Snow in Beijing(?!?) & Coming to Kunming

My week in Beijing was spent with friends—drinking, eating, exploring.  We went to the Olympic area to take photos of the Bird’s Nest and the Water Cube.  I met a friend’s friend’s friend there, a Chinese guy named Jack, who had volunteered during the Olympics.  He said that his job had been to explain to people how to use a western-style toilet (not the most glamorous of jobs).  In WuDaoKou (a popular expat area near the Universities), what had once been carts selling pirated DVDs, were now carts selling pirated books!  They’re probably onto something.  Nowadays, movies can easily be downloaded for free.  No need to spend Y5-10 on a disk that might not even work.  Books on the other hand!...  Who wants to sit in front of their computer and read a book?  Besides, DVDs are all equally priced, but it seems perfectly logical to pay more for a larger book (even though they probably pay an even cost).  Their selection wasn’t bad at all, actually.  Copies of Dan Brown’s newest novel, along with actually good and interesting books filled the carts.  I bought copies of Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond, The Catcher in the Rye by Salinger, and Lolita by Nabokov for a total of Y40 (about $6 USD)—not sure if I overpaid.  I would have bought even more had I had more room in my luggage.

Halloween was fun but not so Halloween-y.  I went out with some friends for drinks and then to KTV (karaoke).  Every expat club and bar in the city seemed to be having a Halloween party, and flocks of people crowded the streets dressed in the typical costumes—fake blood, lots of makeup, sexy goth for many of the girls, and so on.  In my friend’s apartment complex, many of the Chinese children were enjoying the Western holiday as well, storming through the halls trick or treating.

It was a rainy, cold night.  My last night in Beijing.  I woke up the next morning to a blanket of snow covering the rooftops of the city.  Snow in Beijing?!?  On Halloween?!?  Something didn’t seem right.  As far as I knew, it hadn’t even really snowed in Harbin yet.  Well, as it turns out, something wasn’t right.  The Chinese government had been seeding clouds (making it rain) since just prior to the Olympics, in the hopes of clearing out some of the pollution then, and ending droughts.  Beijing had recently been seeing a dry spell, and the government meteorologists saw fit to take action.  Unfortunately, someone forgot to check the temperature.  What they hoped would be rain, changed overnight to snow.  Check out this article for more details.  (And just in case you’re wondering, despite the pollution, the snow still falls white.)

While I normally enjoy snow, the timing wasn’t very good, as my flight to Kunming was scheduled to leave at 2pm.  After some goodbyes and a two-hour delay, during which time I got to reading my new books, I was on my way to Kunming, with no place to stay, and very little concept of the city.  We landed at around 7:30pm.  And I shuffled out of the airport to find a taxi.  The Lonely Planet guide came in handy, and I found a hotel just by the Green Lake Park (a nice park in the center of the city right near the universities).  It seemed like an ideal place to start out.

The next morning I went to my school to report my arrival and begin my registration.  I had a government-mandated medical exam on Tuesday.  It cost around Y320, and I’d heard that it can be a long process.  Fortunately, I had the luck to arrive a half-an-hour prior to lunch.  Everyone, therefore, seemed to be rushing me through.  They gave me a form to carry around, and I went room by room until there weren’t any more blanks to be filled in.  They began by checking my blood pressure, then down the hall for an EKG (they put metal clamps on my ankles and wrists, and a bunch of squeeze-suction sensors on my chest—I felt like I was about to be tortured).  Next door, they instructed me to take off my shirt for an UltraSound—she squeezed the gel all around my abdomen and quickly checked all sides of me. I asked her if I was pregnant, to which she responded with a perfectly serious face that men could not be pregnant and that my uterus wouldn’t be in that place anyway.  Across the hall, I had a chest X-Ray, then upstairs for a urine test.  A flimsy clear plastic Dixie-like cup with no cover was provided, which I then had to fill up on the next floor up and carry back downstairs (I did my best not to spill).  Finally, a blood test—5 vials and no Band-Aid.  Overall, it took 20 minutes and gave me an interesting view of medical exams in China.

