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nervana posted:Question to chinagoons: my brother and I might head to beijing for mid-autumn festival (starts on Wednesday the 16th, we'll arrive on Thursday, and leave on Sunday). I'm a cultural Philistine but I'm pretty sure all that stuff (museums, old buildings) is open as normal during holidays. Shops and restaurants are business as usual.
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Jul 23, 2013 05:07
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Big Alf posted:I'm a cultural Philistine but I'm pretty sure all that stuff (museums, old buildings) is open as normal during holidays. Some neighborhoods I've lived in had a significant fraction of stuff closed. Lots of street vendors pack up and go home. But it was never more than about half the shops on the market street.
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Jul 23, 2013 05:49
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Bloodnose posted:Why is this post in any way related to tourism and travel in China? I dunno but every day I see poo poo that's pretty much just like blade runner. Or Sarajevo. What was the deal with all the fireworks last night? There were like six separate hour-long fireworks shows near the zz apartment i am staying in. All in different places but happening near-simultaneously.
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Jul 23, 2013 05:50
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The fringes of the CBD in Chaoyang on a smoggy night are totally Blade Runner.
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Jul 23, 2013 05:56
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bad day posted:I dunno but every day I see poo poo that's pretty much just like blade runner. Or Sarajevo. What was the deal with all the fireworks last night? There were like six separate hour-long fireworks shows near the zz apartment i am staying in. All in different places but happening near-simultaneously. For what it's worth I was just in Sarajevo. It is a beautiful, clean, amazing city. 
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Jul 23, 2013 10:24
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More visa chat - The Law and Border blog has a good writeup on the enacted regulations for the new visa rules, which vary quite a bit from the draft regulations published earlier. Included are translations from the Chinese, Q&A, a simple table with the old and new categories, a section on "What happened to the R Visa?", as well as interesting references to past law, and exactly what defines "work" in China. Eg. Ministry of Labor posted:If the labor contract is concluded with a legal entity abroad, the source of compensation is abroad, and the work in China is for three months or more ... it is considered employment in China Oh dear.
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Jul 23, 2013 10:55
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Trammel posted:More visa chat - The Law and Border blog has a good writeup on the enacted regulations for the new visa rules, which vary quite a bit from the draft regulations published earlier. Here's the real oh, oh dear...  partLaw and Border posted:7. Who needs to go for an interview at the Chinese Embassy or other visa issuing agency abroad?
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Jul 23, 2013 14:08
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Wow, that's verging on unenforceable as written. Knowing China it will not be enforced as a rule, and only ever be enforced when somebody wants something.
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Jul 23, 2013 15:02
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Trammel posted:F Visa's were business visas. No study or work allowed. Practically, last year, you could obtain a year long, no stay limit, multi-entry F Visa in Hong Kong, without any real supporting documentation. Eg, a semester in a Chinese university = F visa. Separately, the new law blog with the new visa info is awesome.
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Jul 23, 2013 15:06
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Hey guys, I might have an absolutely amazing opportunity to take a job in China, working for a big games developer in Shanghai. They'd organise the visa and pay for the relocation - sorting all the lovely admin out on my behalf. I'm very excited about the idea, and a little nervous, and a little bewildered by how much I would have to learn. Excited, more than anything else though, and stoked about the opportunity. One thing I am a little concerned about, coming from my privileged UK freedom place is the massive reduction in holiday, from 25 to 15 days plus Chinese holidays. How does this all work out for you? I've read in the thread and on Wikipedia/other sites that there is a fair amount of holiday on the whole and all the public holidays extend into the week if they fall on weekends, making up a good 10 or 11 extra days a year, including some full weeks, and many long weekends, right? The idea of only having 15 days to myself (a total of three weeks) is a bit of cause for concern, because going off travelling and surfing with my free time is such a big deal, and now it seems that major trips like these would be tougher to make happen, as with trips back home to UK/South Africa. If anyone is willing to discuss this in a Skype chat, PM me and we can get in touch, or just discuss here in this thread. Thanks a lot guys - looking forward to the prospect of an adventure in Shanghai! EDIT: Is Audible blocked there, by any chance? I have an account and regularly listen to audiobooks, but of course would have to cancel if I can not use it in China. BadAstronaut fucked around with this message at 10:56 on Jul 24, 2013 |
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Jul 24, 2013 10:50
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BadAstronaut posted:Hey guys, I might have an absolutely amazing opportunity to take a job in China, working for a big games developer in Shanghai. They'd organise the visa and pay for the relocation - sorting all the lovely admin out on my behalf. I'm very excited about the idea, and a little nervous, and a little bewildered by how much I would have to learn. Note: I am an American so even 15 days seems a ridiculous amount of vacation time to me. As far as the normal state holidays, Here's a site with a list of where they fall for the next couple of years. Most holidays are 3 days, but a couple are longer. Spring Festival/Chinese New Year is the longest, lasting well over a week usually. The one issue with these holidays, and this is up to your company, is that most Chinese companies will work extra time on weekends to make up for the days off during the holiday. I work for a western-runcompany in China (Also a game studio, coincidentally) and we generally aren't made to come in during those days. Someone else can answer on audible, but since you'll be living here long-term I'd suggest bucking up the change for a solid VPN. Gmail and Dropbox occasionally don't work (google search rarely ever works) so it's worth it for those two for me, facebook and youtube make it a little sweeter. I do know Spotify works fine in China without a VPN as long as you made your account outside of the country for some bizarre reason.
