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Where We’ll Be This Week
Beijing International Schools Expo (BISE), Feb 18 and 19
All ages. For 6 years, beijingkids has helped parents by putting together the largest school expo – in conjunction with the printed School Choice Guide to comprehensively address educational concerns for prospective and resident families. The 2017 BISE will feature first-rate international and bilingual schools, including: Beijing-based schools, overseas K-12 institutions, and high-quality extracurricular programs. There will also be three separate children’s activity areas for different age groups. Join the series of talks and get the opportunity for in-depth Q & A sessions with school representatives. Free. 10am-4pm. Crowne Plaza Beijing Chaoyang U-Town

Free
Starting Good Eating Behaviors, Feb 13
All ages. Dr. Lucy Chen, Maternal and Child Health Specialist at Raffles Medical, will be sharing on the topic of starting good eating behaviors in our children particularly in regards to: food allergies and sensitivities; introducing solids; how to establish good meal time habits; and dealing with fussy eaters and tantrums at meal times. Join the session and learn some methods for setting up a good foundation for kids. Free. 10am-Noon. Beijing International Christian Fellowship.

Roundabout Book Fair at BSB Sanlitun, Feb 18
All ages. Roundabout is coming to town with a book fair kindly hosted by The British School of Beijing, Sanlitun. Choose your books from lots of gently used ones and from many categories like fiction, non-fiction, children’s books etc. Prices start as low as RMB 1 and all proceeds will help a child in need. Free. 10am-3pm. BSB, Sanlitun.

Rumble in the Jumble, Feb 19
All ages. Do you have old clothes you no longer need? Bring them along to donate to charity. Rumble in the Jumble is a monthly thrift store-cum-craft event. Sellers include people who make jewelry or baked goods or second-hand or vintage clothes. Free. 2-7pm. Hot Cat Club.

Unique
Mommy & Baby Bootcamp, Feb 15 (Every Wednesday thereafter) 
Ages 6wks – 6mths. Mom & Baby Bootcamp class for both mother and baby will offer moms the unique opportunity to return to exercise after childbirth and build a stronger connection with their baby. Both babies and mothers can enjoy the time together as well as the opportunity to meet new friends or spend time with old friends. RMB 250 (single class), RMB 1100 (5 classes), RMB 2000 (10 classes). 10.30-11.30am. MsUptown.

3D Printing Workshop for Families, Feb 18
All ages. Bring your family to our workshops and we will teach you how you and your children can make amazing objects together using 3D software for 3D printing. Parents and their kids work together to learn 3D modeling software to produce a physical object, such as a small toy, which can also be 3D printed. RMB 600 per family (1 adult +1 child) for 2 hours workshop. 10am-Noon. Beijing Kerry Center.

Yoga Yard Into Yoga Weekend Workshop, Feb 18 and 19
Adults. New to yoga, or just want to brush up on the basics? Sign up for this Intro to Yoga Workshop. A special two-day course designed to introduce yoga for new students, or for anyone who would like a brush-up on the basics. RMB 360. 1-3.30pm. Yoga Yard.

Science + Art : Create Your Own Car, Feb 19
Ages 8+ From the electronic basics to its unique design. Build your car from A to Z. During this unique course, you will learn how to design an obstacle avoiding car by yourself, using the famous Arduino* electronics platform and an ultrasonic sensor to detect and avoid an object in front of the car. RMB 600 (RMB 450 for Atelier students). 1.30-4.30pm. Atelier. (WeChat: atelier_apas to register)

Best of Next Week
Hamlet at the National Centre for Performing Arts, Feb 22 to 26
Ages 10+. The National Theatre stages Shakespeare’s Hamlet, directed by the award-winning Chen Xinyi. This Chinese language production sets the play during the Japanese occupation of China. RMB 75-470. 7.30-9.30pm. National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA).

Make Traditional Shaanxi Noodles, Feb 23
All ages. Like most innovative dishes, rustic Shanxi noodles originated with peasants in the countryside. Now these noodles are deemed to be one of the ten wonders of Shanxi. Learn how to make two typical provincial favorites, two delicious noodles and sauces from scratch. RMB 300, RMB 260 for members. 7-9.30pm. The Hutong.

