Driving in Beijing

Not that I drove in China or anything, but if you're a new driver on the road in Beijing...it must be hella scary. Malaysia was ranked #1 as the world's worst drivers. I know our driving isn't Singaporean good but seriously, did they exclude China and Indonesia from the list?

First of all, there are so many cars on the road in Beijing and to make it worse a lot of them swerve here and there without signalling and without notice. It's like the norm for you to change lanes constantly like you're being tailed and need to lose your trackers.

And then there's the horrible blaring of horns. If you think Malaysia is bad with their holding down the horn, Beijing is worse. True, they don't hold it down but every minute you can hear about 3/4 beeps. I promise you. Plus they don't just beep at other cars, no. They horn at pedestrians too, telling them to get the hell out of their way.
Beeping is associated with being angry because its such a loud noise, but to be honest I don't think the drivers in Beijing horn because they are angry/impatient. It's just the norm to horn and let others know that they're there. Of course if they're impatient they will horn more frequently.

I was in a taxi once and the driver was by far the worse I had seen. He kept beeping at cars, pedestrians and cyclists but this one time he kept pressing down the horn in bursts for like 10 seconds (that's longer than it sounds). But the thing is...there were absolutely no cars in front of him. Seriously! If he wanted to let the cars in the other lane know that they shouldn't swerve, I think one beep would have sufficed. On the contrary, he would stop at every orange light when it would be perfectly alright to drive past (even I would because I'm already on the white line), but no he would stop. Until now, I am totally bewildered by that experience.

And with all the air pollution that Beijing has, why do they need to add noise pollution as well? It really is quite irritating when they keep beeping and horning especially when you're walking. Scares the bejeebers out of you. The thing is, the traffic lights are set for going straight so if cars want to turn they go whenever they can. But that means the light has turned green for the pedestrians to cross, thus even when you're clear to walk you have to look out for cars turning. Really, I know its common for them to walk to their destination and to the subway, but its life-threatening.

Protect your self-esteem. Don't go to China.

So while I was in China, I was happily walking about oblivious to the people around me and just, you know, chilling. Then my world fell apart when my mom pointed something out to me:

"Did you notice that all the girls here are tall and skinny?"

*Glass shatters*

No I didn't. Thanks mom. But seriously. All of them, (OK not all of them because obviously I didn't see all the females in Beijing) were tall AND skinny. Not the seniors but like the working class people. AND they were really quite fashionable as well- I reckon its all those markets where they can get cheap and good clothes. 

You see, I consider myself "above average" in height and that's about all I got going for me and then I'm in Beijing and feel like a dwarf. Alright, alright, I'm exaggerating. I'm not so much shorter than them, about half a head maybe. But on top of that, they're skinny as well. I mean come on! Rice is the national food of China, WHERE DEM CARBS AT?

Actually I think I know the answer to that. They walk/cycle everywhere. Considering the number of cars on the road you'd think that China has a car per family. But no, you see, there's about 1.35 billion people in China and if you approximate that the top 10% of China has cars that's already 135 million cars. Thus the incredibly astounding long traffic jams. 

Anyways the rest of the people will cycle or walk to their destinations and that ladies and gentleman is where dem carbs at. Not at their destinations- I mean, at- you get what I mean. So the solution is to walk everywhere. Unfortunately in my country if you walked to your destination, you wouldn't get there. Either you would get lost because of the lack of pavements, get hit by a car or like me, take one step out of the house, start sweating buckets and run back in.

I don't know if China is becoming the next South Korea, in the sense that plastic surgery is becoming the norm, but it's insane that about 90% of the young females I saw were both tall and model-like skinny.

All jokes aside, this is actually a serious issue. China and America are probably the biggest two countries where conformity is the number 1 rule, regardless of how America promotes individuality. Just take a look at their models, their celebrities (though they're diversifying more) and the stereotypical high school life depicted in movies.  

I would just like all you females out there to take time to watch this video.

 

 

At first I was flabbergasted, thinking that she was contradicting the very point she was trying to make. In the video she says that "[She's] comfortable with her body", and of course she is, she's fit and beautiful, regardless of those idiots calling her a pig. But then I watched it again and understood that, though it sounded a bit arrogant, it wasn't. She has paved her way into a modelling career even when she wasn't skinny enough to get in and even when she got called a pig, she still held her head high. She's setting an example and making people wonder, if she's a plus-size, what does normal size look like?

