Rolling with the Olympics

When I say rolling, I'm inferring two things. The first is that I've moved yet again. The second is that I've been rolling with the punches of the Beijing gov't for months now, dealing with visa crap and community police and passport inspections etc etc etc. When people ask me if I'm excited about the Olympics, I'm inwardly spitting and outwardly feigning, for to curse the Olympics I may as well be cursing Mao himself. But the truth is that the Olympics is causing more strain than gain, and the hype is creating a number of mini economy bubbles which are doomed to collapse when people realize it's all artificial (the best example is housing; even with record-amounts of new housing coming into the market, prices have continued to increase more than 10% year-on-year since 2005).

The Olympics is being seen as a supersolution to all of the problems in Beijing, but it seems that few people see how superficial this view truly is.

Example 1: pollution. Because of the Olympics, Beijing has implemented a number of measures to curb air pollution in order to appease the IOC and the international community. Many people are impressed with the swiftness and effectiveness of these measures. But easy-come, easy-go, or in this case, easy-go, easy-come. Most of them are only bandage solutions, temporary measures that will be called off after the event. Starting tomorrow, Beijing will implement the half-car road rule; on even days, only cars with even licence plate numbers will be able to drive; and odd on odd days. Since roughly one third of the air pollution in Beijing is caused by cars, this should eliminate about 1/6th of the air pollution (using very rough math). As well, many industrial facilities in the Beijing region and within regions where wind carries pollutants to Beijing are being temporarily shut down. To top that off, outdoors construction is on halt. To speak truthfully, I've noticed the difference, and I'm sure many others have too. But that means it'll hit even harder when these rules are up and the smog returns. The Olympics is not causing major environmental policy changes that will have long-lasting effects, only temporary. The only long-term solution Beijing has implemented is opening the new subway line 10 (which conveniently is 5min from my apartment and takes me from the East to the Northwest in 40min when once it would take me 1hr20min).

Example 2: English. There is much reason for people in China to learn to speak English. It's the international language of business, and the language of Hollywood. As such, most students begin English classes here in middle school, and continue to study through high school and university, at which point many students are required to write the CET-4 English test. But yet, their system is so ... Chinese. People here learn to pass tests. They are great at passing tests. But when that knowledge must be taken outside of a row of desks and applied to the real world, many falter. I meet dozens of people who have learned English for over 10 years and can barely speak beyond a self-introduction. And it's not just a matter of ability, but also confidence, and the lack of an environment in which to practice. But, with the Olympics coming, millions have been given a new purpose to study English: an actual chance to encounter a native English speaker and put their years of study to use. But if they have not realized this by themselves, they needn't fear since there has been flood of slogans and advertisements expressing the importance of learning English in order to serve the anticipated influx of foreigners in August. At my school, I have met dozens of students who are blinded by optimism, seemingly willing to spend 3-4times the average monthly income of a Beijinger on English lessons they plan to use to 'volunteer'. Only in China, I say. You could not possibly convince tens of thousands of people to volunteer for the Olympics in a democratic country. But the big-brother mentality still clings here, and aside from some major progression in many fields, people are still willing to take commands and work for the greater good. And spend hard-earned money for the chance to speak with foreigners because they've been told to make us feel welcome. And what's worse is the taxi drivers. Taxis are the most convenient and practical means for foreigners to get around Beijing. They are cheap (when using foreign currency) and can take you to the very door of where you're going. That is, if you can tell them where you're going. I take taxis every day (I'm not that lazy though, I also ride the bus and subway often, just depends on where I'm going), and in 1.5yrs here I've only met one taxi driver whose English was good enough to be able to respond to me in English. The rest may say greet you with a "hello", only to dissappoint you when they raise their eyebrows at hearing 'left' and 'right', and will simply NOT understand the English names of major venues such as The Worker's Stadium (in Chinese, gongren tiyu guan, not much similarity). This despite a major push for all taxi drivers to speak English that started two years ago and has lost nearly all of its momentum since taxi drivers tend to be poorly-educated, and aside from a once-in-a-while encounter with a foreigner have no chance at all to practice their English skills. And many foreigners who live here can speak enough Chinese to get by in a taxi. But in August it won't be so easy. And don't even pretend to try to feign interest in attempting to look at the idea of boarding a bus, since there are no maps and only the Chinese name of each stop is listed. On the plus side, the subways here are very easy to navigate and all English signage is correct.

Example 3: business opportunities. Everyone seems to think that the Olympics are going to open major international business opportunities for everyone. I hate to break it to them, but those opportunities have been available for a long time now and can be thanked for the sustained 10+% annual growth of the economy here. The Olympics is not going to harvest half-a-million businessmen, but rather half-a-million sports enthusiasts and travelers. No doubt that among those there will be entrepreneurs, but the numbers don't tend towards a euphoric super-business state that will magically rise from the semi-constructed buildings that dot the city. That would require policy change, since doing business in China can be quite complicated and generally requires connections.

So the hype for the Olympics is at an all-time high, but I'm keeping level since I just know there will be consequences.

MOOSEHEAD!

MOOSEHEAD BEER AVAILABLE NEAR MY APARTMENT!
A new mall opened up near to where I live. It's a good example of the domination that the upper 2% in Beijing have been exerting. I live in an area known as Finance Street. I'm not actually 'inside' the financial area, however my window faces it. The new mall, built by thousands of migrant worker being paid about $100/mth offers very few products for under $100/item.





