quirkyBeijing
finding the gently offbeat in a decidedly uncute city

When my friend came to visit, she was staying at one of the Orange Hotels. Her room was not empty when she arrived, however. There was a little tenant already there. Paul the Fish was clearly a very clever fish, since he was armed with a Rubik Cube.

Ever the polite houseguest, he even came with a bilingual calling card:

Sadly, Paul died very quickly after my friend’s visit, undoubtedly because his little cube was just barely large enough for him to swim around. Lovely idea, terrible execution. Paul was replaced by Paul II, who was looking none too healthy by the time my friend left.

Great leaders of China: Hu, Wen, Mao Deng, and Obama! The Republicans are right! Obama IS a Socialist! Here he is, rocking the Chairman Mao look.

Never mind the Cultural Revolution, bring on the Capitalist Revolution. You can buy these little cards for 5 RMB each, as seen in Joy City in Xidan.

* As others have noted, that’s Deng on the cover of Time…embarrassing mistake to make for a former history major!

Just when I’m about to give up on this blog, I come across this most awesome video that reminds me why I started this blog in the first place!

This video is of Beijing traffic police officer He Changqing, directing traffic and doing the cha cha in what is sure to be the patented “He Changqing Traffic Direction Method.”

Via ChinaSMACK, who also has translations of the comments left by Chinese netizens. They range from “so niu (awesome)” to “should be more professional.” Personally, I think if all of Beijing’s traffic cops danced the cha cha, it’d be great. Probably not any more orderly because of all the gawkers, but still more fun than it is now!

So, I have not been the best at keeping up this blog. It has simply been too hectic!

At any rate, I failed to keep to my 1000 RMB challenge, especially as my CSC scholarship application fees and sending it to America via DHL totaled about roughly 700 RMB alone. This last month was not a good time to try this project, as I should have taken my scholarship application into account! Keeping track of all my expenses also proved to be too time-consuming, even though it shouldn’t have been because some days the total was 0.

All the same, I learned some valuable things:

1. By reducing my subway trips to about roughly 5 times a week, my temper was much improved and putting on 20 RMB onto my IC card lasts for an entire week. Previously, I could easily spend 150 RMB a month on my IC card alone.

2. Biking is the best way to go, not only is it free–except when I have to park it in a paid lot–but my carbon footprint is much reduced. Also, my usage of taxis is now reduced to once a week, when I go off to tutor a student during the evening.

3. The farmer’s market behind me is a super cheap place for food. The hierarchy of grocery shopping: Jenny Lou’s > Walmart > Sanyuanli > my university > shops in my complex > farmer’s market. I prepared all of my meals for the week on the first two days of the week, so not only did I save money on groceries but I also had a meal waiting for me on all the days I got home at 8 pm. In general, 50-70 RMB on vegetables and small amounts of meat went a long, long way, especially as I always make enough to have leftovers for another meal.

4. Not reading expat magazines helps a lot, since the temptation to spend 100 RMB on one meal is greatly reduced when you’re not comparing your meals to say, the Westin brunch.

5. My spending patterns are generally: M-F spend very little, Saturday and Sunday spend a lot.

6. It’s okay to order in sometimes, otherwise I end up going crazy and blowing far more money than I should because I have finally eaten everything I have available.

7. During this project, it’s remarkable how easy it is to feel guilty about spending 10 RMB on street food.

8. Sometimes it is better to spend more money and save time. I learned this especially when I was racing against the clock to reach the medical center for my health check that I needed for my scholarship. I took a bus, got on it at 7:30 am, was still on it at 9:30, and panicked since the center closes at 11 and they have been known to turn people away when they are too busy. In this case it would have been much better to take the subway and then a 13 RMB taxi, although it was so tempting to only spend 4 mao on two buses to get there. In the end, I ended up blowing 35 RMB on a taxi because I didn’t want to get all the way out to the medical center (which is in some obscure corner of Haidian district) and not do my medical check. Bureaucracy is bad for the wallet!

9. As I live out between the fourth and fifth ring roads, the further out you go, the cheaper it is. In fact the cheapest area for food is definitely my university, where if you spend 15 RMB that’s pushing it.

10. The best free thing to do is take the walks in Beijing by Foot.

Also, I would like to thank all of my wonderful friends who treated me to lunch or dinner while I was doing this project. It was greatly appreciated.

So given my spending patterns, I should say that 1500 RMB is more than enough to cover all of my expenses outside of rent, and that includes eating out two or three times a week. I am saving up for a trip to the UK any way, so I’m going to keep this up. I am probably healthier than I’ve ever been because of all the biking I’m doing.

