Beijing Annoyances

Here are some things that annoy me about Beijing...

1) The smog
I had two days in my week-long stay where I could actually see the blue of the sky. The rest was smog and two days of rain. When it rains, you can actually see further than on a "clear" day of smog.

2) Transportation
The metro system is often overcrowded. Buses can be even worst. Tickets you buy for the metro are only good for the station where you bought them and only for the day you bought them. Thus, you always have to line up to get tickets (unless you buy a special card with a chip). Also, if you take a bag with you, you have to have it scanned in an X-ray machine before going in the subway stations. China is even worst than the USA in terms of invasion of privacy and government control over the population. Cars have many lanes to circulate, but traffic is dangerous and cars pollute the hell out of Beijing. Cars literally park on sidewalks and, although driving in China is insane, many drivers can't really drive (as I can gather from the all the "help the parker" sessions I saw). Taxis are almost always out to rob you. Pedicabs are worst and completely unlicensed and unregulated. I got in a ride with one who asked me "3 money" to go where I wanted. When I got there, he said "No! No! THREE MONEY! Three hundred yuan!". That's a 10000% difference from what I expected to pay. With 300 yuans, I could ride the train from Beijing to Shanghai. Since the dude has no license, there is no number I can call to denounce him. So, I just assumed a fighting position and told him he would need to come and get the money from my pockets. He was a bit surprised. Then I started shouting at him and telling him that my secret dream is to beat up a dishonest cab driver in Asia. He quickly told me "Okay! Okay! Give me what you want!". So I gave him 3 yuans. I thought that was pretty good bargaining on my part. Then, when he was gone, I realized I should have told him "Give you what I want to give you? I want to give you a kick in the teeth!". Maybe that way, I could have realized that dream of mine. Anyway, people on the street where the incident happened were all friendly with me after the pedicab disappeared.

3) The tourist infrastructure
Even for big common attractions, it's sometimes hard to find ways to get there. Nobody speaks English enough to be truly useful. Information is hard to get by. Tourist sites are often polluted by speakers that output crap music, signs that ruins the traditional feel and such... I think the government should leave more place for private enterprise in these matters. There is lots of money to be made in addressing these problems.

4) Spitting
What's up with all the spitting? Why do people spit all the time?

5) Mandarin
After a week of hearing almost only Mandarin, I realize just how bad it sounds. It's not musical or harmonious. Hell, I even find myself wishing I was surrounded by Japanese or German people instead. Even those languages would sound more poetic. Beijing Mandarin sounds either stupid or aggressive. It's at its worst when people are having stupid arguments.

6) Beauty, style and fashion
The women here are not as pretty as the Chinese ones we have in Canada. Many have bad skin, bad hair (I HATE permed hair) or bad clothes. A surprising number of them are fat too. That's all strange given that none of these seem to be major issues in Thailand, where people have less money. It might be a mix of nature and nurture. I think Beijing women just have a misguided sense of fashion.

7) Warm drinks
At breakfast, I wanted to get some orange juice. I got it, but steaming hot. What the fuck!? I asked for some water instead of tea during dinner, and they brought me hot water. I'm just not used to this. Once, I had lunch with a friend of a friend and had cold Sprite. The person I was with told me that the couple sitting next to us found me very strange because I was drinking something cold with my warm meal.

That's it for my peeves for now.

Other than that, I'm trying more strange food (with mixed results); another family took a picture with me because I'm white (this time, at my hotel) and I went to the Great Wall: