I read an article on Yahoo! by George Hobica what they don't tell you in the plane safety demo and thought it was very interesting. While some about why we must put on the oxygen masks for ourselves first before aiding others I've guessed just as much (except less scientifically), and the part about no high heels are also common sense; the others are a pretty interesting read as well.
As usual, I also tend to read the first few comments after an article just to get some thoughts on the subject and as usual I'm not disappointed. There were some pretty funny sharing. Here are some of those that I liked:
A comment from Jason D: Southwest has the funniest flight atten. One said last week in case our flight should turn into a cruise you have a life vest under your seat.
Comment from Hey: We landed in one city where it took quite some time to taxi from the runway to the gate and at the end the attendant said "Just so you people know, Southwest is able to keep the lowest fairs because we fly you half of the way and drive you the rest."
Another good one was when a man was hitting on the young attendant and she goes up to his friend sitting next to him said "Make sure to put your mask on first and then your child."..
My own sharing is an experience on Air Asia (if not mistaken it was a flight to Langkawi). We had a particularly charismatic cabin crew who provided the voice of the safety demonstration given by the flight attendants. He peppered the whole safety briefing with light jokes e.g. "please looks at the beautiful flight attendants in front of you as they've been practicing very hard to put on this show for you" and so on and so forth. The one that took the cake though was "This is a non-smoking flight. Please refrain from smoking. If you are unable to refrain from the temptation, please step outside of the plane" and this statement was given when we're already in taxi waiting to take-off.
I think we would have more people interested in listening to the safety briefing if all crews are like this guy. :-)
Friday, 1 February 2013
The Heating Debate
I can see that it's tough managing a country the size of China and at the rapid / crazy growth seen in China. Before you can clear 1 issue, you find another 1 cropping up.
The "heating" debate which got heated up (pun unintended) right before the haze / pollution index stole the limelight was about the indoor heating facilities in the country. Currently, only the "North" (normally the line would be drawn based on the great Yangtze river - provinces North of the river are Northern China) have heating facilities indoors for all Public areas and central hot air / water supply to all neighbourhoods. While the South are without such "luxuries". As a result, the Southern cities i.e. Guangdong, Fujian, Hunan etc etc typically have very cold winters - not due to nature but because the buildings in these provinces were not heated. I was told that you need to be equally bundled up indoors as well as outdoors in the South. In comparison to the North where the winter can get very cold especially coupled with the infamous Northern-wind, the people tend to get nice and toasty as soon as they rush in-doors (e.g. mua in T-shirts & shorts at home in Beijing).
Hence the national debate sparked - shouldn't heating system be introduced to the Southern provinces as well? While there were many facts and fiction... oops! figures ;-p being tossed about, 2 statements caught my attention and I remember it as clearly today as when I first read it a couple of months back. One for all the wrong reasons aka it is ludicrous and one for being very thought provoking and not just applicable for this scenario. Though I can't quote back by verbatim, but I'm sharing both statements based on my memory of the gist of the message.
Silly version: The Southern folks are used to the cold and the natural environment of South winters. If we introduce something like heating systems available in the North; the Southerners will fall sick because they'll not be able to acclimatise to the environment created by the heaters. So they'll not want nor need such facilities.
My Remarks: The fact that this statement came from an educated representative of the people is just mind boggling. Heating system in the North is not something aged-old. The age of heating system in China is probably equivalent to an infant when compared to the long history of the population in this country. So considering it is a "modern" introduction - how is it possible that the Northerners are able to acclimatise and not folks from the South? I'm still baffled by the logic of the statement. Then again, such silly statements in my opinion doesn't deserve further utilisation of brain cells.
Thought provoking rebuttal: Is it right to say that when a person is poor, the person should remain poor and will not have any wants beyond that of a poor person? Does it also mean if a person currently feeling cold, should remain feeling cold because the person is used to it and hence will not want to have a warm home?
My Remarks: Bravo! Though I recall he went on to explain further but I felt that his analogy was just perfect with no further explanation required. In just 2 sentences, I felt that the whole debate didn't need to be debated further. And in just 2 sentences, the imagery was so stark obvious / vivid that it strikes a chord. It also brought the national debate down to the most common citizen where the decision matters him / her the most.
While I'm sure there are many other considerations to be made (e.g. electricity supply availability, cost to operate central heating facilities for the cities, cost to the environment etc etc) and hence it's not fair to judge a debate only based on these 2 statements; I just can't help sharing and appreciating a good rebuttal when I see one (nostalgic over my high school debating days). :-)
The "heating" debate which got heated up (pun unintended) right before the haze / pollution index stole the limelight was about the indoor heating facilities in the country. Currently, only the "North" (normally the line would be drawn based on the great Yangtze river - provinces North of the river are Northern China) have heating facilities indoors for all Public areas and central hot air / water supply to all neighbourhoods. While the South are without such "luxuries". As a result, the Southern cities i.e. Guangdong, Fujian, Hunan etc etc typically have very cold winters - not due to nature but because the buildings in these provinces were not heated. I was told that you need to be equally bundled up indoors as well as outdoors in the South. In comparison to the North where the winter can get very cold especially coupled with the infamous Northern-wind, the people tend to get nice and toasty as soon as they rush in-doors (e.g. mua in T-shirts & shorts at home in Beijing).
Hence the national debate sparked - shouldn't heating system be introduced to the Southern provinces as well? While there were many facts and fiction... oops! figures ;-p being tossed about, 2 statements caught my attention and I remember it as clearly today as when I first read it a couple of months back. One for all the wrong reasons aka it is ludicrous and one for being very thought provoking and not just applicable for this scenario. Though I can't quote back by verbatim, but I'm sharing both statements based on my memory of the gist of the message.
Silly version: The Southern folks are used to the cold and the natural environment of South winters. If we introduce something like heating systems available in the North; the Southerners will fall sick because they'll not be able to acclimatise to the environment created by the heaters. So they'll not want nor need such facilities.
My Remarks: The fact that this statement came from an educated representative of the people is just mind boggling. Heating system in the North is not something aged-old. The age of heating system in China is probably equivalent to an infant when compared to the long history of the population in this country. So considering it is a "modern" introduction - how is it possible that the Northerners are able to acclimatise and not folks from the South? I'm still baffled by the logic of the statement. Then again, such silly statements in my opinion doesn't deserve further utilisation of brain cells.
