Category Archives: Architecture

Day 416 in Beijing: Installing the Air Conditioning Unit, Part 5

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Testing to see if the air conditioning actually works.

Testing to see if the air conditioning actually works.

After all that craziness, we supposedly had a working air conditioning unit.

Just like in the USA, when someone installs something, you always want to make sure it works right before they leave the apartment.

Well, this is doubly true in China because all of the controls are in Chinese script and we sure as heck can’t read those instructions.

So, we let our landlords check it and then explain it to us.

They seemed to have bought the most simple remote control because this one only has about 5 buttons and we’ve seen some that have over 20.

Yes, over 20 different buttons for a simple air conditioner.

Thankfully, when our landlord pushed the power button, the air conditioning turned on and it works perfectly.

We could not be more thankful and happy to be living where we are and to have the amazing landlords we have at this time.

Also, thanks to the wonderful installation guys and the quick work they did.

Overall, it probably took about 45 minutes to remove and install the air conditioning units.

By the way, it has been hovering around 95-100 degrees a day in the past week in Beijing.

Luckily, Jill and I have been sitting by the beaches in Turkey and will soon be headed to Greece instead of having to deal with the heat and pollution of Beijing.

 

Day 415 in Beijing: Installing the Air Conditioning Unit, Part 4

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Hanging outside hooking up the hoses.

Hanging outside hooking up the hoses.

After they installed the actual air conditioning unit, they had to wrap up about 30 feet of hoses that would allow the water to pass back and forth from the main unit to the part that actually sends the cool air towards us inside the apartment.

This wasn’t that big of a deal until the main installer decided to jump back out the window and attach it to the main unit.

Again, all without any safety gear or support at all.

Jill and I continued to be baffled and amazed by it all.

The installers continued to take it all in stride and not even worry about what they were doing for a second.

Remember, this unit was installed about 5 minutes ago and he is standing on top of it.

 

Day 414 in Beijing: Installing the Air Conditioning Unit, Part 3

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Hanging from the 5th Floor.

Hanging from the 5th Floor.

After they removed the broken air conditioning unit, they moved on to installing the new one.

This is where it really got interesting.

The installer guy put on some climbing gear.

Well, I guess it is climbing gear.

I know there is a huge mountain, called Huashan, here in China, where people put on climbing gear and climb up and down it, and it is supposed to be safe.

Now, I’m just saying that after what I’ve seen is “supposed to be safe” here in China, I’m not doing anything that brings up any doubt in my mind whether it is safe or not.

And, doing this type of installation, or climbing Huashan, is not going to happen in my lifetime.

Called me a nervous nellie, a wimp, or a chicken, but I don’t care.

I’ll stay alive and you can enjoy doing things like this.

I’ll see you on the beach, drinking some nice chilled wine, and relaxing after your long day of stressing your mind, body and central nervous system.

Well, they put the air conditioning unit on the little ledge and the installer hopped out and started to bolt everything down.

Jill and I continued to be amazed and intrigued by all of this action and insanity.

Day 413 in Beijing: Installing the Air Conditioning Unit, Part 2

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Hanging out the window of a 5th floor apartment.

Hanging out the window of a 5th floor apartment.

Now the fun begins.

So, here is the guy hanging out the window, only by his own skill, and the strength of his buddy holding him out the window.

As you can see, his buddy didn’t seem very concerned until our landlord started scratching her head and mentioning, “Oh, by the way, he could die if he fell from the 5th floor of this apartment.”

And, if you notice, his buddy takes his time walking over to grab his ankles and make sure he is safe.

I’m guessing these guys know exactly what they are doing, and have done this thousands of times, but I’d still want someone grabbing my ankles in case I slipped or a strong gust of wind came up.

Honestly, my favorite part of this video is our landlord scratching her head and the utter disbelief she has in her voice.

We felt the same as she did and were glad she told the buddy to help out and not let the installer die.

 

Day 412 in Beijing: Installing the Air Conditioning Unit, Part 1.

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Hanging from the 5th Floor.

Hanging from the 5th Floor.

This is going to be a 5 part series.

One of the reasons is the photographs, and story, deserve their own page.

The other reason is each video that I filmed deserves it’s own page because you don’t want to skip any of them.

This is how installations in China are done from what Jill and I have seen so far.

We’ve been outside of apartments that have air conditioning units being installed and we’ve been rather amazed at the guys sitting, or standing, on top of them and just working away.

Most of them don’t have any safety equipment and do their work so quickly it is hard to follow with the naked eye.

Suffice to say, Jill and I always stop and stare at them and then shake our heads in amazement and worry.

Well, we were able to see it up close, personal and from the inside for the first time last month.

Let me just say that it is even more terrifying when someone is hanging out the window of your apartment and removing a air conditioner without any safety gear.

The one thing that gave us a slight bit of calm was when they installed the new air conditioner and actually used some climbing gear.

I do have to state that when the guy climbed out, with only the lighter and smaller dude “anchoring” him, Jill and I both held our breath until he climbed back in the window to safety.

By the way, there are loads of horror stories regarding landlords in China.

We were incredibly lucky and are incredibly thankful to have some of the nicest landlords ever.

Their son, Zhang, also speaks amazing English and is incredibly kind and helpful.

We’ve invited him out to dinner a few times and look forward to hanging out with his soon!

 

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Day 409 in Beijing: I Honestly Couldn’t Think Up A Title That Fit.

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Tamping Down The Earth.

Tamping Down The Earth.

I pride myself on thinking up witty titles to my blog posts.

