Another hospital experience

and I hope the last one in China :)
Leveraging a connection from my Dad today I went to the Peking Third University Hospital to have an ultrasound.
This time no fancy international hospital but a Chinese public hospital. I have to say that the "out patient" building was quite a mess. It felt more like going to the market than to a hospital with millions of people all around and a feeling of chaos. The place was not that clean either, but that could be because it was the day hospital. I do hope the surgery area is cleaner because if you make it through the surgery, an infection might kill you.
The Dr who received me was very nice. She waited for me in the hallway so I would not get lost, did the exam, explained to me everything in a very good English and then let me go. I was done in 15min (yes I did bypass all the Chinese people queueing). I did not pay because believe it or not it's easier that way than to fill a report and get a foreigner in the system. I love China :)

You know you've been in China too long when...

Here is a selection of situations that show you've been too long in China. There are hundreds of them so I selected a few for you. Of course if you've been in China you will know what they're talking about. If you haven't been in China yet, what are you waiting for?
Thanks Ingrid for sharing :)

You know you've been in China for too long when...
- you don't know how to cook pasta "al dente"
- you know where to go to have fun or dinner with only 20RMB (2 euros)
- booking a train ticket you ask for a soft seat
- you can help bargaining in a shop
- you look over someones shoulder to see what they read
- you want to exit the subway, you say nothing, and push everyone at the last moment
- you're not surprised when 4 men arrive to change a light bulb
- people think you're Russian
- you want to have a conversation with someone standing at least 10m away
- you believe that pushing the button of the elevator 63 times will make it go faster
- you don't know people are supposed to pay the license of a software
- you think that 5 euros for a T-shirt is way to much
- you can't eat Chinese food anymore with a fork and a knife
- you follow foreigners in Carrefour to see what they buy
- you switch off the lights of your car at night to save the battery
- you watch cctv9 because it's the only channel in English
- you walk around with an umbrella to protect yourself from the sun
- a friend is sick you advise him to drink hot water to heal
- you have more than 10 zips or other shiny elements on your jeans
- you start liking warm beer
- you have at least 2000 DVD at home
- you enter one of the most fashionable club in Shanghai wearing Crocs, short pants and a yellow T-shirt
- you explain to your friends that chopstick are more convenient to eat
- you fart in the elevator, who cares about the bad smell
- you haven't cooked in years
- you only have 1 fork and 1 plate in your kitchen
- you believe the Hello Kitty seat covers you just bought are perfect in your new BMW
- you're not surprised anymore to see someone wearing high heels and a pyjama
- you can sleep anywhere, including in the crowded bus
- you gave up looking for beauty products without whitening effect
- you do a "peace V" sign each time you're on a photo
- you feel insulted when only 3 waiters welcome you in a restaurant
- you take a nap at IKEA
- you don't try to understand how a Chinese man who earns 300 euros per month can have a Mercedes
- you think that taking more than 1 shower a week is too much
- you think that a town with less than 1 million inhabitants is a village
- you buy a new watch instead of changing the battery when it dies
- you believe Yao Ming is the best Basket ball player in the world
- you start to believe you're a sex symbol because each time you go to the market you hear "wow, you so handsome sir"
- you hold your business card with your 2 hands, even back home
- you find it unacceptable when shops back home close before midnight
- you find it normal when the waiter repeats your order and only has 2 dishes right out of 10
- people with white teeth scare you
- you have to ask for a new passport because you don't have pages left due to all the Chinese visas (L, F, Z, M, etc.)
- you only like pizza when it has corn and sweet things on it
- you use chopstick to eat your brownie in the plane on the way back home
- you put the red wine in the fridge and keep the white one at ambient temperature
- you're not surprised to see the woman who's searching the garbage bin answer her i-phone
- smoking is part of a meal
- you wear white socks with your suit
- you buy the DVD of movies that are not released in the US
- you answer "China" when people ask where you are from
- the more you watch the news on TV the least you know
- you know that even the Olympics are over you will still hear about it, at least until Shanghai 2010
- you're relieved to have read all of this and you know others have been through the same experiences.