Thought provoking rebuttal: Is it right to say that when a person is poor, the person should remain poor and will not have any wants beyond that of a poor person? Does it also mean if a person currently feeling cold, should remain feeling cold because the person is used to it and hence will not want to have a warm home?
My Remarks: Bravo! Though I recall he went on to explain further but I felt that his analogy was just perfect with no further explanation required. In just 2 sentences, I felt that the whole debate didn't need to be debated further. And in just 2 sentences, the imagery was so stark obvious / vivid that it strikes a chord. It also brought the national debate down to the most common citizen where the decision matters him / her the most.
While I'm sure there are many other considerations to be made (e.g. electricity supply availability, cost to operate central heating facilities for the cities, cost to the environment etc etc) and hence it's not fair to judge a debate only based on these 2 statements; I just can't help sharing and appreciating a good rebuttal when I see one (nostalgic over my high school debating days). :-)
Thursday, 10 January 2013
Sam’s experience in China
I try to imagine Sam’s experience in China. I have always assumed that to a 15-month-old child (when he 1st arrived back in May), since everything is new to him, there shouldn’t be much (if any) culture shock to experience. But as I was updating my blog with my past few months’ experiences, I realize he actually has at least 1 “strange” experience in his short 23-months life that may have impacted him in some way (through my observation at least).
Strangers’ head peering into his stroller and go “Ohh…. Ahh…”
In Malaysia, no one will bat an eye if you go around with a baby in your arms / the stroller. Here, you get almost 50% of the people on the street peering into the stroller to ‘spy’ on the baby. If you have the hood on, they practically peer into the stroller to get a better look.
I try to imagine being Sam in the stroller and realize that it can indeed be a scary experience! Every few minutes you get a face peeking in front of your face with a wide grin / coo-ing away. Won’t you be scared witless too?
I guess it is the product of the 1-child policy here. Children / babies are a rarity. So coming across one is like meeting a celebrity! In Malaysia, we still have couples with 3-5 kids. What is another baby?
Strangers’ head peering into his stroller and go “Ohh…. Ahh…”
In Malaysia, no one will bat an eye if you go around with a baby in your arms / the stroller. Here, you get almost 50% of the people on the street peering into the stroller to ‘spy’ on the baby. If you have the hood on, they practically peer into the stroller to get a better look.
I try to imagine being Sam in the stroller and realize that it can indeed be a scary experience! Every few minutes you get a face peeking in front of your face with a wide grin / coo-ing away. Won’t you be scared witless too?
I guess it is the product of the 1-child policy here. Children / babies are a rarity. So coming across one is like meeting a celebrity! In Malaysia, we still have couples with 3-5 kids. What is another baby?
Wednesday, 9 January 2013
Winter news
Hubby has very thick skin (and fat akin to whale blubber), so anything above 0C is tolerable to him in T-shirts, Bermuda shorts and strappy sandals. Thing is, as we walk out as a family, with me and Sam all nicely bundled up & lo-behold hubby in T-shirt & Bermuda, naturally people cocked an eyebrow. In other countries, that is about all the reaction you'll get.
Here we have so many people stopping us on our tracks and asking “你不冷吗?”(Aren’t you cold?). After being asked umpteenth times; hubby finally had it. The next day as we were dressing up to leave, he was with a jacket and long pants. I asked if he is finally feeling the chill. He said “No, I just want to stop people from asking me 你不冷吗?"
:-)
Here we have so many people stopping us on our tracks and asking “你不冷吗?”(Aren’t you cold?). After being asked umpteenth times; hubby finally had it. The next day as we were dressing up to leave, he was with a jacket and long pants. I asked if he is finally feeling the chill. He said “No, I just want to stop people from asking me 你不冷吗?"
:-)
Monday, 31 December 2012
And the experiences keep pouring in!
I was trying to recall the few culture shocks that I felt when I first arrived and 1 of them being the differences in socially acceptable etiquette here. I’m not trying to look down at the people of Beijing / China for that matter. Just pointing out some observations that may seem strange / a cultural “No-No” to an ‘outsider’ but may be totally acceptable locally in China.
1) It’s ok to sport a ‘bush’ as wild as the Amazonian jungle whilst wearing a classy / tasteful / sassy sleeveless top. Yep, the dressing may be top notch, but it’s ok to display some body hair… And just to clarify, I was not referring to men…
2) While 1 above is acceptable, camel-toes and VPL is frowned upon – it’s baffling…
3) There’s a lot of knee-height (ok, I must admit it is MY knee-height, probably others’ shin-height) dividers along the roads to separate the cyclist from the vehicle traffic. So if you plan to cross a road, you’ll have to either go over the dividers or walk quite a bit to get to the end and make a u-turn back. The lazier ones will naturally just lift-up those legs, straddle across and then cross over – but I wasn’t expecting ladies in mini-skirts or nice flowy dresses to do the same. And the result is… lots of ‘flashing’ exposed panties during the crossing. I looked around mouth agape, but no one seems to take notice! Being almost always in skirt, my friends had to wait for me to do my long u-turn… Am not ready for this change in culture, yet.
4) Men and ladies, young and old spit everywhere. In the summer, you have landmines of goo that needs to be avoided if you don’t want them sticking at the soles of your footwear. In the winter you see splotches of clear ice ‘formations’ on the ground that I first thought was due to some tardy snow sweeper, until I saw someone spit on the icy cold ground… then it dawned on me… Ewww…
5) A little sign on my hotel bed in a non-smoking floor saying “Please do not smoke in bed due to fire hazards”!? Errr… It’s kinda out of place in a non-smoking floor. And you’d expect people to have the mental capacity to deduce the repercussion of having a smoldering tip of ciggy amidst linen that can easily catch fire right? People seem to smoke like chimneys here. Whether it’s the non-smoking section of a restaurant or an enclosed area like some of the local buses or taxis, people just continue to smoke even when you give them that “mother’s glare” (i.e. hello, I have a baby with me, can you not smoke here please?). Yea, I had the “opportunity” to use that in great frequency. What I also notice is that I only have to use it on snooty wannabes with either a thick wallet / trying to portray they have 1. In other places, before I can even ‘deploy’ my glare, the culprit either move or politely tell me, there’s a lot of smokers around, so maybe it’s best I just move to the other section where there’s less smoke. There’s hope!!
