In Cars
We have been very fortunate that when Randy joined his employer here in Changping he was given a company car for his own use. Having a car at our disposal has been a blessing to us, making life in the outer reaches so much more bearable. He did not receive this perk just because he is the foreigner. Even the Chinese people that are at his same level in the organization have cars to drive.
About three months ago, Randy's boss informed him that the car he has been driving since coming to Beijing was "too old." As soon as the company qualified for a new license plate, it was going to be replaced. Randy put in his request for a seven-passenger vehicle, not sure if that might have been a little out of line. Fortunately, it's what his boss had in mind all along.
More after the jump
We loved the old car, a now 10-year-old Volkswagon Passat. We referred to is as our tank, something that made us feel safe whether we were maneuvering through Beijing's notorious traffic or having to avoid farm animals on the countryside roads. It was a great threshing machine. I especially liked its non-assuming appearance. We didn't look like obvious foreigners parading privilege on the highway. In a black Passat we could blend in with the millions of other similar cars.
But the Passat was getting on, and not too long after Randy's boss indicated that a new car was in our future, it started to act up. One day it completely broke down right in front of our building when Randy was on his way to work. A new car could not come quickly enough.
The new car arrived at last, and if we were in the US, it would not turn heads.
It's a seven-passenger Honda Odyssey, styled in China as a station wagon rather than a minivan. I hoped, though, it would not seem too new or too expensive. I wanted to believe that, at least in the car, we are indistinguishable.
It's funny, then, to contrast my self-consciousness with some of the local attitudes, particularly around Beijing. Before we moved here, I believed that Beijingers would be more cautious than rich southerners (like from Shenzhen, Shanghai, Hangzhou, for instance) in showing off their wealth. I must have read it somewhere, but certainly, I thought, being so close to the seat of Central Government would be a deterrent.
Oh, how I was wrong. Or, perhaps it was more true in 2008 when we were preparing our move North than it is now. Just yesterday on the website of Canada's Globe and Mail Mark MacKinnon had these pictures of luxury vehicles around Beijing bearing the white license plates of government and military. I am rather surprised that they did not choose to use the much more anonymous blue plates. If these car owners aren't as concerned about appearances, then why are we?
About three months ago, Randy's boss informed him that the car he has been driving since coming to Beijing was "too old." As soon as the company qualified for a new license plate, it was going to be replaced. Randy put in his request for a seven-passenger vehicle, not sure if that might have been a little out of line. Fortunately, it's what his boss had in mind all along.
More after the jump
We loved the old car, a now 10-year-old Volkswagon Passat. We referred to is as our tank, something that made us feel safe whether we were maneuvering through Beijing's notorious traffic or having to avoid farm animals on the countryside roads. It was a great threshing machine. I especially liked its non-assuming appearance. We didn't look like obvious foreigners parading privilege on the highway. In a black Passat we could blend in with the millions of other similar cars.
But the Passat was getting on, and not too long after Randy's boss indicated that a new car was in our future, it started to act up. One day it completely broke down right in front of our building when Randy was on his way to work. A new car could not come quickly enough.
The new car arrived at last, and if we were in the US, it would not turn heads.
It's a seven-passenger Honda Odyssey, styled in China as a station wagon rather than a minivan. I hoped, though, it would not seem too new or too expensive. I wanted to believe that, at least in the car, we are indistinguishable.
It's funny, then, to contrast my self-consciousness with some of the local attitudes, particularly around Beijing. Before we moved here, I believed that Beijingers would be more cautious than rich southerners (like from Shenzhen, Shanghai, Hangzhou, for instance) in showing off their wealth. I must have read it somewhere, but certainly, I thought, being so close to the seat of Central Government would be a deterrent.
Oh, how I was wrong. Or, perhaps it was more true in 2008 when we were preparing our move North than it is now. Just yesterday on the website of Canada's Globe and Mail Mark MacKinnon had these pictures of luxury vehicles around Beijing bearing the white license plates of government and military. I am rather surprised that they did not choose to use the much more anonymous blue plates. If these car owners aren't as concerned about appearances, then why are we?
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