Memoirs of Beijing

It’s been quite some time since I’ve posted tips in living in Beijing.  One of the most important thing in living in China is navigating the city without looking dumb.  If you’ve been to Hong Kong, you’d probably notice their infamous Octopus card. 

In Beijing, the Octopus card counterpart is called the Yi Ka Tong.  This card can be bought at the nearest subway station.  Not all ticket booth in the station have this card.  They might direct you to a different ticket booth to purchase this.

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Which type of people usually look for an apartment? There’s the newbie who just arrived in Beijing for their newest adventure, the oldie who’s lease just expired, the businessman who’s sick and tired of staying in an apartment. In any case, finding an apartment in China needs your haggling and language skills. Also, a Chinese friend would be the best to do the translation for you.

Here are some tips that may help you in your apartment hunting:

• If the ad says “near the subway”, never believe it till you’ve seen it.
• Most apartments are now equipped with western toilets.
• If you don’t like cleaning your apartment, go for service apartments such as Oakwood, Palm Springs, HQ Ritz, etc. However, be prepared to pay for a higher than usual price.
• Decide which district do you want to live and your budget.
• Best place to live in would be walking distance to the subway or bus stops. The price on these places are usually higher.     Read the rest of this entry »
  

Going crazy with a language you can’t understand?  Don’t know where to find a book that makes sense?  When prices are going up, freebies are hard to come by.  But, for expats in Beijing, you get to know the latest happenings in art, cinema, music, shopping, sports and more through the magazines you can get from your favourite expat restaurants in town.

Here’s a list of English magazines you can bag and maybe pile at home and sell it once you’re done with it.

1.  thebeijinger - this monthly magazine used to be called That’s Beijing.  However, this year the management decided not to renew the contracts of their foreign writers and those writers banded together armed with their contacts to create this new magazine.  I prefer this one than the new team who’s currently writing That’s Beijing.  They got a mean directory of restaurants and other services.  They even sometimes include a map insert of different areas which expat usually go to.  They have several more magazines which they write but I’m not really sure how often do they come out such as Urbane and Beijing Kids.

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In Beijing alone, statistics said that there are more than 1,000 cars added each day.  That’s why if they stop implementing the odd-even scheme after September 20, I’m pretty sure the city will be back in a gridlock.  In any case, you will get the chance to admire expensive cars more on the road.  I mean, Audi’s are a dime and a dozen here.  You may think of them as your common Toyota or Honda.  Visit any high-class international apartments and you’ll see a Jaguar, Rolls Royce, Ferrari and Maybachs parked side by side.

On my way home the other night, I was impressed by one of the cars parked in front of the Pizza Hut restaurant near my home.  Someone was checking out a spanking Silver Jubilee colored Rolls Royce Drophead Coupe.  I may not be a car expert but I know the big names in the industry.  This particular car is a convertible.  At that time, the guy was playing around with the drophead feature of the car.

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I slept late last night knowing that I can wake up late this morning. However, around 6am I was awaken by a loud blast similar to cannons. I thought we were in a war or something with the matching lights outside my window. Then, I heard the rain falling and I guess it’s just a thundershower which is common in Beijing. I went back to sleep after a few minutes of tuning the thunder out and woke up around 1030am to my alarm.

I was planning to go to worship but was still groggy and by the time I got ready and left my place, the service is almost over. Instead of heading on to 21st Century, I got off the next bus stop and went to my next destination, Tesco Supermarket.

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When I wrote my blog regarding 10 things I hate about China, it was spring.  At that time, the weather is still cool that there’s no need for air-conditioning.  Now that it’s the peak of summer, air-conditioning is a relief to the scorching heat of the sun.  However, in China, most of them seem scared of the cold.

A couple of days ago, I was lucky enough to ride an air-condition bus home.  It was hot and humid and I badly need something cool.  When I entered the bus, it felt heavenly.  However, when I sat down behind a Chinese guy, he suddenly yanked open the window so wide and let the humid air in.  I was so annoyed so I tap his shoulder and asked him to close the window.  He replied in Chinese, “I moved to this seat because I want to open the window.  I’m scared of the cold!”  I was fuming inside and was contemplating banging him in the head and say “This is an airconditioned bus!  If you hate the cold, you shouldn’t ride this bus!”  I didn’t do it but I almost did.  Maybe next time I will.

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To accommodate the needs of people with disabilities during the Olympic and Paralympic Games, the Chinese government recently introduced taxis which are wheelchair accessible.  These taxis, they say are similar to London taxi cabs.  However, the colors are either navy blue and yellow or white and yellow.

I happen to see one last weekend and they are cute!  They look like the cars in the 60s which looks new and shiny.  These taxis are made by the local car manufacturer, Geely.

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Three new Beijing subway lines are set to open this weekend in time for the Olympics. These lines have long been awaited by the public as they were supposed to open last month.

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