Ha-ha-halloween!

The sweaters and jackets will take a backseat and imaginations will go wild as Halloween hits town this Friday!  Witches with broom, ninjas, skeletons will roam the street looking for places to haunt and party!  Halloween in Beijing is always fun with the different costumes and wild parties.  It doesn’t matter if it’s a weekday or a weekend as long as it’s Halloween, everyone is out to have a good time!

So if you want to dress like a princess or be godzilla, here are some places for you to strut your stuff this Halloween:

1.  Ku-18 - Located at 798 Art District, this year’s theme is “Spooked”.  If you’re into warehouses and funky music, this will be your dig in this occasion.  RMB 100 (door), RMB 70 (advance).  朝阳区酒仙桥路798创意广场18号

Of Red and White.. Wines

I never was a wine, liquor, champagne or beer drinker.  First, I’m allergic to some of them especially champagne.  Second, I never had the opportunity to try any of those when I was young.  Third, I don’t want to get drunk and do something stupid.  Fourth, I never like the taste.  However, since I joined the corporate world, the need to socialize and drink is needed.  Thus, my quest for alcohol which won’t cause me allergies and suit to my palate began.

Last autumn, Carrefour Shuangjing had its first annual wine fair.  It was a perfect place for me to search for that elusive wine which I will like.  I remember going and trying different kinds of wines from Australia, Italy, Argentina, China, France and US.  After trying several, all of them taste the same.  However, there was one wine which stood out and I came home with 4 bottles of them.  The wine, Brown Brothers Moscato.   Brown Brothers is an Australian wine company.  I have a partiality with Australian companies since that’s the first country outside Asia where I was able to visit.  Also, my first job in Beijing is with an Australian company.

Banking for Dummies in China – Part 1

Banking in China is a daunting and painful process for foreigners. In this post, I will be writing 5 years worth of experience in doing business with the local banks. The top 4 banks in China who also has branches in the hinterlands are Bank of China (BOC), Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), Agricultural Bank of China (ABC) and China Construction Bank (CCB). There are other banks which are branching out to more provinces such as Bank of Communication, China Merchants Bank, Shanghai Pudong Bank, CITIC Bank and China Post Savings Bank.

Here are some tips and trivia about banks in China:

• Most Chinese Banks are open 7 days a week from 9am to 5pm. Banks in office buildings are usually closed on the weekends.
• Queues are sometimes short but are usually long. Upon entering the bank, make a beeline right away at the number issuer machine. If they call your number and you aren’t there, you will need to take another number.     

New Traffic Scheme in Beijing

After two months of being pampered with clean air and less traffic, Beijing motorists were plagued with traffic jams on the first day off of the odd-even scheme during the Games.  Air quality deteriorated badly that government officials implemented a new traffic scheme starting yesterday.

I remember talking to my friend who has a car about the traffic scheme in Manila and how it would be good if it was implemented here before my European trip.  Lo and behold, they implemented it with some revisions.  It seems like they will be giving it a trial run till April 10 of next year.  The number traffic scheme would ban cars whose last digit on their car plates matches the number they’ve selected from 6 am to 9 pm on certain days.  Weekends are excluded on the traffic scheme.  They devised whose off as follow: 1 and 6 on Monday, 2 and 7 on Tuesday, 3 and 8 on Wednesday, 4 and 9 on Thursday , and 5 and 0 on Friday.

Free Expat Magazines!

Going crazy with a language you can’t understand?  Don’t know where to find a book that makes sense?  When prices are going up, freebies are hard to come by.  But, for expats in Beijing, you get to know the latest happenings in art, cinema, music, shopping, sports and more through the magazines you can get from your favourite expat restaurants in town.

Here’s a list of English magazines you can bag and maybe pile at home and sell it once you’re done with it.

1.  thebeijinger – this monthly magazine used to be called That’s Beijing.  However, this year the management decided not to renew the contracts of their foreign writers and those writers banded together armed with their contacts to create this new magazine.  I prefer this one than the new team who’s currently writing That’s Beijing.  They got a mean directory of restaurants and other services.  They even sometimes include a map insert of different areas which expat usually go to.  They have several more magazines which they write but I’m not really sure how often do they come out such as Urbane and Beijing Kids.