Beijing...To begin with

Many of you have been asking about our life in Beijing and what it’s like. As with other places in the world, Beijing has its positives and negatives. Note: please bear in mind the following is Beijing according to me who has only been here for 3 months.

First the bad.

No. 1: Beijing's rather infamous smoggy environment. When Tom and I first came to land at Beijing's Capital Airport we could not see the city until we were about 200 metres (well that’s what it felt like) from the ground. What I initially thought to be thick clouds, I soon discovered to be an almost impenetrable layer of smog aka pollution. When we got out of the airport that morning of 1st March, I looked up to the sky and almost choked. For a second I couldn’t breathe. Immediate thought: Shock. I truly have taken blue skies for granted and I missed them terribly. This is all despite prior warnings from husband. Sad Fact 1: Beijing has a target quota ‘blue sky days’ per year - think its 238. We rejoice when we wake up to a blue sky day. Sad Fact 2: Beijingers have started to see stars at night only recently. Sad Fact 3: The smoggy air is filled with pollution from nearby factories, construction sites and car fumes (an apparent source of lead poisoning because of the number of cars on the road - did you know that people here buy a total of 1,000 cars per day?!). Note: Next time you see pics of Beijingers with surgical masks on it really is NOT funny. Positive Fact 1: The most infectious disease is apparently the common cold - hurray! Those SARS days are thankfully gone. [Pic above: This is what we woke up to today - a non-blue sky day of course.] Blue sky days are beautiful...and look at that sunset...

No. 2: Extreme temperatures. It gets incredibly freezing cold in the winter (I have yet to experience this btw) and oven temperatures (this began two days ago) in the summer. Apparently winter sees drops in temperatures to below - 15° Celsius whilst in the summer we enjoy temperatures up to 40° Celsius. And by the way throughout these times it’s dry, sometimes windy (bitter cold wind in the winter) though better in the summer I suppose. Sad Fact 4: Because of freezing temps, Beijing is cloaked with one colour in winter - dirty claylike gray. Sad Fact 5: Body lotion is essential unless you can live with scaly, dry and itchy skin. Positive Fact 2: This year they recorded the highest temps in Jan & Feb (normally the coldest months) of up to 16° Celsius. Very good news for husband who is more accustomed to Sabah weather. Positive Fact 3: Spring, and am told, particularly Autumn is wonderful weather and is best time to visit. [Pic: Winter scene from apartment window and of Tom enjoying his first snow]

Warm Summer days means swimming, playing in the park, strolling around a garden

No. 3: Construction seems never ending. The city is physically developing fast. When we first chose the apartment in December, James warned that there was still on-going construction. Why am I not surprised that the on-going is still on-going? Sad Fact 6: There are construction sites every 200 or so metres. Which brings us to Positive Fact 4: Tom finds it fun to count number of cranes seen. In the words of my son, wow! Positive Fact 5: In anticipation of providing blue sky days during Olympic, we’ve heard that all construction will stop on 1st Jan 2008.

No. 4: Spitting is common. Sad Fact 7: My son thinks it’s funny and will attempt to imitate when I am not looking.

No. 5: Putonghua (modern standard mandarin to you and me) is not easy. My first attempts at the language drew not only curious questions (Where are you from? You look like Chinese, why you don’t speak Chinese?) but also in most cases laughter and shaking of heads. The language first sounded like sounds with lots of ‘r’ - I found out that it‘s very Beijing to have an ‘r’ to end words. I am now happy to say that despite very little training I can decipher words and can offer a word/phrase or two in return. Positive Fact 6: All the phrasebooks I’ve bought helps. Sad Fact 8: I have to bring them everywhere just in case.

No. 6: Crazy and almost lawless driving. Here it is all about tolerance. Taxi drivers are highly skilled in overtaking, driving within inches of the car in front and being able to quickly divert path to avoid collision with other cars, buses, horse carts, cyclists or pedestrians. Sad Fact 9: Sometimes when you least expect it they will give you your change back with false money. My experience: received ¥ 50 once. Positive Fact 7: Lady taxi drivers are better at not speeding and are also friendlier than their male counterparts. Positive Fact 8: At the speed in which everyone is driving you get to your destination fast.

Funny story in relation to taxi drivers and their ‘clean-up’ for the Olympic [From Scotland’s Sunday Herald (on-line)]: This week, a 12-item evaluation chart was published for taxi drivers: Male drivers must cut their hair short and female drivers should avoid dangly earrings or "odd" bright red or blonde hair. And there's to be no more spitting, littering or overcharging.

