No biting the personnel

IMG_0738Originally uploaded by Fizzz.

The last two days in Tokyo have been fascinating. While in Beijing I had the help of a native Mandarin speaker and was constantly looked at as an abnormality, here we’re only two more foreign tourists that don’t speak the lingo. We’re of no interests to the locals. Getting their assistance as therefore been a challenge. Luckily grunts and pantomimes are universal tools of communication. Barring a few mishaps in the subway and difficulties buying a calling card, we’ve had no problems. We even got our JP Rail pass and reserved the tickets for our train on Sunday to Matsumoto through Nagano.

Overall we like Tokyo although there are little things we haven’t quite absorbed yet. For example, we’re always on the lookout for trash cans. The city is so clean - people don’t litter here - that there’s nothing to throw away when walking down the street it seems and therefore no need for trash cans. We’re still fascinated by the rules of fashion. School kids all wear uniforms (genre Notre-Dame). There’s very little individuality in the dress code between girls from the same school. Coloring your hair while in school appears to be a no-no (which is quickly made up for upon entering the work place). Yes, school girls travel in pack and do the V finger sign of peace when photographed; I doubt they recognize the gesture for what it is. Boys on the other hand, being boys, un-tuck their shirts and take off their jackets as soon as they’re left alone. Young adults are completely different from their school aged versions. While the Beijing professional dress code matched that of the western world, the Japanese one transcends it. Every label you can think of is sold and bought here. As S said, Tokyo people don’t walk around with fake Louis Vuitton hand bags. Beyond the clothing, the hairdo, make up, accessories and stance are like I’ve yet to see in North-America. For example, I’ve seen a few men with hand bags; not that I object but it’s not common practice in Seattle. The hair styles are also straight out of every Japanese TV show you’ve seen (including anime). There are people with the same hair cut as Chairman Kaga from Iron Chef.

Talking about anime, we’ve figured out one element of metropolitan Japanese society, sadly. We believe the reason cats figure so prominently in Japanese media is because of the huge number of them in at least this city. Obviously people here like cats but, like Greenlake as its problem of stray bunnies , Tokyo has its problem of stray cats. According to some, the Tokyo authority disposes of the bodies of more than 10 000 stray cats a year. Literally, they’re everywhere. At first you think it’s cute to see a few cats in the imperial palace. At second glance you realize these cats are mostly bones. Suddenly you understand why they’re so giddily eating whatever the tourists throw their way. You’re saddened by this. By the end of the day, you’ve seen tens more of these furry companions.

The title of this post is “They’re everywhere!” You may think this refers to cats by now. True it at least does a little bit. In fact it refers to the fact that this city is so huge that whatever you see in one part of town, you’re bound to see again elsewhere in the city. For example, I’d guess for central Tokyo that there’s a subway stop in any direction every kilometer (if not less). That’s ignoring the train lines. Instead of jumping into any subway entrance, it’s preferable to look at a map and walk to the entrance that gets you on the line you want to use. Similarly, as per the rumors, there are vending machines everywhere. In fact, according to our book, Japan has a ratio of 1 vending machine for every 20 resident. The same is probably accurate of pachinko arcades.

We’ve started the second part of our vacation. The trip was mostly uneventful. The Beijing smog was back to bid us farewell yesterday morning as a friend of one of the uncles drove us to the airport. Of course that means we also got more gifts: moon cakes and tea. We flew on All Nippon which lived up to the reputation of Japanese air lines. Each seat has its own TV which besides playing movies or TV shows can also serve as a game console. The console’s remote being embedded in the seat’s arm. Even cooler, each passenger gets to start the movie at their own leisure; that way you don’t miss the beginning of the movie as you settle in. That has its own downside of course as I only got to see the first 1h45 of the Davinci Code. Now I’ll have to rent the movie to learn what happens to Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou.

They say in Japan foreigners often get accosted by students of English looking for a chance to practice. Then I guess I must have a big target sign on me as I had this experience as soon as we boarded the train from Narita to Tokyo. The high-school student works evening at the McDonald at the airport to strengthen her English. She wants to be a flight attendant in a few years. She had a good sense of humor and made for a great welcoming party.