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Jul 24, 2013 12:13
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Thanks man. How much are you looking at for a good VPN? Can you link to the exact one you use? I don't even have the job yet - I'm just doing all the research I can now in case this does go my way. Should find out pretty soon. So with those holidays, if I understand correctly you'll be getting the Monday to Wednesday off, and if your company was mellow with it you could take proper leave for the Thursday and Friday and get a full week off, if they are, as you mentioned, the kind to not expect you to come in and make up the time on weekends? Do you know anything about renting an apartment in Shanghai? Any reputable agencies I can get in touch with if I land the job and am looking for a spot? EDIT: any of you done much travelling out of Shanghai? Seems there are a ton of spots you can only get to by stopping over somewhere else first. For example, all Indonesian flights I can see involve stopping Kuala Lumpur first. Is it better to fly to Beijing and then from there? Any suggestions, as I would have imagined getting to parts of South East Asia directly would be simple, and not too expensive, from Shanghai. BadAstronaut fucked around with this message at 14:09 on Jul 24, 2013 |
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Jul 24, 2013 13:17
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Hey goon, Shanghai is a great city! I go there every 2 months on average and we have a few goons there. It's a fun crowd  You really should  CHECK THE OP There's abundant information about the Holiday structure schedules and VPN recommendations.As for house hunting Shanghai, it can be really subjective. People are successful to find a house if they have a Chinese friend/speak Chinese themselves/patient themselves whereas some people just have an agent to go look for houses to avoid the hassles. If your company is in charge then just have them handle things? Holiday wise, Shanghai is a great hub and much better than Beijing. There's the no frills budget Spring Airlines which can take you to different Bangkok for cheap. Or China Eastern. Lots of options to go to South East Asia. Cheap, but expect delays Airfare wise, going to Bangkok from Shanghai and then switching a air asia flight/Nok air to the region for surfing is the cheapest.You can try Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia or all wherever but China Eastern is slowly building up its routes. Air Asia actually does a Hangzhou to Kuala Lumpur for peanuts from time to time. In general, if you keep your eyes sharp, and book 2 months in advance you can snag a 2000-3000 RMB inclusive flight to Bali. Or you can fly domestic to Hainan and do surfing there! Or Taiwan. I do like Shanghai being flat and bikable but that's my only gripe about the city. It's hard to access out doorsy stuff. You can surf, hike up mountains or hit the beach here in Hong Kong  Anyways, good luck!
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Jul 24, 2013 15:27
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Thanks for all the info! Yeah I read the OP last week, but it's always nice to get a fresh and direct answer from a responsive human! Will give it another read now. I definitely want to check out Hong Kong. I had intended to go there in 2011 but ran out of $$$, so it is still on the list. I'm going to check it out online now, see what the options are. I've been looking up SkyScanner flights and I don't think they have Spring or China Eastern, so I will look those up now - thanks! Yes, I am all over Hainan (IF I get the job) as I've seen it a bunch of times in photos and so on. Know some people who have been there so I'd chase them up. I have no idea what the surf in Taiwan is like. How is your Chinese, and if I do get the good news about the job, what is the best way I can use my remaining month or so here in London to learn Chinese, bearing in mind that I'll still be working full time? EDIT: Do these budget airlines charge like $100 for a surfboard/stowed luggage, do you know? EDIT 2: Do those VPNs allow one to watch Netflix in China? BadAstronaut fucked around with this message at 15:52 on Jul 24, 2013 |
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Jul 24, 2013 15:33
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BadAstronaut, when you say big games developer do you mean you would be working for one of the big Chinese companies or one of the multinational ones?
