About this blog and closure with China

It is almost five years since we have left Beijing.

Here in Thailand, where we live now, sometimes, I come across people who also have lived in Beijing. Then we have our subject: "How did you like Beijing?", "When have you been there?", "Where did you stay, and how long?".

And we compare life here in Bangkok with life there in Beijing. And we speak of Beijing in high tones. How we liked riding our bicycles around town. That we all studied Mandarin. And how interesting life in China was. Then we laugh about some funny episodes. How fast everything developed towards the Olympics. And how much more Beijing is developed versus Bangkok. And that they do have a city planning!

But at the end, we all say, how sad it is, that China is polluting its country and putting its own people at risk. So badly, lately. Air, soil, water, food, all polluted. It is getting worse and worse.

Just yesterday, I met a lovely couple. She is working for an EU organisation, he is a journalist writing for Time Magazine among other. They just have moved from Beijing to Bangkok. They have moved away from China for the same reason some of my other friends have left the country.

Air pollution is always reason number 1. Before food scandals, heavy traffic and Internet issues.

Last week, another friend left China after 13 years of successful and happy life in the Middle Kingdom. You can read his "Bye Bye China" at Shanghaied Weblog. He and his wife searched the globe for a new home and decided for Vancouver, Canada. Their kids will grow up in a much more healthy environment and experience nature. (Read also Marc's opinion on CNN.com)

So, what has this all to do with my blog?!

I loved living in Beijing. And that is why I was writing about living in Beijing. And I wanted to keep the blog going. But maybe I need a closure with China?

After having left China, writing fresh posts about Beijing related subjects became more and more difficult for me. Sometimes, lovely PR people sent me press material about cultural events and upcoming exhibitions in cool galleries. But, I don't feel motivated anymore posting news that I cannot experience in person.

I am not going to close or delete this blog. There are visitors on Beijing Notebook every day. And yes, readers still can get valued information from my well researched articles. Most posts are valid for ever.

I even think to finally write some more posts about the TCM lessons I took with the "guru". It is a pity to leave his wise words unnoticed in my tiny handwritten notebook. His knowledge should be on Beijing Notebook, at least as much as I have learnt from him.

Dear readers and subscribers, please keep subscribed and come back. This blog will be updated again and stay open for interested readers and comments always.

A Rap Song for Beijing

Jason Chu, a hip-hop artist from the US, had been living in Beijing for the last two years. He had been working, learning, and taking in the language and culture. Now, Jason is returning home and his latest rap song is a farewell letter to Beijing.

I am glad he sent me an email to share his video, saying the following:

"... As many expats know, leaving this country brings with it a mixture of emotions - everything from relief to a bittersweet sense of loss. As I reflect on this departure, I’ve been writing songs that talk about life here: both “the expat experience” and the local lives that I’ve come into contact with

This past weekend, I filmed and uploaded a music video for a song called City of the North, a letter to this city in all its difficulty, challenge, and unexpected beauty. It showcases the faces and lives that intersect in this explosion of culture: the students, migrant workers, expats, laobaixing, and more.

The song is the first track off the EP Goodbye, Beijing. that will be releasing on 4/21 at grandmaster.bandcamp.com. There will also be a release party/music video screening/farewell concert in Beijing's 798 art district. If you happen to be in town, or you have any friends or acquaintances who will be, you're definitely all invited to the event. (For more info, please contact jasonchumusic@gmail.com)

My music and thoughts on ABC (editor: American born Chinese) identity in China have been covered in the China Daily and on MSNBC."

I am featuring his music video, because I like it. It is something new to catch a glimpse of Beijing in a rap song! And Jason Chu is a special hip hop artist - follow the links to China Daily and on MSNBC and you will learn why. Also, I enjoyed recognising areas around Sanlitun (and very blue skies!) in his video, listening to the lyrics (the Lost Laowai printed them), and hearing a classic Chinese bow instrument embedded in a rap song. 

Thank you Jason, for sharing! Looking forward to the other songs! Good luck and safe journey home!

PS: Actually, the article over at MSNBC - "Not Chinese enough in China? Chinese-Americans caught between 2 worlds" - is a very interesting subject and worth a separate post.

  

Active Expat Ladies in Beijing - or Selfmade Entrepreneurs

click to enlarge

I admire these active expat ladies !

Another bazar is coming up, this time on Wednesday, November 17 at East Lake Villas! In Sanlitun, Beijing, my old home! - And look at the flyer they made ! It is send out via email and probably hangs out at expat compounds, condos and supermarkets.

I love their "label" names : Shanghai Trio, Mandarine Coco, Tang' Roulou ... - and the money they have to pay for their bazar stand goes to charity. What a clever concept.

The products you can buy at these kind of bazaars that go round in the community are mainly designed by these active expat ladies and produced by Chinese workers or factories that they found suitable. Some other ladies import products you otherwise would not find in Beijing. And so they keep them self busy and try out entrepreneur's life. Some of the ladies are so successful that they have their own shops yet.

Take Shanghai Trio, they just opened a  shop at the new North Village in Sanlitun. They have already boutiques in Shanghai and Paris, but in Beijing they tried only bazars for a long time, or on appointment at home.

While in Beijing, my friend and I went to their shop and bought small bags in shiny red waterproofed material. Shanghai Trio is one of my favorites and I hope they survive the probably very high rental fees at North Village.

And long before Constance de Toldi, the organiser of the above "So French" bazar, started with her cashmere business, my friend Ira Walendy was already doing her private Cashmere Parties. Now, more ladies try their luck, also with kid's cashmere collections. Ira meanwhile concentrates on her 0813 spa collection , where she and her friend aim more at hotel shops to become customers.