 

I know I need to work on this as well, but we need to feel beautiful no matter our body size. We are after all, individuals and so cannot objectify beauty as a number on a scale. Be healthy, be strong-minded, know yourself and be content with how you are. Don't give in to the stares, or ever let people tell you that you're not good enough, because if you're good enough for yourself, then that is all that matters and who are they to say otherwise?

 

So I take back what I said. Go to China.

 

P.S. Just found out about this video depicting the truth about the media and what a lot of girls are striving for: an impossible 'perfect' body.

 



Bargaining in China

I recently went to Beijing and experienced shopping there for the first time. As you may know, everything seems to be 'Made in China', so you can expect a lot of imitations over there, especially in the markets.

The first market I went to was called the Silk Market and during my stay, I visited this market frequently, mostly because it was the closest- within walking distance. However to get a good price and to keep yourself from freaking out, you'll really need to know how to bargain. The sales people are like vultures, they literally pull you in to their stores. Then when you ask how much an item is, they'll take advantage of you being a foreigner and quote a ridiculous price. Even for me as a Chinese, they can tell that I'm not local so will still give a high number.

I'll give you a few examples of how ridiculous the prices are. My mom saw a nice dress on display and when she asked how much it was the woman quoted her RMB1200, which is approximately RM600. Then while my mom was trying to bargain with her, another lady came in and asked the price. The saleslady went even higher and told her RMB1400. It's actually quite hilarious when you think about it.

Then there are those who will say something like, "Normally, I will give RMB600, but for you I give RMB200, OK?" To make you feel special and to trick you into buying. This happens a lot; once when I asked the price of a cap she typed out on her calculator 400, then said "but for you because you can speak Mandarin, I give 160." My Mandarin is not that good. And what if I could speak other languages, would she go even lower?

In addition, most of them know a little bit of English because that's a tourist spot, but they can also be sarcastic. I went to multiple stores looking for a certain type of pants and in this one store, my dad told the saleswoman, "RMB150 for three." She replied "150 cannot even buy one!" and as we were leaving, I heard her say, "What you think you're buying, socks? Underwear?" That, needless to say has been constantly mentioned in my family. [I bought three at another store for RMB100 each]

You shouldn't settle at the numbers they first quote because it'll be way overpriced, wait until they're desperate and when it's low enough that you think it's worth it, then go for it. Here's a guideline on how to bargain in China:

1. Ask how much it is.
2. If it's ridiculous (99.9% chance that it is), ask yourself do you really need it and if you have energy. If not- get out. Bargaining is very tiresome and saps all your energy.
3. If you really like it, then after they have given you a number, quote them a price that you think is suitable and that you are willing to pay.
4. They will say that's too low and go a bit lower on their end. Stick with your number.
5. If after several repeats they still don't accept your number, slowly walk out. Most of them will call you back and agree to your number or at least a number close to yours. If not, find another shop selling the same stuff and who is willing to sell to you.
6. If you can't find any other shops willing to go as low, you'll have to increase your offer or forget about getting it.

In the end, remember that whatever price they agree to, they will still be making a profit. This is obvious in the way they play with the numbers; first quoting 1000+ and then drastically dropping to 300. Go with what you are comfortable with and know that quite a lot of them are rude or pretend to be offended. It's a gimmick, don't fall for it. They'll also tell you all this nonsense about how the quality is the best and how it's special and whatever - I call bull.

Being in Beijing for less than three weeks has made me a bargaining queen- not really, but I hope this helps in some way and happy shopping!

I'm back!

Hi guys!

This blog was originally made for my computer course but like my other blog I have decided to continue writing in this. I have come up with three categories for me to write about: Issues, Experiences and Footprints. And if you count the general posts which could be anything- such as this post right here, that's four categories. Of course there could be times where a post is in more than one category.

On my other blog I call my non-existent readers, 'Champions' because of the title of that blog, 'championangels'. So since the name of this blog is pretty much a sentence...I'm not sure what to call you guys. Footprints? Print makers?
I'll think about it.

Peace!
-J.Y. Chan