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Jul 24, 2013 16:21
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It's a multinational one, with operations in China, US and Europe. I suppose if/once I get the job I'll mention who they are here, unless there's any reason I shouldn't?
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Jul 24, 2013 16:35
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All right!! More 'Hai people! Make sure you get your VPN/ sling box set up before you fly over.
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Jul 24, 2013 19:05
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I'd have to land the job first, buddy But if I do you guys will be among the first to know, and any tips like these would be greatly appreciated. The game I'd be working on is on PS3. Can I bring my UK PS3 over and have it work there? Any standard plug adaptor should work just fine for power, right, meaning I can charge any laptop, PSP, Nintendo DS/3DS, Google Nexus tablet etc? *god I own a lot of devices.
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Jul 24, 2013 21:36
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BadAstronaut posted:I'd have to land the job first, buddy Plug adapters will probably be needed. But all 220V devices should work fine. Also I don't know how the PS3 is about region encoding, but I think a few guys in here have one. 360s are pretty common to find modded that way you can play all the copied 5-10 RMB games
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Jul 24, 2013 21:45
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BadAstronaut posted:It's a multinational one, with operations in China, US and Europe. I suppose if/once I get the job I'll mention who they are here, unless there's any reason I shouldn't? I'm guessing EA or Ubisoft. Tell American "Traitor" McGee I say whatup edit: definitely don't plug your American/Japan Wii power source or DS charger directly into the wall, buy a converter or European power source. Paging Ghost Cockfighter to post about vidya games itt tacoman165 fucked around with this message at 00:25 on Jul 25, 2013 |
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Jul 25, 2013 00:23
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tacoman165 posted:I'm guessing EA or Ubisoft. Tell American "Traitor" McGee I say whatup Yep had to buy a 220V power supply for my Wii. Like 20rmb on taobao. But he's from the UK, they're 220v aren't they? Nearly everything else should have a 110-220v switching power supply. I did find a couple of my power supplies get pretty hot running on 220v though... SB35 fucked around with this message at 00:35 on Jul 25, 2013 |
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Jul 25, 2013 00:32
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I'll probably be moving to Hong Kong for work for the next few years, starting in January. Is there anyone I could PM with some questions about miscellaneous stuff about living there?
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Jul 25, 2013 00:35
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BadAstronaut posted:So with those holidays, if I understand correctly you'll be getting the Monday to Wednesday off, and if your company was mellow with it you could take proper leave for the Thursday and Friday and get a full week off, if they are, as you mentioned, the kind to not expect you to come in and make up the time on weekends? This is still an "if". My American company, as well as at least a couple other foreign companies I know here, are not mellow with this sort of thing and will actually make you come in on these days or take your vacation time. Most people take vacation time, so these days sometimes end up being a massive waste of time. I've been in on a couple of these stupid days where only about 15% of people came in that day, so if your job requires cooperation with other people at all then it's just a wasted day entirely. Sometimes they're scheduled basically maliciously, too. Last year we had a week that was something like: two days off, then 1 day on, then 4 days off, then 1 day on, then 1 day off, then it was a Monday and back to a normal working schedule.
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Jul 25, 2013 00:36
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tacoman165 posted:I'm guessing EA or Ubisoft. Tell American "Traitor" McGee I say whatup Neither of these. It's a smaller operation than these two, but still multinational. God I hope I get it. Seriously looking forward to a Chinese adventure. Also: that holiday schedule thing sounds crazy and horribly inhibitive if you like to actually go away on your off days. What's a decent part of the city for a complete outsider to live in, while learning the language and getting to know the place? If I'm coming over for work and have all my documents and whatever else, will I encounter problems from customs at the airport if i am bringing: Laptop + external hard drive Kindle Ps3 PSP Nintendo 3DS Tablet Smartphone BadAstronaut fucked around with this message at 00:56 on Jul 25, 2013 |
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Jul 25, 2013 00:54
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Mr Gentleman posted:I'll probably be moving to Hong Kong for work for the next few years, starting in January. Is there anyone I could PM with some questions about miscellaneous stuff about living there? There are like a billion HK goons and we're all friendly and awesome, but I'm volunteering first.
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Jul 25, 2013 00:55
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Bloodnose posted:There are like a billion HK goons and we're all friendly and awesome, but I'm volunteering first. This makes me wish I was going to Hong Kong. Thankfully there are some goons in shanghai... Hello potential future friends. I have no intention of getting a girlfriend in a hurry, which seems to be the most suggested means of learning the language. Barring that what else is a good way to start learning?
