Jason & Susan

 装修 [ zhuang xiu ] : renovate; remodel

renovate: to restore to good condition; make new or as if new again; repair

There’s clearly a lack of word in the English language to explain what “zhuang xiu” means. It’s not to “re”-anything. Most houses in China are sold “mao pei” (毛胚), meaning, it came with nothing except concrete shell. The process of “zhuang xiu” is to actually decorate it with something, not to re-store, re-model, re-novate or re-pair. Due to the lack of accurate word, we’ll just use the term “zhuang xiu.”

Click here to see what our place looks like naked.

After waiting several months and all the banking inconveniences, we finally received the keys to our new place earlier this month! There were like 50 keys in the bag that was handed to us. You’re probably wondering, why would a place with no interior doors come with so many keys?! That was exactly our reaction! Imagine how many more keys we’d have once the “zhuang xiu” is done! Upon inspection, turned out the keys were for the SEVEN balconies we have, the mailbox, front door, network box, circuit box, electrical meter box, water meter box, and something else (can’t remember). Actually, it was Susan who signed the final paper work and received the bag of keys. Jason was at work. In her thrill of excitement, she placed the bag of keys along with a gift box and a billion paperwork in her bike basket and rode her merry way back home (that is, where we currently live), taking a shortcut through the bushes. When she got home and unloaded the contents of her bike basket, it was a horrifying sight to see that at the bottom corner of the bag of keys was a hole, a hole big enough for some of the keys to have slipped out! It was like the feeling you get when you finally get home from an all day shopping excursion, only to realize you had left a Neimen Marcus bag in one of the many changing rooms you visited. And which one was it? And does it matter ‘cus if you go back, there’d be like 1% chance it’s still there.

And so, in her state of panic, she dumped all the keys out on a table, spread them out, and examined the keys to see which one was missing. They all looked the same. And doh! She never counted how many keys there were to begin with! =( There was no use tracing her steps back since she didnt remember which shortcut and bushes she went through. Sigh… Oh well, we’ll figure out which keys are gone once the zhuang xiu requires them.

Anyway, the “zhuang xiu” has begun and here are the “highlights”:

• 4 hours negotiation with vendor to settle on central AC system
• Cash only society. Withdrawing a HUGE bundle of cold hard cash to pay for the central AC - 55,000 RMB - that’s 550 of those 100 bills (~$13 USD), China’s biggest denomination. Would have taken a picture of the cash bundle except the camera battery died.
• The spitting’s got to stop! Unfortunately, once you tell them, they might spit more when your back is turned. Never tell a waitress she’s ugly, got tiny boobs, or something along that line. You never know what extra ingredients she might put in your soup.
• Using Google Sketchup to render a 3D perfect scale model of our place and trying various materials, colors, designs, and furnishings.
• Perusing HGTV website for ideas and designs
• Land of plentiful labor efficiency, however, labor + $$$ = possibly efficiency. The AC company didn’t want to begin installation until after Chinese New Years, claiming all their workers have gone home. When we refused payment, they changed their mind and sent two workers over. The entire central system was done in less than 3 days! Impressive! We tipped the workers and they went away very happy.
• Proud to be one of the first resident to begin “zhuang xiu” in the community, unfortunately, that meant we were under tight watch by the homeowner association regarding what can and cannot be done. They were literally monitoring every drill and hammer! Land of plentiful labor = inefficiency and unsolicited advise.
• Chinese New Year = no workers. The “zhuang xiu” is paused for 3 weeks and will resume after March 5.
• (First) Estimate completion time: June
• Next step: Floor heating, electrical wiring & piping
• “Zhuang Xiu” = $$$$$$$$$$$ = Living frugally for a long time

(Click picture to enlarge)