6) Foods here are either super salty / super oily. Yet everyone around me is super slim!! Where’s the justice! I grow fat even from breathing (Ok, that’s not true, but still…)!
In summary? It’s kinda fun being in a foreign land. Imagine the experiences I’ll be missing if I didn’t come here.
1) It’s ok to sport a ‘bush’ as wild as the Amazonian jungle whilst wearing a classy / tasteful / sassy sleeveless top. Yep, the dressing may be top notch, but it’s ok to display some body hair… And just to clarify, I was not referring to men…
2) While 1 above is acceptable, camel-toes and VPL is frowned upon – it’s baffling…
3) There’s a lot of knee-height (ok, I must admit it is MY knee-height, probably others’ shin-height) dividers along the roads to separate the cyclist from the vehicle traffic. So if you plan to cross a road, you’ll have to either go over the dividers or walk quite a bit to get to the end and make a u-turn back. The lazier ones will naturally just lift-up those legs, straddle across and then cross over – but I wasn’t expecting ladies in mini-skirts or nice flowy dresses to do the same. And the result is… lots of ‘flashing’ exposed panties during the crossing. I looked around mouth agape, but no one seems to take notice! Being almost always in skirt, my friends had to wait for me to do my long u-turn… Am not ready for this change in culture, yet.
4) Men and ladies, young and old spit everywhere. In the summer, you have landmines of goo that needs to be avoided if you don’t want them sticking at the soles of your footwear. In the winter you see splotches of clear ice ‘formations’ on the ground that I first thought was due to some tardy snow sweeper, until I saw someone spit on the icy cold ground… then it dawned on me… Ewww…
5) A little sign on my hotel bed in a non-smoking floor saying “Please do not smoke in bed due to fire hazards”!? Errr… It’s kinda out of place in a non-smoking floor. And you’d expect people to have the mental capacity to deduce the repercussion of having a smoldering tip of ciggy amidst linen that can easily catch fire right? People seem to smoke like chimneys here. Whether it’s the non-smoking section of a restaurant or an enclosed area like some of the local buses or taxis, people just continue to smoke even when you give them that “mother’s glare” (i.e. hello, I have a baby with me, can you not smoke here please?). Yea, I had the “opportunity” to use that in great frequency. What I also notice is that I only have to use it on snooty wannabes with either a thick wallet / trying to portray they have 1. In other places, before I can even ‘deploy’ my glare, the culprit either move or politely tell me, there’s a lot of smokers around, so maybe it’s best I just move to the other section where there’s less smoke. There’s hope!!
6) Foods here are either super salty / super oily. Yet everyone around me is super slim!! Where’s the justice! I grow fat even from breathing (Ok, that’s not true, but still…)!
In summary? It’s kinda fun being in a foreign land. Imagine the experiences I’ll be missing if I didn’t come here.
Lessons from a Suzhou tour guide
You get lessons in the unlikeliest of places. Hubby, Sam & I were in Suzhou last Sep and we enjoyed it very much. It is a laid back little town (by China’s standard, it is little; but it is bigger than JB I would think) where life took a much slower pace than Beijing. It’s a place where you felt sorry to leave… and already planning to come back for another visit before we even get on the bullet train / plane bound home.
We decided to take a 1-day tour of Suzhou just to capture all the key sites before doing our own exploration. So we signed up at the hotel and were herded from 1 site after the other. It would have been another one of the many tours we had been on had it not been the tour guide that we were given. What’s so special that warrants a mention on my blog? Well… apart from the usual explanation of the history / background of the places we visited; she threw in a lot of thought provoking societal issues / lessons and points to ponder – it’s a pity not many took notice of her words though. She made me realize that a tour guide is not just those who herd people around, chase after errant tourists and out to get your tip / commission from purchases done during her tour. A tour guide can play a far greater role in “societal education” too (belief it or not)!
Some of her memorable quips and points to ponder as follows:
1) Pls pay attention to me – it’s only going to be for today. Fate has arranged for us, strangers, to meet today. After today, you may not even recognize me on the streets of Suzhou. So why not make the most out of the time we have together? (As she was speaking in mandarin, this is a rough translation, but how poetically said!)
2) I know I’m just a lowly tour guide, but since you’ve paid for my service, you’d be maximizing your paid value if you pay attention to my explanation… (she must have got some pretty bad tourists in the past to have to give statements like this… )
3) Suzhou ladies are famed to be the fairest in the land. Emperors would visit Suzhou and Hangzhou to select their empress / concubines. So you may ask / wonder – but Ms. tour guide, you’re from Suzhou; yet you’re not beautiful… Why so? Ladies in the past are mostly women of leisure who just hid themselves in the house. They’re shunned from leaving their homes unless approved by their male guardian (i.e. father / husband) and normally only for special occasion with chaperone. Look at this house (we were touring one of the famed gardens of Suzhou called the “Humble Administrator’s Garden”), each building are connected by roofed corridors; shading the ladies from sunlight. Fast forward a few hundred years, women today have to go out to work. Especially tour guides like us are exposed to all weather conditions – be it rain / shine, dry winter wind / hot sweltering summer, we’ll still be out bringing guests. So the fact that I can maintain my current skin condition is already a miracle! (Haha…. This tour guide really has a wry sense of humour!)