What a shoe can do when its the US first lady's

Extracts of an article from China Daily
Chinese exports may have hit a slump, but a shoe factory in Sichuan province has defied the trend, and it has the first lady of the United States to thank for that.
Orders have been pouring in at Reoblan ever since Michelle Obama was seen wearing Bandolino Berry shoes at a public function at the beginning of the year.

The Reoblan factory in Chengdu, the provincial capital of Sichuan, makes the Berry shoes. It was doing good business, selling as many as 500,000 pairs in the second half of 2007 alone, even before Michelle Obama was seen wearing its shoes.

But then the global financial crisis struck, reducing sales of everything from houses and cars to clothes and shoes.

Berry shoes caught the imagination of the fashionistas after coolspotters.com, a fashion website, posted a photograph of Michelle Obama in a "J Crew dress with Bandolino women's Berry pumps" with the caption: "This sweet and tangy Berry is a thoroughly delicious treat."
The US first lady has become a style icon, with the media scrutinizing her choice of clothes and footwear ever since the US presidential election race heated up.

Such has been the impact of her image in Berry shoes that Reoblan has "received orders for 300,000 pairs, mainly from the US market", said Wu Deguo, owner and general manger of the Chengdu factory.

Berry shoes with leather uppers, classic pointed toe pumps, were priced at $69 on Bandolino Berry's official website yesterday.

Chaoyang Park

Today I finally got to go to the Chaoyang Park. In case you don't know that's the park right next to my apartment. I know, how can it be I've never been there since I arrived? I guess it's always like that when things are right next door.
So it's Beijing's largest park and in the South part of it you can find an amusement park while in the North it's more lakes and park like.
See by yourself here.

Starting a new collection?

I had them in black and gold already and today I got them in grey and silver. That's the beauty of Yashow. In this temple of fake you can find every model in every possible color. Doesn't matter if they don't exist in the genuine portfolio.
Anyhow, I love those shoes as they feel like wearing slippers. And given how cheap they are, no reason not to start a collection :)

That's what happens...

... when you buy fake products. They don't have the quality of the genuine one and therefore break, loose shape or color, etc.
I had bought this bag to use while I was in China this way I don't damage my genuine ones on the subway or while sightseeing. Now I'm wondering: will it last until end of June?

Serenity package

Tonight Alice and I went to Bodhi for a Serenity package. There are having promotions in April so for a package you could save 17% (I know, quite an odd number, only China can come up with this and not make it 20%).
We started with an Aromatherapy massage during which I have to confess I fall asleep for a while :) then had a facial.
After 150min of massage and face treatment, I can tell you that you are fully relaxed, ready to go to bed (which I did).
I should do that more often :)

Black Sesame Kichen

Tonight the group headed to Black Sesame Kitchen for a Chinese cooking class!
After 30min of walk through the hutong, the last meters really getting into the houses and having no clue where we were, we arrived in the kitchen. Place looked lovely, it had a big table with stools around next to a cooking area where 2 chefs where standing.
We took place around the table and the lesson started. We learned how to make dumplings and truth being told it's not that hard. Just time consuming. We had a lot of fun making our own dumplings.
Once the dumplings were done the chefs took over the cooking and prepared us some more Chinese courses while we were watching. Everything looked fantastic and very oily (I never realized how much oil they use to fry vegetables).
Pity I'm recovering from food poisoning (or a virus) so I could not eat :( but I've got the recipes and will try them for sure.

Feeling like home

With such weather, who wouldn't feel like in Belgium...

Reading the newspaper

On my way to work, every morning I notice that they put the newspaper (or at least one newspaper) on boards. This way people can come and read it for free.
Great idea, no?
PS: of course it's all in Chinese so I have no clue about what they say...

