Honey! I forgot the suitcase home!

We just realized that it has been three years already! Three years here, in Beijing, three years of discovery, and of learning. And continuing.
It just happened that this is a long weekend here in China, the "Golden week" (黄金周), a combination of a three-day holiday celebrating the creation of the country, and the reshuffling of the work-week, to end up with 7 consecutive days off, allowing many to return visit family in their villages.
We just did what the Chinese do, and headed to a village, Wuduhe, 100 inhabitants, near the Great Wall. (ponder on this number in comparison to what is called here a mid-sized city, with one or two millions inhabitants).
We are fortunate enough to have friends who found a courtyard house in the countryside. They are renting it with some friends, and for that special weeks, nobody was using it.
We packed up with electric blankets, warm night wear and thick comforters, since the nights are now more fresh (10 degrees), and the house not heated. We also took lots of food to barbecue. We sailed out of Beijing while the kids were napping in the back of the car, heavy with all the gear needed for 3 days out of the city.
It is always so nice to drive out to the countryside, and it lovely to arrive to the house, meet the owners, let the kids roam.
All was well until we realized that our suitcase full of our sleeping gear, diapers and toiletry was forgotten at home. After pondering a few long minutes about the possibility of driving back to Beijing to pick it up (for a 4-hours round trip), I opted to head out to the nearest town, on a mission, but skeptical about what I could find (PJs are easy, but contact lenses solution?) I first got into a typical street market to find regular Chinese pajama (think thick lined cotton) sold in a small shop directly on wooden tables.  I basically bought half the inventory of the lady, each piece for about 30 or 40 RMB each (someone was happy from our mindlessness at last!)

Fashionable Chinese winter PJs - (this picture was taken in Beijing). 
Then I drove out in direction of a more "modern" street, with small stores. Not only I easily found the diapers (don't forget, most kids are still using split pants here), I could choose one brand from another.  And then I left in search of an eyewear store (at this point without any notion of Mandarin it would be Mission Impossible). I drove away, turned at the indicated intersection. I was told I could not miss it. Indeed:  I found myself in front of an immense mall filled with latest fashion - something at par with Beijing's downtown shopping malls: all lights and adds on the outside, all loud music and expensive items inside.
It was an amazing discovery to drive from this tiny little village and found such a modern city, so near. I guess on our way to Wuduhe, we passed away from it, on the highway, giving us the sense that we are heading to a more isolated, more rural area than what it is.  In any cases, point made, our rural countryside house is kind of just beside a fairly large city (named Huairou), with all conveniences. So next time we run out of butter, we know where to go.
I entered the mall, searched the eyewear store, found one, bought the solution, walked out through the back door, where I discovered another set of 5 similar stores tucked away. It happens that this solution is not a rare commodity in this part of the country.
Thanks g-d.
I drove back and 20 minutes later, I entered Wuduhe village, trudging carefully along the narrow concrete road between a deep ditch and the villages houses' walls, whose inhabitants are already in the dark ready to sleep. I finally reached the house, tucked away at the end of the village, just beside the chestnut orchards. It was 7:00 PM, I felt I had moved in that amount of time 50 years back in time.
The kids put on their new super-duper chinese thick PJs, we tucked them in bed, and we sat back and toasted to the last 3 years of our life in a country that never cease to surprise us.

Wa Er Mah

One of my weekly destination here is Beijing is Wa Er Mah, the Chinese Wal Mart. I guess I have always resisted going to the superstores and the megasuperhumongous markets, as it is not my cup of tea. In general, you need to walk miles to stand in front of rows and rows of products, with a limited selection of brands, but in sizes fit for a family of 10. My fridge and cupboards can never accommodate all these large size containers, my feet are too soft to walk so much (well I like hiking, but not in a store) and I am usually in search of a larger selection of brands, products, and I guess, a more "real" experience.

However, when you get in China, you can find the real Chinese experience in the Wal Mart. I really mean it. 

First you have the people experience. Wa Er Mah is usually crowded, whatever time of the day you go. You will find people everywhere, customers of course, but also incalculable number of "associates" as they are called. They are busy handing you flyers, cleaning, ordering and unloading merchandise, serving and guiding customers, weighting your fresh produces, handing you a cart, serving a new product, standing and waiting there, or yelling in a microphone the benefits of a new drink, and even helping you out with your heavy bags. Even if there would be no customers, you would feel quite surrounded, so now imagine shopping at rush hour!

Then you have the product experience. I guess by choosing to go there at first, I was expecting an American type of product choice. Wal Mart equals America in my mind. Well, not quite here. You find almost exclusively Chinese products, for a Chinese market.  I guess I should not have been surprised. Import products are japanese, korean or indian. There is of course Coca Cola, and a few others "incontournables" but their labels are disguised under a layer of Chinese characters, sometimes making them hard to recognize. You can find a immense variety of noodles; eggs ones, vegetable ones, large or small, translucent or bent, some with ready mixes in cup, bowls or bags, with a huge selection of flavours (and of course with MSG flavouring). There is a great variety of sea-food, a range of meat stomach-churning delicatessen, a huge selection of vaccum-sealed Peking duck, live fish, including live crab and (poor) soft-shell turtles. As expected, there is a range of unknown products, and such a wide selection of beans and condiments that I would not know what to do with them. Even if Wa Er Mah is more of a extremely large grocery store, there is a non-edible sections,. They feature the latest in the main stream Chinese fashion (think padded jackets and thick long johns), various household items (think your grandmother's flower curtains)  and low-end household appliances (I returned an air humidifier after a week of use). 

