Maggie Xie's picture Maggie Xie Submitted by Guest on Fri, 02/17/2012 - 10:11

To be honest, the best three words to sum up Chinese society is the word fake, stupidity and callousness, What is with those empty SPIRITS SLOGAN millions miles away from THE REALITY which comes from people sitting in a cozy office,check out the stampede situation at line 13 Shaoyaoju station, that is how bottom chain people live, people could not even care less or give a shit about others lives, you can be seriously get killed on your way to or back from work, and check out how efficient and effective those railway station workers is, I can not think of anything the slightest resemblance of BEIJING SPIRIT "patriotism," "inclusion," "innovation" and "virtue"

WayDaLone's picture WayDaLone Submitted by Guest on Thu, 02/16/2012 - 15:07

Great article. Had a few chuckles where I saw myself there. Staking out two seats and figuring out the tell tale signs of who`s getting off next stop. Sometimes I think people take little kids with them just to get a seat. I was thinking of taking a crutch with me one day and hobble on a train favoring a leg to see how well it would work. Or wrap up a doll in a blanket.
When I first came to Beijing in 04 I was amazed how everyone would crush and cram and reach their money into the ticket booths to get a ticket. How rude! I used to think until I realized with my height and reach I had an advantage:) When in Rome. However nowadays I`m amazed at how orderly things seem to have become. Jinguomen station at rush hour always reminds me of Fritz Lang`s 1925 movie "Metropolis."

Nidaye's picture Nidaye Submitted by Guest on Thu, 02/16/2012 - 14:01

There are several reshipping companies that cater specifically to Chinese consumers and their fees are much lower than what this and other "western/expat" reshippers charge. The cheapest one I know of charges $4/lb with a 2lb minimum charge per shipment (you can combine packages into a single shipment for no extra charge), and you get your stuff within 1 or 2 weeks. This also happens to be less than what USPS charges for shipping parcels to China, so it's a fantastic deal. The downside is that these Chinese reshippers don't have English websites/service.

britomart's picture britomart Submitted by Guest on Wed, 02/15/2012 - 12:08

That's funny--last night I was just looking up info on a knitting/crochet group I heard about a year or so ago, and happily, they're still going! Check out http://www.beijingguild.com/. It's a group of ladies getting together to knit/crochet/do handcrafts on Tuesdays and/or Thursdays, at different locations within 2nd and 3rd Ring Rds. I heard about it through a lady who is (was?) in Beijing running a small online yarn business as a side line. Her website is still up and running (http://www.beyondknitting.com/) but I don't know if she's still in Beijing any longer.

Good luck finding a group to join! I still crochet a bit in the evenings watching TV, but can't find the time to join a craftsy group, though I'd love to some day, when life slows down a bit.

Doubt wisely; in strange way / To stand inquiring right is not to stray; / To sleep, or run wrong, is. (Donne, Satire III)

JWhite's picture JWhite Submitted by Guest on Tue, 02/14/2012 - 18:06

Just to remind you that if you want to be in with a chance of winning then you'll need to email your answer to win@thebeijinger.com.

Writing your answer in the comments is much the shame as shouting an answer out at a pub quiz. Griffin5 has the right idea by making a joke - although judging by the number of entries there may be lots of Il Divo fans currently penning you hate mail.

Jonathan White, Managing Editor the Beijinger/TheBeijinger.com

Si.Non's picture Si.Non Submitted by Guest on Tue, 02/14/2012 - 17:10

britomart wrote:
@ Si.Non

That's great! I was asking actually because I used to crochet nearly every day I took the subway last year. I never saw anyone else doing it, so upon reading George's article, I wondered if he'd ended up in my subway car at least one day last year. Glad to hear someone else does it! (Though I should mention that I crocheted mainly b/c it was the only way I could keep myself calm enough to avoid maiming/strangling/attacking my fellow passengers, and I currently no longer take the subway; bought an e-scooter last Sept cause the subway-induced angst along with the subway-related accidents finally got to me.)

Haha... I was thinking the same! I had to travel pretty much across town to get to work. Not doing anything on that 50 minutes subway ride drove me nuts (unless I decided to nap). Crocheting... let's just say gave me a sense of fulfillment as an accomplished passenager Lol

On a separate note, do you still crochet/knit in your spare time? My friend used to organize knitting/crocheting/sewing evenings with a group girls. But then she moved to Shanghai Sad If you know anyone who has a similar kind of group do let me know. I miss being "craftsy" with other girls!

britomart's picture britomart Submitted by Guest on Tue, 02/14/2012 - 14:32

@ Si.Non

That's great! I was asking actually because I used to crochet nearly every day I took the subway last year. I never saw anyone else doing it, so upon reading George's article, I wondered if he'd ended up in my subway car at least one day last year. Glad to hear someone else does it! (Though I should mention that I crocheted mainly b/c it was the only way I could keep myself calm enough to avoid maiming/strangling/attacking my fellow passengers, and I currently no longer take the subway; bought an e-scooter last Sept cause the subway-induced angst along with the subway-related accidents finally got to me.)

Doubt wisely; in strange way / To stand inquiring right is not to stray; / To sleep, or run wrong, is. (Donne, Satire III)