Magnifique

This is a beautiful example of what happens when a traditional Chinese tea pot meets modern design.
Note that the bowls have round base which makes drinking tea a challenging experience :)
Thank you mum and dad for such a beautiful gift!

And they left :(

10:15am my parents just left.
It's raining today as if Beijing is crying :)
I miss them already. We had such a great time together. The apartment feels empty now and I wished they were still there. So many more things to discover and adventures to live.
I hope they have a safe trip back home.

Beijing Botanical Garden

Today we had planned to go to the Fragrant Hills, a big park in the west of Beijing. After 1 hour of transportation, the taxi dropped us at the entrance. He did explained something in Chinese pointing 2 different directions. Of course we did not understand :) So we bought tickets for the wrong place: the Botanical Garden, which is located right next to the Fragrant Hills. Well we did not get the right place, fair enough, but it was still worth the trip. There were loads of Chinese people over there and very few foreigners (we counted maybe 20 including us) and we had a very good grab at what Chinese people do over the week-end, when they don't shop. They come to a big park like this one, bring a tent and the picnic and spend the day there, with friends and / or family. I'm not sure they really come for the flowers which by the way were quite impressive but more for the outdoor experience.
Of course I took plenty of pictures :)
PS: I would recommend to visit the garden later in the spring, May or June, so you get a chance to see the rose garden with flowers open.

Night market

After wasting most part of the day with the MRI, I took my parents to Purple Haze for Thai food (did I mention already I love Thai food?). Still having some time in the evening after the dinner we grabbed a taxi to go to Donghuamen night market.
You can find there everything you want to eat on a stick: meat, fish, seafood, fruit and of course insects.
Take a look here at what you could eat(thanks dad for the pictures).

MRI or another Chinese experience

Today I was scheduled to have an MRI (i.e. Magnetic Resonance Imaging) to investigate further my back and maybe identify the origin of the pain.
At 12:20pm my dad and I left the apartment and walked to the International Medical Center. At 12:30 we left the center with a nurse and grabbed a taxi. Direction: Beijing Chaoyang Hospital.
15min later we were facing the hospital...
... and followed the nurse through different paths to access the MRI building, somewhere at the back. We were too early. Apparently the appointment was at 1pm so we had 20min to spend. We were invited by the nurse to seat in the waiting room. As you can see it is not the most welcoming waiting room. We were wondering if Mao actually visited that waiting room hospital as it looked quite old :)

The kind nurse who accompanied us.

At 1pm finally the nurse smiled to a man (the doctor? the technician?). This was followed by quite some discussion between the nurse and the man. Every now and then they would look at me. They discuss again. 15min later we were asked to follow them. We left the old building, went through some back doors via the underground parking and arrived in the new MRI building. In 5min we jumped 40-50 years. We were now in a 21st century hospital where everything was clean and modern (and the MRI equipment looked more recent as well). We were shown to a room and asked to wait.
And we waited...
10min later the nurse came back asking me to sign a document accepting the risk of the procedure. All in Chinese of course so she called the Canadian Doctor so he could explain me what it was and what the risks were. I think I was very lucky to have my dad with me who explained to me the procedure in details, step by step, so I would know what's coming. Anyhow, I did sign and the nurse left.
10min (or maybe 15min) passed.
When she came back, this time she had a nurse from the hospital with me. She was there to place the perfusion in my arm, which she did. Of course I was then asked to wait.
And we waited, and waited... so much we sent an sms to my mum telling her to have lunch and maybe read a book or watch a DVD because at this pace we might still be there the next day.
Eventually the nurse returned and asked me if I had any metal in my body. No :) In my clothes? Yes :) That was obviously a problem because they had planned on having me do the procedure in my clothes (usually, at least in Europe, they give you a blouse). She left.
And we waited another 10min.
She came back with a pyjama and asked me to put it on. Now how do I do that with the perfusion in my arm? She left.
She came back and they took me to the VIP lounge (a room with 2 armchairs and a TV) so I could change. Of course the nurse had to stay with me. I think she was extremely embarrassed that she had to help me change. But again what could I do with a perfusion on my arm.
Back in the room with my dad we waited again. Quite some time, again.
Finally it was my turn!
I got in, laid down on the board, was fixed to it so I couldn't move. They gave me a headset to cover the noise and it started. After a while they pulled me out and injected something in the perfusion. Back in for another round. 30min later I was out, having cold feet and being tired. They said it was over. The nurse walked me back to the VIP room so I could change. We picked up my dad and walked out with this beautiful bag containing the shots.

