Came across these pics of the intersection in Haidiandao, 3rd street and Renmin and had to share with you - this is everyday traffic, just up the street from where I live.





































That intersection DOES have a light, and even has police stationed there a lot of the time to try to control the traffic but as you can see, it's still a bit...um... 乱.

For those of you not in China, the three wheeled tuk-tuk sort of things in the second picture are called 三轮车, sanlunche. That very appropriately translates as "3 wheel vehicle." They are really convenient but traffic laws? They've never heard of them! It's best to tell them where you are going instead of showing them a written address, we've come across several who were unable to read. Riding in one sure beats walking there under the hot Haikou sun though - which we had to do this morning as all the sanluns were mysteriously absent. Sanlun crackdown? Who knows. Come back my sanluns, you make traffic a mess but I need you!

Ctrip is running a contest called "My Chengdu Story." They are looking for fiction, non-fiction, and poetry related to Chengdu. Prizes are pretty great: a 2,000 RMB travel voucher for first place, and 3 second place winners will each get a panda suit. Since I've  never been to Chengdu (nor do I plan to go - spicy la!) I probably won't be entering, but that's ok, I've already got my own panda suit. Or at least I had one a while ago, I seem to have mislaid it. Ok, anyway, you go enter. I want to see you wearing a panda suit. Fair's fair. First I'll post a pic of me wearing mine, and when you win, you have to post a pic of you wearing yours, k?

K.

Enjoy!

Last week I was discussing donor organs with my student Wendy. A recent news article stated that China plans to phase out using organs from executed prisoners in transplants over the next five years. It was only recently that Chinese officials admitted that prisoners' organs were used at all, so this is great progress. Unfortunately, organ donor rates in China are still very low, and are not nearly enough to meet the growing need for donated organs. 

Me: Why do you think the donor rates in China are so low?

Wendy: Chinese people believe their bodies are gifts from their parents. They have to keep this gift whole - they cannot just give away some parts, even after death.

Me: Interesting. Here's a question. Suppose I give you my cell phone. It's a gift from me to you. After a few years, it is too old and breaks. Is it ok for you to take out the SIM card and battery and give them away?

Wendy: I see your point, and I agree with you, but this is Chinese culture. I don't think it will change easily.

Me: Are you an organ donor, Wendy?

Wendy: No, I think it's too strange. Are you an organ donor?

Me: Actually no. But I think my husband knows I'd be willing to be one if my organs could be useful. I should make it official, though.

Further reading:

http://www.politicomix.net/2009/08/china-launches-organ-donor-program.html

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2012-04/09/content_15000727.htm

http://students.cis.uab.edu/franks22/reasonstobeadonor.html

Between the recent story that Foxconn (the company famous for Apple products and suicidal workers) is planning to build a "high tech manufacturing base" here in Haikou, and the violent protests over a proposed coal plant in Yinggehai, Ledong county (one of the most breathtakingly beautiful unspoilt parts of Hainan) I wonder how much longer we can keep those blue skies and pretty beaches...

Who knew installing internet to The Sky would be so 麻烦？

As you may know, Erik and I started apartment hunting about a month or so ago. After looking at tons and tons of apartments all around Haidian Dao, I got a call from one of the real estate agents we'd met through an online ad to come see a newly listed place.

It was just outside the gate to Baishamen Park. It had never been lived in, had beautiful decoration and interior including a whirlpool bathtub and an open plan kitchen. The view outside the floor to ceiling windows though, made me instantly fall in love. 



Yeah we overlook the park, can watch people riding the roller coaster and ferris wheel, and beyond that is the sea...ok ok yeah as my friend Ryan loves to point out, it's the Strait of Qiongzhou. We can see all the way to Mainland China on a sunny clear day.

It was a bit more than we wanted to pay, but after a bit of bargaining we got the rent down to something we think will work for us. If not, we can always sell Baozi and Mocha to the local dog meat restaurant, I hear they pay 30 yuan/jin! I'm good at catching strays too.