4) I used to be a tour guide for international trips – bringing China’s tourists around Europe, Australia etc. Due to personal reasons, I’m now back handling local tours. What saddens me though, was not that I’m no longer handling overseas trips, but I’m saddened by the image of mainland China tourists outside of China. I’ve seen us Chinese being fined for wearing luxury-branded fake goods and I’ve seen us making such a racket, spit, have verbal-fight / abuse the sales person in high-end branded stores that some of the stores even have signs put up that no Chinese tourists allowed / welcomed into their stores. We have grown from a poor country, down-trodden and went through revolutionary change, into a country that produces so many rich people who can afford to buy armloads of luxury goods like Burberry, Prada & LV the way housewives buy “bai chai” (Chinese white cabbage) at the wet market. We have grown so rich, yet we’re not respected… We have taste for expensive goods, yet seen as having no class… We crave recognition, yet all we get are scorns… What has gone wrong? I think because we’ve been ‘poor’ for so long; now that we ‘suddenly’ got a bit richer, we want to show the world; unfortunately, more often than not, in a rowdy way. When we’re overseas, we’re ambassadors of China. It’s all in our behavior and how we’re perceived by our actions. We have to change; yet it may be too late to change for this generation. We come from illustrious ancestry steep in culture, poise and elegant politeness like the gardens of Suzhou; with history dating back to thousands of years. I’m sure we can get back to that illustrious era, but it all hinges on us educating the next generations in the right direction. I doubt we can achieve it in our time, but I’m hopeful in the generation currently in primary schools – when they grow into adulthood; and the generation after them. (Bravo! Well put! Well said! I translated maybe only half of what she said and the messages that I can still remember – but when articulated in mandarin, definitely more compelling than what I wrote here)
5) ‘I know I’ll be bringing you to factory visits later. Some of you may look at me with mocking eyes thinking “This tour guide is going to make big bucks again out of our spending”. Well let me declare right now that I’ll only be bringing you to 2 places – the silk factory and the jade factory. For each silk handkerchief you purchase, I only get yi-jiao (which means RMB0.10), for each silk blanket, I get xxx (I can’t remember how much but it’s pittance lar) – so your spending here is more for the local economy. In Suzhou you can be rest assured that all the things sold are original. No fake eggs, fake silks or fake jade. Suzhou is tourism industry based. We’ll be setting ourselves to doom if we tarnish our reputation by selling fakes. So rest assured, when we say it’s the real deal, IT IS the real deal. If it is fake, we will declare it is polyester made to look like silk etc etc. But if you ask my opinion between Jade and Silk, if I were to invest, I’d invest in a good silk blanket or silk underwear or silk sleepwear. Jade is just a rock, whether the value is indeed RMB100 or RMB10k, who knows? I can’t tell the difference between a high value stone vs. a cheap one. The other reason why Suzhou ladies are so beautiful is because they use silk for everything, including their face mask! Their beauty is not in their face / their body shape. It’s in their skin – as soft as tofu and as smooth as silk. And their secret is in wearing silk. (Wow… This lady really knows how to make a sales pitch!). So my advice, you can wear cheap jade, but pamper yourself with good quality authentic silk. Who cares if no one can see it, but if it is good for your skin, why not?’
6) We were at a famous temple in Suzhou called the Hanshanshi (not pinyin accurate; am just typing according to the sound) and there’s a huge bell hung within a ornately decorated bell tower than can be seen from miles away. You pay RMB10 to strike the bell 3 times to make a wish. She shared ‘Strike it only if you can afford it. Don’t go over-zealous by paying many RMBs / beyond your means just because you want to ensure your prayers is heard. Some people thought, “since I paid RMB10, I want to make the most of it and bang really really hard” – sending huge sound waves throughout the whole temple, not to mention ear damage to the rest of us. Let me tell you, it’s not necessary. I’m sure the Gods will listen to everyone whether you can afford to pay to strike the bell or not and whether it is soft / loud sounding. Some people are greedy and also thought they want to make the best wish they can make from the 3 strikes and said (my apologies, my mandarin wasn’t so good so I can’t really explain the 3 wishes she described, but it roughly went along the lines of) “I’m not greedy, I just wish to have no worries in the world (i.e. no need to worry about not having enough money, not enough food etc etc)”. Well let me tell you now that you better wish that prayer are not fulfilled because who would have such a life? I ask you – who do you think has such a life? Yes indeed – a monk! A monk is supposed to not have any worries in the world, be it wealth, fame, glory etc etc. Just a belly filled with enough food to keep him / her healthy will suffice. So please, be careful what you wish for and don’t try to squeeze in everything into those 3 wishes & 3 bell strikes. Everything in moderation will bring you a long way.’
She managed to keep us ‘entertained’ yet seem to mock us (for those that “termakan cili” lar… The rest, found it funny) all at the same time! Yet I don’t think any of us felt offended due to the delicate way she put it. I felt like I must take oratory lessons from her!
Oh did I also mention that she can quote economic statistics? e.g. the Country GDP vs GDP of Suzhou, the size of tourism industry in Suzhou vs the rest of China, the tourism agencies practices in Suzhou vs. e.g. Beijing and hence why Suzhou and Hangzhou are voted to have the best and most ethical tour guides cum agencies in China etc etc… She’s just a trivia of information and she somehow managed to blend all these into her tour explanation of the beautiful gardens, the majestic temples and the serene water canals of Suzhou…
Morale of the story: Never under-estimate the things you learn from a simple tour… You may be surprised.
Oh…. In case you wonder how old is she, I’d estimate her in her late 30’s. Young huh…
We decided to take a 1-day tour of Suzhou just to capture all the key sites before doing our own exploration. So we signed up at the hotel and were herded from 1 site after the other. It would have been another one of the many tours we had been on had it not been the tour guide that we were given. What’s so special that warrants a mention on my blog? Well… apart from the usual explanation of the history / background of the places we visited; she threw in a lot of thought provoking societal issues / lessons and points to ponder – it’s a pity not many took notice of her words though. She made me realize that a tour guide is not just those who herd people around, chase after errant tourists and out to get your tip / commission from purchases done during her tour. A tour guide can play a far greater role in “societal education” too (belief it or not)!
Some of her memorable quips and points to ponder as follows:
1) Pls pay attention to me – it’s only going to be for today. Fate has arranged for us, strangers, to meet today. After today, you may not even recognize me on the streets of Suzhou. So why not make the most out of the time we have together? (As she was speaking in mandarin, this is a rough translation, but how poetically said!)
