China has many things. It has 1.375 billion people. Obviously, it needs options.
You can get KFC, Papa John's*, McDonalds, Subway*, Cold Stone Creamery*, Dairy Queen, and Starbucks to name a few. (*indicates places I have eaten at) This at first glance might seem amazing. When we lived in Mussoorie, KFC became our escape from the mountain and quality controlled french fry indulgence. It also eventually became the enemy.
When India got Starbucks, I was thrilled! The Indian comparison was Cafe Coffee Day, and it was disappointing on multiple levels: food, seating, drink quality, and service. When Starbucks showed up, the game changed. You could not find a cozy place to sit, a frappuccino, and some New York style Cheesecake. The Chinese Starbucks is sooo expensive, I have not justified a visit yet. It's about $6 for a drink. I'll pass. And there's no pumpkin anything there? What's the point?!
Imagine my delight when I discovered Cold Stone in a mall here. I was like, come on Anwer, this will change your life! Prices were a bit high, but I was convinced. Then disappoint came. No cake batter ice cream? Ok, we'll try something else. Then they served it up with half the energy and force that I expect from a Cold Stone employee. Our mix was hardly blended at all! And then I got this shovel for my ice cream.
Another lesson learned. It's not the same. You can't recreate your feelings and emotions that you have when you stop at Cold Stone on State Street during the sunny warm days in Madison where you hope that the worker will accidentally take too much ice cream, and they will have to give you the next size up. Dream over.
Another thing: China loves to copy stuff. There are probably over 100 "Apple" stores in the city that claim to be authorized. False. A couple days ago, Grace and I decided to make an adventure and go find the fake IKEA. The real IKEA is about 1 hour away and requires either a train or a taxi that has to drop you at the territory border, and you have to get in a new taxi, or something crazy like that. My first visit to the real one was arranged by the school, and I rode a coach bus to get there and got dropped to my front door. The fake IKEA was just a $2 taxi ride.
The fake IKEA was everything I dreamed and more. I regret not taking more photos of the inside, but I can assure you that Grace repeatedly said, "Oh my god. This is the same as the IKEA store. I've seen this pattern." Yes, it's all the same. Except, there were only about 4 other shoppers in whole store. Have you ever been to an IKEA where there wasn't an enormous migrant herd shuffling through with carts colliding? I haven't. There were a few things where fake IKEA slipped. Some of the signs had a totally different font or products were of a lower quality. The options were a bit more limited, but it was so nice and easy. Until we tried to leave and get a taxi. Not a big deal. We only had to stand on the corner of a busy intersection with big blue bags for about 20 minutes before we found a taxi to take us home.
We're headed to Beijing tomorrow. Remember it's a Chinese National Holiday, and there are going to be approximately 1 billion people traveling. Yes, this is a terrible idea. It will be our first bullet train experience, and we're going to see our dear neighbors from Mussoorie! Stay posted for a blog about Beijing: city of 19 million gets 100 million visitors!
You can get KFC, Papa John's*, McDonalds, Subway*, Cold Stone Creamery*, Dairy Queen, and Starbucks to name a few. (*indicates places I have eaten at) This at first glance might seem amazing. When we lived in Mussoorie, KFC became our escape from the mountain and quality controlled french fry indulgence. It also eventually became the enemy.
When India got Starbucks, I was thrilled! The Indian comparison was Cafe Coffee Day, and it was disappointing on multiple levels: food, seating, drink quality, and service. When Starbucks showed up, the game changed. You could not find a cozy place to sit, a frappuccino, and some New York style Cheesecake. The Chinese Starbucks is sooo expensive, I have not justified a visit yet. It's about $6 for a drink. I'll pass. And there's no pumpkin anything there? What's the point?!
Imagine my delight when I discovered Cold Stone in a mall here. I was like, come on Anwer, this will change your life! Prices were a bit high, but I was convinced. Then disappoint came. No cake batter ice cream? Ok, we'll try something else. Then they served it up with half the energy and force that I expect from a Cold Stone employee. Our mix was hardly blended at all! And then I got this shovel for my ice cream.
Another lesson learned. It's not the same. You can't recreate your feelings and emotions that you have when you stop at Cold Stone on State Street during the sunny warm days in Madison where you hope that the worker will accidentally take too much ice cream, and they will have to give you the next size up. Dream over.
Another thing: China loves to copy stuff. There are probably over 100 "Apple" stores in the city that claim to be authorized. False. A couple days ago, Grace and I decided to make an adventure and go find the fake IKEA. The real IKEA is about 1 hour away and requires either a train or a taxi that has to drop you at the territory border, and you have to get in a new taxi, or something crazy like that. My first visit to the real one was arranged by the school, and I rode a coach bus to get there and got dropped to my front door. The fake IKEA was just a $2 taxi ride.
The fake IKEA was everything I dreamed and more. I regret not taking more photos of the inside, but I can assure you that Grace repeatedly said, "Oh my god. This is the same as the IKEA store. I've seen this pattern." Yes, it's all the same. Except, there were only about 4 other shoppers in whole store. Have you ever been to an IKEA where there wasn't an enormous migrant herd shuffling through with carts colliding? I haven't. There were a few things where fake IKEA slipped. Some of the signs had a totally different font or products were of a lower quality. The options were a bit more limited, but it was so nice and easy. Until we tried to leave and get a taxi. Not a big deal. We only had to stand on the corner of a busy intersection with big blue bags for about 20 minutes before we found a taxi to take us home.
We're headed to Beijing tomorrow. Remember it's a Chinese National Holiday, and there are going to be approximately 1 billion people traveling. Yes, this is a terrible idea. It will be our first bullet train experience, and we're going to see our dear neighbors from Mussoorie! Stay posted for a blog about Beijing: city of 19 million gets 100 million visitors!
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