Thankfully, this has been a healthy trip for all 3 of us with no major problems. Still, over the past few months we’ve defeated bedbugs, typical toddler scrapes and cuts, schoolyard lice, tropical heat, potentially dangerous mosquitos and the odd intestinal calamity. Now in Beijing, we all seem to have a low-grade common cold.

So I went to a big pharmacy in a high-end department store to find some cold medicine. Huge place, well stocked with all sorts of goodies for sickness, longevity, fertility, prosperity, and every other health condition or wish. One of the 3 doctors on staff helped me.

Her: “Do you want Chinese or Western medicine?”
Me: “Western.”
Her: “Really? I recommend the Chinese.”
Me: “Sorry. Yes I’m sure. It’s what I know.”
Her: Eye roll.

So she showed me some Tylenol cold caps and asked for my foreign passport so she could sell them to me. “Government regulation,” she explained. Not required for 98% of what’s in the store. I guess it’s ok to sell inferior remedies to consenting foreigners, but there’s a national duty to protect one’s own citizens form the stuff.

Moving on to more fun drugs, coffee culture is on a tear in China. There are currently 1100 Starbucks in 60 Chinese cities, giving the chain about 60% market share here. Of the 1500 new Starbucks scheduled to open worldwide in 2014, half will be in Asia and most of those will be in China. And the Asian stores are the most profitable among Starbucks 64 countries (further supported by Karin’s recent lattes.). The outlets we’ve seen here are constantly thriving and prices are moderately higher than in Canada. China has a long and rich tea culture, but just as in many European centres that have strong local coffee traditions and said “it won’t work here,” Venti Frappuccinos seem to travel well.

Interestingly, Starbucks in North America does 70% of their business before 10 a.m. while in Chinese locations, they get 70% of customers in the evening. It’s a lifestyle event, not just a productivity jolt.

Wine is also booming. Since 2008, consumption in China is up 136%, making it the 5th largest market in the world. France’s consumption during the same period is down 18%. And if you’re into the very good stuff, you’re now more likely to be Asian than European or American. Sotheby’s reports that the top global location for its fine wine auctions is now Hong Kong.

When I lived in Beijing 15+ years ago, there were two relatively known domestic wines and they were better used as punch lines than as drinks. Since then, China has invested heavily, partnered with many of the biggest producers in California, Australia, across Europe and especially France (affluent Chinese have a love affair with French wine) and now make some quite decent wine. There is some good land and the best equipment and winemakers that money can buy. Nowhere to go but up.

Tobacco. Very unfortunately, this is also thriving here. 300 million Chinese (mostly men) smoke and 100 million people are expected to die from smoking in China this century. The country is the last great growth hope for cigarette companies who are hounded by pesky regulators, lawsuits, and social progress elsewhere. This is one of the only places I’ve seen where there’s virtually no warning labels on packaging and restaurants are still a great place to light up. Between this and the pollution that is now legendary, I can’t imagine what will happen to lung disease and other related problems in the years to come.

Across from the medicine section I was in, the department store had luxury display cases full of domestic cigarette brands. (Irony not lost.). In the place where you might expect a graphic warning label, one brand poster announced: “Sci-tech Renovate Life”. There’s your public education moment. And there’s why only 40% of Chinese know that smoking causes coronary heart disease.

Off to pop a vitamin C and head out to get our last Beijing supper!

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