2) I know I’m just a lowly tour guide, but since you’ve paid for my service, you’d be maximizing your paid value if you pay attention to my explanation… (she must have got some pretty bad tourists in the past to have to give statements like this… )
3) Suzhou ladies are famed to be the fairest in the land. Emperors would visit Suzhou and Hangzhou to select their empress / concubines. So you may ask / wonder – but Ms. tour guide, you’re from Suzhou; yet you’re not beautiful… Why so? Ladies in the past are mostly women of leisure who just hid themselves in the house. They’re shunned from leaving their homes unless approved by their male guardian (i.e. father / husband) and normally only for special occasion with chaperone. Look at this house (we were touring one of the famed gardens of Suzhou called the “Humble Administrator’s Garden”), each building are connected by roofed corridors; shading the ladies from sunlight. Fast forward a few hundred years, women today have to go out to work. Especially tour guides like us are exposed to all weather conditions – be it rain / shine, dry winter wind / hot sweltering summer, we’ll still be out bringing guests. So the fact that I can maintain my current skin condition is already a miracle! (Haha…. This tour guide really has a wry sense of humour!)
4) I used to be a tour guide for international trips – bringing China’s tourists around Europe, Australia etc. Due to personal reasons, I’m now back handling local tours. What saddens me though, was not that I’m no longer handling overseas trips, but I’m saddened by the image of mainland China tourists outside of China. I’ve seen us Chinese being fined for wearing luxury-branded fake goods and I’ve seen us making such a racket, spit, have verbal-fight / abuse the sales person in high-end branded stores that some of the stores even have signs put up that no Chinese tourists allowed / welcomed into their stores. We have grown from a poor country, down-trodden and went through revolutionary change, into a country that produces so many rich people who can afford to buy armloads of luxury goods like Burberry, Prada & LV the way housewives buy “bai chai” (Chinese white cabbage) at the wet market. We have grown so rich, yet we’re not respected… We have taste for expensive goods, yet seen as having no class… We crave recognition, yet all we get are scorns… What has gone wrong? I think because we’ve been ‘poor’ for so long; now that we ‘suddenly’ got a bit richer, we want to show the world; unfortunately, more often than not, in a rowdy way. When we’re overseas, we’re ambassadors of China. It’s all in our behavior and how we’re perceived by our actions. We have to change; yet it may be too late to change for this generation. We come from illustrious ancestry steep in culture, poise and elegant politeness like the gardens of Suzhou; with history dating back to thousands of years. I’m sure we can get back to that illustrious era, but it all hinges on us educating the next generations in the right direction. I doubt we can achieve it in our time, but I’m hopeful in the generation currently in primary schools – when they grow into adulthood; and the generation after them. (Bravo! Well put! Well said! I translated maybe only half of what she said and the messages that I can still remember – but when articulated in mandarin, definitely more compelling than what I wrote here)
5) ‘I know I’ll be bringing you to factory visits later. Some of you may look at me with mocking eyes thinking “This tour guide is going to make big bucks again out of our spending”. Well let me declare right now that I’ll only be bringing you to 2 places – the silk factory and the jade factory. For each silk handkerchief you purchase, I only get yi-jiao (which means RMB0.10), for each silk blanket, I get xxx (I can’t remember how much but it’s pittance lar) – so your spending here is more for the local economy. In Suzhou you can be rest assured that all the things sold are original. No fake eggs, fake silks or fake jade. Suzhou is tourism industry based. We’ll be setting ourselves to doom if we tarnish our reputation by selling fakes. So rest assured, when we say it’s the real deal, IT IS the real deal. If it is fake, we will declare it is polyester made to look like silk etc etc. But if you ask my opinion between Jade and Silk, if I were to invest, I’d invest in a good silk blanket or silk underwear or silk sleepwear. Jade is just a rock, whether the value is indeed RMB100 or RMB10k, who knows? I can’t tell the difference between a high value stone vs. a cheap one. The other reason why Suzhou ladies are so beautiful is because they use silk for everything, including their face mask! Their beauty is not in their face / their body shape. It’s in their skin – as soft as tofu and as smooth as silk. And their secret is in wearing silk. (Wow… This lady really knows how to make a sales pitch!). So my advice, you can wear cheap jade, but pamper yourself with good quality authentic silk. Who cares if no one can see it, but if it is good for your skin, why not?’
6) We were at a famous temple in Suzhou called the Hanshanshi (not pinyin accurate; am just typing according to the sound) and there’s a huge bell hung within a ornately decorated bell tower than can be seen from miles away. You pay RMB10 to strike the bell 3 times to make a wish. She shared ‘Strike it only if you can afford it. Don’t go over-zealous by paying many RMBs / beyond your means just because you want to ensure your prayers is heard. Some people thought, “since I paid RMB10, I want to make the most of it and bang really really hard” – sending huge sound waves throughout the whole temple, not to mention ear damage to the rest of us. Let me tell you, it’s not necessary. I’m sure the Gods will listen to everyone whether you can afford to pay to strike the bell or not and whether it is soft / loud sounding. Some people are greedy and also thought they want to make the best wish they can make from the 3 strikes and said (my apologies, my mandarin wasn’t so good so I can’t really explain the 3 wishes she described, but it roughly went along the lines of) “I’m not greedy, I just wish to have no worries in the world (i.e. no need to worry about not having enough money, not enough food etc etc)”. Well let me tell you now that you better wish that prayer are not fulfilled because who would have such a life? I ask you – who do you think has such a life? Yes indeed – a monk! A monk is supposed to not have any worries in the world, be it wealth, fame, glory etc etc. Just a belly filled with enough food to keep him / her healthy will suffice. So please, be careful what you wish for and don’t try to squeeze in everything into those 3 wishes & 3 bell strikes. Everything in moderation will bring you a long way.’
She managed to keep us ‘entertained’ yet seem to mock us (for those that “termakan cili” lar… The rest, found it funny) all at the same time! Yet I don’t think any of us felt offended due to the delicate way she put it. I felt like I must take oratory lessons from her!
Oh did I also mention that she can quote economic statistics? e.g. the Country GDP vs GDP of Suzhou, the size of tourism industry in Suzhou vs the rest of China, the tourism agencies practices in Suzhou vs. e.g. Beijing and hence why Suzhou and Hangzhou are voted to have the best and most ethical tour guides cum agencies in China etc etc… She’s just a trivia of information and she somehow managed to blend all these into her tour explanation of the beautiful gardens, the majestic temples and the serene water canals of Suzhou…
Morale of the story: Never under-estimate the things you learn from a simple tour… You may be surprised.