Since this is a unpaid advertising post for all active expat ladies in Beijing, I want to name some more - also as inspiration for "still dreaming" expats - like me.

Some other successful entrepreneur ladies in Beijing :

Kathrin von Rechenberg : "tea silk" fashion made in China. Kathrin, originally from Munich, married to a Chinese, shows her collections at fashion shows at The Orchard Restaurant, shoes up at bazaars (preferred the Embassy house) and has her own shop in Sanlitun (near Embassy house) were she works and lives.

Rouge Baiser Elise  : home embroidered linen by Parisian Elise de St. Guilhem. After a successful shop in Shanghai, she opened one more boutique in Sanlitun, Beijing. This is run by some French ladies taking turns in the shop.

If home made necklaces or cashmere from the wool spinning city are not enough handcraft for you, I have two more examples of successful entrepreneurs: Take the French butcher Michel or the German bakery "Cafe Constance" (Konztanz). That's real business.

But I still dream small. Online sales, paypal payment... just don't have the product yet.

Find more inspiration via nicely made in China, a portal for quality products made in China aiming at export. You can browse by categories like DESIGN, FASHION, HANDMADE, CRAFTS. You will find the stories behind Shanghai Trio, Kathrin von Rechenberg and many more active expats that became entrepreneurs !

When you ask for TWO and get EIGHT

Once, when my mother was visiting me in Beijing together with my mother-in-law, we went shopping. We always went shopping of course, but once we went shopping for tea. It was their last day of their stay in Beijing and the demand for different kind of green teas and jasmine teas in pretty little gift boxes was high. I was the tour guide and had to translate - but could not handle both mothers at the same time. So my mother, not shy, went ahead and ordered two more red boxes of a nice Dragon Well green tea. And to make sure the Chinese sales girl understood her right, she made the gesture with her two fingers - the Western way :

The Chinese sales girl got very excited and asked her collegue for help and they packed tea in boxes, and boxes and boxes ... meanwhile I turned around and saw my confused mother trying to stop the girls and behind the counter I saw happy busy working sales girls.

I understood right away, what had happened, when I heard my mother saying : No, TWO, TWO !

The Western gesture for TWO is the Chinese gesture for EIGHT !

You must know the following :
Chinese use one hand, five fingers only, to count to 10. And especially when shopping in the grocery markets they use their fingers.

And counting to ten the Chinese way goes like this:

Chinese figure gestures

Chinese characters for 1 to 10 and pinyin writing

Below alternative gestures for 10 :

So, my Mum had ordered EIGHT boxes of tea, thinking she had asked for only TWO. Well, she did ask for two, in her English - but with the Western gesture for two which is the Chinese gesture for eight.

What makes Beijing likeable ?

Today I received a comment on an older post saying: "just because you think it's a ugly city doesn't mean it's a ugly city, what's so great about paris or rome?..."

I am not sure if I have ever written that Beijing is an ugly city. However I have reflected on it in my mind, yes. It is when you have to say good-bye to something or someone and in order to not be too sad, you try to be not too romantic.

And for me, cities like Paris and Rome are more easy to like then Beijing. They are obviously beautiful.

Beijing has a lot of very dull and grey residential buildings which are typical for communist countries. After 3 years living in Beijing, I consider these tower blocks as part of the Beijing charm. They always share a garden area where older people can work out and kids can play. Balconies are decorated with plants or bird cages. Run down dusty areas with red lanterns (or a red chair like in the pic of my last post) and the old hutongs - not estimated by the locals, but appreciated by the foreigners - are making Beijing likeable. If you have an eye for that.


When you are only on a journey through, lets say for a 2 day business trip, you hardly can find beauty in Beijing. More likely you find smog.

To discover Beijing's charm, you need a bit more time or a local guide on your side. And if you even come here for a period of 3 years (the usual expat term) you have to adapt to your environment sooner or later otherwise you suffer.

The experienced expat will adapt quickly and find many things that make Beijing likeable.

Fans of Asia will like old Beijing, its hutongs, its hidden courtyard houses, the lakes, the parks, the temples, the Imperial architecture, the food (varies by region a lot), the markets (vegetable as well as clothes), the bargains,... ah and the red lanterns, e.g in Ghost street. Old people in the parks playing chess or doing tai qi. Flying kites in the middle of a traffic conjunction. The million bicycles. Winter in Beijing with skiing on slopes of artificial snow and ice skating on frozen lakes.



There are those expats from big companies that live a luxury expat life in Beijing: chic city apartments or US style suburban villas, drivers, ayis. But even for other expats who work for their own company or are employed with a local contract, Beijing live is still cheaper then back home. Eating out regularly is not a luxury anymore. The choice of international restaurants is amazing. Going out on Saturdays is normal for parents as ayis can babysit their kids (for little money). And taking a taxi is normal because affordable.

Shopping is also a big advantage of Beijing. These markets selling fakes and offering bargains are one of the tourist attractions. No tourist group that has not shopping on their itinerary. But not only fakes, also antiques and reproductions are highly on demand. And not only markets also luxury western-style shopping malls are on the rise.
Shopping is a popular exercise, not only for tourists, also for expats and of course for the local Chinese as well. Shopping from 9 to 9 daily.

I liked to live in Beijing because every day was different and there were several options for activities every day.
I could discover endlessly new things.


