around the Forbidden City?) and then turned into an alleyway hoping to stumble upon a place to eat. This area has clearly been spruced up and fancified in anticipation of a bevy of important (and less important) international visitors next summer, and we found ourselves bumbling around in the very clean and neat back alley behind what turned out to be a highly exclusive restaurant. I asked a gentleman who arrived on his motorbike at that moment where we were, as we seemed to have gotten lost. He was exceptionally warm and friendly, despite the fact that we had wandered into a place where we shouldn’t have been, and he himself it turns out was something of a bigwig.

I told him we were looking for a place to eat, and could he point us in the right direction. He asked how much we wanted to spend…30 RMB/person? 40? 50?…He told me the restaurant behind which we were presently standing was more like 500 RMB/person. I said 30, and he explained with apparent joy how to find a restaurant he thought would be suitable. Go find Hou Jia, he said, and ask for Xu Feng Feng. Tell him Zhang Laoshi sent you – that you’re friends of Zhang Laoshi. We followed his directions carefully, and about a ten minute walk later we were stepping into a charming, hip restaurant run by a lovely young guy from Xinjiang province named Xu Feng. I gave him my line, and he sat us down. After some conversation about what we wanted to eat, we agreed that it would be best for him to select foods for us himself. He explained that after we walked in, he had phoned Zhang Laoshi, who had directed him to set us up. We had a perfectly wonderful meal that all four of us enjoyed immensely. When the check came, low and behold it cost us exactly 30 RMB per person. The prices of the individual dishes had been altered (in our favor) to make the math work out.

We anticipate returning to Xu Feng’s place whenever possible. When I told him so, and that we’d like to bring our Finnish friends, he immediately gave me his cell phone number.



People are very free with their friendship and contact information. Xu Feng not only gave me his own, but also that of Zhang Laoshi whom he said is an expert on up and coming art in Beijing. We have frequently asked random people for help with things they really had nothing to do with and always been met with unhesitating, and generally effective help or advice. I am stunned by the change in Customer Service ethic, and general service and help for non-customers, more than any of the surface changes that are so visible all over Beijing. China has always been an easy-going culture of friendly people (to a point anyway – true “insider” ness is probably still hard to come by) but I sense an awareness of the link between customer service and prosperity that might be potent in the world economy. Nevertheless, it doesn't usually feel mercenary to us; people want upward mobility, but their friendliness and generous helpfulness is quite sincere.

After we left the lovely restaurant (with a bag containing half our meal as leftovers; I suspect the doggy bag may actually be a Chinese invention) we walked back down the street in a neighborhood that combines traditional Chinese buildings, big green trees, and a bunch of art galleries and art/craft shops. We were tempted by many many things, but are valiantly resisting the desire to buy the first thing we like until we’ve learned more about the options, prices, comparative quality, &c.We were intrigued to note that there are actually little art galleries now inside the Forbidden City, where lots of work is being done to spruce up the historic buildings. One of those galleries is visible in this picture behind Emma and Amanda


On the topic of food, we have been delighted to discover that basically just downstairs from our apartment there is a hole in the wall shop that makes baozi and jiaozi and noodle dishes of all kinds, wonton soup and shumai. These are Northern variations on the dimsum foods that we all love, and we have enjoyed meals there on more than one occasion. The first day we awoke in our new apartment, we were all up and hungry by about 5am. We ventured downstairs at 6am, arriving before most of the shop owners (in fact, in one tiny hole in the wall space that looks to us like it should be one shop, there are four businesses: the jiaozi lady, the bread couple, the fruit and vegetable seller, and a seamstress). We seized the opportunity to observe baozi and jiaozi in the making, and stood watching for about 30 minutes until food was ready enough to eat. Our hosts took this in stride….it is difficult to phase or disturb people around here.


On the international front, we have met a French family (from Lille, no less) who live in the neighboring apartment complex, a gigantic spread called Hua Qing Jia Yuan that consists of twenty 15 storey apartment buildings with small shops scattered along the ground floor and parks between the buildings. The girls met their soon-to-be 6 year old daughter Adèle on the playground of one of those parks, and Christophe and Anne-Claire have turned out to be a valuable resource in many ways. Adèle’s brother Paul would be in the same year of school as Emma if they were in the same school system. It has become a tradition for Emma and Amanda and Eric to head over to the park at 5pm when Adèle gets out of (Chinese) school so they can all play together. Anne-Claire has been taking Chinese lessons with a private tutor for $6.50 per hour all year, and we have hired her teacher to teach the girls Chinese for one hour per day, five days a week starting next week. We hope this will be fun and productive!