| 16 |
How to Win Free Cross China Travel? I'd love to hear more about your trip. Will you keep a blog about it? There is a chance I will be backpacking in China in Yunnan around October. It'd be good to meet up with friends I met on the last trips again. |
| 15 |
How to Win Free Cross China Travel? 10,000 USD is a LOT of money for 3 months in China, how did she calculates her journey costs? Most people in the UK agrees around 18,000 USD is enough for a 12 months round the world trip if one look after the money. I did a very comfortable trip with my fiance in China for 3 weeks last year and it cost 800 USD between us. Does she want to stay in posh 4, 5 star hotels on her trip? |
| 14 |
Second Day of College Entrace Exam Mr. Wang, I read news on BBC today that Chinese goverment is ordering the registration of all personal blogs before June the 30th, with their personal information. Such policy is unthinkable in Europe... Does this affect you or your blog in any way? |
| 13 |
Drive to the City of Suzhou I felt HangZhou was rather artificial and a tourist trap when I cisited last time :(. I always preferred Suzhou altho I'm heart broken to see a lot of the old style building are torn down for development and the pollution is destroying the remaining. |
| 12 |
Top Two Differences in China Is there any official agency for looking after the poor and homeless in China? Do people living ont eh streeet have support for their basic needs like water and food? When I was in SH in October, I saw some old people picking plastic bottles and collect them for exchange at recycling station, I was saddened by the sight as some of them reminded me of my own grandparents. At times I saw they beg for people not to give them their (empty) drinking bottle), yet the youth sometimes just throws the bottle into a river or a dump delibrately! I felt pretty angrey about this. As a general rule, I only give money to the eldly beggers as they are tend to be most vulnerable, and instead of money, I always bag the left over (clean food) from a restaurant if I can't finish it, and give them to the homeless. |
| 11 |
It Snows in Washington D.C! It is kinda interesting and strange at the same time that Chinese people have this fixture to represent how mordern they are to the outside world, I'd say it's almost a hobby. Something to do with Mianzi maybe? The Chinese have strong 'stereotype' image about everyone else as well. It's cultureally unavoidable. There is no need to take offence in stereotypying Chinese because in most of the cases (eg NutCracker) it was constructed from an art or performing point of the view. Nutcrackers was written 2 centries ago, to cast it in a way that reflects the development in the last 150 years or so would be ridiculous or requires major adaptation. |
| 10 |
It Snows in Washington D.C! It is kinda interesting and strange at the same time that Chinese people have this fixture to represent how mordern they are to the outside world, I'd say it's almost a hobby. Something to do with Mianzi maybe? The Chinese have strong 'stereotype' image about everyone else as well. It's cultureally unavoidable. There is no need to take offence in stereotypying Chinese because in most of the cases (eg NutCracker) it was constructed from an art or performing point of the view. Nutcrackers was written 2 centries ago, to cast it in a way that reflects the development in the last 150 years or so would be ridiculous or requires major adaptation. |
| 9 |
I am in Washington, D.C Interesting observation about the contrast between NYC and Washinton. I just cam back from a trip to California (San Francisco mainly) and felt the difference between great cities are as much as that of individual persons. I'd even call the difference 'personality' or 'souls', all great cities have it's own unique personality and charms (or in rare cases, annoys) me in different ways. On that aspect, Shanghai feels like the NYC of China, while Beijing feels more like Washinton. In the UK, London is closer to NYC than Washinton. I live in Manchester and for years I disliked it because I think Manchester is try too hard to be an also-run and lacks it's own individuality. |
| 8 |
The Cats Story Excerllent link! I'm in cat heaven :). I heard that once kittens reach a certain age, their mom will chase them away so they can go on to estabilish their own territory, so there may come a tiem for Jian Shuo to decide if he's like to keep the mom or the baby. |
| 7 |
Train from Beijing to Shanghai There are different carrige types, I saw ont eh Train from beijing to Hefei that the soft sleep cabins have LCD TVs! We tookt eh SH to Beijing train too, it's nice, but hte most memorable thing is the menu in the dining car - "The Oil Explodes the Shrimp" was the first course LOL! |
| 6 |
I Got my U.S. Visa Congratulations! America is one defensive mode, it feels anyone and everyone is out to hurt it. This I fear will leave and accelerate the isolation of USA from teh rest of the world. They are so paranoid... |
| 5 |
Winter in Shanghai 15 degrees is what we call " A beautiful sunny day in the summer". Here in the UK :D I have to say I had frost bites when I was in SH during my childhood. the UK is colder on average and the winter can go to - 5 in large areans or even colder, but all the house have central heating so it doesn't feel as bad. Michael (my BF) didn't like SH's 'heat' when we landed on teh 28th of October, it was like 18 degrees that day? He came from a very northen English city called Carlisle and is used to the cold. heat makes him weak LOL, he only wore 1 single T shirt on top of Huangshan, which drew lots attention from local people asking if he was cold. I'm sorta half way in the middle, I'm more cold resistant than local Chinese people but still not as resiliant than the mad UK people haha. |
| 4 |
Two Cats in my Garden Really cute cats and thanks for looking after strays! I feel domestic animals lead a harder life in China than in many countries, a lot of the older generation do not have respects for animal lives. All animals are treated as property and not a life. I saw a few thin and hungry cats in SH recently. I hope pet owners will also take the resposibility of nutering their pets, so they can not breed in the wild and cause lots of newborn lives to suffer. |
| 3 |
Youth Hostels in Shanghai I stayed at one called Maggie International Youth Hostel in ChangNing chu, it's out of the way fromteh center. I have to say it was the most disapointed stay in hostel when I was in China last week. The 2 bed private rooms cost 160 yuan, they told me it's already discounted for the memebers. The bedding was very hard and facility a bit lacking. Compared to otehr hostels in CHina, it was the most expensive and least satisfying one. They did have a cute cat tho. |
| 2 |
Going Back to China? Fantastic topic! My boyfriend and I had just returned from a 2 week backp[acking trip to China. We were both very impressed by it. We had small discusions about possibly relocate to China to work for a few years to save up money (provide if we can earn the same amount as we do int eh UK). From what I can see the relative living cost is more expensive than the UK in some areas and cheaper in others (food etc.) If we can earn UK wages (average white collar wages) then we can lead a better life in China than in the UK due to lower cost and high exchange rate. I want to find a possible job in management in software industry while Michael my bf want to teach English and drama. He is scared he doesn't speak any mandarin for now tho. |
| 1 |
Budget Travelers are the Majority I just came back from a 2 week trip to china, and altho I stayed in JinMao Grand Hyatt 5 star, the most memorable staying experieces were from the hostels. All the ones I visted have been clean and comformtable (apart from the one in Shanghai). Especially liked the one in Huangshan. try http://www.hostelworld.com |