The expat community was quiet strong. It was so much easier to get to know other people then in any other town of my own country.
Although Chinese culture seems to vanish or not to be popular among Chinese anymore, foreigners can learn a lot.
There are million of photo motifs.
There are lot of possibilities for day trips (more then in Shanghai).

My son still like China better then Germany or Italy as he enjoyed a fun live. His ayi had always time to play with him and he could play in our calm street of the compound freely with his friend.

Related posts:
Beijing: Expat Interview
Beijing and what to do with your time
Charming courtyards in Beijing
Skiing in Beijing

Missing China

This morning (in Germany) my son (5) saw an airline advertising in the newspaper and started to cry: I miss China ! I want to fly to China and see my friends...

We checked the time and said, okay, lets call your friends. And shortly after he was talking on the phone - not only to his best friend but also second best friend - as his two friends were just playing together.

The two best friends' English was meanwhile better then our son's English (he only speaks German now). And the two boys go to school (British/Chinese system) were they learn already writing - and apparently they love their school.

While my boy goes to a German kindergarten where they have a pre-school class once a week. German system ... here you start school when 6 years old. Before that it is basically playing in kindergarten, a lot of free playing time - they learn a lot of social skills (I was told).

I also learned that our house in Beijing (East Lake) is still empty. And it is not the only one in that compound. Apparently the economic crisis also has some impact there. But I think the competition on the real estate market is big - many new nice villas are available (however outside the city) and western style apartments are more attractive then the old villas in East Lake.

However I would always go back to East Lake. Just a fantastic location.

As we can not follow our friends' Christmas travel plans, we said that we will visit early next year. It will be nice to see old friends again and do some shopping.

Next Saturday we wont miss China that much.
My son and I, go to Chinese school each Saturday morning.
Yes, here in Germany!
It is funny, it feels a bit exotic, a little international flair on Saturday mornings.
And it is funny as in Beijing, we went to Italian school on Saturday mornings.
And the most funny thing about that Chinese school is, that it is actually a Taiwanese school !
I was not really aware of the difference. I just wanted to continue to learn Chinese and not forget what I have already learned. Meanwhile I noticed some differences between the Mainland Chinese and the Taiwanese. Also because the Taiwanese told me some differences right away.

If you have read this post until here, I will reward you with some more beautiful Chinese paintings from Creation Gallery in Beijing:


Hu Yongkai 'Thinking'


Hu Yongkai 'Leisure time in courtyard'


Ma Haifang 'October in Beijing'

1st picture above: Ma Haifang 'Bosom Friends' 68 x 68 via Creation Gallery

Remark about the bird cages:
All paintings show birdcages. October and November are the best months in Beijing regarding the weather. It is sunny and the air is clear. Ideal to go to the park and take your bird for a walk (in the birdcage). Some cages are hang to a tree or standing on a chair while the owners follow some other activities like singing, gambling, dancing or kite flying. If it gets cooler in the evening the bird cages are wrapped with a warm cover to protect the birds on the way home.

Thank you True Run Media

I am a great admirer of all the colourful and innovative English speaking magazines and guide books in Beijing!

My favourite of all time it the The Insider's Guide to Beijing, that was my bible to Beijing for three years! I was lucky to arrive in Beijing when the first Insider's Guide was published (2005) and helped me to find my ways around the city. It was like having won a dozen new good friends who give you the right hints and addresses in your new neighbourhood.

And the best monthly city guide The Beijinger (former That's Beijing until 06/2008), also produced by True Run Media, is the essential guide to life in Beijing. And Beijing's one and only lifestyle and interior design magazine urbane (former That's Beijing Home until 12/2007) is a monthly must read as well as the facelifted tbjkids, the colourful informative monthly magazine for parents and kids.

As mentioned above, That's Beijing is now The Beijinger. The best monthly city guide was no longer allowed to use its name. Some joint-venture quarrels... anyway, already the July issue was published under the new name The Beijinger. It is the same team in the same location with the same layout, just with a new name. They will succeed.

Also the new pocket guide agenda is a product of True Run Media and about Beijing's nightlife, dining and shopping. However The Beijinger remains the essential city guide with a extensive address list.

Amazing is the production of guide book titles of Immersion Guides!
Here is an actual product overview:
Beijing Excursion Guide (good ideas for day trips outside Beijing)
Beijing Taxi Guide (important addresses in English and Chinese --> to show the taxi driver the Chinese address of your destination)
Healthy Chinese Cuisine: A restaurant ordering guide
Spicy Chinese Cuisine: A restaurant ordering guide
Insider's Guide to Beijing 2008 (my favorite, the must have guide!)
Mandarin Phrasebook (useful)
One night in Beijing (a photo book with pictures taken in the night of August 8, 2007 a year before the opening of the Olympics)
Beijing by foot (40 walks in Beijing)
Beijing City Map
Beijing Eats (guide to local restaurants)
Ich bin ein Beijinger (summary of the column for that’s Beijing magazine by Kaiser Kuo)
Unofficial Guide to the Beijing Games

But this is not enough!
They want more!
And so you are invited to submit your manuscript!
Yes! Immersion Guides is soliciting book manuscripts from Beijing and China-based writers. They are considering all types of manuscripts including guidebooks, novels, children’s books, etc. "You name it, we want it."


I am at the end of my post and want to say "Thank you!", thank you True Run Media, thank you Immersion Guides, you make life in Beijing so much easier and so much more enjoyable!


