Out and About in Shenyang

Near Benxi 本溪, about an hour east of Shenyang.

 

 

We had a special group training day today, so we thought it would be convenient for us all to order lunch in and eat together. There were six of us in the group. I volunteered to coordinate the lunch orders. Easy, right?

I had the “great” idea to order from Subway. What could be easier than sandwiches, right?

After the pain of getting everyone’s order (turkey breast, 12-inch, whole wheat bread, lettuce, tomato, honey mustard dressing), then translating it into Chinese, it was time to place the order for the food. This would be the “easy” part.

I asked one of my LE Staff to call and place the order. I figured that way, we could avoid any phone drama.

The nice Subway people told the LE Staff that they couldn’t take the order over the phone, we had to do it online. It would be easier that way, they said.

They actually said that.

We found the website, and then saw on the home page that there was actually an iPhone app that was recommended.

Turned on my phone, downloaded the app. This was going to be easy!

Wrong app.

Looked for the right app.

While I was looking, the LE Staff figured out that she could place the order on the website after all. Easy!

So I stopped downloading the app.

Then there was a problem using the website.

So I started to download the app again.

This was getting easier and easier.

Then she figured out the website. We filled out the order. But we couldn’t put in the details (bread, toppings, etc). So we left a note in the comments box that we would call to add the details.

Hit the submit button.

Easy.

Then I got a text message from Subway: my order was cancelled.

Called the store again, asking what was going on. Oh yeah, they said. You’re out of our delivery area.

Can we go pick up the order?

No, you can’t, they replied. The order was cancelled, remember?

So I went out and bought Baozi for everyone.

Much easier.

How else?

I went on a “site visit” a few days ago to investigate a suspected fraud case. Traffic was terrible on the highway.

Fraud confirmed.

Spring must be here. I had my first sighting of the famous Power Walkers Of Shenyang yesterday!

You can see this all over the city. The leader carries a boom box and sets the pace. Everyone follows in paramilitary formation. You can see it in the early morning or evening. This sighting was at about 6:30 last night.

It’s probably a healthy exercise, but it’s a typically Chinese way to exercise (in a group, in formation, loud music). The best part of this sighting was that the song they chose to play was NOT “little apple.”

In Michigan, I’d get excited about seeing the first robin. In Shenyang, it’s this.

China.

That’s a Chinese saying for “lot of people:” 人山人海. I never appreciated the saying until I came to China. Now I know why they have that saying. There are a lot of people in China.

Here’s a subway junction in Shenyang, on a Sunday afternoon, where the two subway lines meet. The people just keep coming.

People mountain, people sea.

It rained today. Legally, it can’t snow again.



For some reason, the Chinese word for “free range chicken” is “stupid chicken.”

The eggs are delicious, but the name is a little insulting.

At the grocery stores in Shenyang, you can buy produce in two ways. You can select produce from bulk: you select what you want, then have it weighed and a price tag stuck on it (see my cow turd papaya story for a similar experience). The other way is to select pre-packaged produce. A bar code on the package tells the price.

Last week at the grocery store, I attempted to buy some green peppers. I selected some pre-packaged peppers. At the check-out counter, when she was ringing up my purchases, the clerk said that the package didn’t have a bar code, so she couldn’t ring it up. I asked if she could check the price, and she said no. Apparently, price checks are not part of the grocery store culture in China. She set aside my green peppers and rang up the rest of my purchases.

No green peppers for me that day!

Today, I went grocery shopping, and again wanted green peppers (I don’t have a fetish about green peppers, I just happen to like them). I selected my pre-packaged peppers, and this time, I remembered to check for a bar code. Yes, I will get green peppers today! I thought to myself triumphantly. I have learned the system, and it will not defeat me! Green peppers for me today!

Then I noticed that one of the peppers in my package had some flaws. So I switched to another package that had flawless peppers. Nothing was wrong with that package of green peppers! Onward to green pepper triumph!

Except that the package was missing a bar code. A small detail that I didn’t notice at the time.

Again at checkout, the clerk told me that my green peppers were tagless, so she couldn’t ring them up.

Green peppers: denied. Again.

*sigh*

https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/03/04/chinese-censors-nix-hard-hitting-pollution-film/