What's Different Between Beijing and San Jose, California (Bay Area)

What's Different Between Beijing and San Jose, California (Bay
Area)

These are two different worlds to me. I decided to be more scientific about documenting the differences I perceived in a short note this time. Here is the note from my August trip to the US. If I don't jot down my impressions at the time I have them, I'll quickly adjust to them and the differences won't be that obvious after a short while.

[Blue sky and bright sun light, clean air and sometimes air is sweet in the nice early morning breezes.]
It was especially apparent when I walked out of the airport. The sunlight hurt my eyes. The Bay Area is special because California is a sunshine state. I recall old conversations
about K-12 education in California. Do you know that this
high-tech state ranks towards the bottom in the US in this category? What does California have to offer, one might ask?
Sunshine and plenty of it. :-)



Here is a lunch picture with my longtime friend LB in an
outdoor sandwich shop in Mountain View. He is my inspiration. He works on what he enjoys and loves, computers and software. He is a lucky guy and I am not far behind either. It was a pleasure to see LB again.


On this trip, he took my family for a special demo of the PDP-1 computer . LB got involved quite early in this project and is still an active member in this organization. This museum is an interesting place to see when you are in the area. Normally, you don't give a eulogy until someone or something has died. And you don't have a history museum until something has matured enough. Food for thought?








[Public Library in America]
I was brought up to treat the library as a place to study. I never checked out a book during my college days in Taiwan. I was taken to the library by my own children. They had class projects and reading to do, and after a while, I found things to do in the library. In China, library systems and audio books are the things I miss very much. For this trip, I needed to find some Arabic language references, so I did my search and reservation in Beijing through the
Santa Clara library system. I got email notifications when the items were ready for pickup. A couple of days after I got to my Campbell home, I went to the library to pick up my books and CDs. What a pleasure to do this so effortlessly!

The Campbell library is the closest and most convenient for me. When I have to spend a few hours in the library browsing books or reading magazines and newspapers, I prefer the recently
remodeled Saratoga library. It is a charming place to have my retreat.

Many people in China know about America from movies, TV shows, and tourists. Yet these are necessarily superficial types of encounters. Public services and places like libraries and parks are truly impressive and enjoyable for the mind and body. How people use library systems reflects the true depth of a nation and a culture. The ability to read, learn and draw conclusions and to ask questions is the true wealth of a nation and its people. I wish to see more of this in China.

[San Jose Airport: cell phone waiting area]
These days people are practicing just-in-time fetching for friends and family members from the airport with the aid of cell phones. It saves parking fees and often saves a lot of time. One catch is that cars need a place to wait for a short while. In many airports, cars circulate along the terminal areas and are forced to move by the parking patrols. San Jose airport has designated an area away from the airport so that you can wait in the parking area until you are called. You can time it just right to quickly get your passengers and go.

I have seen cars parked along the approaching highway curb sides at the Beijing airport and other Chinese airports. It is a safety hazard for sure and can only happen when people are not analyzing the issue. The airport authorities want people to pay and stay in the airport parking lots. Creating services to cater to people's needs is not always a high priority in China, especially when there is a conflict of interest. For instance, the airport authorities want to make parking lots profitable. The fundamental structure of governance and accountability is a problem. Hopefully time and wisdom can correct this.

[Morning swim in Campbell Community Center swimming pool]
I enjoy swimming a lot. It is my favorite exercise, because it does not hurt any joints or muscles. And it is one of the few things I do that's refreshing afterwards ;-)

I found my 3-year old swimming pass and went to the pool at the Campbell Community Center for a morning swim. They still accepted my pass, which made me quite happy.

Swimming outdoors is a true pleasure in California. The Campbell pool opens three times a day for about 2 hours at a time, with times designed for morning workouts, lunch time workouts and evening workouts. I wish I could take my morning swim at my apartment complex in Huaqing Gardens in Beijing. They open in the afternoon around 2 p.m. The concept of swimming as a workout is not yet popular in China. Swimming is still mainly associated with fun and entertainment. I'll have more about differences around swimming and practices around the swimming pool in a coming blog.

[BBQ in the backyard: good beef without added 'water']
The backyard is my favorite part of the house. I like the landscaping and it is the only place not
cluttered with years of collections. Maybe this is the reason I like to move to a new place - to leave all the baggage behind. Barbecuing at home in the summer is commonplace in the US. My favorite is filet mignon without any marination or seasoning. The best beef needs nothing to enhance it and should have a taste of the original raw flavor. Medium rare on the grill with a proper fire and timing will do the trick.

One thing I miss a lot in Beijing is good beef without an unwanted layer of permeated water. It is unfortunate that many animals, including cows, are force-fed with water before being weighed and sold to the slaughterhouse. You can hardly find beef without added layers of water. I wish that someday this practice can stop, hopefully when people are willing to pay a higher price per kilogram of beef without extra water added to it. Cheaper diluted beef does not offer any more beef, but rather a false notion of a better buy.










[How much does a corn on the cob cost?]
From this picture, it is 4 US dollars. ;-) Often people are impressed with how much money
one can make in North America. They think that it would be a paradise in which they could accumulate a fortune in just a few years. How much people can save depends on their living expenses and lifestyle. If you could work in North America by day and live in China by night, then you could save a bundle really fast. That's the way Chinese migrant workers tried to live in the early 20th century, so they could send money back to their villages. Differences between countries will always exist and people will continue to move to gain financially. As the world becomes more globalized and integrated, this physical movement will become less necessary and the differences will become smaller. Income will match the productivity in an more equitable fashion.

This picture shows how much a banana will cost you. This picture is from a grocery store outside of Denali National Park, and the corn picture is from a Saturday outdoor market in Anchorage, Alaska. The fruits and vegetables are more expensive than in a typical Safeway grocery in Northern California.