"Taxi drivers are a window through which the foreigners will see Beijing, and we need to further regulate their services," announced Liu Xiaoming, vice-director of the Beijing Transport Commission. Sporting a neatly cropped bowl haircut, crisp white shirt and ill-fitting dark suit, Liu sweated slightly under the media spotlight.
Body odour and a post-meal "garlic smell" inside cabs were persistent issues in written complaints from foreign officials and executives said his colleague, Liu Tongliang. "On top of that, many drivers love to smoke," said Liu Tongliang. "Some sensitive female passengers smell it, then refuse to get in the car."

So sensitive are the Lius about making the right impression upon the estimated 550,000 overseas Olympic visitors next year that the bureau is dispatching "undercover passengers" to sniff out the city's 277 cab firms. Rankings will be published, with the biggest stinker of all shut down.

Okay, now for the positive.

No. 1: People are friendly and helpful. However it is still all about face. Therefore, we try to avoid confrontations. One bad experience: we were on a narrow path outside the apartment, on our way out for dinner. We let Tom walk which of course takes slightly longer. Old man and his wife comes along. Old man pushes past James with a shoulder tackle. James let out a ‘humph’ sigh. Old man is furious and starts shouting. Tell me who’s fault was it in the first place? Sorry is hard to come by here. Positive Fact 9: You will get the gist of the language fast as even if you say ‘wor boo ming bai’ (I don’t understand) they keep talking anyway.

No. 2: Food is good here. Positive Fact 10: Beijing has plenty of expat thus the variety of food choice and restaurants to choose from. Chinese food varies from Shanghai, Sichuan, Xinjiang, and Yunnan. What’s famous in Beijing? Peking duck of course. Best restaurant to sample them is Da Dong Roast Duck. Yummy. Sad Fact 10: Because Beijing is massive and the fact that we live in the north of the city, restaurants are quite far to get to! I have no idea of distances so I calculate base on taxi fare from our apartment. ¥ 50 is quite far. Positive Fact 11: There are plenty for us to dine at. Note: We have not found a good Italian (I miss Little Italy), Japanese, Korean or even a good steak yet.

No. 3: Satellite TV can be obtained illegally and you pay nothing for subscription. Sad Fact 11: Most people have their satellite dish pinned to their building’s wall. Ours is free standing in our bedroom. We have since gotten over the sight of that ‘thing’. Sad Fact 12: Because I messed up our 1st installation settings, we now only have 12 channels therefore no StarWorld, AXN, Discovery Channel, HBO, Cinemax etc. Sad fact 13: We have asked supplier to change back to original setting. It has been two months and no sign of them yet. Positive Fact 11: We have ESPN and Star Sports (but with lots of basketball, NFL and baseball - James has not seen a live football or golf match since January), Hallmark, etc and National Geographic.
[pic - Notice the dish?]

No. 4: You can find loads of bargains here. Positive Fact 12: Clothes, bags, accessories, electrical appliances, shoes - anything for that matter - can all be very, very cheap. All depends where you shop of course as the likes of Prada etc. can be found in Beijing. Sad Fact 14: You have to bargain for deals. Be prepared for shouting, rude sales assistants who may also pull you and sit you down until you buy the product. This of course only happens in the famous markets here i.e. YaShio, Silk Market (have yet to discover its bargains), Jiayi and Sunny Golden Market though think there is more of these markets in town. Note: Bargain goods are all fake even if they tell you it's grade A product, don’t believe them.

No. 5: DVDs are plenty. Positive Fact 13: They can be bought very cheaply at ¥ 10 per disc. That’s 66p to you in the UK and RM4.47 to you in KK. Positive Fact 14: The quality is superb and they offer dvd5 or dvd9 or was that dvd12 - can’t remember. Sad Fact 15: They are all pirated. Positive Fact 15: We live very close to the best place to get them. Positive Fact 16: They stock up-to-date stuff.

No. 6: Broadband is cheap therefore one can be online all the time.

No. 7: History and culture is rich here. Positive Fact 17: Main attractions (Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, Ming Tombs, Great Wall, Summer Palace) are close to where we live. And there is a long list of places near enough to explore on day excursions.

No. 8: Olympic Village is close to Wangjing (where we live). Positive Fact 18: The main Olympic stadium is about 10mins taxi ride from our apartment. Anyone intending to visit us during that time please book earlier. Room, sofa, floor available on first come first serve basis.

This is all I can manage at this time - otherwise this post will not be published. Will update you as I discover more of Beijing. In the meantime, I will summarise Beijing as follows: An interesting city. Colourful in many aspects and though the pollution casts a gloomy spell, Beijing is very liveable and I at least am beginning to like it very much.