I really tried to figure one out for this post.

I couldn’t.

I just realized, “Tamping Down The Earth” would have been good but, c’est la vie!

This was taken the day before Jill and I headed out for Turkey and Greece on our month long vacation and it blew my mind.

This is right outside of the 7-11 across from our apartment.

As I’ve written before, they are constantly rebuilding Beijing and this is no exception.

Usually we have no clue what they are doing, or why, but it never seems to cease.

These gentlemen were working away and tamping down the Earth to put new concrete over it in the next day or so.

I truly love this machine and imagine it being used in a Rube Goldberg machine if someone can figure out a way to get one out of China.

 

 

Day 406 in Beijing: Bird’s Nest Redux.

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The full moon hovering over the Bird's Nest.

The full moon hovering over the Bird’s Nest.

Jill and I wanted to capture a bit more of the feeling around the Bird’s Nest so we took a little video.

As you can see, and hear, it is never empty or quiet.

This was at about 9 pm, on a weekday, and there were still loads of people around the area.

There is also the Water Cube, where the Olympic events that involved swimming, diving, water polo, and other sports was located and it has now turned into a touristy swimming area with a water slides and other fun things to do.

It is very bright and quiet well lit.

The building behind it is the Dragon IBM building and it has 5 other buildings that “connect” to it so it looks like a huge dragon that goes on for about half a mile.

We are hoping to go back on a more beautiful night, with less pollution, to get some more shots and videos.

 

Day 405 in Beijing: Bird’s Nest At Night.

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This is where the Olympic Torch was located outside the Bird's Nest.

This is where the Olympic Torch was located outside the Bird’s Nest.

Continuing Jill’s and my photo shoot at the Bird’s Nest from a few months ago, I thought I’d post these pictures of the actual structure.

It is quite imposing and very impressive.

The sad part is it isn’t really used for anything at this point.

There was a concert here, in the past year, but that is it.

The concert, by the way, was Justin Timberlake.

I almost bought tickets to see him, since I actually like his music, and think he is really quite funny, and it would have been an amazing blog post if I had gone.

It was basically a great night for photographs, because the moon was full, but by the time we arrived, the pollution was pretty horrendous.

If you look close enough, you can see little dust specks in the photos, and it was hard to breathe.

It is definitely a major problem in Beijing, and much of China, at this point and hopefully it will be taken seriously.

Jill and I only plan to be here for my three year contract so we aren’t that worried about it but if I had kids, or planned to be here for the long haul, it would make my choice a very difficult one.

By the way, since we took these pictures, Jill’s camera has not been working correctly and we are pretty sure it is because of the dust and grime that got into it.

Sadly, we know a lot of professional photographers here in Beijing and they don’t trust anyone to fix their cameras so we are stuck only using my iPhone 4 while we are traveling to Turkey and Greece.

Hopefully the pictures will turn out nice enough and we won’t lose much in memories.

Then again, we plan to live in Turkey or Greece, sometime in the future, and we can take more pictures when we live there!

 

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Day 403 in Beijing: Bird’s Nest At Night.

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Then aquamarine.

The aquamarine tower.

Jill and I decided to venture out to see the Bird’s Nest at night about 2 months ago.

It seemed like a nice day but then the pollution rolled in and it was pretty horrific.

I can’t remember what the air quality level was but I’d guess it was around 250.

In comparison, people in San Francisco would riot if the air quality ever hit above 10.

People in Beijing just deal with it, wear masks, and do what they do.

It isn’t like they are moving out anytime soon so when you make do.

There is a tower that has a few restaurants in it and you are only allowed to go up in the tower if you have reservations.

Well, we didn’t have reservations so we just took some photographs and walked around.

I’m glad to say that we got some beautiful shots.

I’m sad to say that the pollution, and particles in the air, have caused Jill’s very nice camera to go nuts and there isn’t anyone we really trust to fix it here.

Therefore, we probably won’t be taking with us on our trip to Turkey and Greece a few days from now and will try to shoot the vacation only with my iPhone 4.

Not the best choice but better than having a camera that doesn’t work.

The next few days will just be posts about the gorgeous pictures we took and walking around the Olympic Stadium area.

 

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Day 402 in Beijing: Mind The Gaps…And Your Fingers!

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Mind the Gaps!

Mind the Gaps!

I have to say that when the Chinese authorities give warnings, they don’t mess around.

This is a very good example of what might happen if you don’t mind the gaps.

I have yet to see a sign as graphic as this in an elevator anywhere else.

It reminds me of the smoking lady and her throat tube in the PSA when we were younger and they were trying to scare us into not smoking.

I also remember studying negative reinforcement and how it works for a very short time and then loses all real ability to “scare someone” into changing their habits since it is based on something that MAY happen in the future but has almost no relevance to the individual at this moment.

So, when trying to quit a habit or an addiction, help someone notice what the negatives are in this moment, and also look at the long term effects.

Also, make sure to look at the positive short term and long term effects because there is almost always something that is pain relieving, in some way, if someone is drinking, smoking or doing whatever the other person feels is negative.  If the person isn’t able to understand why this “negative” behavior is actually someone useful for them (drinking relieves pain or lets them forget their worries) it is very difficult for them to find an alternate habit that is more “positive” that will help them move on.

At least, that is the way I work in my profession and with my clients.

And, by the way, with my own choices and habits.

I choose not to stick my finger in an elevator door, so I don’t have to learn this with a very serious negative reinforcement of having my finger cut off.

Yikes!