Anyone ever been to china
- Thread starter Klaus Armenia
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if anyone is interested, here's a little film I put together with clips from my digital camera and some cool music, using Windows Movie Maker.
Has some film of me travelling by train near Dalian and also some bits and pieces of my life...
http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=1B3FB2C9426F2DCF
Has some film of me travelling by train near Dalian and also some bits and pieces of my life...
http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.php?action=download&ufid=1B3FB2C9426F2DCF
Cool video RD. Cute nipper too!
drcarnage said:
Cheers!
China, very impressive, food excellent, must use chop sticks and be aware of the etiquette, speaking... learn some words, don't be the usual brit tourist that just raises their voice to be understood, Be aware of the different menus at different times of the day..
if you see a dish that someone else is eating, there's nothing wrong in pointing and asking.
Cities, Xian, the developement.. wow... Wuhan, look past the facade, and see what the city is really like, Shanghai, all that in ten years, the Jing mao tower, the waterfront, the crowds of tourists from everywhere..
Beijing, I was told story of tourist getting film ripped out of cameras for taking fotos of the guards, they even smiled when I asked first,
Chinese Opera, the Mime, the country side, it all contributes to a very impressive place.. and get some of the students to talk about politics... whole new perspective... and the contrast of feelings about Mao.. some love and some.. well don't talk about it... LOL
I have never met so many english speaking people in a forgeign country.... I asked for the lead to connect my laptop to the broadband connection, yes sir It will be in your room, return to room, sitting on bed, the lead...
The whole ethos, the politeness, the courtesy, but beware of the street traders and haggle, Silk Road in Beijing... very good, had the girls laughing and the comments, Oh, yew velly clever. but I got caught on buying some memory for the camera... so, not so velly clever....
On arriving, dumped cases in room, went for a walk, downtown Shanghai, two local girls could see me taking photos and a big smile and a wave, .. With that type of greeting, where could you go wrong?
if you see a dish that someone else is eating, there's nothing wrong in pointing and asking.
Cities, Xian, the developement.. wow... Wuhan, look past the facade, and see what the city is really like, Shanghai, all that in ten years, the Jing mao tower, the waterfront, the crowds of tourists from everywhere..
Beijing, I was told story of tourist getting film ripped out of cameras for taking fotos of the guards, they even smiled when I asked first,
Chinese Opera, the Mime, the country side, it all contributes to a very impressive place.. and get some of the students to talk about politics... whole new perspective... and the contrast of feelings about Mao.. some love and some.. well don't talk about it... LOL
I have never met so many english speaking people in a forgeign country.... I asked for the lead to connect my laptop to the broadband connection, yes sir It will be in your room, return to room, sitting on bed, the lead...
The whole ethos, the politeness, the courtesy, but beware of the street traders and haggle, Silk Road in Beijing... very good, had the girls laughing and the comments, Oh, yew velly clever. but I got caught on buying some memory for the camera... so, not so velly clever....
On arriving, dumped cases in room, went for a walk, downtown Shanghai, two local girls could see me taking photos and a big smile and a wave, .. With that type of greeting, where could you go wrong?
Methinks that's an excellent post Descartes.
I would say tho' that at least to some extent, and probably quite a large one, the welcome and the politeness you received would be down to your ethnicity and, by your description of your experience, I might imagine you would pass as being "white".
I hear it said often when speaking with young people who've been away from Hong Kong for ten or twelve years (in the US, Canada, Australia, the UK,) and are now back in HK/China at 24 - 25 years old, just how much service standards, for example, have improved in HK in that time, and just how far lagging behind Shanghai still is.
To generalise, Chinese are very aware of race and social status. Even in HK, old stereotypes are deeply ingrained and hard to eradicate and the discrimination towards recent Mainland immigrants is at least as bad, if not worse, than that dished out towards those of darker skin colour.
Woof
I would say tho' that at least to some extent, and probably quite a large one, the welcome and the politeness you received would be down to your ethnicity and, by your description of your experience, I might imagine you would pass as being "white".
I hear it said often when speaking with young people who've been away from Hong Kong for ten or twelve years (in the US, Canada, Australia, the UK,) and are now back in HK/China at 24 - 25 years old, just how much service standards, for example, have improved in HK in that time, and just how far lagging behind Shanghai still is.
