Say NO to Beijing's real estate agents!

If you have been in Beijing enough (or not) you might have cross road with a housing agent. Yes, these unscrupulous people who overload local classifieds pages with fake information, fake photos, fake contacts, FAKES! 

Is a common conversation among people looking for a place to live that they have been taunted by these housing agents. Things such wasting phone calls, visits to places that have nothing to do with picture, scary stories in crazy shit holes, lost deposits... you call it! 

For example the user RPG, describes a rather simple situation "that apartment isn't available, but I have another one I can show you." Being helplessly naive, I met him at the subway, hopped on the back of his scooter, and 10 minutes later we were in a studio that can best be described as "occupied" and "run down".

These kind of stories can go really bad. I won't forget about these guys who found a place without the aid of an agent, and after they moved they started getting terrorizing messages and threats from local agents because they took "their" apartment. 

Another friend from Bolivia got beaten by a couple of agents after she refused to take the apartment that they "negotiated" with the landlord. They showed one place and then gave a completly different one. In that same place she got beaten! No need to say she never recovered the "deposit". 

I could continue with many more scary stories... 

We are all aware of this situation, and no matter how many times these "Jimmy" "Sissy" "Andy" John" Sandy" write down NICE AND CLEAN, REAL PHOTOS, NO FEE, ETC, will be much more likely to be a big awful LIE! Not to mention that they are greatly responsible for the rampant increase of rents in Beijing. Even for me, that have been here several years, is painful to change apartment because everything posted in TimeOut, Cityweekend, The Beijinger, are all FAKE and I know that is a big pain in the ass for the editors to review each classified. Although I am sure they could identify and ban some of these annoying persons. 

So you, dear reader, If you are in Beijing and you are looking for a new place, take action!! SAY NO to online agents! Those cheeky people are not here to help you but to screw you! SAY NO! 

 And if you own an apartment and want to rent it.. even more!! SAY NO TO AGENTS!!!

Say NO to Beijing's real estate agents!

"Before They Go" - The last tribes of Eart by Jimmy Nelson

The purity of humanity exists. It is there in the mountains, the ice fields, the jungle, along the rivers and in the valleys. Jimmy Nelson found the last tribesmen and observed them. He smiled and drank their mysterious brews before taking out his camera. He shared what real people share: vibrations, invisible but palpable. He adjusted his antenna to the same frequency as theirs. As trust grew, a shared understanding of the mission developed: the world must never forget the way things were. 

There is a pure beauty in their goals and family ties, their belief in gods and nature, and their will to do the right thing in order to be taken care of when their time comes. Whether in Papua New Guinea or in Kazakhstan, in Ethiopia or in Siberia, tribes are the last resorts of natural authenticity.

"In 2009, I planned to become a guest of 31 secluded and visually unique tribes. I wanted to witness their time-honoured traditions, join in their rituals and discover how the rest of the world is threatening to change their way of life forever. Most importantly, I wanted to create an ambitious aesthetic photographic document that would stand the test of time. A body of work that would be an irreplaceable ethnographic record of a fast disappearing world."

"The detail that is attained by using such large negatives would provide an extraordinary view into the emotional and spiritual lives of the last indigenous peoples of the world. At the same time, it would glorify their varying and unique cultural creativity with their painted faces, scarified bodies, jewellery, extravagant hairstyles and ritual language."

For more information about the project visit http://www.beforethey.com 

KAZAKH

NENETS

MAASAI

HIMBA

HULI

ASARO

KALAM

GOROKA

CHUKCHI

MAORI

MUSTANG

GAUCHOS

TSAATAN

SAMBURU

RABARI

MURSI

LADAKHI

VANUATU

DASSANECH

BANNA

KARO

HAMAR

DANI

Jimmy Nelson forces us to see, to understand and to remember before they pass away

"Before They Go" - The last tribes of Eart by Jimmy Nelson