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Finally, I am debating the existence of this blog. Not only do I not have the time to update it, but it is certainly a struggle to find truly quirky things in Beijing. Perhaps what I will do is change the focus since what I am really interested in nowadays is the green lifestyle. In other words, more worms, all the time! XD

(Photo originally from Jalopnik.)

After my bad start, I have managed to only spend 7.3 RMB (1.07 USD) in the last 3 days. The only things that I bought on Tuesday were 5 RMB of strawberries (going to make Mark Bittman’s easy sorbet) and 2.3 RMB worth of lettuce, scallions, and bean sprouts. I love living in China, it’s probably more expensive for me to grow vegetables in my container garden than to buy them from the local market.

Here is what I ate in the last few days, mostly shopping in my fridge and cupboards:

Monday:
- Ate random things throughout the day, including roast potatoes with rosemary, oatmeal, and cereal.
- Shrimp fettucine, I happened to have some shrimp and Parmesean cheese from Sanyuanli market.
- Roast asparagus, very possibly my favorite way to eat asparagus.

Tuesday:
- Oatmeal with honey from my local honey guy, that jar of honey that I bought from him lasted 4 months!
- Shrimp fettucine again for lunch
- Fried rice with lettuce, bean sprouts, scallions and Cantonese sausage
- Vegetable soup with a carrot, potato, and spinach.

Wednesday:
- Oatmeal
- Fried rice again for lunch
- Vegetable soup
- Dinner was stir-fried broccoli and garlic and vegetable soup, with some freshly ground coffee (very free! as a friend of mine gifted me with three bags of Ugandan coffee beans a while back, bless him.)

Thursday:
- Going to eat fried rice and vegetable soup again. Discovered some frozen potato and sweet potato that I keep around for hotpot, so I tossed that in too.
- Haven’t decided what to eat for dinner yet, probably some winter melon and dried shrimp because I’m definitely craving it. Maybe this roast cauliflower and eggplant recipe because it is one of my favorite things to eat.
- Sorbet when I get around to making it!

Snacks during class, because you try sitting through four hours of Chinese class without starving!:
- Apples
- Edamame
- Celery

Tomorrow, I’m going to definitely have to buy some more vegetables. I never eat that much meat while I’m at home anyway, unless I’m in the mood to make stock.

To be honest, this is not that different from my normal life, as waking up at 6:30 every morning and getting back around 6-7 pm does not leave me a lot of energy or time to spend any money.

Thanks to a tip from Ashleigh that there is a bus system in Beijing!, I have been taking the bus more often, which costs 4 mao to 2 RMB for the subway. The subway is the biggest source of anger and aggravation for me here in Beijing, so I was happy to give that up. In the meantime, discovered that there is a bus that will take me directly from university to work, bypassing two subway transfers, a lot of people pushing and shoving, and years of stress. In fact, it is faster to take the bus, I even showed up at work fifteen minutes early instead of five minutes late.

Mapbar is a handy website where you can plug in where you want to start and end for a bus trip, and then it gives you all kinds of options for the easiest journey. Chinese-only, but a great way to practice Chinese!

And so on, if I can keep this up, not only will I make my goal, but heck, I might even save some money!

My total after 5 days: 209.3 RMB

For a variety of reasons that can be filed under Being a Student Without Medical Insurance, Visa Problems, and The Unstable Life of Freelancing, once I’ve set aside my rent, I only have 1000 RMB (146.32 USD) for the month for all of my expenses, including bills. Alas, Beijing is an expensive city, not only for China, but in general.

Because I have a tendency to worry about money to the point where it would keep me up at night, I decided to blog this month of expenses. It’ll be more fun that way! Also, it’ll keep on the path of the straight and narrow since it’ll be too embarrassing if I don’t make it. I do have a healthy amount of savings, but savings are savings for a reason, and to be used only for emergencies! I did this before in Changchun, but there you could spend 2000 RMB a month and live like an absolute king.

My friend tells me that for Chinese university students, 1000 RMB is entirely possible. Hey, if there are office workers who are trying to get by on 100 RMB a week, then 1000 RMB for a whole month is practically a luxury! In the meantime, I’ll be discovering and enjoying all of Beijing’s free offerings, few and far between though they may be.

Anyway, I decided to do this a few days ago, so the challenge for me will last from April 4th to May 4th. Depending on how it goes, perhaps I will do it longer since these are perilous times anyway.

So far:

Saturday, April 4th:
- Jianwai Soho Hong Kong Cha Ting: 25 RMB for wonton noodles
- Sequoia Cafe: Book Swap and Board Games Event (I’m an organizer): 23 RMB for a mocha

I spent my Saturday night making a tasty dinner and preparing a compost bin for worm composting, so that was free entertainment.

