In China: the IKEA theme park
[Hat tip: Althouse.]
Going to IKEA in China is a bit different from the way it is in the US. It’s like a theme park—a really really dirty theme park:
The store is gripped by a kind of anarchy that would rarely be seen, or tolerated, in its country of origin. There are picnickers everywhere – their tea flasks and plastic bags of snacks lining the showroom tables. Young lovers pose for “selfies” in mock-up apartments they do not live in. Toddlers in split pants play on model furniture with their naked parts coming in contact with all surfaces.
On a king-size bed in the middle of the largest showroom, a little boy wakes from a nap next to his (also sleeping) grandmother. When the old woman casually helps the boy urinate into an empty water bottle, dripping liquid liberally on the grey mattress under his feet, most passers-by seem not to mind or even notice. The exception is a young woman who elbows her disinterested boyfriend: “Look, he’s peeing into a bottle!”…
For many, going to Ikea may not be too dissimilar to visiting a theme park. Generally, Doctoroff explains, Chinese people tend to take a more recreational approach to consumption. “Shopping in China is far more about the experience itself than it is in the West,” he says.
Sometimes, it’s simply something you do to escape the heat and enjoy a good nap. Unperturbed by the commotion around her, a young woman slumbers peacefully on a bed in a showroom until her friend, awake at the foot end and checking her phone, gently pokes her. She sits up and casts a sleepy eye around her.
“I was just tired,” Xujin, 18, replies when asked about her choice of napping spot, seemingly confused by the question. “I don’t mind all the other people. It was very comfortable.”
Sometimes I take a recreational approach to shopping, too. I’ve been known to go to IKEA just to see the place (and to get some exercise—it’s BIG) but I’ve never actually bought something there.
However, I can’t say I’ve taken a nap there, either. Or peed in the bed.
And I’m wondering why so many Chinese people are getting so tired in the middle of the day. It reminds me of this:
Are you suggesting that Chinese are addicted to opium?
that is a funny post. The great thing about the oil business is traveling internationally. It’s also the lousy part, depending on where you end up.
The split pants for toddlers are designed for that purpose. So the toddler can relieve himself on the spot. It’s quite common to see a child squat and drop it, for lack of a better term, wherever he/she might be….like the middle of the sidewalk or wherever.
One of my most humorous memories was of a man in a 3 piece suit, standing on the side of a very busy highway outside Xi’an,the ancient capital, home of the terra cotta soldiers, with his briefcase in one hand, his Johnson in the other, casually urinating as rush hour traffic passed by.
It goes without saying, China is a very different place from here or from Europe. But very, very interesting, and the people are very nice. You would not know they are governed by horrible people. To a man , they are friendly and helpful and kind. It seems surreal.
It’s interesting that the article appeared in a Hong Kong newspaper (South China Morning Post). I’ve never been to the Mainland, but I’ve been to Hong Kong a number of times, and this wouldn’t be tolerated there–unless it was specifically intended to cater to Mainland Chinese, in which case, all bets are off. The Cantonese-speaking Hong Kongers still tend to see themselves as different (and a cut above) from their Mandarin-speaking cousins from China proper, but they have no issues with taking their money.
I must lead a sheltered life. I do enjoy a trip to IKEA now and then (I especially like small housewares in the marketplace section), but I have never seen the split pants for toddlers “in action.”
Good grief, is this a common thing in China or elsewhere? Do parents at least pick up after them? I guess it would cut down on the diaper bills….
I love going to IKEA and just wandering around!
This story reminds me of a childhood neighbor from Wales who likened visiting our (then) new Super King Sooper’s grocery store as a trip to Disney World. She was overwhelmed with how many choices there were in America.
I’ve been in an IKEA a couple of times, looking for cheap, but solid wood dressers for the hunting cabin, or something along those lines.
If you’re 21 years old, middle class, and setting up in your first house or apartment, it’s probably the place to go.
I also saw those tricked out display apartments they have, “Comfortable Living in only 589 square feet” or something along those lines. I thought to myself, that’s cool … better than some of the larger apartments I lived in, with those toy fireplaces that don’t draft and which sent the Duraflame, or damp-supermarket-bundle log smoke drifting around the living and dining areas.
I might even like one of those Ikea places on the side, just for the hell of it. Kind of an in-city retreat. Do you get a corner location with windows on two adjacent sides, and a park across the street?
“Neat” as they look though, you couldn’t actually live in one. Where would you store your chain saws, guns, and tool boxes? Not even an extra area to keep your barbells and treadmill, if you think about it.
Maybe it’s, “Comfortable living possible in only 1,200 square feet” … with a full basement … on a big lot … with a garage.
IKEA was a life saver for me when I moved to Germany. At that time, there were few built-in closets, so you had to buy a wardrobe that covered a whole wall of your bedroom. The expensive furniture stores were pushing solid white doors; the cheaper stores had more colors and styles, but the sizes were terrible (a series of 12-inch doors to fill out the wall space. We go an IKEA one with white shutter doors that had various-sized units. It’s in our guest room now (27 years later) and still functions. I also love the Billy bookcases. They are cheap and unobtrusive. German furniture tends to follow trends, so if you want something basic that won’t clash with your other stuff, IKEA is the place to go.
The Germans are a bit more decorous in their behavior at the stores–thank God. You do see a lot of families with young kids, but they are usuall well behave and fun to watch.
expat:
Yes—say what you will about the Germans, but they’re probably not peeing and sleeping in the beds at IKEA en masse.
Interesting. The Taiwanese don’t act like that, either. I’m pretty sure that’s a distinctly Mainland behavior.
Add: Mandarin is spoken in Taiwan, so it’s not a dialect issue.
Communism does interesting things to the spirits of… well, can’t quite say human at this time. Not for the majority any more.
CV
No, they don’t pick it up. If they wanted to dispose of it properly, there would be no escape hatch in the first place- hence the invention of the diaper.
I’ve only seen the split pants on the mainland of China. The toilet is a rather novel thing too for lots of counties. The hole in the floor with the little foot placement doohickeys on either side is more common. Anyway in China , When you get outside the areas that cater to the West, there’s some real squalor. It’s sad and unbelievable how millions live.
Anybody fellow travelers ever tried the deep fried bird’s heads? I haven’t had the courage- I just keep turning the lazy Susan, nodding and smiling, looking for some lettuce.
China kind of has the same system as the Left. Chairman Mao, often lionized much like Ted Kennedy, destroyed much of China’s tradition and even knowledge of the sciences and arts. Not to mention the human loss of so many families killed or exiled.
So everything good is attributed to our good Chairman, considered a divine father figure. All the bad stuff is attributed to Japan and Taiwan.
Much like the system Democrats use.
And the effects… even in 1980s, it wasn’t this bad.