The first coffee shop in china!!

I have been in China for 3 ½ weeks, and for the first time I finally feel like I’m sitting in a coffee shop!  It’s a glorious little place on the far side of Two-head Statue square.  (Guess what the statue looks like?  You all are so smart!)  It has the right quiet ambiance, with plants all over the place.  There are white table tops with wood-colored accents, and quiet music playing.

If you’re imagining a 70’s-ish Bond lounge, you’ve got it about right.

This place may sound a little unnoticeable…unless you compare it to the rest of China.  China is LOUD.  Horns, music, cellphone ringing, and the talking volume of the average person is twenty decibels louder than ANY American.  Next time you hear an angry Chinese person, know that they’re not really mad – probably just talking about the weather or children.  Even cellphone rings are impossibly loud.  Of course, if your phone rang at an American volume, you would never hear it in the cacophony that is Xinzheng.  Quiet has been a much-sought-after but seldom-found thing here.  But in this little corner I’ve found a place to just sit a while.

You see, other places to eat are more like restaurants; they’re for visiting.  LOUD visiting.  And you don’t linger in those places.  Also, when Chinese people do linger, they don’t sit.  They squat.  I am not skilled enough to do the Chinese squat.  It may sound a little ridiculous, but I watched a toddler learn how to squat today.  Just like walking, squatting takes some practice before you can do it well.

A random girl just walked up and took a picture with me.  Oh my vanity!  You see, it’s not always flattering.  Usually I think, “Right now?  I am NOT the loveliest of people right now,” especially because I know the picture will be sent around to all of their friends to show off the foreigner they “met.”  I will say this about it though – the Chinese have guts.  Others try to be subtle and take videos of us ‘laowai’ (good –ole foreigner) with their smart phones as we walk by.

You know, for my whole life I’ve just been ‘a white girl from the burbs.’  But HERE…. I am the schizz.  The exotic woman with the giant blue eyes.  It’s so strange.  Sometimes it makes me laugh, especially if people do things like walk into walls or crash their bikes.  Other times I think, ‘I’m eating a piece of bread.  WHY are you watching me?’  It’s very strange to look someone in the eye and wave at them, and have them not realize that you’re talking to them.  On my way to the coffee shop I passed a group of old men jamming on traditional instruments.  I would have loved to stop and listen, but two of them were staring at me dumbfounded (without missing a beat), and to stop would have been awkward….

Other awesome things about this coffee shop: it smells right, and it’s clean.  From what I see, nothing is broken and it smells like coffee and bread.  This is different from most places.  For instance, the noodle place smells like noodles, soup, and whatever just got dumped outside.  That’s kind of the standard here – life kinda smells like whatever got thrown out.   Trash pickup/dumping is irregular, and small children don’t wear diapers – they take care of their business outside.  (WHAT?! That’s gross, you say.  Right?  From the Chinese perspective: ‘WHAT?!  You wrap your child up so they’re stuck in their filth?  Then you wipe it off with your hands??  That’s vile and disgusting.’  Think about it – no diaper waste, no washing cloth diapers, no wipes, powder, diaper-rash, Desitin….)  This makes for  quite an aromatic after-dinner walk.  I invited some “culture students” over to my apartment last night.  The first thing they said was, “Wow, I like the smell in here!”

WIN.

Back to coffee…

I was a little concerned as I watched the shots die, but this is actually the best coffee I’ve had since landing in China.  I think this may have become my go-and-sit place.  If you think having a ‘go-and-sit place’ is silly, try moving to another country and spending hours doing computer work…in your room.  Lame.  But THIS place….it reminds me of Rachel and Anne.  And there’s another win!