Blue-Sky Days and IKEA

Good news! A week before the Olympics Opening Ceremony, it rained and the winds blew. On Friday there were high clouds, but the air was clear and visibility was excellent. Yesterday was one of those glorious "blue-sky days," and today looks clear and blue.... no sign of smog. Whether this will last, though.... Usually after several nice days, the weather pattern stalls and the smog starts to build up.

We have continued our recent shopping spree, again spending much of the day (on Friday) at IKEA. It's hard to decide if this is pleasurable & efficient, or a real ordeal. I recently read an article by an American journalist complaining that the "pump-your-own-gas" thing has gotten out of hand. At IKEA, you must: write down the possibly-multiple numbers of things required to assemble your purchase (beware of forgetting a critical component, separately boxed), then hoof it down to the warehouse -- you are already exhausted from the crowds and the indecision about which desk to buy -- and then you must lift huge flat boxes onto a cart. Then you must push the massive load to a crowded check-out counter. In the end, you get what you want, but at what price to your back and your dignity?

I think there are some differences at IKEA Beijing -- once you are through all of this, you can have all your stuff delivered for only 12 to 15 bucks, and they will even assemble it at your place for 4% of the purchase price. In the case of products that have assembly guides that seem as heavy as War and Peace, this is well worth it. Chinese, in general, expect SERVICE when you pay money... and they have to get used to the IKEA/McDonald's thing of bussing your own table (after your meal). I noticed signs all over IKEA telling Chinese customers about the myriad advantages of doing everything for yourself (bussing your own table, assembling your product at home, etc.) Actually, labor is still relatively cheap in China, so Chinese expect to be served. Bussing your own table actually takes away someone's job!

Most all the Chinese we see in IKEA are young, probably highly-educated and pretty international. They are certainly wealthier, as they are willing to pay what are essentially US & European prices for housewares (although some items are probably as good or better a deal as products at Chinese prices). Anyway, I would think IKEA's "do-it-for-yourself" ethic would catch on only with the higher-income, younger component of the Chinese urban customer base. Most Chinese wouldn't put up with what IKEA puts you through to buy furniture & housewares.

Hmmmm, dear reader, lest you think we have become professional consumers...

Jingxia (and I, to a lesser extent: I'm the proofreader/language smoother) has been hired by the Cold War International History Project as a contract translator. She is working on translating Korean War-era documents from the Zhou Enlai jianguo yilai wengao into English, for inclusion with Lao Shen's article. I'm proofreading Sergey Radchenko's manuscript on the Sino-Soviet Split 1962-1966.

We are going to put up pictures TODAY of our apartment, neighborhood, and surrounding in Tong zhou qu.... so please check back in a few hours.