1. Could you carry my handbag? It's quite common to see a young man carrying a hot-pink tote or a yellow satchel on the street. These aren't man purses, but the purses of the man's girlfriend or wife. I've heard Chinese men do this as a way to show affection. How chivalrous.
One day at the end of Mandarin class I put my notebook and Scott's books into my bag and our teacher frowned. She asked why Scott wasn't carrying my bag for me! I loved it, though Scott wasn't keen on the idea and only carried it once, just to make our teacher happy.
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| Honey, my handbag is really heavy ... |
2. Warm or boiled water. When we first started reading about China, I heard people never drink cold water and instead prefer either room temperature, or more commonly, what's called kai shui, or boiled water. It's taken awhile, but after three months, I've actually grown to really like it. When it's cold outside and we go to sit down in a restaurant, the warm water feels soothing. The Chinese believe it's good for your health, and in our case, it probably is: it makes sure we don't get sick off any bad water at restaurants!
3. Forget the tip. One of my favorite things about Beijing is the lack of tipping. Waiters, hairdressers, delivery boys, cabs -- no one leaves a tip and it's not expected. It really saves quite a lot of money, though I'm worried that when we go back to the U.S. we won't remember to tip!
4. McDonald's home delivery. Our Mandarin teacher enlightened us a few weeks ago, by telling us McDonald's delivers within the third ring road of Beijing, which we're inside. On a lazy afternoon, we decided to order Big Macs and fries -- we were able to order online! -- and within 30 minutes our fast food was here. The delivery guys come on scooters or regular bikes and are decked out in McDonald's jackets in red and yellow. The fries were a bit soggy, but tasted just like they do in the U.S., and the burgers held up. All in all a great experience.
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| Would you like fries with that? |
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