Sometimes it is hard to see the way forward in China, but it is comforting to know that the warm Chinese folkways have elements of continuity in all the rapid changes that are taking place.
I have been trying to figure out how to get money from the Company bank account at the China Construction Bank, the one where a stranger in possession of the chop with my signature can effect a transaction, but where exercising control over my own cash is subject to certain controls. According to government rules, I can only withdraw up to RMB5,000 per week for petty cash, which apparently can only be used for certain kinds of transactions including purchasing overseas flights on proof of the ticket. I can transfer any amount directly to another company account, but not to that of an individual. To make payroll, I have to submit an employment contract to the bank as provided by the China International Intellectual Corporation (CIIC), who apparently then calculates the tax liability. The CIIC also administers the welfare payments that I need to pay staff. These comprise 40.5% of their salaries! Employees in China are well protected by the Government, as one would imagine for a Communist State. The state owned banks are a vehicle for the Government to reduce the likelihood of corruption and to manage commercial enterprise contributions to social welfare. At first these systems seem counter intuitive, but in a centrally planned economy it is logical for all institutions owned by the State to support official policies. The effect of the petrol stations not selling me petrol has led to the registration of the scooter, even if in a round about kind of way. The arrival of my Hebei license plates for the Skyjet scooter was heralded by the first snow of the year and a week of extremely poor visibility. Not that Beijing needs more traffic. This week, the Beijing Auto Show opened at a time when temperatures hit freezing and man made pollution meant visibility extended a miserable 600m. The PSI index on Tuesday was 249, prompting a reluctant ‘stay in doors’ comment from the Government. When shaving, I noticed that my skin looked blotchy -- pimples of the kind that I haven’t endured since pubity -- causing me to switch to my electric razor. Planes and long distance buses were delayed. Fog shrouded the city for 3 days. In the news,
General Motors announced the development of a hybrid car in China to be ready in 2008 and Rolls Royce declared China to be their third largest market after the US and Britain. Some 3 million luxury cars were sold to China's super wealthy in 2005.
Rolls Royce sold 40 of of those and expects to increase the number to 65 this year. At the Auto Show, men in black jackets unashamedly took cameraphone photos of the
blonde scantilly clad
models, posing with the ones that would allow them; the women as much an aspirational object as the sleek lumps of carbon and steel they were draped over.
By the weekend, I wanted to be draped over something comfortable and non-polluting and so headed with friends Wei and Fulin to Gaobeidian, a centre for Chinese furniture, the entrance to which has a sign declaring the village has ‘thoysand yests history.’ Gaobeidian became a prosperous dock serving the Chinese capital, sited on the Tonghui River made by Kublai Khan, son of Ghenghis Khan. The 1.5km Furniture Street sells all manner of new and ‘antique’ furniture, in fact almost is all is claimed to be antique and the fun part is to lift the drawers out of desks and spot the glue, or see the stain of tea used to make wood look old. We had visited Ikea in the morning which was packed by 10.30 with people buying identikit shelving with names that even the Swedish must have a challenge pronouncing, and which for the Chinese must be baffling, but here among all the hand made and unique pieces in Gaobeidian were a few expatriates milling about. In the town on an historic canal that promises to show visitors ‘Chinese Warm Folkways’ it appeared that only foreigners were interested. I bought a 216cm long wooden sideboard, a double door painted cupboard, 2 bedside tables and a 150cm high set of drawers for the princely sum of RMB4,000 (US$510); the price included immediate home delivery, one of the nicer Chinese folkways.
A not so nice Chinese folkway, that seems to have made a marked reappearance with the onset of the cold weather and pollution, is spitting. It must be Spitting Season. I always take pains in the first 100 metres to avoid what look like gangrenous jelly fish washed up on a beach after a high tide, but this is more hazardous than keeping an eye on the squadrons of cyclists sprinting for green lights, spitting at speed. In March, in preparation for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, the Chinese Government said that it would introduce a new code of conduct for its citizens: no slurping of soup, no trying to push to the front of lines and, most of all, absolutely no spitting. The fine is RMB50 (see
Der Spiegel). In 2003, during SARS, there was a focus on the bad impact of Chinese sharing bodily fluids in public places, but it appears that spitting now has created new social issues. In Tianjin Zoo three chimps have started spitting and throwing food around, imitating the tourists watching them. The zookeepers have urged the visitors to set a good example, and if they do, this will certainly be a new method of creating folkways for the Chinese that will be a little more heartwarming. A final note: Please feel free to share my blog entries about China with anyone who you think would like to read them. Also
let me know if you have ideas on how I can improve them.
Sometimes it is hard to see the way forward in China, but it is comforting to know that the warm Chinese folkways have elements of continuity in all the rapid changes that are taking place. 
By the weekend, I wanted to be draped over something comfortable and non-polluting and so headed with friends Wei and Fulin to Gaobeidian, a centre for Chinese furniture, the entrance to which has a sign declaring the village has ‘thoysand yests history.’ Gaobeidian became a prosperous dock serving the Chinese capital, sited on the Tonghui River made by Kublai Khan, son of Ghenghis Khan. The 1.5km Furniture Street sells all manner of new and ‘antique’ furniture, in fact almost is all is claimed to be antique and the fun part is to lift the drawers out of desks and spot the glue, or see the stain of tea used to make wood look old. We had visited Ikea in the morning which was packed by 10.30 with people buying identikit shelving with names that even the Swedish must have a challenge pronouncing, and which for the Chinese must be baffling, but here among all the hand made and unique pieces in Gaobeidian were a few expatriates milling about. In the town on an historic canal that promises to show visitors ‘Chinese Warm Folkways’ it appeared that only foreigners were interested. I bought a 216cm long wooden sideboard, a double door painted cupboard, 2 bedside tables and a 150cm high set of drawers for the princely sum of RMB4,000 (US$510); the price included immediate home delivery, one of the nicer Chinese folkways. 
A not so nice Chinese folkway, that seems to have made a marked reappearance with the onset of the cold weather and pollution, is spitting. It must be Spitting Season. I always take pains in the first 100 metres to avoid what look like gangrenous jelly fish washed up on a beach after a high tide, but this is more hazardous than keeping an eye on the squadrons of cyclists sprinting for green lights, spitting at speed. In March, in preparation for the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, the Chinese Government said that it would introduce a new code of conduct for its citizens: no slurping of soup, no trying to push to the front of lines and, most of all, absolutely no spitting. The fine is RMB50 (see Der Spiegel). In 2003, during SARS, there was a focus on the bad impact of Chinese sharing bodily fluids in public places, but it appears that spitting now has created new social issues. In Tianjin Zoo three chimps have started spitting and throwing food around, imitating the tourists watching them. The zookeepers have urged the visitors to set a good example, and if they do, this will certainly be a new method of creating folkways for the Chinese that will be a little more heartwarming. A final note: Please feel free to share my blog entries about China with anyone who you think would like to read them. Also let me know if you have ideas on how I can improve them.