We of course debated whether or not I could keep the shots. The nurse was not so keen so we called the Canadian doctor and told him we were coming back so we could take a look at them.
15min taxi later we arrived at the clinic and I was told that he could not tell me if it was ok or not as he is not trained to read these... Luckily for me I have a dad who is fully trained and guess what? The MRI was very well done. It's just a pity they made shots from the front and not the back, which means we cannot see the area that matters. Again, it's China, great execution, even with wrong or misunderstood instructions.
I will wait being back in Europe to repeat the MRI. I'll find a way to survive 2.5 months because I don't want to go waste my time (and my parents time today) and money one more time.
Another Chinese experience :)

Annie's

While my parents were in Beijing we quite often ordered dinner from different delivery places. 2 reasons for that: my kitchen is quite under equipped and food is very cheap in Beijing even for delivery.
The 1st time we ordered from Annie's we were a bit surprised. Some dishes do come on a plate or in a bowl (yes, real ones). Basically you open a premium carton box to find a plate wrapped in plastic film with your food inside.
Quite a cheap way to increase your number of plates or bowls :)

Fire cupping

Fire cupping is one of the traditional Chinese medicine technique. It is used to treat diverse health problems.
While you can be surprised or chocked when you see someone's back looking like this (for example at the swimming pool), Chinese people are not as it is standard procedure for them.
Luckily I did not try that one :)

Trees under treatment

Here is a finding from my parents while visiting the Olympic venues.
Apparently trees over there are "sick" and need some perfusion.
Now the question is: what is in the solution? water? vitamins? antibiotics? pesticides?
For sure we've never seen trees so well taken care of :)

Stick to family planning

Read here an interesting article about family planning in China where you can learn that China prevented the birth of 400 millions children over the 30 years the one-child policy has been applied.

It's over

is it?
That's what I was told at the end of my session with the Dr Lan. Apparently he did all he could do. To summarize I don't really see what he has done to help as the pain is worse now than when we started :(
So after this very unsuccessfully trial of Chinese traditional medicine and having demonstrated its limits, 2 hours later we were at the International medical center, back with Western medicine. I've met a Canadian doctor with French origins who spoke no French but English and Spanish who agreed with my dad that we need further investigation and treatment. 1st step was an x-ray which was quite an experience as the technician in charge of the x-ray did not speak English and did not look like he knew what he was doing. I can proudly say I have a x-ray of my hips showing the zipper of my trousers right in the middle because he did not let me take it off :)
While waiting for the x-ray to be processed I was facing a little boy and his father and I thought "I'm 30 and I go to the doctor with both my parents... so much for my credibility as a grown up" :)
Once this was done we walked to Sanlitun through the embassy areas enjoying the blossoming trees. It was a nice walk followed by a good lunch at Element Fresh, on the terrace of course.

Happy Easter

If it was not for my calendar I could have forgotten it's Easter today. China does not celebrate Easter (and we don't get Easter Monday off either) so this week-end was like any other. I have to say it feels weird that Easter eggs and chocolate are nowhere to be found, but that's China :)

Great wall - 3rd visit - 2nd hike :)

Obviously I cannot get enough of the great wall. Today I took my parents to Jinshangling for a hike on the great wall, until Simatai. If you recall I already did this hike back during the fall. This time no large group just my parents and I (and Ronnie a friend of Aaron's who joined us). This time as well the weather was not the best. It was very foggy and the visibility was quite poor although improving through the day. The positive point of not having sun was that the hike was easier without having to bear with heat :)
This time the wall was as impressive as the previous times. No matter how hard the hike is, how painful it gets sometimes to climb, it is the best way to visit the wall and get a real fell about it. If you ever get to Beijing, I do recommend that you spend a day hiking the great wall. You won't be disappointed, trust me.

