Dr. Mark Nan Tu

Gaobeidian has an area of 2.7 square kilometers. It is located in the Chaoyang district and less than 10km from the Guomao CBD area. Gaobeidian as a village has been around for 1000 years. It was built in the Liao Dynasty (AD916-1125).

Gaobeidian is now promoted as a tourist destination for local culture, antique Chinese furniture and home decorations. Supported by the local governments of Gaobeidian Village and Chaoyang District, the Gaobeidian Classical Furniture Street was build couple of years ago. It is now the show room and warehouse for hundreds of sellers of Chinese Classical Furniture. Some of the old items were collected by the sellers from provinces that include Hebei, Shanxi and Inner Mongolia. Most of the items are on sale are reproductions using high-quality traditional Chinese timber. Some of these timbers were from the old Chinese furniture.

Beiquanshan means hundred waterfall mountain. It got its name from the many water falls hidden in the mountain. It is located at 20km north of Huairou County on the side of the national road 111. It is very close to the Yougushentan which I went to a few weeks before.

I just found out that one of my former Microsoft Research China college brought a house back in the US not long ago. She has been in Beijing and working for Microsoft Research China for the past 4 years.

My initial response is: What? Why would you do that?

Driving in Beijing is tough (some say it is dangerous). There are about 3 million vehicles in this city and another 1000 new vehicles are entering the streets every day. Traffic congestion is a daily life. It was so crowded that sooner or later, one will get into a traffice

The GuiXiaoShi (Laughing Ghost Stone) is at N39,58.682,E116,10.865

Fragrance Hill is the most

Big Mac Index is a Burgernomics is based on the theory of PPP purchasing-power parity, the notion that a dollar should buy the same amount in all countries. Thus in the long run, the exchange rate between two countries should move towards the rate that equalizes the prices of an identical basket of goods and services in each country. Thus a McDonald’s Big Mac, which is produced in about 120 countries, should cost the same.

Comparing actual exchange rates with PPPs indicates whether a currency is under- or overvalued.

Using 2007 Economist Big Mac Index. US is – US 3.22
The five most expensive countries:
Iceland – US 7.44
Norway – US 6.63
Reunion Island – US 6.23
Switzerland – US 5.05
Denmark – US 4.84
The five least expensive countries:
India – US 1.40
China – US 1.41
Hong Kong – US 1.54
Malaysia – US 1.57
Venezuela – US 1.58
Egypt – US 1.60

This means that the value of the Chinese Yuan is 56% undervalued when compared to the price of a hamburger in the USA. In other words, instead of 1USD = 7.3RMB (in 2007 when the Economist published the Big Mac Index), 1USD should really be 4.01RMB.

Big Mac Index does not take into account the labor cost, (which in China is a lot cheaper than the US), the store rent, the perceived brand of Macdonald, etc. A big Mac meal is considered as cheap fast food in the US. It is considered as the expensive meal in China and only offered to kids which exceptional performance such as scored 100 points in exams. There is also possibilities that Macdonald is sourcing the materials in China thus reduces the material cost.

In 2004?The Economist published a Starbucks Tall Latte Index. The index shows how many lattes (as opposed to Big Macs) U.S. dollars buy in a given country when exchanged for the local currency.

US -US 2.80
Switzerland – US 4.54
European Union – US 3.72
Hong Kong – US 2.22
China – US 2.77
Australia – US 2.69
Canada

The new

Updated on July 20, 2008

When I was in the US, I used to buy all photography equipment online via a few trusted vendors such as www.amazon.com, www.ritzcamera.com etc. When I started to live in China in 2004, I had to find a local vendor who can sell the real camera equipment at a reasonable price.

I soon discovered that the Photography Equipment City (the website in Chinese) in Wukesong intersection on the west 4th ring road of Beijing is the place to go for all my photography needs. They sell all the popular camera and lenses at almost the same price as amazon or ritz), mostly with manufacture warranty.

Book your next flight and hotel room with these two companies: www.ctrip.com or www.elong.com. They are the largest online flight and hotel room aggregator in China (similar to www.expedia.com in the US and elong.com was sold to www.expedia.com).

Both these companies sell electronic tickets online and via their call centers which have thousands of operators. Both of them provide 800 and 400 numbers. Similar to the US, the 800 number is a toll free number for line phones and the 400 number is a toll free number for cell phones.

The airfare is usually cheaper if you book a week or more in advance. The closer it gets to the flight date, the more expensive the ticket gets. The smaller travel agents can not match the discount provided by the ctrip.com or elong.com because they do not have the volume. So stop looking around for cheaper price.

When I travel in China, I keep the www.ctrip.com’s 400 number in my cell phone. I book hotels and flights just couple of days before I travel which allow me maximum flexibility in travel schedule. Yes, I do pay a bit more than if I book a week in advance. But I am spontaneous with my travel plan. So I have no choice. I once booked a hotel room at 3am in the morning and standing at the hotel lobby. I could just walk to the counter and get a walk-in rate. But I saved some money by calling ctrip.com’s 400 number.

By the way, Permalink Comments