It's a very English topic, but 5 years in the UK did indeed take their toll and weather in Beijing is just worth talking about.
Being being on the same latitude as Rome should suggest a certain kind of climate, but how wrong we were! We just experienced the second freezing winter with temperatures of approx. -10 degrees (apparently this was the coldest winter in 60 years, but Beijingers say that every year). Now arriving at the end of March, we're still wearing the winter coat that is totally sufficient in the UK, for the real winter in Beijing we have an extra-thick one (purchased locally).
Winters and summers are almost equally long in Beijing, spring and autumn last approx. 3 days each. Summers around 30 Degrees, with almost no temperature drop at night (maybe 1-2 degrees).
And this year we actually had quite a few snowfalls over the winter, the latest one last Sunday! Going from last year's experience we should have summer by 5th April, when we immediately changed from winter coats into mini skirts. I'm hoping for the same effect this year!
To top things off, this morning at 9.00 I looked out of the window and everything was yellow. The sandstorm season has started. So, hopefully the hot weather will soon follow.
Saturday 20 March 2010
Wednesday 17 March 2010
When in Rome...
Intellectual property rights are not well respected here in China.
With this in mind I wanted to copy the following for your amusement, I do not however intend to pass it off as my own work.
Like most amusing emails it came on a rather circuitous route, so I can't even give credit to whoever wrote it - through correct use of the term 'bumper' we reckon we have narrowed it down to a Brit, although it also uses 'jaywalking' so who knows - anyway salutes to whoever it was, because this is funny and accurate.
The basics of Driving in China…
Here is the explanation of a simple concept: the left turn.
For the ones who live in China: an overview of what we live everyday
For the ones who are out of China: happy memories of the traffic here!
STEP 1:
We see here a typical intersection. The light has just turned green for the east-west
streets, and car [A], an enormous black Audi with pitch black windows, wants to make
a left turn into the southbound lanes. Pedestrians wait on each corner. (For purposes of this demonstration, we’ll assume no one is running the north-south red light, and no one is jaywalking - a rather large assumption.)
Step 2:
To make a left turn, it is VITAL that [A] cut off all eastbound traffic as soon as
possible. The first few brave or foolish legitimate pedestrians step off the curb; this is of no concern. [A] makes his move.
Step3:
NO! Too slow! [A] has managed to partially block [B], a brand new purple and yellow
Hyundai taxi, but [A] has only achieved whatBeijing drivers would consider a ‘weak’
blocking position.
Step 4:
In this detail, we can see why: [A] has only inserted his left bumper and cannot move
forward without contact. [B], on the other hand, is in the dominant position - by
putting his wheel hard to the right and flooring it, he can fully block [A].
Step 5:
[B] proceeds to swerve right, cutting off [C], a tiny red Peugeot with a gold plastic
dragon hood ornament, spoiler and assorted knobs glued on. Since [B] is just
accelerating, and [C] is now decelerating, this has created a low-density ‘dead space’ in the intersection. [D], a strange blue tricycle dumptruck carrying what appear to be 40 of the world’s oldest propane tanks, sees this and makes a move.
Step 6:
DENIED! [E], an old red taxi with its name sloppily stenciled in white on its doors,
has boldly cut across two lanes of traffic, behind [D], and then swerved right, driving [D] into an extremely weak position behind [A]. Meanwhile, [B] and [C] are still fighting for position, with [C] muscling his way into the crosswalk. The only thing between [E] and a successful left turn is a few lawful pedestrians. [E] steps on the gas…
Step 7:
…and is cut off by [F], an elderly man pedaling his tricycle verrrryyy slooooowwwly
with a 15-foot-diameter sphere of empty plastic cooking oil bottles bungee-corded
haphazardly to the cargo area. He was part of the lawful pedestrians, but seeing the
stalled traffic, decided to cut diagonally across the intersection. Not only has [F]
blocked [E], he is headed straight at [B], giving [C] the edge he needs.
Step 8:
[B] concedes to [C], who drives in the crosswalk behind [F] and blocks [E].
Meanwhile, [G], a herd of about 20 bicycles, mopeds, pedestrians and wheelbarrows,
sensing weakness in the eastbound lane and seeing that much of the westbound traffic
is blocked behind [D], breaks north against the light. [F] pedals doggedly onward at
about 2 miles per hour, his face like chiseled marble.
Step 9:
Now things get interesting. [C] has broken free and, as the first vehicle to get where he was going, wins. [E] makes a move to block [B] but, like [A] at the start of the left turn, only gains a ‘weak’ block. [A] has cleverly let [F] pass and guns into a crowd of [G], which both moves [A] forward and drives some [G] stragglers into the path of [D], clearing [A]’s flanks. Little now stands between [A] and a strong second-place finish.
