Beijing
6 June ’19
Living in Beijing is incredibly convenient.
The first major amenity is the metro. The metro system here is far beyond any American city. It follows a pseudo grid system, which means that no matter where you find yourself, youāre probably only a ten minute walk away from a metro station. In the West we use colors to represent out metro lines, but here in Beijing they use numbers because they would run out of colors š (there are fifteen lines!) It costs less that 1 USD to go anywhere in the city, and places of interest always have a metro stop right by them. Yes they can be crowded, but thereās always another train in a couple of minutes (the longest Iāve had to wait is about ten minutes, and that was on a weekend when they run fewer trains). You can even pay by QR code, though I opt for a physical metro card because QR codes donāt work on the buses. The biggest downside is that they close early - usually around 11 PM.
If the metro is closed, or youāre too lazy to walk, or youāre going somewhere a little more far flung, you can always hail a cab or call a 껓껓 (ādidiā the uber/lyft of China). I donāt do this often but the few times I have have been easy. They are all tolerant of English speaking riders, they just wonāt speak much English themselves. You can give them a Chinese address, or just point to the location you want to go to on the map on your phone (remember to download Baidu Maps or Amap since Google Maps doesnāt work in China). A forty minute to hour long trip to or from the airport costs me only about $15, and if youāre going to famous tourist destinations with several friends splitting the cost of the ride makes it a no-brainer. My only complaint is that late at night in popular party areas it can often be hard to get a cab or Didi - queue times on the app can reach over an hour š±
Ride hailing is not the only part of the sharing economy thatās popular here. Sidewalks outside of metro stops are lined with tens to hundreds of rent-able bikes. There are four or five different bike companies and theyāre all super cheap - Iāve never paid more than $1 for one. Wherever you are thereās guaranteed to be a bike within a stones throw - or at least a minute or twoās walk - scan the QR code on the back and youāre all set. But thereās more besides bikes. Is your phone is running out of battery? No problem! Most restaurants and coffee shops now carry banks of battery backs that you can rent for cents on the hour to charge your phone back up, then redeposit in the battery bank. Iāve even read of sharing economy makeup rooms - but never seen one in person.
Then thereās food delivery. Ordering delivery in the US is a mess unless itās pizza. There seem to be at least three different apps out of Silicon Valley fighting for dominance at any given time, the selection is usually mediocre, delivery often takes over an hour and the fee is usually five to ten dollars. But in Beijing food delivery is ubiquitous. Almost every restaurant is registered on the top two delivery apps (ē¾å¢å¤å meituanwaimai āMeituan Food Deliveryā and é„æäŗä¹ eāleāme āHungry?ā), even the mom and pop ones. You can order whole meals, or just small snacks like a boba milk tea. Delivery is usually a half hour to an hour from order time and itās so damn cheap - the delivery fee is usually $1 USD or less. So many people å«å¤å (jiaowaimai āorder takeoutā) so often that the streets of Beijing are constantly swarmed with delivery people toting meals on the back of their motorbikes. Restaurants fill so many delivery orders that they have the process down cold, even appropriate utensils are included. Ordering delivery is so convenient that there is more and more of a culture of just staying at home on oneās computer or phone all day, ordering delivery whenever you get hungry, and never leaving the house.
Beyond food delivery thereās just delivery in general. The people zooming around on their mopeds delivering food are commonly referred to as åæ«é (kuaidi āquick courierā), but these couriers are not limited just to food. If you buy anything from ę·å® (taobao), 天ē« (tianmao) or äŗ¬äø (jingdong) the three giants of online shopping you can have it delivered by courier, often for free. And let me tell you - you can order anything off these apps. Normal consumer goods, groceries, legal services, I even saw land being sold on there once (though that wonāt be delivered by courier). If you later decided you want to return an item you just let the app know and a courier comes and picks it up right out of your hands! No need for return labels or taping the box back up. One time I used a travel app to buy train tickets and got them delivered by courier. You can even send personal letters by through courier - it gets shipped through the standard postal system to the destination city, with the final leg of the trip from the post office to the receiver handled by courier. The ubiquity of the courier system means that any small shop now has the option to operate under Amazon Primeās two day delivery guarantee.
Food delivery is convenient, but getting food while out and about is just as easy. There are restaurants everywhere - no matter where you are thereās always something to eat within a block of you. There are street vendors peddling sweet potatoes and Chinese sausage, there are mom and pop hole in the wall restaurants which donāt show up on the maps app, there are more shopping malls in this city than I could possibly visit in a year, all stuffed with restaurants, there are the small stands with delicious snacks like ē 鄼 (jianbing āfried tortillaā) or ē¤å·é¢ (kaolengmian āroasted cold noodleā), and failing all else there is always a convenience store.
The convenience stores here (and in the rest of East Asia) are miles ahead of their American counterparts. They feature the normal array of snacks and necessities, but most also have a tiny-little takeout section where you can order a bento box of different entree options. Or you can buy an instant ramen and ask them to cook it for you, then eat at the counter in the store. Iāve even seen people set up their laptops in there like a coffee shop. You could eat all three meals a day just at convenience stores, and come lunch every weekday thereās always a line of people queueing out the door.
Eating out in general is great. You never have to bus your trash. Itās been drilled into me since I was young that at a fast food place you bus your own tray, but in China you can just get up and walk out. People donāt even push in their chairs. I know it doesnāt sound like much, thereās a sense of freedom in just getting up and walking out without any post meal hassle. Additionally, China is the king of consumer choice. With bars being the sole exception, you can bring any outside food or beverage into any eating establishment Iāve visited. Bring alcohol from the convenience store to drink with your dinner? Sure no problem. Bring a competitorās milk tea into a boba place to chill with your friends? Not an eye batted. Iāve seen people bring whole meals from other restaurants - so long as they buy something at the restaurant theyāve chosen to sit in no one complains.
You canāt bring alcohol into a bar, but other than that the restrictions on alcohol are very relaxed. Very relaxed. The first time I went to a bar I brought my passport - what a fool. I have never once been carded at any bar, restaurant, grocery store or convenience store where Iāve bought alcohol. In fact, Iāve even spotted an alcohol vending machine before - an eight year old kid could have walked up and bought a full handle of vodka if they had wanted. Bars obviously donāt like you bringing your own alcohol in - but you can bring it out and drinking alcohol on the street is perfectly legal. Iāve even drunk on the metro before. One of my favorite (and donāt worry - rarely indulged) activities is to buy a cheap tallboy from a convenience store (less than $1USD) and stroll the streets of Beijing in the evening, sipping on my beer.
Beijing can be dirty, it can be smelly, it can be packed - but itās so convenient. And itās a feat that I donāt think is replicable in the US, as many of these amenities rely on endless cheap manpower. Besides the portable battery banks. Iād love for those to make their way to the US. One of you lot over in Silicon Valley, get on it please!
Shout out to ēæå® (Xiangyu) for receiving the āMy best friend in Beijing awardā š
Eric Poon comments:
Wow, thanks for another great read - keep up the great work. I really enjoyed your comparisons between the east westā¦ marvelous.
Savant or mad genius? Sam continues to surprise us around every turn of this adventure that we call life. Maybe one day we will completely bridge the gap between the east and the west and who knowsā¦ maybe this man will be the glue that holds it all together.
Cant wait for the next entry!
Eric Lee comments:
Everytime I read Samās posts, I feel urges to quit my job. Thanks?