Links:
Submit your script to Immersion Guides
Immersion Guide
The Beijinger
urbane
agenda
beijing kids
7 Days in Beijing, The Beijinger's newsletter

How to deal with withdrawal syndromes after quitting Beijing

The comment on my last post by tmt from toomanytribbles inspires me to write about how to avoid withdrawal syndromes after quitting with Beijing.

It is on my mind every day: I have to contact my friends in Beijing.

I don't have many but some dear friends. And I really want to let them know that I care and that I am thinking of them. Everyday I feel more the urge. I want to write them an email and ask for suitable calling hours. I would also like my son to talk to his friends. BUT I am afraid that we will get withdrawal syndromes!

So I am waiting and waiting. I say to my self: lets just settle a bit more, one more week, after the holidays, and one more week...
It is now 2 months and 2 days that we have left Beijing. And I have not called a single friend.

I wrote them an email right away after having arrived. Letting them know that we are doing fine. And a reply to their replies. That was it. I want to keep the friendship going. Yes. And therefore I feel urged to send another sign, I was the one who left.

But I am afraid of hearing their voices. I will miss them so much more then I do now! And I am afraid that my son (5 years) will get even more muddled, that he want to fly back to meet his friends right away.

I remember, one morning my cellphone was ringing. And it was our driver. Hearing his voice, so close, so near, .... really, I had tears in my eyes. He just wanted to let me know that he had fixed something. And I told him that we are fine and that he should greet our ayi as well. Of course I have already sent him an email before (he is technically up to date). But email is not the same. It does not bring the same emotions.

So I am avoiding withdrawal syndromes after quitting Beijing by 'hiding' in my new life, by keeping quiet, by not looking back. And I am so NOT proud of it. I think every day of this situation and if I could do better. Maybe it really just takes some more time.

It is not the first time I have left a live behind. After living 5 years in Bangkok, it had become our common home - and it still feels very special to us. It took us years to get over the withdrawal syndromes of leaving Thailand. And we had a very special dear group of friends to leave behind. One after the other spread out to new destinations. Some of our friends we still contact or see from time to time. But it will never be the same.

Living in this situation I remember the term Third Culture Kids or TCK. There are many sociological studies about kids that have spent a significant period of time in one or more culture(s) other than its own. It is researched that while TCKs usually grow up to be independent and cosmopolitan, they also often struggle with their identity and with the losses they have suffered in each move. The sociologist who originally introduced the concept of TCKs is Ruth Hill Useem. She wrote many books about TCKs, the Global Nomads and later focused on the grown up TCKs, the Adult Third Culture Kids (ATCKs).

Books about the subject:

lost in transit

Night Vision
Originally uploaded by MontanaRaven

too much routine is killing her

without routine she is lost

like a butterfly in the wind

the melancholie of an ending journey
good byes, tears, heart ache

was it real?
is it lost?

nothing has changed
back home
time seems to stand still

people seem to not see
is it?

lost?

her past

memories on her skin, in her head, postcards

and a full moon
for all somewhere
lost in transit

Moving Nightmares Part XXII

This is an email from our moving company (it was in my spam file for a while)... anyway... our container will sit in Beijing for a while:

"The latest announcement is that trucks that do not have the proper “emission standards”, and all non-Beijing plate trucks are abandoned from driving on the roads, we are experiencing a shortage of available trucks for line haul here in Beijing and we are experiencing many new restrictions related to trucking.

Due to this, there has been a huge increase for demand of trucks available for hire; plus, there are many import and export shipments are sitting in warehouses while exporters and importers wait to get inland transportation. From the last week of June, we have a serious hard time in booking container trailer, which can continue to Sep. 20th. Even the prices has been increased much higher than normal rates, we still unfortunately could not confirm or guarantee on timing to release the containers.

We are trying our best to arrange your container to be on vessel earliest possible as we can. My best estimation is to have them loaded into container in one or two weeks.

If there is any change to this situation we will keep you updated, and we will keep your shipment with free storage in our warehouse. Sincerely, I wish to have your understanding on this situation which is truly out of our control."

Have I recommended Santa Fe lately in Beijing Cafe as the best moving company?

Well, well, after my experience about 10 days ago, I can say, every other moving company might be capable of the same or even better service at a better price because they might not be overbooked like Santa Fe and do not need to hire so many unexperienced staff.

This time is crazy for shipping goods in and out of Beijing. If you can postpone your shipment, wait until after September 20st, when the Paralympics are over as well and things return to normal.

Countdown to Move

7 days to go... and my husband - just back from a business trip - says he might have to go again on a business trip. His return to Beijing would be the day of our one-way-flight out. I would be alone when the packers storm the house.

6 days to go... I check my email between two farwell parties and find an email from the moving company: due to this busy week (every second expat moving seems to move this week) they are cancelling our first packing day. Anyway two days would be enough for our household. Please confirm....
Well, it was Saturday evening and I picked up the phone and lost my temper.
Although we anyhow thought of starting the packing a day later due to my husband's trip, I was disturbed by the service. They have my phone number and could have called right away when they knew they have to pack for someone else (maybe more important than us). Email is not appropriate and cancelling a packing day two working days in advance is even worse!

5 days to go... my husband is packing for his business trip back home and I am lucky to be able to give him and his collegue both again each a full suitcase of summer clothes. This means less volume for the container and summer clothes right on place when we come home.

Instead 4 days to go it is now ONE week to go! Yes! Great. Winning some extra time comforts me. I might not get a heart attack after all. But what do I do with my extra time when the container is gone? Shopping? Suitcases will be packed tight.
We are winning time for friends! And say good-bye again. One family had to leave earlier then planned to find a house in another destination then they thought they will move to. They will be back in some days. And another family that has to leave to Hong Kong due to visa renewel issues will be back this weekend. So this is very nice! We will be able to see both families one more time!