Step 10:
Except for public bus [H], one of those double buses with the accordion-thing
connector. [H] has been screaming unnoticed along the eastbound sidewalk and now
careens dangerously into a U-turn. This doesn’t appear to concern the 112 people
packed inside and pressed against the windows (although that could be due to a lack of oxygen.) [H] completely blocks both [A] and [D]. On the other side of the
intersection, [B] has swerved into the lawful pedestrians (who aren’t important enough to warrant a letter) and has gained position on [E]. [E] has forgotten the face of his father: He was so focused on his battle with [B] that he lost sight of the ultimate goal and is now hopelessly out of position. This clears the path for dark horse [I], a blue Buick Lacrosse, to cut all the way across behind [H] and become the second vehicle to get where he was going (and the first to complete a left turn), since [F] has changed his mind again and is now gradually drifting north into the southbound lanes. But everyone better hurry, because the light is about to change…
Step 11:
Step 12:
And we're ready to start over...
Just in case you think this is a figment of someone's over-worked imagination, I'll finish with an actual photograph taken by a friend, Richard who has recently moved south from Beijing to Sichuan (where the pandas and spicy food are). This requires no caption:
With this in mind I wanted to copy the following for your amusement, I do not however intend to pass it off as my own work.
Like most amusing emails it came on a rather circuitous route, so I can't even give credit to whoever wrote it - through correct use of the term 'bumper' we reckon we have narrowed it down to a Brit, although it also uses 'jaywalking' so who knows - anyway salutes to whoever it was, because this is funny and accurate.
The basics of Driving in China…
Here is the explanation of a simple concept: the left turn.
For the ones who live in China: an overview of what we live everyday
For the ones who are out of China: happy memories of the traffic here!
STEP 1:
We see here a typical intersection. The light has just turned green for the east-west
streets, and car [A], an enormous black Audi with pitch black windows, wants to make
a left turn into the southbound lanes. Pedestrians wait on each corner. (For purposes of this demonstration, we’ll assume no one is running the north-south red light, and no one is jaywalking - a rather large assumption.)
Step 2:
To make a left turn, it is VITAL that [A] cut off all eastbound traffic as soon as
possible. The first few brave or foolish legitimate pedestrians step off the curb; this is of no concern. [A] makes his move.
Step3:
NO! Too slow! [A] has managed to partially block [B], a brand new purple and yellow
Hyundai taxi, but [A] has only achieved whatBeijing drivers would consider a ‘weak’
blocking position.
Step 4:
In this detail, we can see why: [A] has only inserted his left bumper and cannot move
forward without contact. [B], on the other hand, is in the dominant position - by
putting his wheel hard to the right and flooring it, he can fully block [A].
Step 5:
[B] proceeds to swerve right, cutting off [C], a tiny red Peugeot with a gold plastic
dragon hood ornament, spoiler and assorted knobs glued on. Since [B] is just
accelerating, and [C] is now decelerating, this has created a low-density ‘dead space’ in the intersection. [D], a strange blue tricycle dumptruck carrying what appear to be 40 of the world’s oldest propane tanks, sees this and makes a move.
Step 6:
DENIED! [E], an old red taxi with its name sloppily stenciled in white on its doors,
has boldly cut across two lanes of traffic, behind [D], and then swerved right, driving [D] into an extremely weak position behind [A]. Meanwhile, [B] and [C] are still fighting for position, with [C] muscling his way into the crosswalk. The only thing between [E] and a successful left turn is a few lawful pedestrians. [E] steps on the gas…
Step 7:
…and is cut off by [F], an elderly man pedaling his tricycle verrrryyy slooooowwwly
with a 15-foot-diameter sphere of empty plastic cooking oil bottles bungee-corded
haphazardly to the cargo area. He was part of the lawful pedestrians, but seeing the
stalled traffic, decided to cut diagonally across the intersection. Not only has [F]
blocked [E], he is headed straight at [B], giving [C] the edge he needs.
Step 8:
[B] concedes to [C], who drives in the crosswalk behind [F] and blocks [E].
Meanwhile, [G], a herd of about 20 bicycles, mopeds, pedestrians and wheelbarrows,
sensing weakness in the eastbound lane and seeing that much of the westbound traffic
is blocked behind [D], breaks north against the light. [F] pedals doggedly onward at
about 2 miles per hour, his face like chiseled marble.
Step 9:
Now things get interesting. [C] has broken free and, as the first vehicle to get where he was going, wins. [E] makes a move to block [B] but, like [A] at the start of the left turn, only gains a ‘weak’ block. [A] has cleverly let [F] pass and guns into a crowd of [G], which both moves [A] forward and drives some [G] stragglers into the path of [D], clearing [A]’s flanks. Little now stands between [A] and a strong second-place finish.
Step 10:
Except for public bus [H], one of those double buses with the accordion-thing
connector. [H] has been screaming unnoticed along the eastbound sidewalk and now
careens dangerously into a U-turn. This doesn’t appear to concern the 112 people
packed inside and pressed against the windows (although that could be due to a lack of oxygen.) [H] completely blocks both [A] and [D]. On the other side of the
intersection, [B] has swerved into the lawful pedestrians (who aren’t important enough to warrant a letter) and has gained position on [E]. [E] has forgotten the face of his father: He was so focused on his battle with [B] that he lost sight of the ultimate goal and is now hopelessly out of position. This clears the path for dark horse [I], a blue Buick Lacrosse, to cut all the way across behind [H] and become the second vehicle to get where he was going (and the first to complete a left turn), since [F] has changed his mind again and is now gradually drifting north into the southbound lanes. But everyone better hurry, because the light is about to change…
Step 11:
Step 12:
And we're ready to start over...
