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Pro-PRC Laowai posted:If it's just rat meat, you're probably pretty lucky. Might be whatever the stray catch of the day was, or some poisoned dead rats. I wouldn't trust anything under 2 RMB in Beijing for lamb (god I miss the days of sub-0.5). Lamb's just too expensive right now for anything cheap to be legit. Well, if I could get a lamb meal for $0.33, that would indeed be a steal. Do you guys have a baseline price to have a better than 50/50 shot to eat what I paid for? I know food in general is way cheaper there, and I certainly wouldn't mind spending 20, 40, 60 yuan to say "yup, that's chicken intestine and not rat jerky" and "yup, that is at least fish in that soup." I'm an adventurous eater in that if it's edible, and other people eat it regularly, I'll try it at least once. Offal, fermented, spicy, salty, funky, I'll give it a try. Poisoned rats though, I think I'll draw the line there. I'm only in country for a week, so I don't think I'll be able to get out and about to eat non-banquet food too often, so I don't mind spending a few bucks the handful of times I can. I'll pick up some Djarum black's too. I haven't bought a clove cigarette since college like 10 years ago. If that will make me look  to the Chinese businessmen, than I'll quietly hum some ska to myself and transport my brain back to 2001. Thanks for the smoking etiquette advice too! In general, do western brands carry more prestige? I don't want to look like a rich rear end in a top hat (I'm not even remotely wealthy - I'm a print journalist for a few tiny weeklies in BFE, Iowa), but if there's some novelty in a pack of Marlboros, I'd be happy to trade some smokes off for some of the local tobacco if they'll enjoy them.
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Aug 1, 2013 20:40
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quote:but if there's some novelty in a pack of Marlboros, I'd be happy to trade some smokes off for some of the local tobacco if they'll enjoy them. You will gain massive amounts of face for doing this. Having American cigarettes in China is like bringing a bag of candy into a kindergarten class.
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Aug 1, 2013 20:54
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systran posted:You will gain massive amounts of face for doing this. Having American cigarettes in China is like bringing a bag of candy into a kindergarten class. Sounds like a plan then!
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Aug 1, 2013 21:11
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goldboilermark posted:We have two big bathrooms, three bedrooms, a patio, a sunroom, a nice kitchen and it came with a big screen and it is 6,000/month for everything. Each roommate pays 2,000/month. Live in Wuhan. I had better than that for free with no roommates. 
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Aug 2, 2013 01:47
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Eat This Glob posted:Yeah, the hosts are covering all the food and hotel and stuff. To you and all the others, I was warned about baijiu. Is there an analog state-side? Everclear? I can more than hold my own when it comes to liquor consumption, and luckily, I'm a happy drunk. Unfortunately, I also loooove to talk politics when I tie a few on. Gonna have to hold my tongue there! I'm in Shijiazhuang, although only for about a month, so I'm not exactly an old hand. Street food is CHEAP. Depending on what you buy, it's usually just a couple of kuai. To be honest, I don't know what it's called in English or Chinese, but there's a dish that's basically tofu, meat, veggies and chiles, in broth and sesame oil. The best meal I've eaten so far was some kind of spicy roast fish stew (kaoyu).
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Aug 2, 2013 02:03
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Eat This Glob posted:I'll pick up some Djarum black's too. I haven't bought a clove cigarette since college like 10 years ago. If that will make me look I would think most Chinese wouldn't like the sweet taste of Djarums. As far as smokes are concerned, do you like (generalizing) British or Virginia tobacco? I'm a fan of these  they're relatively strong, but a nice aromatic virginia tobacco taste and 10 RMB a pack. My regular smoke in China. Whereas Zhongnanhai smokes are very popular, but are British tobacco which I don't like at all  These are also pretty decent, all less than 20 RMB a pack Yuxi  Hong Liqun  Huang he lou  Of course, all these are a virginia tobacco flavor which I prefer. Do not, under any circumstances buy these  You will probably die after smoking two. And totally bring some Marlboros (probably red packs) if you give those away as gifts or are generous with handing them out you will be everyone's new best friend. MeramJert posted:Baijiu's not bad though. I don't know why it gets such a bad reputation. Agreed. I enjoy drinking Baijiu most of the time, then again I'm kind of an alcoholic. If you like drinking, definitely get hosed up on some Baijiu. It's fun, and when else in your life will you get this opportunity? Street BBQ isn't nearly as cheap as it used to be, but normally, if you're eating a hole-in-the-wall restaurants a bowl of noodles is less than 10 RMB, dishes around 10 RMB each, and so on. You'll get a feel for it after a few days. SB35 fucked around with this message at 02:37 on Aug 2, 2013 |
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Aug 2, 2013 02:32
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Longanimitas posted:Live in Wuhan. I had better than that for free with no roommates. Yeah but I get paid a Western salary living and working here. Maybe I could get that in Wuhan, I don't know. But I'm content here with what I have for sure.
