New pad
Just moved in to a new apartment on Thursday. I used to live outside the city center to be close to work, winter not being the best of times for commuting. Now however, the spring is approaching and it seemed like a good time to move.
About the apartment then, it is roughly 140-150 sqm spread over 2 floor. Basically, I am renting the upper floor which has a big bedroom, living room, bathroom and a terrasse. It's on the 6th and 7th floor of a calm compound and shielded from the noice on the streets, which is somewhat of a blessing here in China. I'll post some pics when I have gotten things in order. The best part of it is probably the 3m ceiling in the living room. It feel very open, although I don't really want to think about how the heating will be in the winter... The terrasse is very nice too, facing south and pretty shielded from wind. I am already planning for some barbeques in the summer, should be perfect as soon as I get a fridge installed upstairs. It would be too far to get the beer otherwise. :)
You can look up "Jiaodaokou, Beijing" in google maps to find out the location. It's a large compound with 6 or 11 story buildings. Just outside is the old beijing with single-story houses and small courtyards with shops and restaurants. It's roughly 15min walk to a lake with many bars (houhai) and 5 min cab ride to Sanlitun where all the restaurants and nightlife are.
The flatmates seem very friendly, although we've only met 2-3 times. Looking forward knowing them better.
I had looked at several places before this and the process is very frustrating. I told you about people not able to keep time already. Another annoying aspect is unsincere brokers. They put fake pictures on the ad just to lure you into looking at the apartment, and then try to convince you that that's ok or they will fix it later. I understand that it is a competitive market out there, but how do they expect to be trusted by anyone when they behave like that.
On a final note, I also managed to find a new guy to rent my old room. He had only been in Beijing for 2 days and was still living in a hostel. He seemed very happy about the apartment, suiting his needs very well. My flatmate told me that there are many students starting classes in the end of march so there will be no problem renting it to someone. Both were true.
Your voice from Beijing, now with a new flat. :)
/Y
About the apartment then, it is roughly 140-150 sqm spread over 2 floor. Basically, I am renting the upper floor which has a big bedroom, living room, bathroom and a terrasse. It's on the 6th and 7th floor of a calm compound and shielded from the noice on the streets, which is somewhat of a blessing here in China. I'll post some pics when I have gotten things in order. The best part of it is probably the 3m ceiling in the living room. It feel very open, although I don't really want to think about how the heating will be in the winter... The terrasse is very nice too, facing south and pretty shielded from wind. I am already planning for some barbeques in the summer, should be perfect as soon as I get a fridge installed upstairs. It would be too far to get the beer otherwise. :)
You can look up "Jiaodaokou, Beijing" in google maps to find out the location. It's a large compound with 6 or 11 story buildings. Just outside is the old beijing with single-story houses and small courtyards with shops and restaurants. It's roughly 15min walk to a lake with many bars (houhai) and 5 min cab ride to Sanlitun where all the restaurants and nightlife are.
The flatmates seem very friendly, although we've only met 2-3 times. Looking forward knowing them better.
I had looked at several places before this and the process is very frustrating. I told you about people not able to keep time already. Another annoying aspect is unsincere brokers. They put fake pictures on the ad just to lure you into looking at the apartment, and then try to convince you that that's ok or they will fix it later. I understand that it is a competitive market out there, but how do they expect to be trusted by anyone when they behave like that.
On a final note, I also managed to find a new guy to rent my old room. He had only been in Beijing for 2 days and was still living in a hostel. He seemed very happy about the apartment, suiting his needs very well. My flatmate told me that there are many students starting classes in the end of march so there will be no problem renting it to someone. Both were true.
Your voice from Beijing, now with a new flat. :)
/Y
Apartment in Beijing 2
I've gotten tired of looking at apartments in Beijing and most of all I've gotten tired of people who can't keep an appointment.
I grew up with the Swedish way customs of being on time where you should never come early and being late up to 5 min late is ok. While here in China, you just have to shake your head and laugh sometimes. The latest incident left me not knowing whether to become upset or laugh out loud. Here is the story.