Foundations of Yoga, Feb 25 (early bird registration before Feb 18)
Adults (Women Only). Join Ms Uptown Studio for a two-hour workshop on the basics and fundamentals of Vinyasa yoga. The workshop will cover correct posture in the basic asanas as well as sun salutations and tips on improving strength and breathing techniques. The course is taught in English and led by Maria Kimsey, a qualified Ashtanga Vinyasa teacher and chef from the UK, and will include a tea or coffee after class. RMB 250 (register before Feb 18), RMB 300 at the door. 2-4pm. MsUptown.

Vinyasa Yoga Dance with Malgo Blonksa, Feb 26
Adults. This donation-based class is designed for students who enjoy a dynamic practice. Each class is taught in English and will finish with a short choreography based on the moves learned during the practice and danced to a contemporary or classical music piece. RMB 15 donation minimum. 7-8.30pm. Yoga Yard.

Online retailing giant Alibaba, which owns Taobao and Tmall, is suing two of its vendors that is accused of selling fake Swarovski watches.

The RMB 1.4 million lawsuit is a relatively small price for a company which sold nearly RMB 18 billion worth of goods on Singles Day alone, but the move is seen as symbolically significant because it’s the first time an online retailer has taken action against sellers through the Chinese courts.

Alibaba is desperate to clean up its reputation, having recently been labeled a “notorious market” for counterfeiting by the Office of the US Trade Representative. It has launched an English language version of Taoprotect, its system for reporting fakes, and promises more action in the future. “We want to mete out to counterfeiters the punishment they deserve in order to protect brand owners,” said Zheng Junfang, chief platform governance officer of Alibaba Group. “We will bring the full force of the law to bear on these counterfeiters so as to deter others from engaging in this crime wherever they are.”

In another step forward for intellectual property rights in China, a Shanghai court this month ruled that a Beijing-made animation was a copy of Disney’s Cars. The makers of The Autobots claimed theirs was an original story, but the designs of the characters, the title and even the poster are suspiciously similar to the much-loved Pixar film. The Autobots is less well-loved, having achieved the dubious honor of being the lowest-rated Chinese language movie of 2015 on douban.com.

However these problems are not unique to China. A California company has filed a lawsuit against Ebay, Paypal, and 2000 of their sellers, using legislation aimed at preventing Mafia-style organized crime, while Amazon recently launched its own action against alleged counterfeiters. It’s clear that online retailers worldwide are being expected to do more to ensure that goods sold through them are the real deal – even though many customers are quite happy to pay a bargain price for a convincing fake.

Photo: chinadaily.com

The problem of sexual harassment isn’t restricted to subway cars. There have been many reports of sexual harassment by male taxi drivers with female passengers in China and a few other countries such as India. In many of these cases, the harassment doesn’t stop at a little pushing and shoving, as they do on subway cars, but may end in serious harm, the rape case that happened in Delhi last December for example, in which the Uber driver managed to park the car at a secluded spot and raped the passenger.

According to Yibida an English language news site, Kuaidi One just launched a “female drivers only” add-on to its taxi-hailing app in April. When the option is selected, only cars operated by female drivers will be called for service. Mr. Xiao, the general manager of Kuaidi One, believes that this it will bring female passengers a much safer commuting option late at night.

“Many middle-class women now get off work really late, so we hope the service can bring this group of customers a safe and comfortable choice of transportation,” he says. 

Only those who registered as female users can access to this option, and it’s only available from 7pm to 3am. To use this service, first download Kuaidi One (Yihao Zhuanche) on your phone. Be sure to select “female" (女士)  as your gender.

Every day between 7pm and 3 am, you’ll see the option “women-only cars" (女士专车) in the interface, the one with a Venus symbol in the picture below.

Once you choose “female-only cars”, the rest of the procedures stay all the same. First set up a time (用车时间). Then fill in your current location and destination. Finally click on “select car model (去选车)” on the bottom, and you are ready to go.

Screenshots by Patrick Li

Private cars became the number one means of conveyance for commuters in 2013 with Beijing drivers spending just under two hours per working day stuck in traffic, the Beijing Municipal Transportation Department announced Thursday in its annual report.

Of almost 31 million passenger trips within the Sixth Ring Road per working day in 2013, 33 percent were made in private cars, pushing cars into the driver’s seat in terms of popularity among commuters. Another 25 percent went to work on the bus, with 7 percent traveling by taxi. With 65 percent of Beijing commuters traveling by road, no wonder the highways are jammed. About 21 percent of people used the subway, with cyclists rounding out the numbers with 12 percent.

