I heard about WeChat three hours after arriving in Beijing. I thought, “This is an unnecessary app. I have WhatsApp, I don’t need WeChat.” Boy. I was wrong! We all need WeChat; my life has been so much easier since I got it, and I wish the rest of the world would get WeChat too. I have made many, many friends through WeChat. I have had many questions answered, many shopping experiences, and also great services at home. Here I’ll share some of my favorite WeChat contacts. Do you have any great WeChat contacts? Let us know!

Pies

I have tried and tested these savory pies and they brought me back to our time in London where I would go to the pie and mash shop. Two Guys and a Pie also sell sweet pies and sausage rolls. Add on WeChat: coladapinot

Clothing and Jewels

Ysepia is a brand of women’s clothes and jewelry. Aude sources her fabrics and materials during her travels in Asia. Her clothes are feminine, easy to wear and the tassels on her jewelry are hip and pretty. Add her on WeChat: Audepaname

Balloons

You can never have enough balloon contacts. I have spent a night blowing up my own balloons for my daughter’s birthday, and it’s not fun. Happy Balloons offer balloons that come in all shapes and sizes, already blown up and delivered to your front door. Add on WeChat: happyballoons

Cakes

Need a cake for a special celebration or just for any occasion? Making cakes seems like a simple idea but takes up a lot of time. We tried these lovely cakes from Tania and they are pretty and delicious.  Add on WeChat: sobaboba

Service

Eva helps me around with last minute ayis, and when I need to pick up something I have brought across town. She is a woman of all trades and also sells many goodies you might need for around the home. Add on WeChat: 18655881325

Jams

Caroline is a star at jarring up her yummylicious goods like pesto and jams. Her salted caramel is to die for; I have eaten it out the jar. She appears at many markets with her goods, so look out at those upcoming Christmas bazaars. For more goods add her on WeChat: wxid_1hx4mtv4uz9d12

Fruit and Veg

Fruits and vegetables delivered to your door; say no more. They have an extensive list of organic options. Sunshine Fruits always get me excited about their lovely pictures of smoothie bowls and colorful salads. Add on WeChat: juab001

Photos: Pixabay and courtesy of vendors

I always told myself I’d never be one of those parents who uses their kids to interpret for them. Now, after 15 months in Beijing, I’m one of those parents who uses their kids to interpret for them.
Noah (10) and Joseph (7) attend Yew Chung International School (YCIS) of Beijing, and their Chinese proficiency has accelerated so fast that it’s left their mother and I choking on their dust. One reason for this, I’m convinced, is YCIS Beijing’s co-teaching model, in which classes are taught simultaneously in both English and Chinese. They’re learning the language not only formally in lessons, but also from hearing it spoken all day long. As a result it comes naturally to them, and they’re able to understand and respond easily in real life situations.
To put this to the test, I took them down to the market to buy some vegetables.
“Get some potatoes,” I tell the boys, “and I’ll make chips.” (That’s French fries to you non-Brits.)
Their enthusiasm for the task immediately increases.
“土豆 多少钱?” (tǔdòu duōshao qián) they ask – how much are potatoes?
“土豆三 块一 斤,” (tǔdòu sān kuài yī jīn) the stallholder answers – potatoes are RMB 3 for half a kilogram.
(The jīn is a traditional Chinese weight, sometimes in English called a “catty”, which is where we get the word “[tea]caddy” from. It’s been metrically rounded to 500 grams, or 600 grams in Taiwan, and remains the usual measure for food in both markets and supermarkets.)
The boys pick out some spuds and hand them over to be weighed.

“If we were in the south of China I’d have asked for 马铃薯 (mǎlíngshǔ),” Noah tells me. “土豆 there means peanuts.”
We buy lettuce (生菜, shēng cài) and tomatoes (西红柿, xī hóng shì). “That means ‘western red persimmon’,” Noah says, and I am amazed. When I was his age I didn’t even know what a persimmon was.

“二十四块”(èrshísì kuài) is the final bill. I hand the money to Joseph, who counts out RMB 24.

“你的中文说得很好,” (nǐde zhōngwén shuōde hĕn hǎo), the stallholder says to the boys, and even I understand that, because I’ve heard it said to them so often: “You speak Chinese very well.”
Joseph says “谢谢.”
Then she turns to the man who has been watching the 老外 children shopping.
“这些男孩真的漂亮,” (zhèxiē nánhái zhēnde piàoliang), she says.
“What does that mean?” I ask Noah, and he blushes.
“She said these boys are really handsome.”
Of course. They take after their father. Ahem.
But it’s YCIS Beijing we have to thank for their 中文说得很好.

This post is sponsored by YCIS Beijing

Photos: Uni

Net Savings is a regular series in which we spotlight businesses and services that accept mobile payment methods like online banking, Alipay, WeChat Wallet, and Baidu Wallet to help you get the most out of life in Beijing.

I live in a bustling neighborhood with a major public hospital, so you would think that getting groceries is a straightforward task. Not so – fruit vendors cater mostly to hospital visitors with overpriced gift baskets and the nearest wet market is across a major thoroughfare. I once got into an argument with a fruit stand that charged me RMB 6 for two bananas.

