Michelle Tsai
Escapes
2 hours to Shanghai
Families in search of urban glitz will find plenty of kid-friendly entertainment in the Pearl of the Orient. Check out performances by the Shanghai Acrobatic Troupe, stroll the Nanjing Road pedestrian mall for play areas and toy stores, and on the Pudong side of town, treat the kids to combo tickets for the Oriental Pearl TV tower and the Shanghai Ocean Aquarium.
Green Guilt
Green Guilt
Once upon a time, I thought of myself as a decent citizen of the Earth. In my pre-China life, I took the subway, lived in a small apartment, ate a pescatarian diet and sorted my trash for recycling. On Saturday mornings, I walked to a farmer’s market to buy organic kale, the day’s catch from a local fishing boat, and eggs that came from free-range chickens.
Money: How We Spend - THE FAMILY OF SEVEN
Beijing families take on the financial crisis
As economies around the globe have slowed or fallen into recession, families in Beijing are reevaluating their budgets to prepare for potentially tough times ahead. Find out how different families make decisions about spending and saving money, whether they feel the effects of the financial crisis, and what their strategies are for making it through the downturn in one piece – or even ahead.
THE FAMILY OF SEVEN
With five teenagers under the roof, Karen and Phil Lanman spend conservatively and save as much as possible, putting away a total of almost USD 2,000 each month. Will, the oldest child, is in his first semester of college in the US, while Cody, 16, and 14-year-old triplets Zachary, Matthew and Anna attend the International School of Beijing. Karen’s husband’s job as an air attaché at the US Embassy pays for the family’s healthcare, house in Shunyi and the kids’ tuition at ISB, but with college ahead, the Lanmans are savers.
Money: How We Spend - THE MASTER SAVERS
Beijing families take on the financial crisis
As economies around the globe have slowed or fallen into recession, families in Beijing are reevaluating their budgets to prepare for potentially tough times ahead. Find out how different families make decisions about spending and saving money, whether they feel the effects of the financial crisis, and what their strategies are for making it through the downturn in one piece – or even ahead.
THE MASTER SAVERS
Gina Wang and her husband put most of us to shame; they sock away 60 to 70 percent of their monthly earnings. Since marrying in 2000, the couple has purchased a two-bedroom apartment near Oriental Plaza in Wangfujing, paid off the mortgage, tucked away a good amount of money for retirement, had a baby, and saved up USD 24,000 in cash to buy a Nissan sedan this January.
Money: How We Spend - THE SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS
Beijing families take on the financial crisis
As economies around the globe have slowed or fallen into recession, families in Beijing are reevaluating their budgets to prepare for potentially tough times ahead. Find out how different families make decisions about spending and saving money, whether they feel the effects of the financial crisis, and what their strategies are for making it through the downturn in one piece – or even ahead.
THE SMALL BUSINESS OWNERS
Money: How We Spend - THE BIG SPENDERS
Beijing families take on the financial crisis
As economies around the globe have slowed or fallen into recession, families in Beijing are reevaluating their budgets to prepare for potentially tough times ahead. Find out how different families make decisions about spending and saving money, whether they feel the effects of the financial crisis, and what their strategies are for making it through the downturn in one piece – or even ahead.
THE BIG SPENDERS
Christmas didn’t come last year,” says Nick Cochrane, an expat whose Beijing-based export business has taken a big hit from the global financial crisis. As major economies in Europe and North America weakened in the fall, Nick and his wife Katherine* acted quickly to slash their business and family budgets.
3 DAY GETAWAY: Hong Kong
Discover outdoor family fun in the shopping mecca
THE BASICS
Flight Hong Kong is just three-and-a-half-hours away and getting there couldn’t be easier. To find the best prices for flights, buy tickets online (try Ctrip.com or Elong.com) and fly Chinese airlines.
Climate The island is always humid, with scorching hot summers and brief, mild “winters” with temperatures mostly above 13 degrees Celsius. Air conditioning is omnipresent in the summer, but winter visitors might want to carry an extra layer of clothing, as nights can feel surprisingly chilly because of the humidity.
POP QUIZ: Love In the Time of Luxury
Question: “Since we’ve moved to China, our kids have become more spoiled than ever – our ayi picks up after them, so they don’t have any chores, and they attend school with wealthy kids so they often ask for expensive things. As their parents, we don’t want to deny them the luxuries and toys that they want. How do we teach them responsibility and gratefulness without hurting their feelings?"
Money Matters
Once when my mother was driving me home from a piano lesson, she took a different route than usual. At a certain point she stopped the station wagon, went inside a building, and emerged a few minutes later with a bag in her hand. Getting back into the driver’s seat, she gave me the bag and said, “Don’t tell Dad.”
Inside was a white summer dress made of cotton poplin, with an emerald-colored sash at the waist. I loved it instantly, but the thrill of ownership came with a realization. I was five years old, and for the first time, I had an inkling that parents could have different opinions on how to spend money.
The Memory of Taste
Other families eat three meals a day. In mine, my mother often treated us to a fourth meal: second dinner at midnight.
The occasion combined the comfort of home cooking with the casual and transitory pleasure of a late-night snack. I’m not sure what a normal family dinner ought to be, but dinners at the Tsai residence tended to be slightly serious affairs that required us kids to be guai, to sit properly at a table with my father at the head, and my mother to nudge us to eat just one more bite. But the late evening chow sessions were something entirely different; they were all about fun – the equivalent of jumping up and down on the bed.