Total: 48 RMB, not bad but technically I should only be spending 33.3 RMB a day.

Sunday, April 5th:
- Red Wriggler worms for composting and composting spray: 100 RMB (eek!)
- Taxi to Tang Yuan: 20 RMB
- Tang Yuan Dim Sum: 34 RMB

After Tang Yuan, I took a walk using the Beijing By Foot cards, and that was excellent and free fun. For dinner I biked to my friend’s house and we cooked together. Bless her, that was free. XD

Total: 154 RMB
Total so far: 202 RMB, that’s 1/5 of my budget in two days, half of it on worms! Doing my bit for the environment is expensive.

Monday, April 6th:
Today is Tomb Sweeping Day, and I’ve decided to make my super frugal ancestors proud by not spending any money today! So I’m staying at home, doing Chinese homework, correcting student notebooks, and blogging. All of these things are free! My food shopping is being done in the fridge and cupboards, I shan’t waste any food this month!

Well, as you can see, I have already blown a large amount of money on worms and the taxi was not necessary. Not doing too well already! Good thing I’m blogging this, I’m already embarassed.

This is an old YouTube video that I’ve been wanting to blog for a while.  Over in Tongzhou, there is a farmer who makes robots despite a lack of any formal training. He loves making robots, but his wife is not so fond of them, especially after Mr. Wu burned down the house.  On the flip side, she says at least he’s not drinking or chasing women, just making robots.

These are not just your regular old toy robots, these are robots that can take you to market, or pour tea.  From a Sky News article:

For the farmer, from Tongzhou, China, is a part-time inventor who creates ‘labour-saving robots’ out of scrap he finds at rubbish dumps.

His brain-children - all developed during long nights spent in his garden shed with only his imagination as a guide - include Number Five, a one-metre-tall humanoid robot capable of walking, changing light bulbs, lighting cigarettes and pouring tea.A newer model named Number Six is a monkey-like robot with magnetized feet which enable it to crawl slowly up metallic walls.

The backyard scientist has also produced a miniature frog-shaped robot that hops, and a giant, walking eight-legged trestle table capable of carrying two passengers.

All of Mr Wu’s inventions are fashioned out of welded-together metal, duct tape and second-hand batteries.

Here is a terrific video with British comedian Paul Merton.  While visiting Beijing, Merton thought it was more interesting to go visit the robot farmer than go to the Great Wall, and frankly, I have to agree.

Watch the video to the end, there’s a wonderful moment when one robot clanks by the door.

I’m tempted to visit myself now; Tongzhou isn’t that far away from where I live, and who doesn’t want to see robots?

The setting of the highly recommended Jia Zhangke film The World 世界, World Park brings the world’s greatest monuments in miniature straight to residents without ever having to leave China. As even obtaining a passport is an excercise in bureaucracy, never mind trying to get tourist visas, it’s easy to see why World Park would be an appealing destination.

Although the movie presents World Park as a postmodern place that compresses space and time, symbolic of urban ennui and China’s struggle for identity, in real life World Park is kitschy as all out. World Park was also one of the three designated protest zones during the Olympics; most likely it was chosen because it’s not near anything except a lot of factories.

We finally made it to World Park on what turned out to be the coldest day in Beijing in years. The park was deserted other than a handful of foolhardy souls, with most of the concession stands closed as well.

It was that rarest of all rare things in China: an empty tourist attraction.

Tickets are a rather hefty 60 RMB, and that doesn’t include entrance to some of the other attractions inside. The best of these is undoubtedly this old Air China jet.

We took a lot of photos that juxtapose monuments with another one that is geographically nowhere near, except here at World Park.

Easter Island, just behind the Sydney Opera House.

 Or the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge heading straight for…the Grand Canyon!

Really, this never gets old.

There is also the occasional pirate ship, maybe this is supposed to represent Somalia now.

World Park also created unintentional controversy when pictures were shown of the Twin Towers still standing in the miniature of Lower Manhattan.

And where else will you get the chance to peer over the Coliseum?

I have just discovered the Travel Film Archive, a collection of travel footage from 1900 to 1970 available on YouTube. If you’re a fan of old newsreels, you’ll probably love this.  Complete with serious voiceovers and the slightly patronizing tone of the man on the spot to those funny foreigners, they capture a time when the world wasn’t so easy to access and the Orient as exotic as the moon.