It is a very strange time right now here in Beijing for expats. All is about leaving. Even the magazine That's Beijing has on its June cover this subject:
"101 things to do before leaving Beijing".
Of course there are not 101 things to do in Beijing before leaving. Much less!
And that's why a lot of the points are meant to be funny.

But some of the points I recognize. E.g. getting a qipao. I lived without qipao, a traditonal Chinese dress, since my whole life... but the last time I went to Muxiyuan fabric market, my friend encouraged me and I got the silk to do one. And I went for the first time to a tailor at the Friendship Store (it was 10 days to go at the time). When I saw myself in the mirror, I wondered why I have not bought more silk, in different colours to get more dresses... No, stop thinking! No more fabric market trips (I got addicted, since two months I go there weekly, once even twice a week) - and will I ever wear it back home? Also, all tailors are working at their limits right now. Everybody leaving wants something done in the last minute. Meaning quality is suffering.

I have to go back to "work" and get my cupboards and drawers de-cluttered and sorted. I am also wondering what I find next that I have not thought I still have it. Maybe posting it on BeijingCafe, that serves these days as a very efficient Beijing version of ebay. I am not going to post a flower pot for 20 kuai or free shampoo ... this is what my ayi carries home every evening. But a kid's night pot? Or a toy tool bench? Mmhh, I am still looking for someone I know, who could use it. I am not going to let this be packed up in bubble wrapping and use up high valuable cubic meters in our tiny 20 feet container. So it gets the "Don't move" sticker.

I am glad about everything that I can get rid off, but on the other side all the farwell gifts are floating in and using up new space... Especially the bulky comapny gifts, like car grills... All these things get a "Don't move sticker" and at the end we will see what still fits in.

Today my ayi came with a "new" bike. It is just a tiny bit less shabby then her other bike. She declared her old one is broken. Very tricky... she knows that I have a nice Giant bike. And if it fits in the container, I might not leave it for her. How bad she makes me feel if I take my lovely Giant bike, with only one speed, useless for my hilly hometown, just for the sake of memories... I will feel bad every day I see it standing unused in the garage. Very tricky. I wonder if her bike is really broken - just 1 day before the packing starts?

BeijingCafe and how a Yahoo Group helps moving

It took me almost three years in Beijing to get to know BeijingCafe and its advantages! Last year I heard of BeijingCafe, a yahoo group, for the first time. It seemed to me an amazing source of information. If you want to know where to buy e.g. silk, you raise this question at BeijingCafe and the members who know where would eventually write back.

Well, I thought, I am living here since a while and did not feel the urgent need to get more information that I already had about life in this city. But who knows, there might be some shopping secrets out there that this group likes to share more openly with you then your neighbours or friends ....

So I asked my friend who had told me a couple of times about BeijingCage to invite me (it took me a while to find out, that you need to be invited). She tried once, we forgot about it and she tried twice. It did not work out. Some more monthes passed by until another friend told me that she had heard about this and that and I wondered how she got these hot info - BeijingCafe, you know? Oh, yes, please invite me. She forgot about it and so do I. Until a third friend told me that she has found something, maybe a great tailor or so, via BeijingCafe. BeijingCafe? Can you invite me? Please! Sure. She did it the same day and I received an invittion the same day! Great! And since I am a member, I am "branche", connected.

It turns out very handy!

One might think, why becoming a member of a Beijing online group when leaving?
It is the right time!

I had to find a job for my ayi. In July? The month every expat goes on holiday? I thought this will be impossible. Probably I need to pay her a month salary for bridging the gab until she finds a new job. But, wait a moment. Why not post her on BeijingCafe. This group has 1.300 members by now. So I wrote a nice recommendation and I got answers! My ayi had over a dozen job offers and enough interviews to find herself a convenient job in an even more convenient location at a higher salary!

Then I thought. What to do with my big Mercedes pedal car? We have no more space in the container, and my son definately does not play with it anymore. Where to sell it when not in China. I asked the neighbourhood, thought about posting it at Jenny Lou -but wait - BeijingCafe is the solution. A minute after I posted the used toy, I got already the first requests in my email box. And the next day it was gone! For a fair price. Fantastic.

Right now, in BeijingCafe the most popular topic is about Olympic tickets: The hurdles of picking them up, during holiday, with middle names and how to transfer it etc. I also checked here whether someone would buy our tickets. Oooh, what a flood of emails I got....

One last BJC story for today: For our farwell party I miscalculated the need of alcohol and am sitting now on a stock of liquor that I cannot pack in the container. What a pitty! I was trying to figure out which bottle I would give to whom, when I read another post on BJC about 'free tampons' that have already been picked up (!). People sell / give away and are looking for some strangest things sometimes...
So I thought, when someone would go to a strangers house to pick up two boxes of tampons, maybe I can find someone via BJC that would come to my house and buy my stock of various wines - white and red, new and old and gins and digestives. So I wrote: I am selling the lot, all 13 bottles together... and I just pressed the sent button when I got a phone call, several emails and one sms - all agreed the price and wanted to buy my leftovers. (Mmmh, maybe the French 1999 bottle is a collector item??)

Amazing BeijingCafe.

-------------
PS: When you are interested, please don't ask me to invite you... I am leaving and busy. But check out this link: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Beijingcafe/

Sorry for no perfect link - I entered blogger via an anonymous proxy and it does not show all the features for posting links and photos etc.