Oh…. In case you wonder how old is she, I’d estimate her in her late 30’s. Young huh…
Friday, 14 December 2012
What else happened in Beijing?
I’d like to close the chapter on shopping, but this incident is also linked to a shopping experience. Hubby, Sam and I were in the apartment shuttle bus one day preparing to leave for our grocery shopping when a fellow resident joined us and we struck a conversation. She is in Beijing for a few months and has travelled to most countries in SEA and China. We then talked about the shopping experience in China and how it compares to the service level we get in SEA countries / even Hong Kong. She then made an observation that I felt hit the nail right on the head – “People generally seem to get friendlier as we move towards the equator and rude / cold as we move up north”.
I know what she meant. She’s not referring to “people” in general – that’s not a fair view. She’s referring to the sales people and the service level that the consumers get here.
To illustrate – We were shopping in a departmental store and I saw a really nice jacket. So I went to take a look & even tried it on when encouraged. Until I saw the price tag of RMB800 for a simple cotton-cum-elastic jacket; I was put off and said “It’s ok, this is not for me”. As I walked away with hubby, the sales lady pulled me back and gave a stage whisper “Don’t tell anyone. This discount is especially for you since I can see you really liked the jacket. 5% discount!!” Err… at RMB800, it’ll take at least 70% discount before I even bat an eye… So, I excused myself again and walk off. She continued to pull me back offering to reduce by another 5% (see what I mean about the myth of no bargaining in department stores?) and this time, hubby and I gave a firm no and walk off without a backward glance – not wanting to attract any more attention.
Then… “WHAT KIND OF HUSBAND ARE YOU. YOUR WIFE CLEARLY LIKED THAT JACKET AND YOU DIDN’T EVEN WANT TO GET THAT FOR HER!! YOU CALL YOURSELF A MAN! Come back here and I’ll give you a discount!”
Oh boy… If she thinks we’d even walk back after such a remark she’s dead wrong!!
Surprisingly, I don’t know if the consumers here liked being ‘scolded’ / ‘shamed’ by the sales person; but it seem to be a common thing as we were not the only ones treated that way and it’s also not because we’re foreigners! On our way out, I heard another local Chinese man being ‘told-off’ that he’s being such a pain for finding a changing room instead of trying on his coat right there in between the clothes rack. Yet he actually stood there and let her grumble on as he try on his coat – patiently explaining that he just didn’t like being looked at when trying on new clothes.
I thought his request was absolutely reasonable and he was not being difficult at all! What happened to the phrase “customers are always right”?
Finally, the last example that proved the phrase:
“People generally seem to get friendlier as we move towards the equator and rude / cold as we move up north”
My colleagues generally agreed that they prefer to go to Cantonese restaurants because the service is better. “You don’t need to shout & be ignored when you ask for free water (especially if you didn’t order for a paid drink)”. I pointed out that these Cantonese restaurants are all serviced by locals and not from the South of China? So why the different service level? The reply was “Oh, because they’re trained by the boss / operator from the South” *cock an eyebrow*
Okay Okay, admittedly that was my 1st impression of service level in Beijing. Then my view seem to improve a little over time as I come across more sales staff who are better mannered and even remembered to thank you for your patronage (I almost forgot that phrase that I took for granted back in KL); and was actually shocked when I heard it!
Not all of Beijing is inhabited by rude ‘people’. Unfortunately most of the tourist-facing ones are; hence the 1st impression. I have high hopes and equally high faith that Beijing can do better than what they have to offer now…
I know what she meant. She’s not referring to “people” in general – that’s not a fair view. She’s referring to the sales people and the service level that the consumers get here.
To illustrate – We were shopping in a departmental store and I saw a really nice jacket. So I went to take a look & even tried it on when encouraged. Until I saw the price tag of RMB800 for a simple cotton-cum-elastic jacket; I was put off and said “It’s ok, this is not for me”. As I walked away with hubby, the sales lady pulled me back and gave a stage whisper “Don’t tell anyone. This discount is especially for you since I can see you really liked the jacket. 5% discount!!” Err… at RMB800, it’ll take at least 70% discount before I even bat an eye… So, I excused myself again and walk off. She continued to pull me back offering to reduce by another 5% (see what I mean about the myth of no bargaining in department stores?) and this time, hubby and I gave a firm no and walk off without a backward glance – not wanting to attract any more attention.
Then… “WHAT KIND OF HUSBAND ARE YOU. YOUR WIFE CLEARLY LIKED THAT JACKET AND YOU DIDN’T EVEN WANT TO GET THAT FOR HER!! YOU CALL YOURSELF A MAN! Come back here and I’ll give you a discount!”
Oh boy… If she thinks we’d even walk back after such a remark she’s dead wrong!!
Surprisingly, I don’t know if the consumers here liked being ‘scolded’ / ‘shamed’ by the sales person; but it seem to be a common thing as we were not the only ones treated that way and it’s also not because we’re foreigners! On our way out, I heard another local Chinese man being ‘told-off’ that he’s being such a pain for finding a changing room instead of trying on his coat right there in between the clothes rack. Yet he actually stood there and let her grumble on as he try on his coat – patiently explaining that he just didn’t like being looked at when trying on new clothes.
I thought his request was absolutely reasonable and he was not being difficult at all! What happened to the phrase “customers are always right”?
Finally, the last example that proved the phrase:
“People generally seem to get friendlier as we move towards the equator and rude / cold as we move up north”
My colleagues generally agreed that they prefer to go to Cantonese restaurants because the service is better. “You don’t need to shout & be ignored when you ask for free water (especially if you didn’t order for a paid drink)”. I pointed out that these Cantonese restaurants are all serviced by locals and not from the South of China? So why the different service level? The reply was “Oh, because they’re trained by the boss / operator from the South” *cock an eyebrow*
Okay Okay, admittedly that was my 1st impression of service level in Beijing. Then my view seem to improve a little over time as I come across more sales staff who are better mannered and even remembered to thank you for your patronage (I almost forgot that phrase that I took for granted back in KL); and was actually shocked when I heard it!
