Me Ol' China, another week nearly gone. (no spelling checked)

Hello folks,

this week I will anticipate by a couple of days the publication of my blog. this is due to the fact that I am going to spend the weekend in the countryside, somewhere, in a resort doing something with some people for some time... Clear innit? Well, that's all I know: I will not be sleeping at home for two nights. i will tell you next week what it was all about. When my wife asked me questions abou tthe outing it sounded like I didn't want to tell her anything about it but I really haven't got the clue about the place we are going and the activities we are going to do when there.

So, back to the blog. Bloody hot! Bloody sticky! Bloody foggy! But less pollution, less cars around and less people overall. I see that Chinese are getting really excited now. the Olympic fever is all over. Flocks of volunteeers everywhere. some with blue uniform, sponsored by China Mobile, generally youngsters, some in orange, generally senior citizens, and some in white, senior citizens too. What do volunteers do? i ma not sure to be honest, I hope that the people who will use their services will know because me, despite reading the newspaper every single day and watching the English language news seldom, I still do not know what they are there for.

You remember all the words about the visa issues? last week it was my time to go through the visa pain for my family. Let me show you the email excahnges between me and my visa agent so tha tyou understand how things went...

Dear Mr. X,

The L-visa of your wife and child's need to be extended by 23 July 2008. Please prepare the following documents for each person:

1. original passport
2. 1X2" photo with light blue or white background, no hat or cap
3. Temporary Residence Certificate issued by local police station
4. Bank deposit certificate (100$X31=3100$)

Please go to any bank with your wife, your child and their passports to open 2 accounts under each of their names, and deposit 3100USD into each account, then ask the bank to issue the Deposit Certificate for each account. Please print out the following Chinese characters and take it with you when you go to the bank, if the clerks do not understand what you want them to issue.

请帮助其每个人开具 3100 美元 的存款证明，到北京市公安局出入境管理处办理签证延期用。

If we receive all your documents by 22 July, we may help you to apply visa extension for 1 month. and you need to apply for the renewal one more time in August.

Please feel free to contact us if there is any questions.

Best regards,
XXXX
My reply

Thank you XXXX,

I will try to sort everything out before the end of this week. By the way, will we get some papers stating that we have applied for a Visa because we are going away for the weekend, the weekend of the 25th and would like to avoid problems.

Thanks a lot!

her reply

Dear Mr. X,

When you go to the bank to open the saving accounts with their names, your wife and your child need to go with you personally with their own passports. 3100USD for your wife's account and another 3100USD for your child's account. when you finish, please inform me and I will take them to the interview, and also collect the following documents:

1. 2 passports of your wife and child's
2. 2 photos (2", color photo, light blue or white background) of your wife and child's
3. 2 temporary resident certificates for your wife and child
4. 2 bank booklets of your wife and child's accounts

No need to issue the deposit certificate, we will take care of that. So meet them next week.

best regards,
XXXX


Dear Mr. X,

I have arranged my schedule and please kindly advise what time and where to meet your wife and child for their visa extension tomorrow afternoon. And they may receive their passports 24 August afteroon.

Best regards,
XXXXMe

XXX,

if I give my ICBC card and my passport to my wife, do you think that ICBC will do the certificates?

Thanks

X
Her:

Dear Mr. X,

After double checking with ICBC, your wife takes your card and your passport could open the accounts and transfer. So when your wife and your child go to the bank, I could accompany them for all matters related and take them to the interview directly. That is the service we could provide.

Just inform me the time and the place where to meet them for me to arrange my schedule in the office. Tomorrow, I still keep half day for your case.

best, XXXX
Me:

Hello XXXX,

my wife will contact you directly for arrangements.

Thank you!

XSo...

The 3100 USD will become 21000 RMB each and the officer in the Visa place will just look at the savings deposit, and no longer certificates... The reason of these change of mind? Because all rules are decided on the go and there is no standard.

For instance, for the outing of this weekend, all Chinese have to walk with some special ID and not only the Driving licence. If you are not resident in Beijing because you come from anotehr province, you have to supply your residence permit and some paper issued in your local Province...

Anyway, Beijing 2008 can be something to look forward to for hte national pride but, I am sure, that in one month time we will all be happy that the Marathon has taken place!

I find really unbearable all the restrictions, changes of schedules we are subject oo as Beijingers and I am really looking forward to September!

For the rest, it hasn't happened much during this week except for the fact that I decided to stay here in Beijing a bit longer and my wife has started realising that despite the look and the distance, Chinese and Italians are not so different from each other...

I am sure that if we had had the same history, opportunity and political systems it would have been really impossible to distinguish ones from the others.

Probably that is one of the reasons why I like Chinese people: the Italians the way I would have liked them to be. Stil noisy and happy but wit ha bit more courtesy and smile on their faces. instead seems to be the other way around and with the increase of wealth they are becoming like Italians, instead.

Talking about wealth I read this interesting article about the Chinese aristrocrats and I copy it entirely as it has been published by the China Daily:

Being rich in China does not mean all are living like aristocrats, a recent 2008 Hurun Report of New Aristocracy, said.

"Being rich and living the life of an aristocrat are not the same thing," Rupert Hoogewerf, author of the report, said. He is better known by his Chinese name Hu Run.


An aristocrat in China generally spends about 4.57 million yuan ($672,000) a year, and much of it on a premium standard of living.

Hoogewerf said the report was compiled after analyzing the lifestyles of more than 100 super rich people in China and not all spend lavishly.

To live the life of an aristocrat, those super rich people must have spent at least 83 million yuan.
The report describes the life of a typical aristocrat.

He is someone in his 40s, lives in Shanghai with his wife and has a son about 17 years old studying in Britain.

He owns a villa in the city and an apartment in Beijing, has four cars in his garage including a Rolls-Royce Phantom for himself and a Mercedes-Benz ML500 for his wife.

He enjoys playing golf and has paid more than 3.5 million yuan to join golf clubs in Shanghai and Beijing.

Sometimes, he and his friends will charter a plane to play golf in Hainan province.

He has four watches including a Vacheron Constantin and an Oyster Perpetual Datejust, and his wedding ring, very likely from Tiffany Legacy.

He has recently developed a liking for wines. Chateau Lafite Rothschild, costing 226,656 yuan per crate, can be found in his cellar.

He smokes Davidoff Classic No 2.

He is now more involved in charitable causes compared to last year.

Hoogewerf said that within a week of the May 12 earthquake, the top 100 richest people in the country had donated $120 million, about 10 percent of the total donations received by the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

"More and more people are curious about the lifestyles of the rich in China. We want to give them an insight," he said.

Hoogewerf estimates that currently there are only 50,000 people in the country who can maintain such a lifestyle.

Last year 150,000 people could be considered having led an aristocrat life at a cost of 38 million yuan.

However, some entrepreneurs do not want to pursue the lifestyles of their peers.

Yu Minhong, CEO of the New Oriental Group, ranking 134 in 2007 Hurun China Rich List said: "I do not know where I can spend so much money. Maybe one day, I will buy a villa costing millions of yuan, but not now,"

"Every one has his or her own lifestyle."

Liu Mingming, 24, an office worker said: "It is their life. They can indulge in whatever they want, so long as it makes them happy.

"What surprise me is that I had no idea China has so many rich men."
I can frankly imagine how full of shit these aristocrats can be, because in my block there are just some middle class wealthy Chinese and they are as arrogant as Naomi Campbell...

Anyway, not much gone on this week except for discovering new restaurants around and reduce the amount of stress in my life assuming a bit of a "who gives a fart" attitude.

I leave you with this advert to close. good bye!

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