However, luckily for me, there is an Olé (Spanish, French? I'm not sure), a supermarket chain with a good choice of Western foods. The nearest store to me which offers similar fare is about 30min by bus, a location of the French chain Carrefour (家乐福). So, I'm happy.
And I'm extra happy because the only Canadian beer they choose is Moosehead, one of my favourites. I'd piss blood if they only offered Canadian, a beer not worthy of its title.

The Day I Almost Got Deported

Today I thought I was going to have to leave the country. But even worse, I thought I'd have to spend some time locked up before I left. I haven't got my passport, and I can't get it because it's in a police station at Tsingdao (a city 600km away). I'm having my visa renewed, as my original 90day travel visa was up. You'd think they'd be pretty understanding of that situation, but man! did it take a lot of maneuvering and chatting. It was a bit of a harrowing experience, but luckily things seem to be alright now.

It began in the afternoon. I woke up around noon, and my roommates mentioned they wanted to go to the nearby pet market (until recently the largest in Beijing). I was intrigued, so got ready to go. The market is cool enough to deserve its own blog, which it will get soon. So we spent a couple of hours there, and around 3:30 I got a call from a local friend asking me where I was. I had forgotten that we had arranged to meet at my place at 3:00... I felt really bad and rushed home. Upon arriving at home, I met with Casper (bit of a funny name, but this guy is rock solid), and within not even five minutes I get a phone call. This time, from a friend of Brian, the guy whose room I'm renting out. Brian had asked this friend to help us whenever if we're ever in need. One of my roommates speaks mandarin, but he's Korean and doesn't always know the protocol of things in Beijing. Brian's friend began telling me that the police were talking to him and saying I have to move out or renew my temporary residence status. While I'm on the phone with him, I hear a firm knock at the door. Sure enough, it's the community watch (the people the police send to do smaller tasks... pesky people). Luckily for me, Casper is local and savvy, and knows how to deal with these people. The end result is that we have to head to the police station.

A bit of background: In Beijing, you need to have approval to live outside of certain (very limited) designated areas. The approval is easy to get, you just go to the police station with your passport and they give you a "temporary residence status" certificate. It expires on the day your visa does. I didn't even go to get mine, Brian took my passport and went with Casper. Convenient for me... at the time. From that point, I mistakenly thought that they were pretty lenient. I know better now.

When Casper and I arrived at the police station, the officer in charge of our area was near-infuriated. Though I couldn't understand him, I was told he threatened jail-time and deportation numerous times. He kept saying I should've come to the police station first, and that people were dispatched to my place to tell me that. I never received such a dispatch. Anyhow, though I didn't understand his words, his tones expressed enough to let me know to shut-up and look innocent and humble. After half an hour of discussion (ie. being preached to), he told us to follow him. We walked outside of the first building and were going around to the back. I couldn't help but think he was leading us to the jailhouse. But, luckily it was only the residential department. They have records for all people living in this vicinity, and foreigners get a special (mostly empty) shelf zone.

Further complications arose when they went into their system to verify whether or not my visa was being processed. I used an agency to extend my visa (since I was changing visa types, which you technically have to do from the chinese embassy in your home-country... or pay an agent). The agency has ties in Tsingdao, a coastal city 600km away from here. So, that's where my passport is. However, when processing it there, it doesn't show on the Beijing system. So, they couldn't verify whether or not it was being processed. On top of that, using an agency to extend visa's is illegal, and so I didn't want to admit to it for a while. Eventually the truth came out, and I was forgiven since I didn't know. The same officer who had threatened me then gave me his card and had the pesky community watch dispatched to my place to post a note of the police station phone numbers where I can reach him in case of any trouble. Casper was of immense help throughout all of this. I didn't speak a word of chinese the entire time... thinking it was better to play as ignorant a role as possible. I think my humble, innocent expression helped too, but there's no way to verify that.

All police signs here are adorned with a cartoon police officer. Ironic?

omg, sick!

I believe I caught what has been described to me by other foreigners as "Beijing-itis". Luckily, I'm over it now, but it put me out for almost a week. Also, I moved to a different hotel, with cheaper rooms but no internet access, which is why I haven't updated the blog in over a week and a half. I've done a few things since the last update, including shooting an AK-47 (!) and checking out a few cool areas in Beijing. I don't have my pics on me now, but I'll be getting them up soon.
Also, I had an awesome time during Chinese New Year. It's a strange period of time in Beijing. Most of the people vanish, they go to their hometowns. The city shrinks from 14million to something like 4 million. But, the remaining 4million all become pyromaniacs, and fireworks here are a minutely occurence. For the couple of days leading up to the New Year and the couple following it, this city is like Armageddon! I've never seen such a display as I've seen on New Years Eve. The city puts on a show, but it pales in comparison to the fireworks let off by individual groups of people. I spent the night at a house party with mostly foreigners, and they had a rooftop patio. Literally, around 11pm on New Years Eve, which was Saturday the 17th, the city was blowing up everywhere, 360 degrees. It was awe-inspiring. If you took all the gunpowder in all the fireworks lit in the hour leading up to the New Year, you could probably take out the entire downtown. The air smelled of gunpowder almost constantly during those days. I have some videos which I'll try to post soon, when I get another chance.
Meanwhile, I have nothing to show atm. I have many pics to post and will do so asap.