A Beijing-style Variety Store
Small shops in China can change their operations with remarkable frequency. In a matter of weeks this summer I've witnessed a storefront near my home in Beijing's Dongsi area transform from the mundane to the salacious. For more than a year the shop was a dingy general store filled with military surplus goods, toiletries and cleaning supplies. Then mid-summer the store was cleared out and refurbished. The next tenant was a man selling watermelons. It was, as you can imagine, a short term venture. Once the watermelons were out of season the vendor disappeared. He was replaced by a man selling faux cloisonne vases. The salesman seemed a little desperate, jumping out onto the sidewalk once to drag me in as I walked past with my dog. The shop closed a couple weeks later.
Next it became a sex shop. The new proprietors placed a pink bulb into the light fixture and set a sign advertising "adult products" outside. Then, by means I've yet to understand, they acquired a significant chunk of the local calling card business from the mobile phone shop just up the street. I learned this last month when I stopped by the phone shop to get some cards to pay for my land line and internet service. The man behind the counter said the sex shop now handled the card I needed. I thought I heard him wrong. Phone cards don't usually fit the definition of an adult product. And I was not sure how to explain to any passing neighbors that I was visiting the sex shop to pay for my phone and internet service.
Inside the shop a child and his mother sat on the floor eating noodles, and the father emerged from a curtain to ask what I needed. On one wall boxes of condoms and brightly-colored plastic sex toys sat on rows of shelving. The other wall was covered with cardboard signs advertising mobile phone service options. I bought my calling cards, looked to see if anyone I knew was walking past the door, and hurried onto the sidewalk. Next month I plan to find a more discreet place to buy my phone cards.
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A typical "Alice in Wonderland" Gweilo, Ang Mo, Lao Wai adventure in Dickensian capitalism with Chinese characteristics.
大惊小怪!
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See what Gao Ren has to say today;
高人今天有话说：
愛國盲流、土共網友，口水多多，廢話連篇，大講什麼六十年來，中國這樣，西方民主那樣，其中當然不缺乏以偏概全，以想象當是現實。
土共大講，美國認定自已的民主制度最好…！這其實都是盲流自已[老作]，那一個美國總統曾經說過，美國的民主是世上最好制度的？
反而，中國大陸盲流，就不停地講，只有馬列主意才是最好，有中國特色的社會主義，才是打救世界的好制度。
愛國盲流，眼不盲，心盲，認定中國什麼都比外國好，中國人什麼都比外國人好，中國文化最夠好，可笑！
盲流又講，什麼中國有中國國情，不要受外國壓逼，可笑、可悲！在現實的生活中，中國的國情，是官商貪、賄合作，去製做毒奶粉，不被揭發，就不會停止！中國的國情，就是大陸領導為了臉子，雖然被澳紐等國指出、通知奶粉確證有毒，但是，為了奧運，拖延不理！
土共盲流不提的，當然是黨的種種錯誤政策及政治運動。像文化大革命這類運動，害死過千萬人，土共、盲流當然又是輕輕帶過！毫無道德標準、是非黑白不能分、沒有判斷能力的盲流，土共，大言不慚，自稱愛國愛黨，當自已是明燈，實是國之不幸，民族害蟲！
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Austin,
I think you should definitely frequent this store. The next time you are caught buying sex toys, you can simply tell your girl friend/colleagues, that you are merely buying some phone card to pay for your phone and internet service...
And why exactly is it a shame to buy sex toys? Sex toy stores are everywhere in Amsterdam... "cornerstone" definitely has a different meaning there. From what I heard though, Dutch people seldom patron the red-light district, most of the guys who shop there are Brits...
A big two-thumbs-up to you though, you are writing your experience in Beijing. This type of article is much more “blog-like” than your previous “reports” which are basically trash.
How exactly this blog entry triggered passionate comments by chinatsunami regarding to the evil Chinese communist party is a still mystery.
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cornerstore not cornerstone...hehehehe
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Austin & Chinatsunami
反华？还是反革命？
Make your own judgement!
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The Chinese government is right again. The economy in China is booming. Just see how easily this "store" gets new tenants and operate all kinds of businesses. And the economy also shows stability and harmony with Chinese characteristics. Just see the little kid with his mother in a sex shop eating noodle. It's just a picture of tranquility and growth. A perfect environment to bring up the next generation of Chinese fenqing. And in this perfect peaceful environment, we know that this new generation of fenqing will be a happy generation. I can see how happy he will be as a teenager with unlimited supply of stuff he needs.
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[...] the rest here: A Beijing-style Variety Store – The China Blog – TIME.com AKPC_IDS += "10158,";Popularity: 1% [...]
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Austin,
Don't get excited! Ma and pa family sex shop on every street block, in every Chinese city, is the norm for the unemployed to make minimal subsitence serving party brass having fun at massage parlours, KTV girlie clubs, and sex joints.
Next time, you should write something like this: A dog's life in Dickensian capitalism with Chinese characteristics.
女子400万买藏獒空运回家 30辆奔驰迎接
2009-09-10 03:11:45 来源: 现代快报(南京)
核心提示：日前，陕西咸阳国际机场停车场30辆奔驰迎接一字排开，为的是迎接一只身价400万的藏獒犬。此举引发众人争议。据悉，这些车都是藏獒爱好者组织的獒友协会自发组织来迎接这只藏獒的。
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Answer to your judgement:
Austin = 是反华
Chinatsunami = 是反革命
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En hızlı parça kontörü en uygun fiyata satın alabilecek ve hem kendiniz memnun olacaksınız hem de müşterilerinizi memnun edeceksiniz.
Tam kontör siparişleriniz saniyeler içinde hattına yüklenmektedir ve 7/24 çalışmaktadır.
Para odaklı değil müşteri odaklı çalışırız , amacımız paranızı alıp hiç etmek değil uzun süreli bir çalışma içinde beraber kazanmak ve ticari mutlulukları hep beraber yaşamaktır.
Panelimizi maddi ve manevi nedenlerle hiç bir zaman kapamayız 7/24 çalışırız.
Türkiye'nin biryerine değil heryerine hitap ediyoruz ve size hizmetin en iyisini vermek için sürekli çalışıyor ve gelişiyoruz.
Özel kampanyalarla satış sonrası memnuniyetinizi arttırmak için sürpriz hediyeler veriyoruz. -
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Translation from Turkish to English for Parcadunyas:
My best price to buy fast track credit to both yourself and you'll be happy and satisfied customers will.
Full credit to the line of orders is installed in seconds and 24 / 7 works.
Money is not focused on customer-focused work, we'll take your money and our goal is not to be any long-term studies and commercial gain in happiness together is to live together.
Panel material and moral reasons we're never off 7 / 24 will work.
Turkey's appeal, and we serve you all over not biryerine best to give you continuous work and development.
Special campaigns to increase your satisfaction after the sale, offer surprise gifts. -
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bijing have a many types of verity store but there is famouse is fast food.
http://www.goarticles.com/cgi-bin/showa.cgi?C=2256829
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