Women in America often comment on the tragedy of the one child policy. From the perspective of a woman rearing 3 children I am thankful for those experiences watching my children bond with each other. That said, most Asian women that I know do not want more than one child. They feel it is too much work, and there is so much pressure to perform for both the parents and the child that raising multiple children is just not practical.
I have heard that the government allows you to have more than one child if you and your spouse are both only children. I have also heard that you are allowed to have more than one child if your first was a girl. I suspect that many Chinese women wanting more than one child are taking fertility medications because it seems to me that there are a lot of twins. I have also know of families that want two children to have them while living abroad.
Either way the Chinese are forecasting over a 30% reduction in population within 30 years. Ultimately they may have a faster reduction than what they originally anticipated because the task of rearing children is so shunned that many woman are opting out of having children all together.
Wednesday, November 2, 2011
Never, never pay in advance...
If you ever live in China you will quickly learn that once you pay for something there is a very good chance you will not get your money back. Resist the temptation to pay in advance for services to get a better deal or for convenience.
Locating an Apartment
To find an apartment you have to hire a realtor in the area that you are looking to rent. The fee is one months rent. Then he hunts for you based on your criteria. Depending on the area you will be living in - you may or may not be able to negotiate. If you are able to negotiate here are the items you want to think about adding to that list.
1. Owner pays for annual heating fee - the government charges it for the gas to heat your apartment. For our 127 square meter apartment in Beijing that fee was 3300 RMB
2. Often the rent is paid in 3,6,12 month increments - that is negotiable as is the deposit amount
3. You have to pay taxes to the government when you rent an apartment of 5-10% of the rental amount per month. Who pays it is something that should be discussed in advance and is negotiable.
4. What happens if you terminate the lease.
5. That the realtor takes your passport/visa to the police station to get your permanent residency card. We went with a premiere company, and we felt comfortable doing this - has saved us several trips downtown.
6. Who pays the utilities
7. Do a walk through and negotiate furniture and any fixes that might be needed.
8. You will find that your apartment might have a ton of old things that may or may not be working...work that out with your landlord in advance because it is my understanding that it is very rude to ask your landlord if you can throw the broken items away.
If someone gives you a website with rental units available - do not waste your time. Most units are not for rent and certainly not at the price indicated. Realtors do that so that you will call them - it is the typical bait and switch.
You typically do not see leases for less than 12 months, but inflation on rents have been around 25% per year - so you might be able to negotiate something.
You can also rent a "serviced" apartment for shorter term stays.
One thing that you have to expect is that every apartment has its own drawbacks....is it a smelly bathroom, roaches, no sidewalks to keep children safe in the complex, hot water issues, terrible furniture, no bathtub, shower without a door....That is life in China.
1. Owner pays for annual heating fee - the government charges it for the gas to heat your apartment. For our 127 square meter apartment in Beijing that fee was 3300 RMB
2. Often the rent is paid in 3,6,12 month increments - that is negotiable as is the deposit amount
3. You have to pay taxes to the government when you rent an apartment of 5-10% of the rental amount per month. Who pays it is something that should be discussed in advance and is negotiable.
4. What happens if you terminate the lease.
5. That the realtor takes your passport/visa to the police station to get your permanent residency card. We went with a premiere company, and we felt comfortable doing this - has saved us several trips downtown.
6. Who pays the utilities
7. Do a walk through and negotiate furniture and any fixes that might be needed.
8. You will find that your apartment might have a ton of old things that may or may not be working...work that out with your landlord in advance because it is my understanding that it is very rude to ask your landlord if you can throw the broken items away.
If someone gives you a website with rental units available - do not waste your time. Most units are not for rent and certainly not at the price indicated. Realtors do that so that you will call them - it is the typical bait and switch.
You typically do not see leases for less than 12 months, but inflation on rents have been around 25% per year - so you might be able to negotiate something.
You can also rent a "serviced" apartment for shorter term stays.
One thing that you have to expect is that every apartment has its own drawbacks....is it a smelly bathroom, roaches, no sidewalks to keep children safe in the complex, hot water issues, terrible furniture, no bathtub, shower without a door....That is life in China.
Boys going through their daily health exam
Every day before schools starts the boys go through a health exam where the nurse looks down their throat and at their hands. Great except they don't wash between students - even when they have inspected someone with a cold.
Jack shows off his mad taxi skills
Jack is already speaking Mandarin words, and it takes people by surprise to hear him speaking Chinese with a perfect accent. He is also picking up Chinese ways. We were walking home from school last week when I notice him looking down the road at the cars, and next thing I know he starts waiving his hands and starts yelling "Taxi!" When Tommy gets here we have to get this on video!
*No babies were injured in the production of these photographs
Taobao.com
If you live in China, you learn very quickly about Taobao. It is an online seller similar to Amazon, but it sells things at a fraction of the price - like 50% discounts. With kids it is great because you don't have to take them out shopping with you....you simpley look at pictures online, and they pick what they like.
You have to love Taobao, because instead of running from store to store with 3 little boys - I can order something from the comfort of my own home.....BUT you have to have a sense of humor because if they do not have something that you've ordered - instead of canceling that part of your order they send you the next best thing.....like these slippers that I have to keep in my home for guests. Chinese people keep slippers in their home for guests. I ordered grey so that I could have both male and female guests wear the same slippers....they sent me purple.
You have to love Taobao, because instead of running from store to store with 3 little boys - I can order something from the comfort of my own home.....BUT you have to have a sense of humor because if they do not have something that you've ordered - instead of canceling that part of your order they send you the next best thing.....like these slippers that I have to keep in my home for guests. Chinese people keep slippers in their home for guests. I ordered grey so that I could have both male and female guests wear the same slippers....they sent me purple.
Same phone number U.S. or China
When I first traveled abroad in 1990 it cost about $5 per minute to place a call in Spain to the United States. 20 years later in China I have the same telephone number as in the U.S. for my landline. We use Voice Over IP - so anywhere there is an internet connection I can plug in my phone. It sounds just like it does in the United States, and I make telephone calls just like I would in the U.S.....so when I am dialing in China from China it is still an international call. I get free international calls. For my Chinese cell phone I just signed up for a Skype phone number and have all of my calls forwarded to my cell phone. It is wonderful. The drawback is that I cannot initiate calls on my cell phone. Which is a major bummer.
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