The rest of my week was spent eating and apartment hunting.  This week I’ve had Indian food, Thai food, Yunnan-style hotpot, some traditional Kunming noodles, Hui muslim cuisine, pizza, and so on.  Apartment hunting has not been a fun process.  I think that I’ve looked at about 20 apartments.  I wanted to be relatively close to the center of the city, near some expats, and someplace with at least one separate bedroom (preferably two).  I looked at a number of places to the northeast of the city center, which I later deemed to be too new and too far.  Then, I found a complex just to the west of the city center called ThinkUK, with a good balance of expats and well-to-do Chinese families, some restaurants, a café, and plenty of security.  It seemed like a good bet, but the only suitable place I could find was on the first floor, and it didn’t seem that safe.

I also looked around the Green Lake area (closer to the universities), and saw a lot of old, Chinese-style apartments, many with only squatter toilets.  Finally, yesterday, after consulting about 8 agents and being ready to settle for the first-floor place in ThinkUK, I got a phone call from an agent about a place near the universities.  I told him I didn’t want to meet, because I was too busy, and he guilted me into it by explaining how hard he’d worked to find this place for me.  (In China, agents only make money if they find you a suitable apartment, in which case you pay them one month’s worth of rent.)  I agreed to look at it, even though I wasn’t expecting much.

It was off of YuanXi Road, a crowded food street right by the east (?) gate of YunDa (Yunnan University) and right up the road from Yunnan Minzu Daxue (Yunnan Nationalities University—where I’m affiliated).  The building was set back from the main road, and was actually fairly quiet.  It backed up to a tree- and flower-covered hill, which I believe (on the other side), is home to a temple and a zoo.  The apartment was on the 5th floor with no elevator, and I was beginning to regret meeting the agent.  When we arrived, however, it was actually quite nice.  Spacious and comfortable, three bedrooms and a bathroom with a western toilet.  The kitchen seemed old but usable, and it had a brand new washing machine and refrigerator.  The back windows look out onto the hill, covered in trees and flowers, but still letting in some light.  They quoted me a monthly price, and I left and considered it for a while.  I called the agent a few hours later, and offered him a monthly price Y500 lower than their quoted price.  He consulted with the landlord, called me back and told me it was too low.  So, I raised my offer by Y100.  He said they’d talk it over and let me know in the morning.

This morning, I called him and he said they didn’t want to rent it to me anymore.  My offer was too low, and I wasn’t staying for long enough time to make it worth it.  I told him to raise my offer by another Y100, and then ask the landlord again.  A few hours later, I still hadn’t heard back.  I texted the agent and told him to let me know as soon as possible, because I was going to make an offer on another place.  (Negotiation games are frustrating.)

Meanwhile, I went to a Bird & Flower Market in ‘Old’ Kunming, filled with caged birds, cats, and dogs.  Some of the animals seemed very scared and it was kind of sad.  Oddly, I failed to locate any flowers.  A man on the street told me the market was much smaller now than it had once been.  A bit later I found a piano hall, and practiced for a little while.  I was beginning to lose hope.  About halfway through the third movement of moonlight sonata, however, I got a call from my agent, and he told me that if I agreed to pay all ten months upfront they’d rent it to me.  I told him that wasn’t possible, but that I’d like to meet with him in his office to discuss it.  I cut my practice session short and headed back to his office by Green Lake Park.  After a bit of waiting, negotiating, mutual lying, and explaining how I didn’t have so much money because of the distribution of my scholarship, we agreed on 3 months upfront, I put down a security deposit and scheduled another meeting for the following morning to sign a contract.  This is the first time that I’ve looked for an apartment, and it didn’t help that the whole process was carried out in Chinese in an unfamiliar city.  All in all, it’s been a frustrating week, and the sooner I can move out of this hotel and into an apartment, the better.

(I owe photos and more interesting descriptions/stories.  I’ll find time after I move in on Monday or Tuesday.)

P.S.  The weather here is amazing!!!  Blue skies (mostly), mild temperatures, and lots of sunshine.  I really enjoy this city, and once I settle into my apartment and finish registering, I’m sure I’ll have a chance to explore it and really enjoy my time here.