I say the trip was mostly uneventful as we had a few problems finding the ryokan. I encourage you if you have a chance to read up on Tokyo’s addressing system. It’s quite different from ours. As such we had the pleasure of playing the role of lost tourists to the clueless Japanese-only-speaking construction workers. All in all though, it was fun and today should be no different.

True to ourselves we’re breakfasting on moon cakes.

Beijing06-2Originally uploaded by Fizzz.

Those are words that we’ve heard over and over these past 10 days. Only a few times were they aimed at us. This expression, although spoken in Mandarin, seems as common as “you haven’t changed a bit.” Except they mean it. Of course there are no hard feelings involved; it’s not like they’re insulting one another.

The caveat though is that it’s ok for men to be fat. It’s not ok for women, especially young single women. Boys like slim girls. Girls don’t really have a say since all boys are, by their own accord, fat. We’re not talking fat per the American definition of a BMI greater than 25; aim way lower than that. This message is also heavily reinforced in ads and on T.V.: infomercials have arrived. One sells the wonder of a new invention in shoe insoles; it makes walking around the city even more fun. This means less time at the gym.

To be fair, Beijing, walking and cycling go hand in hand. I wouldn’t fill ill at ease walking from here to downtown; something I couldn’t say about Seattle. While cars have become popular, I’d probably get downtown faster cycling at a sedate pace (as the book puts it) than driving. Thus most people here get some exercise daily. They also don’t need special expensive sports gear to practice these. The average bike here is a clunker and anything more expensive would probably get stolen quickly. There are also very few sports equipment stores. We found some in the luxury shopping center as S was looking for comfortable sandals.

The ubiquity of walking may also explain why we’ve seen so few athletic centers. Why workout if you walk 5 to 8 miles every day. I noticed a few days back from our hotel room, that there’s a recreational area right across the alley behind the hotel. It has two tennis courts and two basketball courts. I’ve yet to see someone use them. Which brings us to the picture. These exercise devices are very similar to the ones in modern gyms back home. You might say they’re primitive versions (and they are) but they get the job done for those who don’t walk daily. We’ve seen plenty of grand-parents and mothers will toddlers using them. They can be found throughout the city next to the new apartment buildings.

IMG_0557 

Originally uploaded by Fizzz.

We’ve given moon cakes and we’ve received moon cakes. With the Moon festival coming, these are on sale in every store. They range from a few Yuan for one piece to hundreds of Yuan for an elaborate box set. That’s still cheaper than in Seattle. There’s also a lot more variety. For example, in addition to red bean paste and lotus paste, you can also get chocolate here.

Interestingly, these box sets are like the Christmas gifts you pass around (for those of you with extended families). They’re as safe a gift as chocolate in the Western world; safer here than a bottle of wine or whisky for sure. That said, they pack a lot more calories than Godiva chocolate. Let’s say now that your cousin comes to visit, he brings moon cakes of course. A few days later, you go see an old friend, of course you bring her moon cakes, his’. As the foreigner, it made sense to me to offer some to the head of the family. Since he doesn’t eat sweets, half of them have already come back to us. We also got a set as a parting gift from an uncle.

While we won’t be in Beijing to celebrate the Moon Festival, we’ll be eating moon cakes in Japan for breakfast until then.

IMG_0527 

Originally uploaded by Fizzz.

Literally.

Today was a gorgeous day here. It rained yesterday and this morning was windy. Thus, there wasn’t a puff of smog or cloud to be seen. We had a lot of fun jumping around the city. What struck us again though is the number of construction projects. It’s like a kid playing with Lego decided to tear down and start from scratch. New modern apartment towers are cropping up everywhere; many replacing the previous generation. There’s a new shopping center everywhere we look (always with a grocery store in the basement). Two car lane streets are being widened into four car lane streets plus bike lanes on each side. Imagine someone deciding that Broadway on Capitol Hill (or St-Denis in Montreal) should be significantly larger and destroying the buildings on each side for the entire length of the street. Elsewhere they’re simply tearing down all of the shops and giving the street a face-lift. The picture shows Qianmen, a street which according to our 2004 book is good for shopping. Right now huge stretches of it have these billboards up instead. With only a few exceptions, the stores there don’t exist anymore. As a tourist walking down one of the remodeled street there are no signs of what was there before.

