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一個印度女記者的日記 You know you live in Beijing when…
You know you live in Beijing when…
Friday: Wake up and check if the sky is blue. The sky is ash grey.
女記者日記 - 一個印度女記者的日記
Start checking pending emails. The next Bollywood screening at the Indian Embassy culture centre is Hum Saath Saath Hain (We are united, 1999). Stop checking emails.Check Facebook. Facebook is blocked.
Console Mumbai visitor shopping in Silk Street that the Chinese salesgirls call everybody ‘crazy, crazy!’ if they don’t buy.
Remember the recession. Overcome temptation for fake Tiffany necklaces.
Order a pot of ‘traditional tea’ in the cafe outside counterfeit goods bazaar. The Chinese waiter clarifies that the traditional tea is a British tea bag. Cancel order.
Editor calls from New Delhi. Clarify that the police have not made another surprise house call.
Deadline interrupted. Call upstairs Mumbai neighbour. Discuss ordering khichdi home-delivery for a working lunch though it’s not on the Indian restaurant’s menu.
Post-dinner conversation with expats and Mumbai neighbour: Discuss when the government weather modifiers will make the sky blue again, the crowded Beijing subway vs Mumbai local, and whether anyone has ever seen a bird fly over Beijing’s central business district.
Post-dinner walk. A band plays Pretty Woman. A counterfeit Michael Jackson walks past us, complete with dark glasses in the dark. Check the night sky. You know you live in Beijing when you are more likely to see a fake Michael Jackson on the street than a real star in the sky.
Saturday: Wake up and check if the sky is blue. The sky is ash grey.
Remember dinner chat and look out of the window to spot a bird. Give up.
Order home-delivery of the California Hippie. Relax, it’s a sandwich.
Start reading the China Daily. Page 1: A 150-kg pig lives in Beijing’s Rome Garden residential area with his own massage nannies, milk pills and potato chips. “Laifu has breakfast, sleeps awhile, then gets up to bask in the sunshine and later has lunch,’’ said the news. Stop reading the China Daily. Give up the day’s diary.
PS: Rain! The sky was blue on Sunday.