Beijing: Lunch time in my Chinese Kitchen

It is lunch time in Beijing and I just sat in my kitchen and enjoyed my ayi's cooking (some soy beans and some Chinese spinach with rice and a glass of water).

Still under the impression of our last filming and photographing everything maniac visitor I used my iPhone to make these two pictures. The picture above shows my Chinese kitchen shelve with a wild variety of Beijing finds from Carrefour (blue and white cups, shop sticks), Ikea (cups, sugar container, mortar), B&Q (clock), Spin (black and white cups), Liangma (blue and white tea container), a Chinese household shop (shop stick container) and the German X-mas bazaar (cup).

Views from my Beijing Windows

My idea today was to publish a post about the view from my window here in Beijing. I know that this is not a very original idea. Other bloggers have done that before. But I think it gives a great insight. Very simple, very basic. 'Oh, that’s how it looks like living in Beijing! Grey, okay it is winter - but blue sky, not that many of it back in Europe during this time of the year – neat residential area, not too bad.'

First picture (above): view from home office window – on the other side of the street is a typical Chinese apartment building. Why it has iron grid in front of some windows even on the 6Th floor? I don’t know. Beijing is a relatively safe city.

Second picture: view from my living room window – our tiny garden; not bad at all for living in the city just about 1 Li (600 m) outside the second ring road. Some of my neighbors have the whole garden plastered because the grass dies during winter. What you see is the left over grass. It looks more like a desert. Since yesterday the water is open and I can finally water my plants. No rain here during winter. And I will get new grass, as every year, next month. Unfortunately Easter is a bit early this year. But I could buy some plants. I have to admit, color is missing. I have some flowers at the entrance though, not in the picture. The bicycle is mine and waiting for me to go on a discovery ride.

Third picture: view from my bedroom window – when I wake up (and open the curtains) I can see lots of trees! And very often blue skies! In Beijing there are a lot of trees along both sides of the streets. Chinese people love and respect trees. They rather build around a tree then cut a tree. - And I love my orchids. I never throw them out. If you wait a while, they have more blossoms then before.

So this is a very simple and basic post.

I could stop here. But I have something else on my mind that has literally to do with “View from my Beijing Window”. I ask my self if living in Beijing changes your view on China? Of course it does. But did I start to wear ‘blinders’?

I got a phone call the other day from a woman who is going to move to Beijing soon. She is following her expat husband with their toddler and their baby. Beside her question about what I would put in the container (something that is not available in Beijing), she had more serious questions. She talked about what she has been reading and hearing about China in the Western media. About human rights and the freedom of press. I held my breath and for a second I was waiting the call to be interrupted. But nothing happened. So I assumed that it is not that bad here in China at least for the freedom of speech on the phone… although it does not mean that this call was not registered. She continued about food scandals and pollution and came back to human rights, about more people taken under arrest in order to avoid any civil disturbance during the Olympics…. Hello? Where am I living? Behind the moon? Am I sleeping in Beijing? Or do I wear blinders? Apparently she knows more than me. Maybe it is the Western media, which takes every tiny incident in China and makes a big story out of it. And on the other hand it probably has to do with some missing stories in Chinese media …

There is actually a story missing in Chinese media right now and people are wondering why. It is the story about a (apparently dilettante) terror attempt (– if it was any after all since there is not much evidence provided -) on a flight between Urumqi (capital of an autonomous region in the far west of China) and Beijing last Friday. You can read more about the strange case of a disappearing news story by British journalist Richard Spencer. The comments on his blog are very interesting as well. There are thoughts that the plot served as an excuse to arrest more … but then it might have become too much thread after a kidnapping incident in Xian just 2 days earlier … too much for foreign visitors to bear… and the mysterious terror incident was widely retreated from the press.

Different media views:
A second post by Richard Spencer, Telegraph: The plane incident...
The Times online: China says that it foiled a terror threat ahead of the Beijing Olympics
Die Welt: China fürchtet Terroranschläge zu Olympia
Der Spiegel: Chinesen decken Attentatspläne auf
Le Nouvel Observateur: Un attentat ouïghour déjoué à bord d'un avion de ligne chinois ?


The views out of my windows today are pretty much the same like yesterday. (Expat) Life is good in Beijing.

Beijing: Expat Interview

A while ago I was asked by Lizza from Expat Interviews if I would agree to answer an email questionnaire for a website she has created with her friend Victor. It features interviews with expats in various countries. The objective is to give readers a glimpse into what it's like to live in a certain country, as told by an expat who already lives there.

So in case you plan to move to China or even to Beijing my interview about my "Creative Experiences" in Beijing and more might be helpful.

And if you are living abroad, why not tell others about your experiences through Expat Interviews?

Beijing: February Urbane issue

The February and second issue of urbane is out. I checked it online today - the whole magazine can be read online - and saw the Water Cube on the cover (I posted about it before).

They feature an interview with John Pauline, the architect from Sydney-based architecture firm PTW, which is in charge for the project.

They also feature my article about my German friend's house in Lanebridge. She is a fashion designer and I posted about Ira Walendy before. She moved with her husband and two kids to Beijing in 2005 (like we did). It was really interesting to do a "homestory By Design". I got the chance to work together with talented photographer Judy Zhou and was asked to advise on rooms and angles. We had far more great shots then got published. Regarding all the beautiful pictures, the editor made it a 6 page story instead the usual 4 pages.