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Aug 2, 2013 03:09
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SB35 posted:I would think most Chinese wouldn't like the sweet taste of Djarums. As far as smokes are concerned, do you like (generalizing) British or Virginia tobacco? I'm a Virgina/North Carolina tobacco guy. Marlboro is my brand, by and large. I'll just talk the boss into expense accounting a couple cartons of Marbs then, and bring a pack of Djarums for shits and giggles. It's a trade mission, to a place that is basically like my home state in the U.S. A "bag 'o corn" won't impress, then, well, maybe a pack of reds will do the trick. With no Mandarin, is it easy to get a pack of smokes? Put 10 yuan on the counter and pantomime smoking a cigarette? This is babby's first trip overseas. It's kind of embarrassing, really. New Coke posted:I'm in Shijiazhuang, although only for about a month, so I'm not exactly an old hand. Works for me! I'm a giant lush, so I'm not worried about the booze, but as a food nerd, I'm stoked about eating really cool poo poo on the cheap. Now, just to avoid poisoned rat.
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Aug 2, 2013 04:09
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Drinking chat : American and Euro companies can get into frat mode and friendly initiate you to trashdom. Sometimes bosses want you to get you out of your shell and do dumb poo poo together. Depends on boss and company culture. I know Euro dudes who love pink massage parlour initations or bankers or.power lawyers drinking scotch or fine wine to socialize after work (seems after work but more networking) And guys if you type Chinese,write the ping yin not everyone knows Chinese in this thread. Stick the weird codeswitching to the other thread. I'm looking at you pro prc 
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Aug 2, 2013 04:11
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Can't blame you. I worked for a decent college, but I did not receive a Western salary. Too bad no amount of money can buy decent air in China.
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Aug 2, 2013 04:18
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caberham posted:ping yin  How ironic.
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Aug 2, 2013 04:18
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Eat This Glob posted:With no Mandarin, is it easy to get a pack of smokes? Put 10 yuan on the counter and pantomime smoking a cigarette? This is babby's first trip overseas. It's kind of embarrassing, really. Yes. If you're in any kind of city there'll be about a million little shops where you can do this.
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Aug 2, 2013 04:24
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Just remember every vendor wants your money and they'll be willing to go at least slightly out of the way to get it.
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Aug 2, 2013 04:40
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MeramJert posted:
Rawwr smart phone auto complete
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Aug 2, 2013 04:53
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Tientsin Peking What a load of rubbish Wade-Giles was.
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Aug 2, 2013 05:23
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Actually I think the "k" in Peking is there because Mandarin had a sound shift from k -> j after Wade Giles was made
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Aug 2, 2013 05:42
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Peking is still the Dutch name for Beijing even though it sounds nothing alike.
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Aug 2, 2013 06:43
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Heading back to the 'hai in the morning. Oh, US, I will miss driving until Christmas. So I have to renew my passport for the first time. Do you guys know if the consulate can do same-day service or is it just as ridiculously long as it is in the USA?
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Aug 2, 2013 06:45
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MeramJert posted:Actually I think the "k" in Peking is there because Mandarin had a sound shift from k -> j after Wade Giles was made Got an authoritative source on that? It seems reasonable given that characters that start in K in Japanese (or H or K in Korean), including gyo/kyou/king/jing start with j in Mandarin. But when you're talking about the west they could be influenced by western "all look same" sentiment and taking the pronunciation from some southern dialect or something. edit: It's "Pekin" in Japanese, even they could just say "hokkyou" or something. VideoTapir fucked around with this message at 08:49 on Aug 2, 2013 |
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Aug 2, 2013 07:26
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VideoTapir posted:But when you're talking about the west they could be influenced by western "all look same" sentiment and taking the pronunciation from some southern dialect or something. That's what I thought. 京 is usually romanized 'king' in Cantonese. Counter-evidence is that Chongqing was called Chungking, where 慶 is 'hing' in Cantonese. Maybe j/q were like g/k sounds.
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Aug 2, 2013 07:38
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I read it in a book a long time ago, but I can't really find anything online. this page seems to indicate that the shift happened sometime within the past 800 years, but it's not more specific than that. I don't really remember what book I read it in either, so what I said might be completely incorrect!
