jadarite's picture jadarite Submitted by Guest on Sat, 04/27/2013 - 09:55

This is a response to admin.

""Sanlitun Village" has a definite Beijing twist"

Maybe sanlitun, but it is an illogical label. You are calling a part of a capital city "village"? We don't call parts of England hamlet anymore. At least I don't hear Britons talking to me in those terms, and they DEFINITELY don't replace hamlet for village.

One definition of "village" is "A small group of dwellings in a rural area". Beijing is not rural in my mind, it is urban. Maybe if you go to Pinggu and outer districts you can get by with it because of the size of Beijing. But in the center? Are you serious? A village? I don't think so.

"its not contradictory to explore very Western things in Beijing and very Chinese things."

Ok, well, the German beer this American yank drinks at home is just as Western as the German beer he drank in Sanlitun. I don't feel any more Western by going to a designated street and trying to be western (and failing miserably at it).

If you are going to westernize a part of an Eastern country, then do a proper job of it. That's what I think. Get a real Mexican restaurant and do the tacos, burritos, and fajitas the right way. Get REAL tomato paste, not that ketchup stuff Chinese try to sell you to replace Italian spaghetti sauce. Get decent sausages and bacon. The stuff they have here is like chewing wax.

When I go to a Japanese restaurant with a Japanese owner, then it tastes like real Japanese food I had in Japan. I am all for remembering this and food back home, but if no one can whip up a Philly steak sandwich, Greek Gyro, or a Chicago deep dish pizza then you are not really getting best of both worlds. You are just having a fake representation of what Western food is really like. It's like saying wonton soup or fortune cookies. What about those California rolls, calling that Japanese sushi? It's just a fake moment I can't enjoy. I need the real stuff.

For a village, I need to travel out a couple hours at least from a major city, and being a capital city that's going have to be another hour at least.

jadarite's picture jadarite Submitted by Guest on Sat, 04/27/2013 - 09:29

This is a response to Squid.

"Do you say the same thing about all the Chinese in Chinatowns around the world?"

No, because in Chinatowns they usually have Chinese people selling stuff. You are making a completely bad analogy. Do you work at Uniqlo or any of these stores? Even that, those are not YOUR country's products. It's just a franchised store.

If Chinese people came to America and did not interact with the locals, yes I would say the same thing. Instead, I see many Arabs, Indians, Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans back in my home country running a restaurant or food store. I sold my house to an Arab who ran a wine shop. Another one had a golf store.

Are you telling me that these people that come to Sanlitun have offices and stores there? They are not going for the drinks and shops (as customers)?

admin's picture admin Submitted by Guest on Sat, 04/27/2013 - 09:03

jadarite wrote:
I don't get it. Who cares what you call it?

The reason I don't like the name change is that "Taikoo" is totally not Beijing. It's the name of a well-known Hong Kong conglomerate. Its very closely associated with Hong Kong.

"Sanlitun Village" has a definite Beijing twist -- Sanlitun is uniquely Beijing and Village gives it a bit of charm.

jadarite wrote:
Now, isn't that a more important topic than a name (change) of some overpriced shopping and drinking area for foreigners who can't find the exit door to their Western bubble they live in?

I suppose you have a point there. But I think if you spend enough time in Beijing you'll eventually realize that it's OK to want to have the feel of something familiar back home when you are living overseas, and that its not contradictory to explore very Western things in Beijing and very Chinese things.

Books by current and former Beijinger staffers

http://astore.amazon.com/truerunmedia-20

jadarite's picture jadarite Submitted by Guest on Sat, 04/27/2013 - 06:19

A bunch of foreigners leave their home country, come to another country, and they spend it by congregating at a foreigner area. Itaewon in Korea, Sanlitun in China. I don't get it. Who cares what you call it? The question I have is why leave your country if you aren't going to immerse yourself in the culture of the country you seek living in? A bit of a boy in the bubble syndrome. Jung and Freud were probably too old to diagnose these kinds of people this way. Maybe Oliver Sacks has something.

I prefer wrapping my head around Chinese stuff like should I call it 木须肉 or 木樨肉 (xu or xi?) It shows xu on the menu, but when I hear people say it, they say xi.

Now, isn't that a more important topic than a name (change) of some overpriced shopping and drinking area for foreigners who can't find the exit door to their Western bubble they live in?

Jerry's picture Jerry Submitted by Guest on Fri, 04/26/2013 - 09:25

In the meantime, here is a post on Technode that cites a Chinese article quoting a cab driver who says these apps really don't work well for the drivers:

Quote:
From last year to now, we have had a flock of Uber-like services in China, at lease in big cities like Beijing and Shanghai. The well-known include Didi, Yyzhaoche and Kuaidadi. All of them were launched in 2012 and have the same business model: tips – Chinese are not used to tipping at all though. Minor differences include some share income with drivers while some charge them.

Unlike troubles Uber encountered in the U.S. with regulators, those Chinese apps will have their own. I came across an article (article in Chinese) in which a Beijing-based taxi driver says he knows better. Mr. Ma, having been driving a taxi for four years, thinks those app developers are wasting too much money on marketing.

To have taxi drivers adopt their apps, those app development companies would approach taxi companies or drivers to have every cab equipped with a smart device with their apps installed in.

One app managed to have every driver with Mr. Ma’s company equipped with a tablet — drivers had to pay 25 yuan for a monthly data plan and 300 yuan as deposit (it’s unknown whether the app development company would take the devices back and refund drivers).

But Mr. Ma and his colleagues returned the devices soon for “that device is too big and not convenient”, apart from resentment over the expenses.

Jerry Chan, Digital Marketing & Content Strategy Director

Jerry's picture Jerry Submitted by Guest on Fri, 04/26/2013 - 09:19

Here's the "How To" part:

Quote:
The first option is to "Make a Reservation" (预约用车). In this window, type in your location and your destination and set up your booking time, which needs to be at least 30 minutes later than the time you submit your request. Finally, choose one of the four options for tip, which goes straight to the cab driver: RMB 0, RMB 5, RMB 10, and RMB 20. A note on the app suggests that you pay more if you're going on a short distance trip, or navigate to the second button "I Need a Taxi Now" (现在用车).

Your point about more follow-up testing is duly noted - we'll try it out more and update in this space. If any readers have experiences with this app (good or bad), please feel free to comment below as well.

Jerry Chan, Digital Marketing & Content Strategy Director

Porter's picture Porter Submitted by Guest on Fri, 04/26/2013 - 08:27

It's Midi Music Festival all the way! Strawberry is dry,(but midi has all the tiger and anything else you can imagine in the way of booze!) no place to go off with your significant other (at strawberry >:P ) , but at Midi, you can enjoy the the real concert moves... or just take a power nap in the tent village... Don't waste your time, rent a tent and a sleeping bag, enjoy Midi!

BumbleBeeTou's picture BumbleBeeTou Submitted by Guest on Fri, 04/26/2013 - 01:01

"...so we decided to give it a try."

Sorry for asking more of reporters than simply pressing a few buttons while waiting on the side of the street.

I put the word 'review' that way, because this obviously wasn't a review. But I still think I have the right to call them out for writing a 'How to', where they don't actually say if the app they are talking about actually functions or not.