See below how an expat family - whose housing is covered by the employing company - could live in Beijing. Not too bad! Read the article online here, page 48 ff OR click below on the pictures to enlarge:





One of the pictures that did not get published is the minimalistic fire place with a free floating stone shelf (photographed by me):





And here a list (left) that I deem very interesting for travellers :
It is the latest list of   Beijing Boutique Hotels   - published by Urbane magazine.
(click on the list on the left to enlarge !).

update:
I found Urbane today at Jenny Lou. It is distributed again together with That's Beijing.

Happy New Year !

(photo: creative Coke advertising in Beijing at a bus station)

Happy New Year 2008 !

I am back in Beijing after a busy Christmas holiday back in my hometown in Germany. I guess every visit back home is just too short to see all friends and family members and spend enough time with them. Especially when you have these long holidays when all the shops are closed in good old Germany. Imagine: you have only a half day for grocery shopping on December 24Th (Monday) to stock for 3 breakfasts, 2 lunch and 3 dinners more or less until shops are open again December 27Th (Thursday) ... similar thing on Monday 31st. You can imagine the queues...
And you want to meet friends and parents want to meet you...

I have almost adjusted from jet lag. Here are some news from Beijing:

* first new thing on the plane: no more health form needs to be filled out. So from 3 forms down to 2 forms to fill out before immigration. Progress for 2008 where half million foreigners a expected in Beijing!

* the magazine I am writing for, tbj home, is gone, kaput, no more. BUT: it lives on in the form of urbane - a new name for "China's best English lifestyle magazine" (I am citing). New is the name and that it's distributed not only in Beijing but all over China (I am not sure if the first issue in January is already distributed all over China). And I am still in.

* If you stay with kids in Beijing: the magazine tbj kids is getting better and better. Since the new editor re-designed the magazine it is really worth reading. And the website is informative as well with a blog and a forum.

* In Germany I heard that the exhibition of Chinese terracotta warriors in Hamburg was stopped as some of the worriers that were deemed as originals were fakes. I was smiling about that 'scandal'. Hey, what do you expect? In China copying is a form of art. I am also amused to read at Danwei that someone somewhere heard a gossip that maybe all terracotta warriors, even the ones in Xian, might be made by modern hand (and original clay, of course). Read Danwei's (German) critical article here.

* One more thing about China and the German media. It seems more a la mode than ever to write about China. Of course the world focuses on China because of the upcoming big event, the Olympics 2008, that start on August 8 at 8.08 in Beijing. So I read articles in Germany about migrant workers, Chinglish, etiquette training, Chinese art scene etc.

* The air quality report (see blogroll) is back online. Even if the air of downtown Beijing is not surveyed anymore on the busiest streets but in less polluted areas, I am glad it is reported again. (I am not sitting at a traffic junction all day).

* Today I passed by a river near Liangma flower market and looked twice through the window as I could not recognize the area. It took a moment until I realized that all the hutong houses were demolished and cleaned up. I remembered that I wanted to take some photos there as it was a picturesque area in the middle of a developed business and residential area. Too late.

* In China we are still in the old year of the PIG. The new year of the RAT is still to come. Chinese New Year will be celebrated a week long in February and is a national holiday. My ayi wants to take off two weeks, better three weeks! help! The trip to her hometown in Anhui province takes 19 hours by train. She will be reunited with her 9 year old son and family.

* The national holidays in May, the May Golden Week, instead is cancelled by the government. This change was made in order to avoid the negative effects when millions of Chinese are travelling and to allow flexible holidays.


I discovered this photo art by Floriane de Lassee, a young photographer born in 1977 in Paris. It is available via the photo art gallery Lumas. It is not Beijing. It is Shanghai. She didn't do any shot in Beijing, but in Tokyo, Singapore, Paris, Istanbul, NY... I am fascinated and that's why I am posting it on my Beijing Notebook. Click on the picture to enlarge. Happy New Year!

Beijing and What to Do with your Time

You are a local, an expat, an expat spouse or a visitor with no tight 3-day-sightseeing-schedule and have been there and done it all.

So what you do with your free time?

Here is my little BRAINSTORM - so no judgement, just more ideas please:

Learning and practicing
* ... Chinese (two to there time per week is recommended)
* ... Tai Chi / Tai Qi
* ... painting (traditional Chinese Style: ink and wash)
* ... calligraphy
* ... photography (to document the fading beauty)
* ... yoga
* ... mahjong (to get a feeling for decadent but fun gambling)
* ... acupuncture (you might practice after you have your certificate)

Hearing lectures about
* ... Traditional Chinese Medicine / TCM
* ... Feng Shui (not that popular in Beijing)

* Reading books about China, Chinese Culture and history

* Massage (traditional Chinese Foot Massage or Body Massage, no oil - at Tai Pan, Bhodi or Dragonfly)

* Pedicure and Manicure (cheaper than in the West)

* Writing about your impressions for the media back home, local media or on your blog

Meeting people with
* Chinese Culture Club (weekly activities, lectures and trips)
* INN - International Newcomer's Network (monthly meeting, lectures)
* Deutsche Patengruppe (monthly get-together and trips)
* British Club
* several kids groups
* several interest groups that advertise in the local magazines

The different shopping:
* Shopping at the local food market (e.g. San Yuan Le market hall in Sanlitun)
* Shopping at Jiayi cloth market, opposite Kunlun Hotel (stressless than Yashow)
* Shopping at Ritan Office Building (building at the South-East of Ritan Park - in every former little office room is a little boutique with lots of real finds). After shopping stroll a bit through Ritan Park and have a drink at the Stone Boat Bar (at the West end of the park).