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Jul 25, 2013 00:59
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BadAstronaut posted:This makes me wish I was going to Hong Kong. Thankfully there are some goons in shanghai... Hello potential future friends. Check the Chinese language thread. Then lessons and a tutor, finally a gf.
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Jul 25, 2013 02:14
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BadAstronaut posted:Also: that holiday schedule thing sounds crazy and horribly inhibitive if you like to actually go away on your off days. Yes it is. It's also actually a new policy that started in the mid 2000s, so Chinese people hate it too. Weekend makeup days are universally loathed and even if 100% of the staff comes into work there is an unspoken understanding that very little will get done. Stupid weekend makeup days.
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Jul 25, 2013 03:26
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BadAstronaut posted:
The holiday thing is more like this: Imagine that a holiday (1 day) falls on a Wednesday. The government will shift your weekend, giving you Monday and Tuesday off as well, but expecting you to work Saturday and Sunday prior to the holiday. If you're lucky, you might have some energy to do something fun on your 3-day weekend after a 7-day work week! If you work at a foreign company who doesn't put up with this stuff, then you'll have your standard weekend off, work Monday and Tuesday, and then have a 1-day holiday on Wednesday. As for the Netflix thing, unless you're into old/obscure stuff, you could probably watch the same shows for free on Chinese video streaming sites (at higher speeds since you wont need a VPN for it).
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Jul 25, 2013 06:52
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LentThem posted:The holiday thing is more like this: Imagine that a holiday (1 day) falls on a Wednesday. The government will shift your weekend, giving you Monday and Tuesday off as well, but expecting you to work Saturday and Sunday prior to the holiday. If you're lucky, you might have some energy to do something fun on your 3-day weekend after a 7-day work week! If you work at a foreign company who doesn't put up with this stuff, then you'll have your standard weekend off, work Monday and Tuesday, and then have a 1-day holiday on Wednesday. Eh, it's weird, I agree, but you get used to it. The idea is to take holidays that break up the week and turn it into something long enough to do something with. If you want the weekend off too, you just go to your local hospital and buy a doctors note saying you're sick and need a few days rest. Works best when it's a MNC that relies on regular communication with the home office... because nothing real will get done on the weekend anyways, and all the managers have already left town, and half your team is "sick", and going into the office is just a complete waste of time.
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Jul 25, 2013 07:32
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Pro-PRC Laowai posted:Works best when it's a MNC that relies on regular communication with the home office... because nothing real will get done on the weekend anyways, and all the managers have already left town, and half your team is "sick", and going into the office is just a complete waste of time. I'm the guy that shows up at the office that day.
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Jul 25, 2013 07:35
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Can anyone suggest a hotel in Shanghai near The Bund/Railway station? Somewhere clean and modern would be great, pool would be a bonus. Views of The Bund/River would be a super bonus.
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Jul 25, 2013 08:03
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Thanks for all the replies guys. Have you had our heard of people's kindles or hard drive content's being checked upon entry to the country? I am thinking of stocking up on all media I could want on my devices before arriving...
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Jul 25, 2013 08:12
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BadAstronaut posted:Thanks for all the replies guys. Have you had our heard of people's kindles or hard drive content's being checked upon entry to the country? I am thinking of stocking up on all media I could want on my devices before arriving... Nope this does not happen
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Jul 25, 2013 08:13
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BadAstronaut posted:Thanks for all the replies guys. Have you had our heard of people's kindles or hard drive content's being checked upon entry to the country? I am thinking of stocking up on all media I could want on my devices before arriving... They won't find your feline erotica, relax.
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Jul 25, 2013 08:23
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The Worst Muslim posted:They won't find your feline erotica, relax. I think you will find it is bovine, sir 
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Jul 25, 2013 08:29
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If you ever come live here, you will find the government bureaucratic and incompetent. But don't smuggle in a thousand bibles. When it comes to customs I know people smuggled in airsoft guns and other illegal stuff.  Big Alf posted:Can anyone suggest a hotel in Shanghai near The Bund/Railway station? Hanting all seasons is no good? If you want to pay, there's the Fairmont by the bund, or peninsula.
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Jul 25, 2013 08:34
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Bureaucratic and incompetent? Sounds like South Africa (where I'm originally from) and I doubt China is doing a worse job than them. Other than this weekend story.
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Jul 25, 2013 08:43
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BadAstronaut posted:Bureaucratic and incompetent? Sounds like South Africa (where I'm originally from) and I doubt China is doing a worse job than them. Other than this weekend story. Please come to hong Kong and make/bring me piles of Bolton!
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Jul 25, 2013 08:45
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Heh, biltong:  is not the same as Bolton: 
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Jul 25, 2013 09:10
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