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Aug 2, 2013 08:17
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Bloodnose posted:That's what I thought. 京 is usually romanized 'king' in Cantonese. A lot of Chinese dialects have that phlegmy H sound, which some might think sounds more like K.
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Aug 2, 2013 08:43
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Cantonese does not. It is /h/ just like English. Glottal fricative.
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Aug 2, 2013 09:01
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I'm thinking about going to China in November to visit a friend who's teaching in Beijing and just see the country but I'm worried about not being able to get a visa as I'm currently traveling around SEA and won't be back home until December so I can't get one from my home country. Is it even possible anymore to get a multiple-entry visa from a neighboring country? 30 days is fine, but I want to visit Hong Kong too so I think I need a multiple entry one, right? I'm American too so this probably complicates things  I see that I need a LoI too, could my friend write one?And how's China in November? Will the weather be decent or cold/rainy?  I'll probably be either entering overland from Thailand or Laos or flying in if I can find a cheap flight. I'd like to see Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong, and the Nanning region and go overland into Vietnam to catch my flight back home.
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Aug 2, 2013 14:17
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Eat This Glob posted:Well, if I could get a lamb meal for $0.33, No, that's for *each*, a meal would consist of anywhere from 20-70 of em. Definitely like 50-70 of em if the are the tiny delicious ones that still are legit at 0.5. And to the haters, seeing as the guy speaks no Chinese, pinyin ain't gonna help much. Characters are better, at least he can whip it out, point and grunt desiringly. Also... whereabouts in Iowa? If only there was a way to grab some curds from Kalona and keep them squeeking long enough... but alas, there is not. Or getting a meal from the Canteen and having it not congeal... or tenderloin sammiches. quote:I'll pick up some Djarum black's too. I haven't bought a clove cigarette since college like 10 years ago. If that will make me look to the Chinese businessmen, than I'll quietly hum some ska to myself and transport my brain back to 2001. Thanks for the smoking etiquette advice too! In general, do western brands carry more prestige? I don't want to look like a rich rear end in a top hat (I'm not even remotely wealthy - I'm a print journalist for a few tiny weeklies in BFE, Iowa), but if there's some novelty in a pack of Marlboros, I'd be happy to trade some smokes off for some of the local tobacco if they'll enjoy them. Djarum blacks are a winner, not for the taste, but for the crackle, and the fact that they don't exist here. Marlboro... meh, personally I don't see em as anything special as they are at every duty free shop ever. Oh, be sure to enjoy some cubans while your here... just because.
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Aug 2, 2013 14:53
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Tomato Soup posted:I'm thinking about going to China in November to visit a friend who's teaching in Beijing and just see the country but I'm worried about not being able to get a visa as I'm currently traveling around SEA and won't be back home until December so I can't get one from my home country. If you can't get a multi-entry you can just make HK the first or last stop on your trip. You don't need a visa of any kind to just visit HK as an American. You only need a multi entry if you want to go to the mainland, then HK, then back to the mainland. As HK is a major hub, flying in or out of there is really easy (you could even do both!) As far as weather goes, China is a really big place so it varies. Beijing will probably have pollution as thick as pea soup and be miserable by November, though. Winters in Beijing are pretty much like a post apocalyptic wasteland.
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Aug 2, 2013 14:56
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Magna Kaser posted:Winters in Beijing are pretty much like a post apocalyptic wasteland. No, they are like Silent Hill
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Aug 2, 2013 15:08
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Pro-PRC Laowai posted:No, that's for *each*, a meal would consist of anywhere from 20-70 of em. Definitely like 50-70 of em if the are the tiny delicious ones that still are legit at 0.5. Djarums will be in the checked bag then! Yeah, if I could bring fried cheese curds and a tenderloin sandwich, that would win friends and influence people, but I doubt they'd survive the plane ride. I live in the boonies of NW Iowa, about 45 minutes NW of Fort Dodge, 45 Minutes SE of Spencer.
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Aug 2, 2013 15:47
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Pro-PRC Laowai posted:No, that's for *each*, a meal would consist of anywhere from 20-70 of em. Definitely like 50-70 of em if the are the tiny delicious ones that still are legit at 0.5.
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Aug 2, 2013 15:53
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VideoTapir posted:Uh, that's for 4 people, right? Sounds like someone doesn't know how to pack away the 串儿！
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Aug 2, 2013 16:02
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I don't even have shoes that cover my entire feet, am I going to freeze to death? Flying into Hong Kong would work too, I probably can find a cheap flight there and it might save me money I'd spend overlanding from Thailand/Laos area. I'd prefer leaving by land because I have to go to Vietnam anyway for my return flight and I'd get a chance to see the northern areas that I missed earlier.