Still, all of the new construction downtown uses the same basic grey brick. It’s easy therefore to spot new from old. Moreover, as I mentioned in a previous post, this often only masks the old decrepit residences behind. A few times the door between two sets of shops was left open giving us a first eye view of how the inhabitants behind the shops are faring. That’s when the contrast of old Beijing and new Beijing hits you.

All of these major construction endeavors need to be finished by the end of 2007; or so we heard. The government doesn’t want construction interfering with the business of the Olympics. For us, this has also meant that many historical sites and museums are closed for repairs. We can only guess that the city will, whether or not it agrees, look good for the games of 2008.

Beijing06-6 

Originally uploaded by Fizzz.

In the tourist hutong you can find skilled street vendors of edible goods. The reality is you won’t find much of this food anywhere else in the city. This picture is of figurines. The sugar used is unrefined. It has the consistency of play-doh. The vendor stretches it by hand , bites a tiny chunk out than blows the blob into shape.

The result is visually impressive and fun to eat although not that good nor sanitary. In the Flickr album you’ll find a picture of a slug; that’s the dragon we ordered for me at the cost of 10 CNY.

Last night we had dinner with a cousin who works as a product designer for Baidu. He’s got a CS background from Qinghua. Part of the conversation veered to cost of living and salaries. A college hire nowadays can hope for an annual salary of 8500 China Yuan Renminbi (CNY) a month, 1050 USD. An apartment in a suburb though might set him back 2000 CNY a month. Not all 20 something live own their own. Many whose family also lives in Beijing prefer to stay with their parents until they meet someone. Leasing downtown isn’t an option.

A few nights ago we had dinner with one of S’s friends from grade school. She’s now an accountant in her mid-twenties. After college she worked for a few years at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu. She recently quit to go work at a technology startup, Taihoo. There the hours are sane. Seems like grinding down junior accountants (or developers, lawyers and consultants) transcends cultural barrier. After a few years of work she makes more than 12000 CNY a month, aka 1500 USD. The progression is similar to what you’d make in North-America.

Those salaries are below the taxation level here. Moreover, there’s no sales tax and tipping is unheard of here. At worse, a very fancy restaurant might add a 10% service charge automatically. A neighborhood restaurant wouldn’t. Finally, most youths don’t own cars. It’s not practical in this city. A ride on a regular bus is a few CNY depending on distance. Buses run every few minutes. Taxis are also very popular. We’ve been using them a lot. From the 3rd ring to downtown in morning traffic will set you back ~30 CNY. The minimum charge is 10 CNY.

So what do they do with their spare income? Spend it.

Consumerism is more rampant here than in any city I’ve visited, including New York. Yesterday we went to one of the shopping district. Think downtown Montreal or Bellevue Square but a few times bigger. Compared to North-America, small labels seem to do very well here. They easily undercut the more expensive labels and, if you’re careful, quality is as good as what you’d get in North-America (after all, a lot of what I buy in Seattle or Montreal is Made in Asia). S bought a blouse for ~100 CNY and a hairpin for 18 CNY. There’s also a market for designer labels. One of the shopping centers specializes in luxury goods: Armani, Cartier, etc. Prices for these seem the same as elsewhere.

Eating out is also popular. Given the population density, there are restaurants a plenty. I haven’t seen anyone serve western cuisine. According to the guide book there are a few Italians a few French restaurants in the international section. You do see chain restaurants: KFC, McDonald, Pizza Hut, Outback Steak House, etc. Each of them has tailored their offering a bit to the local market. The prices though are outrageous by local standards. A tall Starbucks latte is 23 CNY (which at 2.88 USD is about the same as in the US). In comparison, I’ve now been to many good Chinese restaurants ranging from fast food to sit down dinner all much cheaper.