Then you have the noise experience. I had to overcome my hearing sensitivities. I am having quite a bit of difficulty to shop in an environment that uses noise as an attention grabber. But in that regard Wa Er Mah is just like anywhere else in China. TVs are located all over the store, each of them competing with the voice of an agent on a speaker, telling you the latest deals to be found in the store, and at times interrupted by tellers calling their supervisors. And through all this, there are the high pitch voices of some young women, dressed in costumes similar to majorettes, enticing you to try their new product in a microphone. The ambiance is at its best invasive, at worst overwhelming and aggressive. But with some practice, I have got used to it (zen was develop in Asia, no?!). However, every visit with Noam has been a bit too much for the poor baby. After a few minutes of the general ambiance, coupled with the numerous attempts from customers and staff to make him smile or to touch him, he would end up screaming his way through the store, a bit like a siren warning others of our imminent arrival, and certainly a great deterrent to anybody trying to approach him. Simply put, he gets over stimulated, while I get overly anxious to find my way out the fastest as possible, with the optional the product X or Y. 

So our few first visits to the store were essentially exploratory visits. We watched the turtles and the fish, contemplate a few unknown bags (are they sugar or flour?), push the cart aimlessly in a number of aisles, trying to remember through the general noise, amplified by my son's screams, what am I looking for again, before rushing to the cashier and then out for some (fresh) air, with only half of what I needed. 

Don't take me wrong. After considerations, and without the company of my son as shopping assistant, I love Wa Er Mah. I can find here lots of interesting food items, fresh fish and fresh produce, even some "organic" ones. I can also learn about the local value of most vegetables and fruits, no hassle and no bargaining. And at the same time, I can have a glance at what modern China eats today.

A pearl of a friend

My dear friend Kerstin came over this week. While in Washington, Kerstin and I bonded while watching our respective sons grow during their first year of life. She is one of those persons with whom I instantly found affinities beyond the mummy business.  

As Kerstin has been coming in Beijing for work several times a year, she was our informal guide when we came in June for our pre-assignment trip. To have her stay with us in Beijing was such a wonderful Xmas gift for me. 

Noam also enjoyed her company. Note that we unintentionally coordinated ourselves with stripes; sweater, socks and shirt. 

Kerstin was not only in town for a forestry conference, but also was mandated by her mom to find a pearl necklace for her aunt. Together we went on mission to find her aunt the perfect treasure. We went to the Silk Market, a huge battleground of a market, where even veteran hagglers like myself get tired. 

A friend had recommended Marie's shop, on the top floor of the market, so we headed straight up, avoiding the crowd and its hustle bustle. Once in the shop, we started looking at the pearls. After mentioning my friend's name, the price of a string of pearls went down by ... 95%! This steep drop in price made us feel that maybe there was something to be weary of. Or how much they really abuse the poor shoppers. Since Kerstin remembered how much she paid last year for a similar necklace, we estimated that the owner would be offering us a decent price. 

So as we were shown threads after threads of pearls, from hues of white to hues of pink, we inspected them, trying to find defects and imperfections. In the end we settled for a string of slightly pink ones, of a larger size. A lady prepared the necklace for us, her magical hands knotting 16 inches of pearls on a string in less than 15 minutes. 

Once back home we looked at them again, not sure if our deal was good, or if the pearls were like most things in the Silk Market, fakes. I guess the only way to know will be to bring them for an evaluation. And maybe I could also find out the store owner's value of her friendship.

That said, with my limited knowledge of pearls (I received a Mikimoto pearl last year from my mother in law), I feel somewhat confident that we bought something of a reasonably good quality for the price paid. 

Ikea or the Scale Factor

Today we went to Ikea. I can't even remember how the taxi driver prononced the name! Maybe something like "Eedjee-ah" said very fast. I can't remember all the new words people tell me. But that can be the subject of another post.

So we set our to Eedjee-ah, by cab. After crossing a good part of the city, we arrived in front of a massive blue box. The second largest store, after the original one, in Sweden. I guess they respond to the demand here! A rising middle class mass.

De Ikea

 

De Ikea

First objective: food. Noam is hungry. So we try to find a free spot in a see of tables and people. After quite a few attempts and rounds around the cafeteria, we find a seat and a high chair, and I set myself in the queue. The same famous meatballs for me and some vegetarian stirfry for Paul. Noam gets a bit of both. Hummmy!

The we are ready to head in the jungle of the display room. It is packed of people! We are in a mission: finding a coffee table/baby table/high chair/cosy chair/plastic plates/plastic cups... 

De Ikea

We emerged 4 hours later: Mission Accomplie!