Recently, I tried a fruit delivery app called Yimixian. The company’s ethos is “freshness, quality, safety, and health,” and currently operates in Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, and Nanjing with plans to expand to other Chinese cities.

Yimixian has its own cold chain system and picks all fruits before dawn to ensure integrity. Products are also carefully packaged for delivery (a bit over-packaged, chides my treehugging side).

Orders can be made through Yimixian’s WeChat store (account name: yimixianlife) and the app (available for iOS and Android). The WeChat interface was a bit glitchy on my iPhone 5, so I used the app instead.

The first step is to sign up. Enter your mobile phone number, then the verification code that texted to you. Then you’ll be asked to enter your address in Chinese.

The main screen classifies fruits according to category. The first three (see green box) are current deals and popular fruits: 特价换购 (special prices on specific fruits if the bill total meets a minimum amount), 限时抢购 (time-limited offers), and “Top 10” (self-explanatory).

The next three sections rather arbitrarily classify products according to shape: 圆圆的 (round fruits like apples, pears, and oranges), 带串的 (clustered fruits like grapes, field cherries, and bananas), and 大个的 (large fruits like papaya and dragon fruit).

The last category, 超值套餐, gathers good-value fruit “combos.”

When you’re ready to check out, you’ll be asked to confirm your address and choose a time range for the delivery as well as a payment method (WeChat Wallet or Alipay).

The second half of the checkout screen details your order contents and any discounts you’re entitled to. When you’re ready, click the orange button and you’re done! Await your delicious fruit order.

In addition to app-only deals, Yimixian members are often notified about other promotions through SMS. On Wednesdays, for example, you get RMB 15 off your total bill if you spend RMB 30 or RMB 10 off if you spend RMB 25.

Sijia Chen is a contributing editor at beijingkids and a freelance writer specializing in parenting, education, travel, environment, and culture. Her work has appeared in The Independent, Midnight Poutine, Rover Arts, and more. Follow her on Twitter at @sijiawrites or email her at sijiachen@beijing-kids.com.

Visuals: Celeste Lindell (Flickr), screenshots by Sijia Chen

As winter approached Beijing, we made the hard decision to stay put so that we could bank the money instead. The idea of taking off for a couple of weeks to someplace sunny and warm or simply with dependable breathable air sounded great, but we all agreed to postpone such a holiday until summer. Nobody felt the weight of that decision more than myself.

Yet despite our collective sacrifice, fate, or in this case my wife’s employer, had a different notion. Despite assurances that her travels were over for awhile, she got an invitation to attend yet another conference to provide some training. This didn’t faze me until she told me the location: Phuket, Thailand. The news dangled like forbidden fruit in front of me. My wife had five days at a 5 star luxury resort on a long stretch of secluded sandy beach; beach that she might not even have time to enjoy. I could help her pack and count the days until her return or I could toss in a change of clothes and a swimsuit and join her.

I’d like to say that I agonized over the decision about whether to go and that I felt guilty for the kids staying home, but that’s not true. When she uttered the word Phuket, I knew in my heart that I would accompany her. She could have probably said any other place where the company holds meetings in Asia and I would have taken a pass, but there are some things in the midst of winter that are too good to pass up. Besides, smoothies taste so much sweeter when you’re sitting poolside under the tropical sun.

Photo: Christopher Lay

2nd Beijing Agricultural Carnival, which kicked off in March is still ongoing at the Strawberry Expo Park in Changping and ends on May 4. The carnival features an agricultural produce exhibition of more than 500 species and fair, hands-on farming activities such as grinding flour with a stone mill, spinning and weaving, strawberry pickling, a photography competition and various dining and entertainment opportunities.

13,000 strawberries will be on display that have been planted using seven different cultivation models according to the Beijing Review’s website. Visitors with full priced tickets (RMB 50, RMB 25 student, free for children under 1meter) will be allowed to pick half a kilo of strawberries for free. This is offer is only valid till April 15.

Changping is well-known for its hot springs and Ming Dynasty Tombs, now leads the country in terms of strawberry cultivation and production. It is also well known for it’s apples, persimmons and lilies. The campaign is sponsored by the Beijing Municipal Commission of Rural Affairs, the Beijing Municipal Commission of Science and Technology, Beijing’s Municipal Commission of Education, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Changping district government.

How to get there: Take Subway Line 5 down to Tiantongyuan Bei Station or Subway Line Changping to Nanshao Station, and then transfer onto Bus 537 or Chang 59.

Photo courtesy of aMichiganMom (Flickr)

Alice Bianchi is a certified health coach based in Beijing. She has a passion for working with individuals and families to improve their health and lifestyle. Alice strives to create a supportive environment to motivate her clients to achieve their current and future health goals. She received her training at Institute for Integrative Nutrition-New York (IIN) and is a member of the American Association of Drugless Practitioners (AADP). She has obtained Continuing Education from Venice University, Beijing Capital Normal University, Taipei University, Peking University and has been living in China for the past seven years. Alice is also actively involved in the Slow Food Beijing planning activities (www.slowfood-beijing.org). For more information, visit her blog at www.wellbeingnourish.com.