My lunch in a food court yesterday was 8 CNY. A good sit-down dinner for two with four or five dishes (including my favorite Sichuanese dish of chili chicken) is ~100 CNY. The most we think a dinner has cost us was 400 CNY for three. Since no-ones trusts the water system and given the heat, bottled liquids make a killing. A bottle of water is 2 CNY. The other popular drink is cold green tea. Since listing ingredients isn’t required, we can only assume they really use tea though and we’re not sure of the calorie count. The result is really nice though. It typically resells for only slightly more than plain water. There are also many ice-cream vendors whose popsicles are 3 to 5 CNY. Some even advertise that they use Real Milk!

In short, with an exchange rate of 8 to 1, Beijing is really cheap for American tourists once you’ve arrived. I’d also suggest it’s a great time for Canadians to visit given the CAD’s strength.

We often hear about piracy. Frankly, I haven’t seen any pirated goods for sale. The reasons I think are simple. First, if you can’t beat them, undercut them. The guide book we have was published in 2004. It suggests that pirated CDs were available for 15 CNY while DVDs went for 30 CNY. These should be easily available. On Friday we visited a local music store (very similar to HMV). They sell the real stuff. CDs were priced at 14~16 CNY while DVDs were 28~30 CNY, including albums I’ve bought in North-America for the same numerical amount albeit in USD. In effect, the real stuff is now priced competitively to the fake stuff. Secondly, downloading content is very popular here. For example, we’ve met people who spend their free time watching the X-Files (season 1 was judged better than seasons 2 to 4).

Technology is also everywhere. Everyone (and I do mean everyone) has a cell phone. When we got here, S was handed one by her uncle. They acquired it for 40 CNY, 5 USD. The cousin last night had a very cute Nokia phone. He and his girlfriend use these to take and show friends pictures of their place and of their cats. The cousin, it’s worth noting, spends a lot of his spare time playing World of Warcraft. As expected also, S has been asked her email address and Instant Messaging contact by relatives. MP3 players are common. The iPod isn’t as popular here; probably because it resells for slightly more than the US price. Laptops also seem expensive. There was an ad the other day for one at 6999 CNY, ~900 USD. I guess some of the electronics simply can’t be made any cheaper.

It’s been a few days already. Since the last entry we’ve visited the Forbidden City, the Great Wall and the Summer Palace. Each of these works is incredible.

The Forbidden City is a massive construction in the center of town facing the Tiananmen square. By the way, searching from the hotel room’s internet connection for Tiananmen in Google immediately brings up the picture of the student and the tanks. However, I can’t seem to access wikipedia.org. Moreover, this is the flakiest internet connection I’ve used yet. Every new connection has a ~30 second delay.

Anyways, the Forbidden City was fantastic. The pictures barely do it justice. I’d like to bring your attention for a second to the lions. No, lions are not native of China. Yet, they’re used as the entrance guards to the important complexes. They’re always a pair. Facing the door, the right lion is the male; it has its right paw on a ball. The left lion is the female; she has her left paw on the tummy of a lion cub. Her claws are playing with its claws. It’s very cute. At least, that’s the idea. On poor quality statues, the lioness looks as if she’s squishing the cub.

The wall… A friend of one of the uncles drove us to two of the segments of the wall about an hour out of town. For the first segment, we went up with the parents using a gondola. Only later did we realize that there was also a roller coaster going up to the wall. It looked like a lot of fun. S and I walked the entirety of the segment that was opened to tourists. In movies they have cars driving on the wall. Although you could fit a small car on the wall, I’d like to see what car can drive up those stairs. After all the wall follows the top of the hills not bottom of the valleys. Walking the wall is a workout. Our quads, gluts and calves are shot.