Just in case you think this is a figment of someone's over-worked imagination, I'll finish with an actual photograph taken by a friend, Richard who has recently moved south from Beijing to Sichuan (where the pandas and spicy food are). This requires no caption:
Saturday 13 March 2010
Fruit in season - but when are the seasons?
Sorry about the long absence, I was thinking about a cracking subject to re-install my presence on the blog, but you can guess from the title that it only goes so far....
Fruit. All of us eat it, all of us love it and all of us are keen to get a bargain price. In the early days, only the fruit in season was available, then globalisation took off and now you can get pineapples, oranges and dragon fruit any day of the year in your local Marks & Spencer. The campaign of only buying fruit in season in Europe is only successful to a certain extent and that is manly price-related (unfortunately). Having farmer's roots, I pride myself with roughly knowing when apples, cherries, strawberries and blackberries are in season. But since our arrival in China I had to re-evaluate my knowledge: Fruit is very much seasonal here, and even in the expensive Western supermarket with the glorious names of Jenny Lou and April Gourmet you won't find a watermelon in January. Fruit is sold according to seasons and comes from all over China. But what are the seasons here? That's exactly the point: China is so huge that we get "winter strawberries" which ripe in Yunnan (south of China) between December and March, watermelons from May to November, pineapples from November to March, Lychees from June to September......
Outside of work a little fruit stall has established itself which makes a killing selling fruit to diplomats. I paid about 2 Euros for a bag of Mangos (from Sichuan), an apple (no idea where it came from), two bananas from Hainan, lots of oranges from Yunnan and a bag of strawberries from Guilin. The sales girl happily explains to me on a daily basis where the fruit comes from and ends up giving me free fruit on top of my purchases (a clear sign that I'm paying too much). But the availability of fruit changes with the seasons. Great, isn't it?! You can look forward to the first strawberry of the year, when you see the pineapple sellers in the street it's nearly Christmas and the lychees announce the hot summer months.
Watermelon being my favourite favourite fruit of all times I'm pleased to announce that Mark already spotted the small kind yesterday. Ssummer is only around the corner.....
Fruit. All of us eat it, all of us love it and all of us are keen to get a bargain price. In the early days, only the fruit in season was available, then globalisation took off and now you can get pineapples, oranges and dragon fruit any day of the year in your local Marks & Spencer. The campaign of only buying fruit in season in Europe is only successful to a certain extent and that is manly price-related (unfortunately). Having farmer's roots, I pride myself with roughly knowing when apples, cherries, strawberries and blackberries are in season. But since our arrival in China I had to re-evaluate my knowledge: Fruit is very much seasonal here, and even in the expensive Western supermarket with the glorious names of Jenny Lou and April Gourmet you won't find a watermelon in January. Fruit is sold according to seasons and comes from all over China. But what are the seasons here? That's exactly the point: China is so huge that we get "winter strawberries" which ripe in Yunnan (south of China) between December and March, watermelons from May to November, pineapples from November to March, Lychees from June to September......
Outside of work a little fruit stall has established itself which makes a killing selling fruit to diplomats. I paid about 2 Euros for a bag of Mangos (from Sichuan), an apple (no idea where it came from), two bananas from Hainan, lots of oranges from Yunnan and a bag of strawberries from Guilin. The sales girl happily explains to me on a daily basis where the fruit comes from and ends up giving me free fruit on top of my purchases (a clear sign that I'm paying too much). But the availability of fruit changes with the seasons. Great, isn't it?! You can look forward to the first strawberry of the year, when you see the pineapple sellers in the street it's nearly Christmas and the lychees announce the hot summer months.
Watermelon being my favourite favourite fruit of all times I'm pleased to announce that Mark already spotted the small kind yesterday. Ssummer is only around the corner.....
Friday 12 March 2010
Absence makes the heart grow fonder
It's surprising I can get that post title the right way around given my father's malign influence. Ask him if you don't know what I'm talking about.
Anyway, it's been a while since I've said anything and I haven't got much to say today.
In the hope that this will keep you distracted, listen to this music, but only in preparation for a night out and not if you're over 40, you just won't like it.
So I still care enough to make you things, y'see.
China and Beijing are becoming infected with normality now, so less things strike me to talk about. That and the workload at the start of this semester have made blogging less of a priority recently. But I intend to redouble my efforts, even if you simply have to share some of my reflexive musings, rather than the interesting stuff about China. It's not like I've a huge readership to lose is it?
Anyway, it's been a while since I've said anything and I haven't got much to say today.
In the hope that this will keep you distracted, listen to this music, but only in preparation for a night out and not if you're over 40, you just won't like it.
So I still care enough to make you things, y'see.
China and Beijing are becoming infected with normality now, so less things strike me to talk about. That and the workload at the start of this semester have made blogging less of a priority recently. But I intend to redouble my efforts, even if you simply have to share some of my reflexive musings, rather than the interesting stuff about China. It's not like I've a huge readership to lose is it?
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