To generalise, Chinese are very aware of race and social status. Even in HK, old stereotypes are deeply ingrained and hard to eradicate and the discrimination towards recent Mainland immigrants is at least as bad, if not worse, than that dished out towards those of darker skin colour.
Woof
AnnO'Neemus
Is so vanilla
Huh? Yes, more and more Chinese are learning English, but the standards aren't fantastic, especially not compared with other places in Asia like Thailand, India (of course), Pakistan (again, of course), or like places in North Africa such as Egypt and Tunisia...Descartes said:
Places that have been more dependent for longer on their tourism industry have more people speaking English. China can actually be quite difficult for non-Chinese speakers, comparatively speaking, realtive to other countries.
And service? Blimey! Your experience is the execptipn rather than the norm! we used to joke about 'mei you', which literally translates as 'not have', but can mean anything from I realy, genuinely don't have what byou're asking for, to I can't be arsed getting it for you, to f*** off. It's like a standard response from surly girlies like receptionists, waitresses etc...
I like to think it's in the approach and how you addres the person, even the none english speaking female security guard at the hotel in Beijing... with who I manged to get smiles and her posing for photos...
The three women, very elegant, doing early morning tai chi exercises, I paused, watched and as they finished .. what was a 57 form movement, I gave the tai chi bow and the smiles and laughter, followed by a bow was an example of not needing a language.
I can understand the historical attitude to blacks and the Nubian slave but it was not something I noticed in particular.
The three women, very elegant, doing early morning tai chi exercises, I paused, watched and as they finished .. what was a 57 form movement, I gave the tai chi bow and the smiles and laughter, followed by a bow was an example of not needing a language.
I can understand the historical attitude to blacks and the Nubian slave but it was not something I noticed in particular.
Maybe it seems very nice when you come here for a visit but when you've been here for a while it kinda gets annoying when people shout racist abuse at you in the street, attack you because they simply don't like your western lifestyle (happened to me on Monday), bother you in the street to pracise English, or try and cheat you out of money because aparently you are 'rich'.
AnnO'Neemus
Is so vanilla
I guess Descartes didn't realise that when folks were shouting "lao wai, lao wai" as he walked past, they were referring to him.drcarnage said:
About being ripped off: I was shopping with a Chinese friend, who took it upon himself to do the bargaining, considered it chivalrous, his manly duty to do this for a female friend. He was really shocked to be told: "What are you doing helping that foreigner for? You should be helping us [rip off the foreigner]".
Descartes also probably coukldn't read the Chinese signs, and didn't realise that there's an official two-tier pricing policy, and that foreigners going into museums and attractions pay heaps more than Chinese. Can you imagine if we had that racist policy over here in England: Mr Smith, here's your ticket to Alton Towers, that'll be £20; Mr Wang, here's your ticket, that'll be £100 please. Yeah, I guess you might be able to make an argument that foreign tourists should be 'taxed' more, because they are comparably wealthy, but over there, it doesn't just apply to foreign tourists, it applies to anyone who looks foreign, even if you live and work there and have a work permit, pay taxes and have a resident's permit.
And he also doesn't realise that a lot of young Chinese females aren't particularly friendly or welcoming, they're calculated and conniving and want foreign passports and a ticket out of there so they smile and make nice with gullible foreigners.
Having said all that, I loved my time in China and I'd love to go back there. Yuo just have to keep your eyes open and not view things through rose tinted glasses, you have to be really alert and to have some understanding of how things *really* work over there.
Actually the double-pricing thing has now been abolished. Foreigners pay the same price as Chinese people for museums etc.
I have to say that since I've been in Wuhan, I haven't had much overcharging either. Very occasionally, but the amount will be pretty miniscule. perhaps it's because WUhan isn't very touristy? I've noticed that when I go to places like Yangshuo, I get way more people trying to charge me double price. Since I know what the price should be, I say no, walk away, they beckon me back and give me the correct price.
