4/24/09

Positive things about living in Beijing
  • Springtime.
  • The Summer Palace.
  • Mandarin.
  • Visas are easy.
  • Kindness of Chinese people.
  • Emergence of a competent art scene.
  • New, shiny, fast-paced madness.
  • The best public transportation ever.
  • Cracking sunflower seeds and drinking green tea.
  • Greasy Cantonese food at one AM.
  • Things are cheap.
  • Wandering through the hutong.
  • Produce markets filled with exotic things.
  • Bootleg DVDs.

Negative things about living in Beijing
  • Pollution.
  • Endless waves of people.
  • Cutting in line.
  • Public spitting.
  • Really terrible clothing.
  • Destruction of beautiful, old hutong.
  • Dirtiness.
  • State of public toilets.
  • Oily, cheap, MSG-laden food
  • Missing familiar things.
  • Long winters.
  • Endless, drab apartment blocks.
  • Ignorance of the outside world.
  • Oh, and pollution. Pollution. Pollution.

2 comments:

Silvia Elena said...

my positives...
cab drivers and the amazing conversations which go on in those cabs, our friends, living with you two boys, the hutong, cheap and yummy things to eat (饺子包子凉面等等), the fact that anything can be delivered to you if you know the right phone number, hot xinjiang boys, easy-to-find cute and cheap cloth shoes(布鞋), CCTV-11 which plays Peking Opera 24/7, summer time when people carry fans and old men show their big bellies, the bike-friendliness of the city...

negatives
the lack of availability of English books, the dryness and the pollution.

Terri said...

My positives...you live there

My negatives...you don't live here

Loveyerma