As a result, the average driver crawled along Beijing streets for one hour and 55 minutes per working day, an increase of 25 minutes per day, the department said. Average vehicle speed during morning and evening rush hours is 25.8 km/h, a slight improvement over 2012’s average speed of 24.2 km/h. The evening commute was more congested than the morning rush hour, the report said, by about five to eight percent, referring specifically to road traffic, and not necessarily including crowds on the Beijing Subway.

That means four days per week for Beijing drivers, as current license plate restrictions mean car owners must leave their vehicles at home one day per week. However, no-drive days and a 20,000-vehicle per month cap on the number of new cars that may be sold (to new buyers; owners of existing vehicles may replace them at will and without penalty) are having little impact to reduce traffic congestion, the report said. Electric vehicles may be purchased without limit at present.

These numbers are not dissimilar to New York City. In fairness, in New York, especially Manhattan, car travel is expensive and relatively inconvenient compared to other travel methods, yet 29% still travel by private car.

Fifty-six percent of New Yorkers use public transportation, but only a tiny fragment (1%) use taxis. Perhaps surprisingly, only 1 percent of commuters there bike, (take that, New York!) but 10 percent walk to work.

This post first appeared on thebeijinger on February 13, 2014.

Photos courtesy of thebeijinger

For Shunyi Happenings, the auto show IS what’s happening. It’s all-consuming. And it will be for the next eight days.

I waited too long to take an accurate picture. Opening day, Monday, was the best photo op – total gridlock in the Euro and Pinnacle Plaza areas, no parking, and very little actual driving. Tuesday, the day of the above picture, was rainy and not quite as accurate without the hordes of people walking along any clear pathway. Actually, the snapshot looks far more manageable than what we who live here are actually experiencing – lots of honking, jumping the line, and ignoring traffic cops. Cars are parked on every spare space of road available, even if in a traffic lane or two. Those placards we all received to make it easier for residents to get around? I’m not sure what they accomplish. Nobody looks at them, they don’t gain you entry into Pinnacle Plaza during the day (although car show cars do) and you can’t get close to the Euro parking lot – which, by the way, has plenty of parking spaces available. Are they being sold, by chance? It’s all something to endure, and I’m sure we all will.

A few other tidbits in our neighborhood:

*In that teeny tiny plant area next to Jenny Wang’s, there is now a quaint place – perhaps the same as the original plant seller, only expanded. In there they sell BBQ grills, patio furniture, awnings and more. They continue to work on the area, making it inviting by showing what kind of relaxing green and floral area you could create outside of your own home, and I’ve seen many people stop by there to check it all out.

*Big Paul’s Grocery Store is back. I think that’s funny. They were there, then immediately gone. It was obvious that they jumped a little too soon, and needed to back track to create proper fixtures and whatever else. I still have yet to stop in there, but I see produce and other small gems that might be worth a stop – not quite a large grocery, not quite a local wet market; a nice happy medium.

*Anybody wondering where Land-O-Lakes products are? If you’re like me and keep thinking that Jenny Wang’s or elsewhere are simply out at the moment, well, we’re both wrong. They are no longer going to distribute here (I don’t know if it’s Beijing in general, or just certain stores), so we will have to find a replacement for our margarine and cheese slices. Boo….
 

It’s coming…very soon. And every day there are more and bigger signs of how HUGE this will be. We’re bracing for the mammoth storm, anticipating the un-anticipatable (?), filling up gas tanks, stocking up on food, and canceling everything to do with Euro Plaza. It’s the Beijing International Automotive Exhibition (also known as Auto China) and it’s a monster of a show.

For those of you who were here in 2010, can you believe that the auto show was actually divided between the old (city) and new (Shunyi) exposition centers? That’s right; the massive amounts of traffic here didn’t hold a candle to what we can expect for 2012 being in our single Shunyi location. I think we’re all starting to realize this fact by noticing hundreds of set-up workers, ginormous cranes, and the building of temporary structures to announce the coming of something major.

As in the past, housing villas and international schools will offer driving permits that allow you access to…well, your own home. This is above and beyond normal key cards and window stickers that gain you entrance to such gated areas; these permits simply allow you on a neighboring street. All can expect school buses to be severely delayed. In the past, some after-school-activities were simply canceled due to the traffic congestion, although there’s been no word of that thus far for next week.