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Aug 2, 2013 16:07
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Eat This Glob posted:I'm a Virgina/North Carolina tobacco guy. Marlboro is my brand, by and large. I'll just talk the boss into expense accounting a couple cartons of Marbs then, and bring a pack of Djarums for shits and giggles. It's a trade mission, to a place that is basically like my home state in the U.S. A "bag 'o corn" won't impress, then, well, maybe a pack of reds will do the trick. With no Mandarin, is it easy to get a pack of smokes? Put 10 yuan on the counter and pantomime smoking a cigarette? This is babby's first trip overseas. It's kind of embarrassing, really. There are a million smoke shops around. You can find them by looking for a sign like this (this indicates smokes/booze)  They typically have all the packs on display. You can just point, then pay. Pro-PRC Laowai posted:Djarum blacks are a winner, not for the taste, but for the crackle, and the fact that they don't exist here. Marlboro... meh, personally I don't see em as anything special as they are at every duty free shop ever. Oh, be sure to enjoy some cubans while your here... just because. Marlboros around China all come from the Philippines, whereas his will come from 'murica! (they do taste pretty similar though). Can always bring a few bottles of Jonny Walker or something. Whip that out at your table and then you won't have to drink as much baijiu, and laugh when your Chinese table buddies get hosed up. SB35 fucked around with this message at 16:56 on Aug 2, 2013 |
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Aug 2, 2013 16:50
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Marlboro for the guys, Godiva for the girls, milk powder for the moms.
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Aug 2, 2013 17:07
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SB35 posted:There are a million smoke shops around. You can find them by looking for a sign like this (this indicates smokes/booze) Awesome. That'll be a great help. Now to get my boss to cover the cost of booze and smokes for gifts! Is there a limit I can bring in to the country? I'm not planning on filling a duffel bag full, but would two 750ml bottles of Johnnie Walker and a couple cartons of smokes get me in trouble? Jeoh posted:Marlboro for the guys, Godiva for the girls, milk powder for the moms. Awesome. I can't help but think I'd get weird looks handing out formula as a party favor though. I know they've got contamination issues with domestic formula brands, but is that a real suggestion? Or are you talking regular-rear end powered milk for some other reason?
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Aug 2, 2013 17:44
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Tomato Soup posted:I don't even have shoes that cover my entire feet, am I going to freeze to death? This is the perfect opportunity to get a military coat here then... the only question of course, will you be a sucker who falls for the fakes, or will you manage to score a real one? And of course... can you rock it?
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Aug 2, 2013 17:53
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Fourth interview out the way, and it went really well. Fifth coming up in two hours, and barring disaster, there's a decent chance I'm on my way to China in the next couple of months 
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Aug 2, 2013 19:03
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Got the job at the international school I posted about a little while back, so I'm just waiting on my visa before I come to live in the picturesque TEDA! Is there any sort of music scene in Tianjin? Given the amount of universities (and the youtube videos of kids doing bad Black Flag covers I found) I kind of hope so.
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Aug 3, 2013 02:36
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Vulpes Vulpes posted:Got the job at the international school I posted about a little while back, so I'm just waiting on my visa before I come to live in the picturesque TEDA! Is there any sort of music scene in Tianjin? Given the amount of universities (and the youtube videos of kids doing bad Black Flag covers I found) I kind of hope so. No, but you'll get to hang out with TWM unless he blows you off to get laid. Enjoy the youtube videos while you can. edit: I saw Cut Chemist at Yugong Yishan and while the show was amazing he didn't go on until after midnight for a 9PM show (with no opening act) and I had to leave before his set finished cause it was like 3AM and I had work the next day. Wanted to see Peaches at the same venue but it was like 200RMB tacoman165 fucked around with this message at 03:40 on Aug 3, 2013 |
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Aug 3, 2013 03:34
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tacoman165 posted:No, but you'll get to hang out with TWM unless he blows you off to get laid. Enjoy the youtube videos while you can. 200rmb for the teaches of peaches isn't too bad. Smashing Pumpkins here is like 450HKD.
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Aug 3, 2013 04:30
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synertia posted:200rmb for the teaches of peaches isn't too bad. Smashing Pumpkins here is like 450HKD. 200RMB to hear gently caress the Pain Away, but I really like Smashing Pumpkins (even if Billy Corgan is a weirdo wrestling fanatic that shills for furniture companies now)
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Aug 3, 2013 05:33
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