Driving to the wall was also an experience. For the record, the luxury car brand of choice here is Audi. I’ve been told that A4s are more expensive than A6s since they’re more maneuverable. Although there’s some logic to the driving in the city (the larger and heavier vehicles win), it’s still very hectic. The average cyclist is very nimble. For example, they could easily squeeze between two moving cars, navigate the pedestrian traffic of pike place market (ou un trottoir de la rue St-Catherine). At first I thought the accident rate would be really high but now I’m not so convinced anymore: I’ve yet to see a scratch on a car or a driver yapping on a cell phone. Going back to brands, the Volkswagen Jetta and Passat are fairly popular too and I’ve counted a lot of Buicks and Hyundai. Most striking though are the trucks on the highways: many are carrying much more weight than what their manufacturer intended. As a result it’s common to see trucks going up a hill at 8 mph being passed by cars (or other trucks) on the right and on the left at much higher speed.

You’ll notice I’m not telling you much about the sites themselves. The pictures will say a lot more than I ever could write.

We’ve started uploading some of our pictures to my flickr account. Here’s the link to the Beijing set.

Last night we had fancy hot pot. This didn’t happen by design: having walked through lunch we were hungry and somehow this one restaurant appealed to us more than the others; maybe because there were customers already seated inside. Only when she looked at the menu did we realize it was expensive. As a tourist, cost is always relative. Our meal was ~200 Yuan (25 USD or a good take-out in Seattle). For that we got bottled water and the best hot pot I’ve had yet. Besides the vegetables and tofu, she ordered lamb and I ordered shrimp. It was all ok until they brought the shrimp to the table and I realized that the critters were still alive. Shrimp is said to have one muscle: its back. One is enough for them to deftly dodge the pincers on their way to a boiling death. I’m obviously too soft, to borrow a friend’s expression: I like my meat to grow from a tree.

About the hotel, we’re staying at the Zhejiang Hotel next to the 3rd ring road. We’re on the edge of the map from the Rough Guide. The relatives chose well. I appear to be the only caucasian around in this nice middle-class neighborhood. The shopping center (including a supermarket) is ~200 yards from the hotel. We stopped there this morning for fruits, water and other essentials such as disposable underwear. I also perused their wine selection. There were a few French Cote-du-Rhones, Sauvignon Blanc and Chinese wines. There are also restaurants a plenty within a few minutes walk. Funny thing though: before leaving last Friday I was joking with a Chinese coworker about breakfast. As a North-Americaner, I obviously wouldn’t eat congee; I would hunt for a double tall nonfat latte. Didn’t take long, that shopping center has a Starbucks in addition to a KFC and a DQ. Ah ha! Unlike others, I won’t crack that easily; she came back this evening from a short stroll with a caramel frappucino.

Yesterday we walked around the northeast. We stopped by the Beijing’s 7th book expo. We criss-crossed a few touristy and many non-touristy hutongs. We took a break with expensive frozen drinks at the bridge crossing near the bell and drum towers which we also visited. I have no trust in the guide book. For example, it says tourists should hire rickshaws for the ride in the hutongs near the two towers. What it doesn’t tell you is that the rickshaws will only go in a few of the hutongs: the ones remodeled for the tourists. The real hutongs you’ll have to go visit by foot.

Sadly, although they’re easy to see, they’re also easy to miss. Whereever there’s construction, there’s a wall between it and the sidewalk; you’d never know there were torn down houses right behind it. I’m reminded of the story about Montreal and the 1976 Olympics. Supposedly back then the mayor had blocked off some views from the major roads so tourists wouldn’t realize what the city was going through. The same is happening here in preparation for the 2008 games.

Today we walked the Forbidden City with the relatives. The grandfather is a walking encyclopedia of Chinese history. Plenty of Mandarin speaking tourists would stop to listen whenever he’d speak. I must have gotten one of the more tailored tours possible. About that monument, it’s gigantic. There are more inner-courts than you could visit in a day; most of them are incredible. I especially enjoyed the rock garden. More on all of this later though; pictures say a lot more.