However, after saying all of that, it is a pretty cool car show. Hailing from the Detroit, Michigan area where cars rule, it’s impressive even for my family to see the scope of this year’s Beijing Expo (Detroit is home of the North American version, which is pretty darn big). After all, there is rapid growth in the Chinese auto industry and a huge automobile consumer market here, making Beijing the perfect place to showcase all that the world has to offer. 

A look at stats from the 2010 show:

• 785,600 visitors worldwide
• 12,500 journalists from 1,564 media organizations
• 1,100 foreign journalists from 200 foreign media organizations in 48 countries
• 220,000 square meters
• 990 vehicles on display  

This year, show organizers are expecting 1,000 cars with 89 global debut models!  The event schedule is:

• April 23-24:        Press Days
• April 23-27:        Auto Components and Parts
• April 25-26:        Trade Days
• April 25-May 2:    Passenger Cars and Commercial Vehicles
• April 27-May 2:    Public Days

If you’re looking for something unique for your family to do, check out how to secure tickets via the auto show website by clicking here.  It appears the only way to get them is through Taobao, with different ticket levels available. Maps and transportation can be found at this link.  There’s even a particularly funny map about parking availability, which will never be followed so there’s no reason to look at it.

All things auto show? Their website is pretty complete for most information you might want to know. For those of you living in the immediate vicinity of the area, just prepare for the worst and hope for the best. Those of you wanting to come check out all the fuss, think of the most crowded of Spring Festivals you’ve ever attended, multiply it times 10, and come on over!

The bright red exclamation point light on the dash, followed by an incessant alarm made me know something was very wrong. I had just driven to the local car wash, but something told me a button or two were inadvertently pushed when the workers wiped down the dashboard. Unfortunately, the controls and warnings are all in Chinese, putting me at great disadvantage when trying to solve the mystery.

Note to self: LEARN the language. But until that happens, learn to deal with the unique situations that just might come up on a daily basis living in a different land. This could have been more upsetting than it was. Perhaps I’m just more used to these things happening.  But it also reminded me of the simple kindness of strangers and how most just want to get along and help.

Hoping and trusting that the car wouldn’t explode, I decided to keep driving towards my destination not far away. I would ask someone for help in translation then. I got the Chinese-only manual out and looked for pictures of the dashboard so I could at least show someone what light was illuminated. Then they could tell me what was wrong.

I went to pick up my daughter at a painting class, and brought the manual inside with me. The receptionist’s English was too limited to help me, but she said quite simply not to drive. Great. Claire, the piano teacher I know well came out to help me, but she’s from Taiwan and wasn’t certain of the Chinese characters, especially in a technical book. Another local woman there could read and help translate, but she’s never driven a car, so the automobile lingo was lost on her. Claire then called her husband, who decided that it had something to do with my emergency brake. I was skeptical since I don’t use it (I have an automatic transmission and don’t use the emergency brake regularly). But he suggested I try it and see. 

Sure enough, the car wash workers must have lifted the emergency brake ever-so-slightly while cleaning because that was the exact cause. I put it down and immediately all those threatening alarms and lights went away. Phew! Don’t worry, you car buffs out there who cringe and the idea of my driving around with the emergency brake on. While not ideal, I don’t think it was engaged enough to do lasting damage.

Just another lesson of living here — people want to help when they are able. And if you don’t get too flustered or impatient, you will figure things out. Yes, I need to learn more about the language and not be caught in those situations, but I feel comforted in knowing that I was able to get my answers in a relatively easy – albeit almost comical – way. And Chinese language or not, I’ll always know what that little light on my dash means if I ever need to again.

Jennifer Thome, Managing Editor of our sister magazine Agenda, wrote an interesting blog on how Beijing’s car policies will impact expat car owners. Here’s what she found out:

"Drivers beware! If the mean streets of Beijing were not enough reason to discourage you from hitting the road, fate might now make that call for you. Starting in 2011 Beijing has issued new regulations, and aspiring drivers now have to win a lottery in able to purchase a car. That, or spend a lot of money. Last night Agenda got a hot tip from Bruce McNalty, Learning Support Teacher at the Western Academy of Beijing. Here’s the scoop so far."

Keep reading on the Agenda blog.