Sunday, May 17, 2015

The Kids of Beijing (And Their Cell Phones)

News on China via Scott Sumner's wife:
1.  Young people in Beijing now carry little cash, and use their cell phone to buy things.
2.  They like to order take out.  It’s often cheaper to use your cell phone to order delivery of a cup of coffee, than to buy one at Starbucks.  Must be nice.
3.  The apartment buildings have individual storage boxes for delivery packages.  The delivery person has the code to open it and leave a package; you use your cell phone to open it and pick up your package. Maybe this high tech stuff is also common here, I’m totally out of touch.  But China wasn’t like this back in 2012, our previous trip.

2 comments:

  1. While there in 2013, I learned that no phone call goes unanswered. Even in the most important moments (like chasing down someone who has just stolen you backpack), if the phone rings, most would stop and answer it. The cell phone systems used by the people I lived around, the largest carriers in the country, had no voice mail. Maybe that's it.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I always thought the movie "Looper" was interesting in its depiction of the US as one big failing "Rust Belt" in its scenery, while China was depicted as more modern & technologically advanced.

    Of course, Looper's getting paid by silver & gold bars was interesting as well.

    ReplyDelete