There are three videos available featuring Beijing:

The first clip is rather poetically called “Ghosts of Empire: Peking” from the Port O’Call series by William M. Pizor. Dating from 1931, the video begins with camels entering the city and gives viewers a quick tour of street life in Peking. The video makes any number of amusing observations about coolies throwing out their water, how topsy turvy China is where the men wear the skirts and women wear the pants, street puppet theatre, as well as a woman’s bound feet. There is also a brief part showing the Forbidden City (”now it is forbidden to no one, except cameramen”) and the old Qianmen/Legation Quarter as it was.

Focusing mostly on the Forbidden City in the 1930s, the second clip presents the “most interesting city in China.” This clip has many shots of statuary and architecture, shots that now seem token and run-of-the-mill to any travelogue about China but must have seemed so strange and fascinating then. My favourite part is towards the end of the clip, where there’s a little quiz, complete with a ticking clock, to see if viewers can guess the name of that Venetian explorer who came to Peking and had a bridge named after him.

The third clip, “Peking: The Imperial City”, was produced and narrated by James A. Fitzpatrick–”The Voice of the Globe”–and in general, it’s not too different from the others, except does show the extremely unrestored Great Wall and a brief shot of a Chinese funeral procession going through the streets.  Also, judging from this video and the Ghosts of Empire footage, foreigners were particularly fascinated by street barbers in Peking.

Because I can’t get enough of these videos, here are videos for other parts of China:

Manchukuo, 1938 - This nearly eleven-minute silent film from Eastman Classroom Films shows Japanese-occupied Manchuria, but it’s mostly a compilation of fairly random footage.  Some of the earlier scenes are definitely set in Changchun, the capital of Manchukuo, as quite a few of the buildings still stand.  One part shows glimpses from the life of a Chinese merchant, including his dinner of mantou and congee, while the ending footage is of elementary school students studying.

Shanghai, 1947 - Produced by Castle Films, this one is also a silent film with beautiful shots and one memorable intertitle breathlessly exclaiming, “In 10 years its population doubles to a seething 7 million!”

Hong Kong, the Gateway to China, 1938 - Part of the Screen Traveler series, depicting the “proud Crown colony” before it was skyscraperfied.  Rickshaws and sedan chairs transport residents and visitors about, and even back then, Hong Kong is pointed out as a shopping mecca. Most amusingly, a small group of children explode in their haste to get away from the camera, leaving behind a little girl covering her face.

Hong Kong, 1930s - It has the feel of an amateur home video, but this was actually created by the Cunard steamship line as part of a promotional campaign for their liner Franconia.  The footage itself is fairly neutral, but the intertitles have all the picaresque histrionics of a D.W. Griffith melodrama. Take this intertitle describing life on the sampans: “Incredible homes these, but here millions live and die.”

Tibet: Land of Isolation - Also produced by James A. Fitzpatrick, who did the “Peking: The Imperial City” clip mentioned earlier. Unfortunately the sound track doesn’t seem to be included, so I don’t know what the narration sounds like.

These are just the China videos that I’ve been able to find. With many other videos to choose from, including clips of pygmies and cannibals from Places Far Away, the Travel Film Archive is an utter gem.

Beijing doesn’t lack for cute cafes, but Miao Cafe is easily the cutest cafe in the city.  In fact it is one of the cutest cafes I have been to anywhere in the world.  As its name suggests, Miao Cafe is cat-themed.  Located on a quiet street behind the Yashow Market in Sanlitun, it’s worlds away from the usual overpriced and sanitized places that pass for cafes in the area and definitely much better than the corporate behemoth next door, aka The Village.  With its gentle and cozy atmosphere, Miao Cafe is like stepping into a real life version of the idealized European world in Miyazaki Hayao films.

Oh, it’s just so crackalicious! Miao Cafe is a veritable explosion of cute! The front half of the cafe is a little shop with a small selection of clothes and a large selection of cute things for the house and adorable stuffed animals, making it a very good place to find quirky gifts.

The back half is the actual cafe, where there are tables that are just big enough for two and a selection of teas and coffees to choose from. Prices range from  15 RMB to 25 RMB, so a visit to Miao Cafe will hardly break the bank.

There’s no wifi here except what you can steal from the neighbors above, but this is no place to spend glued to the computer screen! Although that is the hip and modern thing to do, Miao Cafe is the place for a quiet afternoon reading a novel, or chatting with friends over coffee.

Miao Cafe would not complete without its own cat.  Here he is.  His name is Tiger.  How appropriate! Although there are two friendly proprietresses at Miao, we all know the truth: Tiger is the king of the cafe.

Because the cafe is tucked away in a side street and a little hard to find unless you know it’s there, here’s the address and phone number: 三里屯南31楼1号，No. 1, Building 31, South Sanlitun. （010）6415 3536.