A few days ago, I was looking at apartments after work. After having seen 2, the agent told me there would be a third one if I could only wait until 8 pm. By then, it was 7.30 and I was thinking of leaving but since I had already gotten to the area, I might as well see it. The agent call up the lady and she was only 20 min away. Well I thought, and decided to stay around.
Around 8 pm, still no landlady and the agent calls up again. Now, she's only 5 min away and since I had already waited for 30 min, I might as well wait 5 more.
10 min passes and the agent calls up again. This time, she is very close and would arrive in 1-2 minutes. By this time, I was already a bit edgy but there was no point getting upset at the agent so I could only think of something else but my numbing legs in the winter evening.
By around 8.20, the landlady come up to us and complains to the agent about the agent not being able to make appointments and dragging her out in the evening without enough heads-up. I asked myself why she didn't simply decline if she didn't want to come out instead of getting angry but I kept it to myself.
We go up the elevator and up to the apartment. The hallway is clean and the view is very nice, maybe it wasn't a waste of time after all, I thought. Until she calls on the door and nobody answers. She picks up the phone to call the tenants and it turned out the tenants were out and she didn't have a key. This is the kind of thing you would normally want to check up before making an appointment I assume, especially if you intend to lecture someone about how to make appointments. But again, I kept that to myself just in case I wanted to have a shot at the apartment.
When I called back today, it turned out that the tenents were going to extend the contract. So all of us went out there in a cold Beijing evening for nothing.
So much for communication in China.
Your watchful eyes in Beijing.
/Y
I grew up with the Swedish way customs of being on time where you should never come early and being late up to 5 min late is ok. While here in China, you just have to shake your head and laugh sometimes. The latest incident left me not knowing whether to become upset or laugh out loud. Here is the story.
A few days ago, I was looking at apartments after work. After having seen 2, the agent told me there would be a third one if I could only wait until 8 pm. By then, it was 7.30 and I was thinking of leaving but since I had already gotten to the area, I might as well see it. The agent call up the lady and she was only 20 min away. Well I thought, and decided to stay around.
Around 8 pm, still no landlady and the agent calls up again. Now, she's only 5 min away and since I had already waited for 30 min, I might as well wait 5 more.
10 min passes and the agent calls up again. This time, she is very close and would arrive in 1-2 minutes. By this time, I was already a bit edgy but there was no point getting upset at the agent so I could only think of something else but my numbing legs in the winter evening.
By around 8.20, the landlady come up to us and complains to the agent about the agent not being able to make appointments and dragging her out in the evening without enough heads-up. I asked myself why she didn't simply decline if she didn't want to come out instead of getting angry but I kept it to myself.
We go up the elevator and up to the apartment. The hallway is clean and the view is very nice, maybe it wasn't a waste of time after all, I thought. Until she calls on the door and nobody answers. She picks up the phone to call the tenants and it turned out the tenants were out and she didn't have a key. This is the kind of thing you would normally want to check up before making an appointment I assume, especially if you intend to lecture someone about how to make appointments. But again, I kept that to myself just in case I wanted to have a shot at the apartment.
When I called back today, it turned out that the tenents were going to extend the contract. So all of us went out there in a cold Beijing evening for nothing.
So much for communication in China.
Your watchful eyes in Beijing.
/Y
A belated posting
This is something I wrote while in Shanghai but never posted due to the internet blockade. Here it comes with minimum edition.
About children and competition
It's been a while since I last wrote and I do have to apologize. This week will hopefully give to additional insight into the lives of Chinese people by illuminating an area that is important no matter where you are. (see my earlier blog at yunfengli.blogspot.com)
Children take up a lot of the political debate in all countries, mostly because the voting power of the demographic segment "Parents" is so large. Here in China, the reason that the topic is so much discussed at the dinner table owes more to the one child policy that was introduced almost 30 years ago. Now days, it is not as strictly enforced but families usually can't afford more than one child anyway.
The competition is fierce among parents for their child to get into the best schools or sometimes even pre-schools. This has driven up the cost of raising children, not even considering all the extra-curiccular activities that is expected. One interesting phenomenon is house prices is higher in areas with good schools, thanks to rules that only allow children living in close proximity of the schools to attend to them. Thus far, all is according to market forces and all is well.
