Living in the Chaoyang district is unique in its own right. The area is located several subways stations away towards east from central Beijing. Within walking distance of my dorm, there exist restaurants of all kinds, from extremely affordable to expensive, from Korean to Italian to Vietnamese to French to American to Chinese. Aside from international consumer good giants like Walmart, there is also a plethora of small, family-owned businesses, thus laying the seeds of capitalism. Consequently, bootlegged products are commonplace. Although technically illegal, the police seem to be relatively lax in the enforcement of such laws. They are much more likely to hand out ~200 RMB tickets for parking outside of designated areas, causing many car owners much grief and inconvenience as these parking areas are hard to find and are not always located at places that need them. Although detrimental to brand name corporations, the bootlegged goods seem to have a positive effect in stimulating the economy, giving many people a humble chance to lift themselves out of impoverished conditions. These consumer goods have become so ordinary that there exist very renowned multi-story shopping centers of fake brand-name products where people (especially tourists) go to bargain for good prices. Usually, a skilled buyer can bargain prices down to less than half of the original asking price. There are no price tags, so the asking price is anything that the vendor states. Usually, it’s whatever price that the vendor thinks will be a good starting bargaining platform. The setting is very prejudiced. If the vendor believes that the buyer comes from an economically developed country (such as America), then he or she will usually want to charge a higher price, since they know about the disparity in prosperity between China and such nations. Below is a picture blog of life near CUEB:
Colorful residential buildings in the background of the hustle and bustle
Evolutionary Fitness Center (进步）is where most ACC students go to exercise. The membership fee is 400 RMB per month.
Cardio and weight training equipment on the second floor
Locker room
Midnight MacDonald runs are good temporary escapes from homework. This one has 24 hour service.
Chinese MacDonalds are extremely well decorated. This particular one had thousands of dollars worth of musical instruments hanging on the walls.
Chinese MacDonalds are usually bigger than the US ones. This one even has 2 floors.
The chicken actually looks and tastes real!
The Korean "stone bowl" should be mixed before eaten. The contents of the bowl may vary. This one had beef and vegetables. There was also a raw egg, which cooks in the sizzling bowl when mixed.
I was halfway done eating before my friend's food got there. He had curry on rice.
Korean "cold noodle" is a delicious way to cool off.
On the walk over to Walmart
Still on the way to Walmart
Walmart
2 comments:
Good analysis on the seeds of capitalism and the pros and cons of the bootlegged products. They are, in fact, a way that most Chinese use to lift themselves out of impoverishment. I agree with the lax enforcement of the police. This is also true in Shanghai where cops simply warns the vendor or at most confiscate their products. Next day, these vendors comes out with the next batch of bootlegged products. You also must understand that in businesses such as DVDs or CDs, the price of the copyrighted version usually range from 14 Yuans to 74 Yuans. At such high price, consumers goes to the bootlegged product stands where they can get most CDs and DVDs usually for only 8 Yuans. Big Difference in savings huh? Good job in mentioning the way that Chinese people bargain. They usually follow you a couple feet to bargain and sell you their products and I agree that the price is often times depended on the nationality of the buyer. Hence, a country's standards of living definitely have a impact on how people in other country sees its citizens.
Hey Bing! This is Jody, from the Stanton days (ha ha). Well, my comment is not going to be as intellectual or in-depth as Sichao's, but I just thought I would drop by to say that it looks like you had a great time in China! It seems very interesting. It is so awesome thinking that people who graduated from our class are all over the world...Sarah Giles and Kaley are in London, I am in South Africa, you were in China. It's exciting! I look forward to reading more about your time there!! Hope you are doing well.
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