Not all of Beijing is inhabited by rude ‘people’. Unfortunately most of the tourist-facing ones are; hence the 1st impression. I have high hopes and equally high faith that Beijing can do better than what they have to offer now…
1st Post from Beijing
Without realizing it’s already coming to 8-months I’m in Beijing and I’m only putting pen to paper (or rather fingers to keyboard) now; despite intending to share so many of my observations right from day 1 (which happens to be 1st of May 2012).
Now, after 8-months in this huge country of my ancestors; I may find it hard to recall my initial ‘culture shock’. Nevertheless for those that I can still remember, these 8 months gave me the opportunity to compare how it felt at 1st impression and my views now after understanding the people, history and culture more (my views may not be a correct assessment but I guess it’s my ‘coping’ mechanism to understand what I observe). So I’m driven to write again.
When my friends and family ask the usual “So how’s China?” or “So how are you doing there?” or more often than not “So how is a ‘banana’ like you coping there?” – I often pause before replying because I don’t know where to start! How to compress the myriads of experiences my family & I went through in just 1 to 2 short sentences before people got bored with your rambling of “My Life in China”? So I ended up summarizing into this 1 standard answer “I never anticipated getting culture shock in the country of my ancestors. I’d expect it from Europe / Middle East / even Japan, but never China… But I am… Be it good or bad…”
Not knowing where to start, I thought I’ll dedicate my 1st entry after my long hiatus from blogosphere to “Shopping in China”…
I’m sure I’m not the first to write on this and neither will I be the last… But how can one talk about China, the mass manufacturer of the world, without touching on shopping?! When shopping in tourist spots (like Wangfujing) in a seemingly proper shop (not a street side vendor / stall) and when told it’s a departmental store / supermarket; hence no bargaining allowed – you’ll be kinder to your wallet to just walk away from it, no matter how much you “crave” the item. Don’t even turn if they call you back with offer to slash the price by half. You’ll still be paying through your nose (unless it’s somewhere around RMB10 – it seems to be the standard low for most, but not all, items).
Despite the many warnings on the internet, we bought some items (I must add that it was ‘offered’ at buy 4 free 1 promo), that we thought may be good for the folks back home; only to find 6-months later (after we’re more savvy), that we’ve paid not double or triple but 5 times the actual retail price – even after averaging the one given for “free”!!! When we found out, I really felt like dragging the sales person to consumer court (if there’s even such a court in existence here) to be prosecuted. Come to think of it, even if they have such a court; I’d expect its large halls and the huge open spaces outside of the courthouse to be jam-packed with people such likes those seen on American Idol auditions / overnights queues for the latest Apple products.
When I shared this experience to the locals, asking their opinion and don’t they feel irked by this; I’m met with condescending smiles. In China, everything is open for bargaining and the key is not to take the whole bargaining process too seriously. Well, it’s not about paying the extra yuans that bothered me. It’s the feeling of being conned, duped, mocked as “another foreigner who fell into the trap” and the most painful of all is being cheated into thinking you’re welcomed in your ancestors’ homeland. As normal Malaysian Chinese, hubby & I spoke to each other in Cantonese – the sales person caught on and said “Oh, you’re ‘home-coming’ Chinese?! That’s great!! You’re staying here for 4-years?! Oh, you’ll get to know your heritage better in this 4-years (though I belief we preserve our heritage better back home, but that is subject to a different discussion)!” You get the picture…. So the fact that we got fleeced doesn’t show much ‘home-coming welcome’ isn’t it? Now, I’m more inclined to buy from someone who took me as just another ‘lao-wai’ than fellow Chinese race, because at least all I lose is a few extra yuans.
If I ignore the other small minor incidences, the second time I felt really duped was in Hangzhou. We went on a 1-day trip around Hangzhou. To be fair, we are ok with the 2-3 shopping stops as long as the things sold there are genuine and reasonably priced. So back to Hangzhou, naturally we were brought to the silk factory. We’ve been to the silk factory in Suzhou and similarly there’s also this one in Hangzhou – both claiming to be better than the other. However, since the one in Hangzhou has bed sheet for “Super King” size bed (which my housekeeper kindly informed us the measurements), so we decided to purchase 1. When we reached home, the sheet was only able to cover the surface of the mattress and can’t be tucked under. My housekeeper said she saw the measurement on the label to be correct (i.e. more than 2m long), but strangely it’s smaller than what was printed. Unfortunately she did not think of keeping the labels for evidence and threw it away. Otherwise I’d have brought it up to Hangzhou tourism board / ministry to ensure such misleading sales doesn’t occur again. Though I have little faith my complaint would be entertained; but if everyone kept quiet, we have no one but ourselves to blame if we continue to stumble upon unscrupulous traders. In summary, I hate to tarnish the beautiful image of Hangzhou with this incident; but we’re only human…
After reading through this far, some might say – so what’s new? It’s the expected image of China. Some of our relatives didn’t even want to come to China to visit us (despite offer of a free accommodation) for this very reason! Well, let me share an upside to shopping in China… And it all started with our son’s (Sam) slow cooker…
Sam’s daddy thought that his skin is thick enough to withstand the heat of the porcelain pot in the slow cooker and so took the pot out to be transferred to the sink. Naturally, he can’t stand the heat and the pot smashed to pieces. So what is he to do? Sam needs his porridge and the slow cooker can’t operate without a porcelain pot. So off he went to the front desk for information on the nearest electrical store to get a new one. He was met with blank stares – not because they don’t understand Malaysian English, but more because no one in this age and time (in their opinion) specially travel to an electrical store just to buy such small electrical appliance as a slow cooker. So where do locals buy then?
Answer: On-line shopping
Ahh…. Err…. We don't have a local credit card (another long story)?
Another blank look and then the reply – It’s cash on delivery, sir…
Ahh…. Err…. But I need it quite soon; I can’t wait a week or so for the delivery to happen!
By this time, I think they figured out we’re a bunch of dense ‘lao-wais’ and indulge us by explaining that the delivery can be as soon as within the same day / next day. That’s when it all started – thanks to Little Tang Kun Sam’s slow cooker (it’s referred to as Sam’s slow cooker because it’s exclusively used to cook his porridge).