Before we signed the contract though, we wanted to be sure of one thing: Internet! We asked the landlady if the apartment could get broadband internet installed. "To be honest I don't know," she said. "I live in the Mainland and just come here once or twice a year for a vacation." The real estate agent wasn't sure either.

We decided to ask the internet company directly. We had a current contract with China Unicom at our old place. We went up to their office, showed them our current contract, and explained that we were moving. We gave them the address of The Sky and asked them to check if they could transfer our remaining contract time there. The clerk typed away at her computer, and then said "No problem! It will just cost 50 yuan for the transfer fee, and we can do it on the day you move." 

We were thrilled. We went back and signed the contract on the Sky, got the keys, and started getting it ready for our big move day. A week later, as we were just finishing our packing, China Unicom called us. "We can't move your internet. We don't have service in that area."

We were pretty angry. Wasn't the whole point of bringing the address down to the office and having them check it so that we could find out if they had service in that area? Plus, they would only refund the 50 yuan transfer fee, they refused to compensate us for any of the remaining time on the contract we already had.

We had noticed that there was a big billboard in the complex at The Sky that advertised China Telecom. Off we went to their office. We gave them the address of the Sky and asked check if they had service there. "Yes, no problem!" We asked them to double check and just be sure. They gave us a strange look and said "Yes, we definitely have service in that building!" Great. Of course the cost was 1/3 higher than that of Unicom, plus it was now April 2. We either had to wait until May 1 for installation, or pay an extra 3 yuan per day if we wanted it done before then, because "It's not the first of the month." 

Now we were extra angry with Unicom for not being straight with us from the beginning! They had wasted not only our time but our money! Fine though, whatever, we told Telecom. Just come install it as soon as possible. We'd already moved and I was starting to go a little more insane every day we had no internet.

On Saturday morning Telecom was scheduled to come install. Erik was off teaching a class and I was at home anxiously awaiting the arrival of The Internet. At 8:30 AM Erik called me. He explained that a guy had just called him and he thought it was the Telecom guy, but couldn't hear him clearly due to poor reception on his phone. "Maybe he's downstairs, go see if you can find him and let him in! If not, here's his number, call him back and try to see hat's going on."

I went flying down into the courtyard. Nobody around except the security guard. 

Me: Hey Mr. Security guard! How's it going?
Security Guard: Not bad, it's nice weather today!
Me: Yeah it really is. Have you had breakfast yet?
SG: Yeah, I ate already, what about you?
Me: Yeah, I'm good, thanks! Hey by the way, has anybody come by to install The Internet today?
SG: Nope, it's early still, nobody has come in yet today!
Me: Great, thanks! See you later!

I stepped towards the street and looked around. Nope. Nobody there either. I called the number Erik had sent.

Me: Hi, did you just call my husband about installing internet to the Sky?
Telecom Guy: Yeah, I came to install the internet at the Sky but I couldn't install it!
Me: Really, you came over already?
TG: Yeah, I just came by, but it's impossible to install there.
Me: That's really interesting, because I've been home all morning, and I am here with Mr. Security Guard and he just told me nobody came today to install the Internet.
TG: Haha, actually all the lines in your area are full! So I don't need to come install, I already know it's impossible!

Now I was really super angry but I kept it together and explained to him that we had already checked with the main office and they said it would be no problem to install internet here. No no no, he told me. Lines full. Impossible. I explained that we really really really needed the internet anyway. 怎么办???

He said he'd speak with his boss about it and call me back. He never ever ever did. 

Our good friend Emily heard me telling what happened and said she knew someone who was a manager at Telecom. She called him on our behalf, but even he was unable to get us internet. Turns out the lines aren't full: they are nonexistent. Telecom is supposed to be the service provider for our building but since we have such low occupancy they never bothered installing any lines here. They don't plan to either. "That building is all Mainlanders, they just buy apartments for an investment. Nobody really lives there, so we would lose money if we installed lines there. Plus, we make all our profits on mobile internet these days anyway. Can I tell you more about our mobile internet plans?"