What is interesting is the psychology behind it all. One common phrase among Chinese parents is "Don't let the kid lose at the starting line". Meaning that it is the parents responsibility to prepare their son or daughter for the lifelong race that they are going to face. This has created a huge market catering to the needs of faint-hearted parents trying their best to put their kid ahead.
Most democratic countries and Sweden in particular would stress the equality for all children and sometimes even for adults. People should rather be sheltered from the harsh reality forever and never need to take consequences for their faulty decision. Somehow, this will lead to a friendlier society but is it really how it works? Is Europe or America really as free and equal as we imagine it to be? We'll just have to accept that these should are be measured in relative terms and different societies need to exist to uphold the scale.
We can attribute part of the difference to much fiercer competition for the Chinese but the simple fact of matter is that parents are no different from each other. I don't believe that Chinese parents love their children more and Swedish ones rather care for other people children and make sure they get a good education. The major difference is that Chinese parents have accepted the status quo while the moral fiber of liberal democratic societies prohibit Swedish ones from doing the same. This has lead to the distinctly different actions taken by both parties.
Both are living under social tabus, one afraid of not caring enough for their children and one of being too selfish. So which way is right for the modern society? I don't know. There probably is no right answer or perhaps both are right. What we need to do is to acknowledge and accept both views. For me, I just know that I should stay away from it all in the foreseeable future.
Your voice, now from Beijing, until next time.
/Y
About children and competition
It's been a while since I last wrote and I do have to apologize. This week will hopefully give to additional insight into the lives of Chinese people by illuminating an area that is important no matter where you are. (see my earlier blog at yunfengli.blogspot.com)
Children take up a lot of the political debate in all countries, mostly because the voting power of the demographic segment "Parents" is so large. Here in China, the reason that the topic is so much discussed at the dinner table owes more to the one child policy that was introduced almost 30 years ago. Now days, it is not as strictly enforced but families usually can't afford more than one child anyway.
The competition is fierce among parents for their child to get into the best schools or sometimes even pre-schools. This has driven up the cost of raising children, not even considering all the extra-curiccular activities that is expected. One interesting phenomenon is house prices is higher in areas with good schools, thanks to rules that only allow children living in close proximity of the schools to attend to them. Thus far, all is according to market forces and all is well.
What is interesting is the psychology behind it all. One common phrase among Chinese parents is "Don't let the kid lose at the starting line". Meaning that it is the parents responsibility to prepare their son or daughter for the lifelong race that they are going to face. This has created a huge market catering to the needs of faint-hearted parents trying their best to put their kid ahead.
Most democratic countries and Sweden in particular would stress the equality for all children and sometimes even for adults. People should rather be sheltered from the harsh reality forever and never need to take consequences for their faulty decision. Somehow, this will lead to a friendlier society but is it really how it works? Is Europe or America really as free and equal as we imagine it to be? We'll just have to accept that these should are be measured in relative terms and different societies need to exist to uphold the scale.
We can attribute part of the difference to much fiercer competition for the Chinese but the simple fact of matter is that parents are no different from each other. I don't believe that Chinese parents love their children more and Swedish ones rather care for other people children and make sure they get a good education. The major difference is that Chinese parents have accepted the status quo while the moral fiber of liberal democratic societies prohibit Swedish ones from doing the same. This has lead to the distinctly different actions taken by both parties.
Both are living under social tabus, one afraid of not caring enough for their children and one of being too selfish. So which way is right for the modern society? I don't know. There probably is no right answer or perhaps both are right. What we need to do is to acknowledge and accept both views. For me, I just know that I should stay away from it all in the foreseeable future.
Your voice, now from Beijing, until next time.
/Y
Apartment in Beijing
I've looked at many apartments around Beijing last weeks in search of something to rent. I currently live half hour away in a quite lively neighborhood but not so cozy area. The idea is to move to a more central location closer to the old allies and bars and restaurants down town.
