8 Surprising Things About Beijing

My family and I have now been in Beijing for a little less than a month. Of course, I still don’t know anything about the place. I have lived abroad for years in both Korea and Japan and I find it takes years living in a new country/culture before you start to “get” some of it. I’ve also learned that after years living in a foreign country that often you never “get it”, but (if you’re a non-bitter foreigner) stop questioning the differences and simply go with the flow.

In our short time here I have definitely been surprised by a few things.

Sadly, when I announced I was leaving Japan for a new job in Beijing, I did get some negative feedback. There were definitely some anti-Chinese comments left under my YouTube videos and on my FB page.

I told people, that if they were my podcast/YouTube/blog fans to knock it off. I didn’t want to hear that sort of chatter. I didn’t want to leave Japan with negative expectations in my mind.

That aside, my wife and I weren’t naïve about our move. We researched and took it seriously. No place is perfect, but it would be an adventure!

So here it goes…

Things that have surprised us since we got here:

1. Blue skies! Yes, pollution is bad here and it will get a lot worse in the winter months, but we have been surprised to get some really nice weather since we arrived. Many blue-sky days with a very good AQI (Air Quality Index). We have had a few bad ones though.

2. No pushing. When I was here for a visit in 2002, I remember getting pushed and jostled a lot when using public transportation and visiting tourist spots. That simply hasn’t been happening this time around.

3. Really friendly people. Not sure why, maybe my experience here in 2002 and negative things I hear online, but I expected people to be very rude and aggressive in Beijing. I have happily found it to be quite the opposite. People have been kind and helpful. People in stores, on the street, on buses have all been generally friendly and helpful. Lots of people get up on public transportation and offer seats to my kids!

4. No spitting! Ok, some people spit. I have seen some in Beijing, but nothing like when I was here in 2002. I remember how gross the sidewalks were downtown and how many people, both men and women would spit everywhere. Not so much now. The sidewalks are cleaner and expelling of phlegm seems much less!

5. Tallness! People in China are pretty darn tall! Both my wife and I have noticed this. A lot of women in their 20’s are taller than me. Some really tall men too! Definitely taller than people in Japan.

6. Silent Ebikes! In Korea and Japan (more Korea) people ride small 50cc scooters that kick our loads of dirty exhaust. In China those seem to be a thing of the past. Everyone here rides Ebikes (Electric Bikes) which are basically those 50cc scooters, but completely electric. That’s great for the environment, but they are COMPLETLEY silent and I often get really startled when they whizz past me on the sidewalk.

7. Urban nature. If you know me, you know I am naturalist. I study insects, birds and am a big advocate of environmental conservation and stewardship. I was happy to find some decent urban nature in Beijing. I have only been able to explore the area around my house, but Chaoyang Park is pretty huge with a lot of great birds, bugs and other little critters.

8. Gentrification. A lot of Beijing has changed since I last visited 15 years ago. The of Hutongs are almost all gone and many “gritty” areas I visited then are now posh and upscale. Beijing definitely has a different look and feel.

These are just a few observations I have had in my short time here so far.

More to come as I learn more about my new city!

The writer:

Kevin O'Shea is an IB/PYP educator at a major international school in Beijing, China. He has lived in South Korea as well as Japan. He is the host of the Just Japan Podcast, an avid nature photographer and nature educator. 

Follow him on  Twitter (Main account): @jlandkev
Twitter (educator account): @MadForMaple 

JustWildlife (facebook.com/justwildlife) – nature and more