Yes, it was foggy and hard to see anything further than 2m away.


The 3 of us on the wall. A moment of family history which we will remember for long.

Some writing on the stones which I hadn't see before (that's the advantage of coming back, you get to see details)


The road that lead to? more towers of course :)

Blossoming trees around the wall. It's for sure Spring.

WOW!

Tonight I took my parents to the Chaoyang Theater to see the show with the acrobates.
WOW! 1 hour of show where you can really discover or re-discoevr the full range of acrobate skills from China. For example:
- Bicycle acrobatics (guess how many Chinese girls you can put on 1 bicycle? 10!!!)
- Disk rotating
- Circles jumping
- Contortion (still wondering whether she still has a spine)
- Bowl kicking (what a nice way to pile your bowls).
It was very impressive. Most of the show you cannot believe what you see, what they manage to achieve. Absolutely fantastic.
Definitely a must see if you come to Beijing
You can have a glimpse at it here.

I missed it!

While I was at work today there was quite some activity next to my apartment.
Apparently I've missed the inauguration of the building site (despite it's been one week they are digging, especially at night). Quite a show they put as you can see: red carpet, red balloons, hostesses, and the 1st block with a red ribbon!
Too bad missed it.
PS: thanks Dad for taking pictures :)

Thinking of all my friends back in Italy

There has been an earthquake last night in Italy. It hit mostly Abruzzo which is where I used to work and live.
Luckily all my friends and their close family are safe and sound but in chock. Makes you realize how fragile life can be.

They work also on National Holidays

April 6th is a National Holiday in China. It's Qing Ming Jie or Tomb Sweeping Day. It's a day to honor past ancestors, quite similar to All Saints for us.
Therefore I am lucky to have a long week-end to enjoy with my parents under the sun :)

A day trip to Tianjin

This time we had the train tickets already so we got to go to Tianjin.
10am we left the house and got into a taxi direction Beijing South Station (still no subway connecting). Of course we were in advance so we picked up coffees and waiting in the waiting area which to be honest has the most comfortable chairs ever for a public waiting area.
11:10am the boarding started. We passed through a check like in the subway sweeping our tickets (so modern), found the right car and go in. We were travelling 1st class and honestly it was quite comfortable and roomy. Although let's face it for 30min it's maybe not needed to sit in 1st class. However, as modern as the train was, it had the most futuristic toilet ever. The doors were automatic, the lock was automatic, the flush, the water, the paper... everything was automatic. Incredible! I did have a scary thought at some point. What happens when there is no electricity? Are you locked in?
Pushing that thought away we arrived in Tianjin in time. 1st objective was to buy the return ticket (just to be sure to have one the same day). The station is organized in such a way that arrival and departure are completely dissociated. Therefore we had to exit the station and re-enter it by another access to get to the ticket office. Obviously once you get in Tianjin you don't plan to leave it right away :) With some chinese and gesture we managed to get tickets, this time in 2nd class. Let's see how that will be.
Its now noon, we're hungry and ready for lunch. According to the guide, Nanshi food street is the place to go, with 100 restaurants in 1 building. Based on the map in Chinese we bought in Beijing station we knew we were not far away from Heping district where Nanshi food street is. But we did not have any idea where exactly. That did not stop us. We walked in the direction of the district, found Heping Lu (i.e. road) and there asked our way to anyone we could find. Bottom line it was always "go straight and turn left". At each corner we checked again for direction "go straight, turn left". This lasted for about 40min until we were told to turn left and then right at the 3rd traffic light. A bit more than 1 hour walk after we left the station we finally arrived in Nanshi food street. The place was indeed quite impressive, all in Chinese, with tons of food, some we still don't know what they are. The good thing about such a walk through the city is that we had the chance to grasp a good look at it. If I was to summarize Tianjin in 1 word I would say "construction". Everywhere you look they are building new buildings / towers. It's really like the whole city is under construction which makes it hard to find the few "original" buildings that we were supposed to see.
We explored the city the rest of the day, did find the ancient culture street, a temple, the cathedral (definitely not worth it) and had a very pleasant walk back to the station on the riverside.
Pictures - Pictures !
You can play the same game as us: try to identify which style or famous building they got inspired from :)
After a quick train ride, we grabbed a taxi and went to Sanlitun. I took my parents to Luga's for Tex Mex food and cocktails. Well deserved after a full day of sightseeing. Bonus: the weather in Beijing is officially in Spring / Summer mode so we had dinner outside. The 1st time this year!