I have to say that since I've been in Wuhan, I haven't had much overcharging either. Very occasionally, but the amount will be pretty miniscule. perhaps it's because WUhan isn't very touristy? I've noticed that when I go to places like Yangshuo, I get way more people trying to charge me double price. Since I know what the price should be, I say no, walk away, they beckon me back and give me the correct price.
I think there's a point of order here Ann.AnnO'Neemus said:
Whereas there is, as we know, racism in China, The above official policy is not necessarily racist, at least not as you have described.
There are many places (if not most/all,) where carrying a passport of that place confers certain benefits or privileges. And the policy you describe refers to those holding a PRC passport. You pull out one of those, you get the local price. Most (if not all,) places treat citizens differently from visa-holders or permanent residents.
Nothing racist about that. I know many ethnic Chinese who are living in China, as expatriates, on a foreign passport, who would not qualify for the discount under this policy. Of course if they "fit-in" and can speak the lingo then they are likely to go unchallenged, but the policy isn't racist.
Aye!
Woof
Dining can be a bit mad. Food is nothing like Chinese take-away food from UK. One restaurant in Guangzhou looks more like a pet shop: cages & tanks full of live critters to eat. You show the waiter which one you want...
I had a real struggle finding vegetarian food - didn't seem to be a concept that was understood. In another restaurant, I was enjoying what I had assumed were soy-fried onion rings. "These onion rings are tasty" I said to our host, who explained that it was actually intestine...
I had a real struggle finding vegetarian food - didn't seem to be a concept that was understood. In another restaurant, I was enjoying what I had assumed were soy-fried onion rings. "These onion rings are tasty" I said to our host, who explained that it was actually intestine...
LOL!Dr Jon said:Dining can be a bit mad. Food is nothing like Chinese take-away food from UK. One restaurant in Guangzhou looks more like a pet shop: cages & tanks full of live critters to eat. You show the waiter which one you want...
I had a real struggle finding vegetarian food - didn't seem to be a concept that was understood. In another restaurant, I was enjoying what I had assumed were soy-fried onion rings. "These onion rings are tasty" I said to our host, who explained that it was actually intestine...
But given the first part of your post, what on earth made you think they could possibly be onion rings?
Blanched civet-cat foot anyone?
Woof
pinkmonkey
2.4 hour party person
My personal best was not in China, it was 'dancing sushi' in South Korea. Basically,it was live fish fry in sesame oil. They wriggle down your throat. That's where the 'dancing' bit comes into it.
fractionMan
Custom Title
They used to do something similar in laos. I never tried it, but I did eat crickets.pinkmonkey said:
I couldn't imagine what other food would be that shape?Jessiedog said:
After that I just ate and mostly enjoyed whatever was put in front of me.
Couldn't believe there was McDonalds there. Guess it shows that that the local people will eat anything...
I tried Donkey meat for the first time the other day. It tastes almost exactly like dog. Pretty nice though.
I visited Shanghai for 3 nights in Feb and loved it I found the Chinese people warm and very friendly. The food wasnt the best part of the trip. One evening we sampled a local delicacy called drunken chicken which should really have been called drunken bone and what i thought was a pancake with shredded duck was pancake with duck skin. Food aside though, its a facinating country to visit. In Shanghai I would recommend a visit to the Temple of the Jade Buddha and also try and spend a few hours in the Fakes Market which is packed to the gills with handbags, watches, leather shoes and silks. At night try out one of the bars on The Bund overlooking the river and the spectacular Shanghai skyline with the Oriental Pearl tower. We also went on the Maglev bullet train which is the worlds fastest train and goes up to over 400km per hour.
I found the Chinese people warm and very friendly. The food wasnt the best part of the trip. One evening we sampled a local delicacy called drunken chicken which should really have been called drunken bone and what i thought was a pancake with shredded duck was pancake with duck skin. Food aside though, its a facinating country to visit. In Shanghai I would recommend a visit to the Temple of the Jade Buddha and also try and spend a few hours in the Fakes Market which is packed to the gills with handbags, watches, leather shoes and silks. At night try out one of the bars on The Bund overlooking the river and the spectacular Shanghai skyline with the Oriental Pearl tower. We also went on the Maglev bullet train which is the worlds fastest train and goes up to over 400km per hour.