For those of you not familiar with Beijing, Sanlitun on the east side of town is where expats come out to play at night. Houhai is a famous bar area north west of city center popular among tourists as well as many native Beijinese. I've mostly looked at apartments between these two locations that also have good communications so that my commute doesn't have to be more than 2 hours per day. Dongzhimen, in the north-east corner of the city center if a popular place and very convenient from all perspectives. The only bad thing is a lack of soul and anonymity that too "well developed" neighborhoods sometimes can suffer from. The other option was a place much a few kilometers north-east of the forbidden city. People stroll by looking casually in the shops and a generally jovial atmosphere seems to loom over this place. The shops and restaurants are smaller and people also seem happier.
Jiaodaokou, a few kilometers north-east of forbidden city. Calm streets on a Saturday afternoon.
I'll keep looking for something suitable and keep you updated. In the meanwhile, keep your fingers crossed.
Your voice and eyes in BJ.
/Y
For those of you not familiar with Beijing, Sanlitun on the east side of town is where expats come out to play at night. Houhai is a famous bar area north west of city center popular among tourists as well as many native Beijinese. I've mostly looked at apartments between these two locations that also have good communications so that my commute doesn't have to be more than 2 hours per day. Dongzhimen, in the north-east corner of the city center if a popular place and very convenient from all perspectives. The only bad thing is a lack of soul and anonymity that too "well developed" neighborhoods sometimes can suffer from. The other option was a place much a few kilometers north-east of the forbidden city. People stroll by looking casually in the shops and a generally jovial atmosphere seems to loom over this place. The shops and restaurants are smaller and people also seem happier.
Jiaodaokou, a few kilometers north-east of forbidden city. Calm streets on a Saturday afternoon.
I'll keep looking for something suitable and keep you updated. In the meanwhile, keep your fingers crossed.
Your voice and eyes in BJ.
/Y
It's time...
... to revive my blog here in China.
I've been in China for about 8 months now, first in Shanghai and now in Beijing since 2 months back. This blog will be about the everyday events and insights into Chinese life and culture that I encounter. The topic can be about anything so I hope you'll find this interesting enough to read on.
Friday was after work with a group of Swedish people. My friend dragged me along and it was fun catching up after the Chinese new year. Did find a few interesting people to talk with but the night ended rather early due to my persistent lack of sleep. Quite a few Qingdaos didn't help keeping me awake either. A recurring topic of ours is North Korea, not just the usual talks about crazy dictators and poor people, but actually about how to travel there and see the place with a minimum of interference. It is possible to get visa to North Korea but you need to go with a tour group and the routes are highly restricted and regulated. Of course we prefer to see the actual conditions and not just whatever Kim Jong Il happened to fancy that week. One way is supposedly to go to the Chinese-Korean border and go with a tour from there. These are appearently less strict and you go for just a weekend if time is of concern. It's not a problem for Chinese people to go on these tours since they blend very well. The problem is that my friend is not Chinese and may therefore draw unwanted attention to our presence. Will check it out and let you know what we'll do.
That's it for today. Will keep you up to date with things daily if possible.
Your voice from Beijing.
/Y
I've been in China for about 8 months now, first in Shanghai and now in Beijing since 2 months back. This blog will be about the everyday events and insights into Chinese life and culture that I encounter. The topic can be about anything so I hope you'll find this interesting enough to read on.
Friday was after work with a group of Swedish people. My friend dragged me along and it was fun catching up after the Chinese new year. Did find a few interesting people to talk with but the night ended rather early due to my persistent lack of sleep. Quite a few Qingdaos didn't help keeping me awake either. A recurring topic of ours is North Korea, not just the usual talks about crazy dictators and poor people, but actually about how to travel there and see the place with a minimum of interference. It is possible to get visa to North Korea but you need to go with a tour group and the routes are highly restricted and regulated. Of course we prefer to see the actual conditions and not just whatever Kim Jong Il happened to fancy that week. One way is supposedly to go to the Chinese-Korean border and go with a tour from there. These are appearently less strict and you go for just a weekend if time is of concern. It's not a problem for Chinese people to go on these tours since they blend very well. The problem is that my friend is not Chinese and may therefore draw unwanted attention to our presence. Will check it out and let you know what we'll do.
That's it for today. Will keep you up to date with things daily if possible.
Your voice from Beijing.
/Y