The different 'sight seeing':
* Riding the bicycle around the city (between first and third ring road)
* Strolling the hutongs around the Houhai area; rent a boat, bike or rikshaw
* spending hours at Chaoyang Park where children can go on merry-go-rounds and some old fashion fair rides, just walk around the greenery, have a picnic, rent a boat, tent or 'golf cart' (Chaoyang), observe locals working out ...
* ride a boat through the 800 year old canal between Forbidden City and Summer Palace. The tour usually includes stops at the Purple Bamboo Garden and a couple of temples (book e.g. with Chinese Culture Club about twice a month)
* go on a daytrip outside Beijing with the Beijing Excursion Guide by Immersion Guides

...

This is about how busy you could get as an expat spouse !

Links:
Deutsche Patengruppe
International Newcomer's Network
Chinese Culture Club
A Matter of Chi (pricy Feng Shui lecture)
Oriental Tai Pan (massage)
Bodhi (massage)
Dragonfly (massage)
City Weekend (events)
That's Beijing (7 Days in Beijing, events)
Beijing Excursion Guide

Back in town

I am back in town after a seven weeks holiday...

Did I miss Beijing? - No.

Was I looking forward to return 'home'? - Well, let's say I was looking forward to the change. I like my different life in China. And in Europe, our Italian holiday at the sea was over and in Germany all friends are on holiday right now.

Today at the airport it was very crowded at the immigration. I have never seen so many people in so many lines. We had to wait over an hour! This must improve within one year!

The only one in the family who really couldn't wait to return to Beijing was our son. He was talking about his Chinese friend and his ayi the whole flight. And he was jumping in our drivers arms and asked him to drive faster, faster to our house.

At home the ayi was waiting and our son jumped in her arms with a scream of joy while I was wondering what she was doing all the time since one third of our fish population in the aquarium has died and two third of my flowers and plant died. My bathroom I am cleaning myself. At least I know that its cleaned then. I gave up to tell her or teach her as she has a total different understanding of 'cleanliness'. What's wrong with dirt behind some flower pots as long as you do not see it? And what is wrong with lime stain in the bathroom when you are used to share a squat toilet with 100 other people on the neighbourhood? I just have to get used again to the difference in hygienic standards. She is great with our son and that counts more.

Some good news: the sky is blue and clear. Indeed, the air looked not that bad from the plane. And its hot. I thought August is the worst month in Beijing. But today I was told it is July. So maybe the Olympics will have blue sky in 2008, as planned! Although Chinese are already afraid of a 50% chance of rain on 08-08-2008 at the opening ceremony. But the Chinese weather makers are able to control the clouds.

When I was on holiday I did not check my links from China Daily or Danwei for news from Beijing. So I am not sure what I missed beside the pre-Olympics-Party. Before I left Beijing in June, I read these breathtaking stories about poor job seeking men who ended up in slavery in brick kilns in western provinces. Meanwhile these stories went around the world and Beijing government is acting - although a lot are still missing, as I read in a German magazine (Der Spiegel). This is the dark side of the world... every country has its crimes. But this kind of organized human right violation is frightening.

The bright side I am looking forward to right now is a foot massage in the next days and some updates about Beijing, refreshing my Chinese, maybe painting and some more writing.

Beijing: Cashmere Fashion by Walendy

Ira Walendy is a young fashion designer specialized in cashmere who has launched her own label 'Walendy' here in Beijing.

Ira is born in Germany and studied fashion design in Trier. She worked for international labels such as C&A, Esprit and Prada. In 2005, she has moved with her family, including her son, 8 and her daughter, 6 to Beijing. Since her arrival in China she searches all the markets back and forward week after week to find interesting material, pattern, borders and buttons to design clothes for her kids, husband and herself. Her kids basically do not know 'pret-a-porter' fashion except from their school uniforms. Everything they wear is a unicum designed by their creative mum.

She travels to the markets and tailors about two, three times a week to supervise the progress of her orders. Meanwhile fluent in Mandarin, she works close together with several small local knitting factories. Some of them are the same factories that deliver high quality material to well reputable European fashion brands such as 'Loro Piana" or 'Mulberry'.

End of 2006, Ira was ready to launch her first own label under her maiden name 'Walendy'. She offers custom made knitwear for the whole family: men's sweaters and shirts, ladies' jumpers / sweaters, cardigans, shirts and tops. But kids clothes are still her favorites. Her materials come in a wide range form light weight summer cashmere until eight threat yarn hand knitted winter cardigans with lots of precious details such as tonal embroideries or beautiful cable patterns.

She successfully presented her kid's cashmere collection to upper market children boutiques based in Dusseldorf and Munich, Germany, where they will be on sale this autumn.


Beijingers looking for some stylish, pretty neat knitwear can contact Ira by email to be included on her mailing list for her next 'Cashmere Party' at her home at Lanebridge. Her second party, presenting her summer Cashmere collection, just took place in May.

Ira is my friend since we first met in autumn 2005 at the Italian Embassy, where we both drop our kids on Saturdays for Italian school. I am very pleased and exited to introduce her on my blog today. We had lots of fun 'shooting' her collection at her house and garden. Actually Ira's private home was designed by the same interior designer who did the two 'Green T. House'. One more reason to visit Ira. Sign up here for her next info mail.

click for larger image
The pink cashmere 'cache coeur' starts from 590 RMB (about 65 USD) for children, but can be ordered in bigger sizes. The green cotton lady shirt costs 410 RMB (about 45 USD).

Remark: After the summer holidays will be the right time to place orders for Christmas!

Photos by -Suzie-