24h later...

... the hole is significantly bigger. They've been quite efficient last night.

A nice afternoon in the Temple of Heaven

Given we couldn't get to Tianjin and we were in the south of Beijing already, we all went for lunch next to the Temple of Heaven in a typical Chinese restaurant which was huge and packed but fast and very good. We ordered a selection of dishes and enjoyed a well deserved lunch.
PS: my dad even finally gave it a try to chopsticks (Joy, JHM, pictures will be sent to you directly :) others, sorry, restricted access). A bit shaky at the beginning but he'll get there. After all is you want to eat in China you have to get used to them. Otherwise you starve.
Stomach full we headed to the temple of Heaven. It was a perfect day to go there: sunny and not too warm. While my parents were visiting the inside of the temples, Alice and I waited outside and started to observe people. We spotted quite a collection of "typical Chinese" style and though we could share it with you. Have a look.

Beijing South Railway station

or how we did not get to Tianjin.
Today the whole group decided to go Tianjin, the 6th largest city in China, about 30min east from Beijing by train. We met at 10:20am in the subway and crossed the rest of the city together to get to the station.
This train station is brand new and was opened right before the Olympics. Unfortunately it's not connected to any subway line. It will be by 2010 or 2011 or never. It's quite not logical to build a train station having in mind to make it the largest of the city and not connecting to the public transportation (they've already put all the signs though in the station just masking them with red stickers like it will be opening in 1 week from now). Well, what can I say... it's China.
Now to be fair this station is impressive. It feels more like an airport than a train station. Everything is clean, there is space and light, very nice piece of design let's admit it. Go check more pictures here.
Now let's not lose focus. We wanted to get to Tianjin. From this station there are express trains leaving for Tianjin every 15min. Assuming you can understand the schedule table, you're ok :)



By the time we understood the schedule, the fares, the different classes... the only next ticket we could buy was at 3pm... Can you believe it, 1 train every 15min and they were all full for the next 4 hours or so!!!
Disappointed we decided to go for lunch next to the temple of Heaven.
PS: My parents and I did get tickets for Sunday. At least we're sure to go. Will we come back? that's another question as we can only buy return ticket in Tianjin.
PS2: and no there is no online booking in China. You have to go to the station and buy your ticket there.

Work never stops

Last night around 10pm, a team of workers started to dig a hole in across the street. What a better time to dig a hole with bulldozers etc. than Friday night?

Random shots

Sometimes you can be very tired, exhausted even to the point to sleep standing in the subway...
Fashion in China is a complete mystery to me. They excel in matching clothes that don't go together (well that any Western girl would think don't)

They have arrived

Today I went to the airport to pick up my parents. Can you believe it? My parents, in Beijing!

Well it took quite some time for my dad to fully realize it. I believe the 1 hour ride in the subway at rush hour finally made it (combined with a nice dinner in a Chinese restaurant with fantastic fish in Wudaoku).
I also made sure to keep them up and running the whole afternoon. They are now dead tired, ready to sleep, which is the key to beat the jet lag :)
I'm so happy they are here!

Good morning Beijing!