US v. China: Postal edition

Johanna3 Comments

No, not because of the freedom.

It has a better postal system.

Post offices worldwide are dismal places to be, akin to the county jail or maybe the local morgue. But at least USPS delivers packages in a timely and inexpensive way.

To wit: I mailed a 3-pound package to San Francisco two weeks and one day ago for $40. There was no tracking or delivery confirmation available. It has not been delivered. On the other hand, I have received a 2.5-pound package from San Francisco that was mailed not even three days ago for $42.50 with tracking.

Please, China Post, pleeeeease deliver my package.

On beer

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I haven’t seen a bottle of this Pabst Blue Ribbon 1844 (going for 300 kuai for a 750-milliliter bottle, or more than $44) yet, but Evan Osnos’ story about the appearance of Pabst in China reminded me of a single can of P.B.R. I saw last year in Dandong on a cart selling various snacks and beverages outside the train station. I’ve kicked myself so many times for not buying/taking a picture of it. Pretty sure it would have been a lot cheaper than the 1844.

If you need a counter to Chinese officials’ constant claims and “reassurances” of China’s commitment to free and open trade, look no further than the beer options. At the supermarket, Chinese beers go for about 3 RMB for a 730-milliliter bottle. For a proper Western brew, you’d have to fork over at least five times that for 330 milliliters. Leffe sells for about 15 RMB; a Duvel is 19 RMB. We did find a not-very-good-in-fact-really-bad German beer (they do exist – at least in China) for about 8 RMB a can.

OK, on further thought, it’s not protectionism — just the market price of these beers. They cost about the same in the States. It just seems more expensive here because of the cost of living.

The Post-Taiwan Syndrome

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It’s been almost three weeks since I’ve returned from Taiwan, and I still have no appetite! I don’t want to eat anything, except for a shaobing youtiao or lo bo gao or dan bing or o-ah jian. Or anything made in Taiwan.

It’s so depressing and well, unappetizing, in Beijing. Why do they eat such nasty food? Can’t they just make good food for cheap?

The differences a cardinal direction can make, Part 2

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A few things that surprised me about Tokyo, besides how different it is from China and how much more similar it felt to the West.

  • People drive on the left side of the road.
  • This one girl I was walking behind after the U.S. lost to Slovenia was, by all indications, drunk off her ass. She was stumbling everywhere. And yet, while walking down the stairs from the walkway overpass in 4-inch heels, she didn’t fall.
  • There were squat toilets. People used them.
  • For all Japan’s modernity, its hotels are rather stuck in the late ’80s/early ’90s. And we were staying in ones that were supposed to be nice.
  • So many Chinese people!

The differences a cardinal direction can make

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I’ve made my way from the North ‘jing to the East ‘jing, which is in a whole other country, so that probably explains most of the differences. It’s the battle of the two giant Asian capitals: Beijing versus Tokyo. Which is better?

Cleanliness: The Japanese may have borrowed a lot from the Chinese, but they stopped short of the Chinese’s public hygiene habits. The sidewalks and streets were clean. Shops were neat. Even grubby ramen and sushi restaurants managed to keep their tables, floors and wares clean. Advantage: Tokyo.

Class: In Tokyo, no one made disgusting hacking noises, no one spat, no one spat 2 centimeters from where my next step would be. People dressed nicely to work. They didn’t stare. On the trains, talking on mobiles was forbidden, so nobody was shouting (grunting) into their phones. (For some reason, the Chinese only have two voice volumes when talking on their cells: loud or even louder.) That being said, in the evenings, just about every person in Tokyo is stumbling around drunk. Advantage: Tokyo.

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Inside a Chinese hospital

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I had the great fortune of visiting a public Chinese hospital yesterday — Beijing Tongren Hospital (北京同仁医院).

Bright and early on a Monday morning, around 7, I asked the taxi driver to take me to the hospital. He drops me off on the opposite corner of a busy intersection, with the hospital rising high above its surrounding buildings. It was tucked behind a few hutongs from where I was dropped off. So close, yet so far away.

I finally find the entrance to the hospital on the opposite side, after wandering down the hutongs for a while. But what do I see when I finally made it out onto a main street? TWO Tongren Hospitals, one on each side of the street. Nothing seemed to differentiate them on the outside, so I just go to the one that was on my side.

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The importance of June 4

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Two special things today this year:

  • 21st anniversary of the Tiananmen Square … incident.
  • National Doughnut Day, celebrated the first Friday of June every year. Krispy Kreme is handing out free doughnuts! Alas, it’s only “national” and not “international,” so even though there is now a lonely KK in Shanghai, I don’t know if it will be handing out freebies. Nor would I be able to get one if it is, anyway.

Putting Beijing in place

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Sometimes, it’s easy to forget how little Beijing is, despite being the political, cultural and social center of the universe China. But this infographic by Chinfographics, which is already on its way to becoming a vital source for China statistics, reminds me that Beijing still only makes up less than 1 percent of China — at least in terms of population. This is perhaps all for the better: This means there are more people that can revolve around Beijing.

Taiwan at the WTTC’s annual conference

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Summits are not my thing. Even as much as I love travelling, the World Travel and Tourism Council’s annual get-together in Beijing these few days is just a bit dry and (save for a few interesting reports) unenlightening. Where’s anything about eco-tourism? Voluntourism? They did talk a lot about sustainability and doing environmentally-friendly things (especially questioning the airline industry), but what about non-traditional travel that really tries to reinvent the meaning of tourism?

Anyway, two things that did amuse me to no end:

  • Newsweek, one of the summit’s sponsors, had a booth with issues of its May 24 and 31 double issue on global travel. In it is an article about Taiwan that described it as an “island nation.” Some poor worker had gone through literally hundreds, if not thousands, of copies with a Sharpie and blotted out “nation” in all of them.
  • During one panel discussion, moderator Erin Burnett of CNBC introduced herself as a big fan of travel, saying she has a goal of visiting 100 countries before proudly stating that she had visited her 65th one earlier in the week (or last week). Then she said that country was Taiwan. A very brief pause followed as the audience silently and collectively gasped, while Burnett immediately realized her faux pas: “…which sort of counts on my list,” she tried to clarify.

Spring springs in ‘jing, brings spring to my step

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A friend of mine recently noted that I’ve been in a much happier mood lately. This is true. Here are possible reasons why:

  • The weather. It’s warm and (at times) sunny again!
  • Things to look forward to:
    • Family visit. I started getting excited around the one-month mark.
    • Upcoming trips. Bye-bye China, hello summer vacation.
  • PMS. Instead of making me cranky, my hormones are making me silly.
  • Sex. ‘Nuff said.

Beijing’s bipolarity is swinging to the other pole now. Beijing summers are completely different than Beijing winters. The city is in bloom right now. I’m spending a lot of time outdoors, in the sun and under a blue sky, at parks, reading Thomas Mann’s The Magic Mountain, which so far is good in a bad sort of way. Whatever faults Beijing (and Beijingers) have, they got one thing right with their many parks. They’re all fantastic, beautifully landscaped and a great place to pass the time. Unfortunately, too many people seem to agree with me — but that does mean that it’s great for people-watching, and the Chinese do many interesting things.

The great weather also means another favorite past time of mine: beer and barbecue at my favorite beer garden.