So we’re now happily doing lots of on-line shopping (handbags, shoes, electricals etc – all except groceries, for now…), minus the hassle, minus the haggling and lots of customer feedback to read before purchasing an item. No wonder it’s all the rage!
Now, after 8-months in this huge country of my ancestors; I may find it hard to recall my initial ‘culture shock’. Nevertheless for those that I can still remember, these 8 months gave me the opportunity to compare how it felt at 1st impression and my views now after understanding the people, history and culture more (my views may not be a correct assessment but I guess it’s my ‘coping’ mechanism to understand what I observe). So I’m driven to write again.
When my friends and family ask the usual “So how’s China?” or “So how are you doing there?” or more often than not “So how is a ‘banana’ like you coping there?” – I often pause before replying because I don’t know where to start! How to compress the myriads of experiences my family & I went through in just 1 to 2 short sentences before people got bored with your rambling of “My Life in China”? So I ended up summarizing into this 1 standard answer “I never anticipated getting culture shock in the country of my ancestors. I’d expect it from Europe / Middle East / even Japan, but never China… But I am… Be it good or bad…”
Not knowing where to start, I thought I’ll dedicate my 1st entry after my long hiatus from blogosphere to “Shopping in China”…
I’m sure I’m not the first to write on this and neither will I be the last… But how can one talk about China, the mass manufacturer of the world, without touching on shopping?! When shopping in tourist spots (like Wangfujing) in a seemingly proper shop (not a street side vendor / stall) and when told it’s a departmental store / supermarket; hence no bargaining allowed – you’ll be kinder to your wallet to just walk away from it, no matter how much you “crave” the item. Don’t even turn if they call you back with offer to slash the price by half. You’ll still be paying through your nose (unless it’s somewhere around RMB10 – it seems to be the standard low for most, but not all, items).
Despite the many warnings on the internet, we bought some items (I must add that it was ‘offered’ at buy 4 free 1 promo), that we thought may be good for the folks back home; only to find 6-months later (after we’re more savvy), that we’ve paid not double or triple but 5 times the actual retail price – even after averaging the one given for “free”!!! When we found out, I really felt like dragging the sales person to consumer court (if there’s even such a court in existence here) to be prosecuted. Come to think of it, even if they have such a court; I’d expect its large halls and the huge open spaces outside of the courthouse to be jam-packed with people such likes those seen on American Idol auditions / overnights queues for the latest Apple products.
When I shared this experience to the locals, asking their opinion and don’t they feel irked by this; I’m met with condescending smiles. In China, everything is open for bargaining and the key is not to take the whole bargaining process too seriously. Well, it’s not about paying the extra yuans that bothered me. It’s the feeling of being conned, duped, mocked as “another foreigner who fell into the trap” and the most painful of all is being cheated into thinking you’re welcomed in your ancestors’ homeland. As normal Malaysian Chinese, hubby & I spoke to each other in Cantonese – the sales person caught on and said “Oh, you’re ‘home-coming’ Chinese?! That’s great!! You’re staying here for 4-years?! Oh, you’ll get to know your heritage better in this 4-years (though I belief we preserve our heritage better back home, but that is subject to a different discussion)!” You get the picture…. So the fact that we got fleeced doesn’t show much ‘home-coming welcome’ isn’t it? Now, I’m more inclined to buy from someone who took me as just another ‘lao-wai’ than fellow Chinese race, because at least all I lose is a few extra yuans.
If I ignore the other small minor incidences, the second time I felt really duped was in Hangzhou. We went on a 1-day trip around Hangzhou. To be fair, we are ok with the 2-3 shopping stops as long as the things sold there are genuine and reasonably priced. So back to Hangzhou, naturally we were brought to the silk factory. We’ve been to the silk factory in Suzhou and similarly there’s also this one in Hangzhou – both claiming to be better than the other. However, since the one in Hangzhou has bed sheet for “Super King” size bed (which my housekeeper kindly informed us the measurements), so we decided to purchase 1. When we reached home, the sheet was only able to cover the surface of the mattress and can’t be tucked under. My housekeeper said she saw the measurement on the label to be correct (i.e. more than 2m long), but strangely it’s smaller than what was printed. Unfortunately she did not think of keeping the labels for evidence and threw it away. Otherwise I’d have brought it up to Hangzhou tourism board / ministry to ensure such misleading sales doesn’t occur again. Though I have little faith my complaint would be entertained; but if everyone kept quiet, we have no one but ourselves to blame if we continue to stumble upon unscrupulous traders. In summary, I hate to tarnish the beautiful image of Hangzhou with this incident; but we’re only human…
After reading through this far, some might say – so what’s new? It’s the expected image of China. Some of our relatives didn’t even want to come to China to visit us (despite offer of a free accommodation) for this very reason! Well, let me share an upside to shopping in China… And it all started with our son’s (Sam) slow cooker…
Sam’s daddy thought that his skin is thick enough to withstand the heat of the porcelain pot in the slow cooker and so took the pot out to be transferred to the sink. Naturally, he can’t stand the heat and the pot smashed to pieces. So what is he to do? Sam needs his porridge and the slow cooker can’t operate without a porcelain pot. So off he went to the front desk for information on the nearest electrical store to get a new one. He was met with blank stares – not because they don’t understand Malaysian English, but more because no one in this age and time (in their opinion) specially travel to an electrical store just to buy such small electrical appliance as a slow cooker. So where do locals buy then?
Answer: On-line shopping
Ahh…. Err…. We don't have a local credit card (another long story)?
Another blank look and then the reply – It’s cash on delivery, sir…
Ahh…. Err…. But I need it quite soon; I can’t wait a week or so for the delivery to happen!
By this time, I think they figured out we’re a bunch of dense ‘lao-wais’ and indulge us by explaining that the delivery can be as soon as within the same day / next day. That’s when it all started – thanks to Little Tang Kun Sam’s slow cooker (it’s referred to as Sam’s slow cooker because it’s exclusively used to cook his porridge).
So we’re now happily doing lots of on-line shopping (handbags, shoes, electricals etc – all except groceries, for now…), minus the hassle, minus the haggling and lots of customer feedback to read before purchasing an item. No wonder it’s all the rage!
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