Yeah, thanks but no. I have a mobile internet plan already. That's not helpful. I need broadband in my apartment! I remembered my friend Marian had had a lot of trouble finding a company that would install internet out in the village where she lives, and that she'd eventually found a company with service in that area. I called her and got the number for Great Wall Internet. I called them...

Me: Hi, is this Great Wall Internet Company?
GWI: Yes it is.
Me: Hi, can you check this address to see if you can install broadband internet there?
GWI: Let me check.... Oh. I'm sorry, we don't have any service in that area.
Me: Ok, thanks, have a great day.

So, another strike but at least they hadn't taken my money and a week of my time and lied to me about being able to do something and then not done it. So, props to them.

We did get a full refund from Telecom, but at this point I was starting to panic. We'd signed a two year lease and just moved all our stuff into this great apartment, and now it was looking like getting internet there was going to be impossible. I was lugging my laptop around town every day to coffee shops and hostels and friends' apartments to get some email and Skritter time in, but I absolutely could not do that every day for the next two years. Nope. No no no not gonna work. For one thing, my poor laptop is already several years old and after just a few days of that it started to malfunction even worse than it usually does!

We had heard from the Security Guard that maybe China Mobile could provide internet to our building. We hadn't even realized they DID broadband internet, but we dutifully went to visit them.

Me: Hi, do you have broadband service at this address? 
CM: Yes, we can install there.
Me: Are you sure?
CM: Yeah, no problem.
Me: Are you really really sure?
CM: Yes, we are really, really sure.

They probably were thinking "Crazy laowai!" We were thinking: Crazy internet companies! We didn't feel like we could trust anything anybody told us, but sure enough we signed a contract and set an installation date. ASAP.

The China Mobile guy came over a few days later. After taking a look around my apartment he explained that installation would be lots of trouble. He'd need to drill into a concrete wall. He thought it would be better if we just cancelled the contract we'd signed and sign a new one "later." I'm not sure what that would have solved except maybe then he wouldn't be the one assigned to do the installation. I declined. 

He said he'd have to speak with the building management and get their permission before he could begin. Since I was already stealing precious minutes from my yacht salesgirl English students who pay me huge amounts of money per hour, I sent him down to the management office with my lovely English speaking ayi Penny. Management office was closed. 

That afternoon Erik went down to make sure the management office was open, then called the China Mobile guy to come on back over. The three of them spent the rest of the afternoon making a plan for installation, getting access to wall vents and locked cabinets inside the building walls, but didn't actually install anything.

The next morning China Mobile guy came back with a buddy and spent a few hours guiding cables through walls and hooking this to that but noon rolled around and although everything seemed hooked up properly, the cable was not producing any signal. He brought me a copy of the management contract that Erik had set up at the China Mobile office. He explained that since our address was listed as Building A but we were really Building B, our internet could not work. Alright I said, write Building B! No no, he explained. This could only be changed in the central computer at the main office, he couldn't do it. The earliest it could be done would be that afternoon, but it might take as long as the next morning. He said I should "check" to see if the internet worked "later."

I asked if CM could call me when it was fixed, so I could check then? Nope. Just check "later." I explained that I wouldn't know when to check, and whether it didn't work because the address wasn't changed yet, or whether it had and there was some other problem. He said he'd ask them to call, but he didn't sound very optimistic. Sure enough, nobody called.

The next day at 12:05, just after noon, I called Mr. China Mobile technician and said the internet still didn't work. He said he'd come back over and take a look. He arrived around 1PM, checked, looked surprised, and started fiddling with the cables and making calls and going in and out of the apartment, presumably to check wherever the cable was hooked up. He never explained what exactly was wrong with it (presumably NOT the A building B building mixup) and it took him a LONG time to get it working. Finally, around 5 PM that evening, we had internetz for the first time in The Sky!

And there was much rejoicing.