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So I wrote up a Goon City: Yuyao thing finally; do I PM it to someone or just post? edit: So I just got a message from taobao telling me my order of compressed air had to be canceled because they can't send it through Chinese mail anymore. Is this a New Thing, or has it always been A Thing and they're just now caring? FearCotton fucked around with this message at 12:10 on Sep 14, 2013 |
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Sep 14, 2013 12:06
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synertia posted:Hong Kong island looks like the city planner's kid drew on his topographical map with a crayon just before he had a big meeting and he brought it in and said "Yeah this is what we're doing" More like it was designed by a series of colonial dickheads who each wanted some project to put their name on, but who didn't have to stick around to live with the results.
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Sep 14, 2013 12:33
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FearCotton posted:So I wrote up a Goon City: Yuyao thing finally; do I PM it to someone or just post?  No, compressed air is like the one highly controlled substance in all of China for some weirdass reason.
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Sep 14, 2013 12:44
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They are really freaked out about things like lithium batteries and compressed gases busting open on airplanes or in the back of overheated mail trucks. I have had vinyl records shipped from the us and they had really obvious heat damage. I guess the logic is they aren't careful enough to protect your package from adverse conditions so they just make sending anything remotely explosive against the rules.
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Sep 14, 2013 19:19
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GuestBob posted:Said was wrong, the Orient is genuinely vast and unknowable.
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Sep 14, 2013 19:37
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VideoTapir posted:Alternately you get in the vicinity of the address you're looking for. You ask people on the street and they point you in what they think is the right direction. Except half the time it's the wrong direction. This isn't just me speaking for my stupid foreigner experience, this happens to my wife, too. I remember when I was on the Amazing Race (China Rush *cough*), my partner and I had to get to a famous park in Suifenhe. We asked 7 different people and we got 7 different sets of directions. By directions I mean people just pointing into the air.
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Sep 17, 2013 06:03
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So, thread, what's new? I get anxious when I can't lurk the thread for more than 4 days. I need my fix, guys...
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Sep 20, 2013 13:42
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Anyone traveling or touring on the holidays?
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Sep 20, 2013 13:44
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Woodsy Owl posted:So, thread, what's new? I get anxious when I can't lurk the thread for more than 4 days. I need my fix, guys... I think you need to spend more time in the WeChat group. Endless drivel... you can lurk for hours 
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Sep 20, 2013 15:13
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VideoTapir posted:Anyone traveling or touring on the holidays? Nah. I'm just bumming around the house getting poo poo done.
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Sep 21, 2013 04:15
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VideoTapir posted:Anyone traveling or touring on the holidays? There's a chance Fearcotton and I might take a jaunt over to Hangzhou. We really liked it there, despite the HAVE YOU SEEN THE WEST LAKE????????? YOU SHOULD SEE THE WEST LAKE!!!!!!!!!!!!! issues. (In fairness, the West Lake is pretty nice.) We'll certainly make it back there again before the year is up, so if anyone with experience of the city can give us some must-sees (excepting the above), it'd be much appreciated. I vaguely recall some goons having lived there before. This will be our last year in China full-time, as we're returning to the States for grad school, so we're going to try to do some more traveling. We had a great student in Beijing who was from Guilin, and if we don't make it down there he'll be super disappointed. Plus the place looks truly beautiful. Part of me wants to check out Henan as well because who doesn't enjoy dumpster diving from time to time? Honestly, though, I want to visit Taiwan again. blinkyzero fucked around with this message at 05:35 on Sep 21, 2013 |
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Sep 21, 2013 05:32
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VideoTapir posted:Anyone traveling or touring on the holidays? I'm planning on going with a group to scope out the Guilin/Yangshuo area sometime during Oct. 1-7, although I'm worried it might be violently crowded.
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Sep 21, 2013 06:51
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I just had a strawberry mooncake and it was like the world's best poptart.
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Sep 21, 2013 12:23
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Rental Sting posted:I'm planning on going with a group to scope out the Guilin/Yangshuo area sometime during Oct. 1-7, although I'm worried it might be violently crowded. Expect everywhere to be violently crowded! Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
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Sep 21, 2013 16:35
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AfroNinja posted:Expect everywhere to be violently crowded! Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Come to Shenzhen! It's a ghost town!
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Sep 21, 2013 17:27
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AfroNinja posted:Expect everywhere to be violently crowded! Damned if you do, damned if you don't. Put about a dozen sweaty strangers in your closet. Try and squeeze into the back. Punch yourself in the dick repeatedly. Tell a few people to leave, but let another dozen in. There, you just experienced traveling during national week. For free! VideoTapir posted:Anyone traveling or touring on the holidays? I think I'm going to sit around, drink tea, and read. Maybe my tutor will be around. Maybe some goons will be around. I dunno. Looking forward to a week where I have to do absolutely nothing. Hopefully it won't be insanely crowded everywhere.
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Sep 21, 2013 18:21
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Monkey Fury posted:Put about a dozen sweaty strangers in your closet. Try and squeeze into the back. Punch yourself in the dick repeatedly. Tell a few people to leave, but let another dozen in. There, you just experienced traveling during national week. For free! I'm going to Thailand in hopes that I avoid some of that bullshit. 
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Sep 22, 2013 00:41
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I sure am glad to arrive in Hong Kong right before a typhoon! Seems like most tourist things aren't open today unless its indoors. Any locals know if the bars will be open in wan chai or lan kwai fong?
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Sep 22, 2013 05:06
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Those places never close.
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Sep 22, 2013 05:16
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doomisland posted:I sure am glad to arrive in Hong Kong right before a typhoon! Seems like most tourist things aren't open today unless its indoors. Any locals know if the bars will be open in wan chai or lan kwai fong? Probably open and may even have discounts to attract business.
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Sep 22, 2013 06:07
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I told my wife that next time she wants to bring our baby to changsha for a month, we should just save some money and roll him around in cigarette butts, shards of glass, raw sewage and toxic waste. And then I could at least take him immediately to a doctor who wont just give him an IV, rub some herbs on him, and call it a day. So she takes exception to this, and is marching huffily down the sidewalk. And strolls right through a big pile of poo poo in her sandals. Probably a question for pro-prc, we want to invest a pretty good chunk of rmb - Bank of China 6 month CD is just 2.85%. I think I saw a fairly lengthy post on this a while back, but the smaller banks offer some non guaranteed investment options right? 2.85 guaranteed is good compared to US rates, but I dont feel that great about it given the rate of inflation over here and the corresponding currency exchange risk.
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Sep 22, 2013 08:24
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I'm not sure I would invest money in an insured Chinese bank in the next couple years, much less a non-guaranteed one. There's a financial crash on the horizon. The fact that people have been predicting it for years doesn't make it less likely. Also this is Changsha right? You forgot to mention the betel nuts and saliva drenching your baby/katamari. Arglebargle III fucked around with this message at 08:30 on Sep 22, 2013 |
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Sep 22, 2013 08:28
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synertia posted:Probably open and may even have discounts to attract business. Typhoon Bar in Wanchai offers discounts during signal 8. Movies are still open, trains and restaurants are still running. Buses and taxi's are not in service though, so you have to walk.
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Sep 22, 2013 08:35
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Baddog posted:I told my wife that next time she wants to bring our baby to changsha for a month, we should just save some money and roll him around in cigarette butts, shards of glass, raw sewage and toxic waste. And then I could at least take him immediately to a doctor who wont just give him an IV, rub some herbs on him, and call it a day. 2.85% sucks. Stick your money in one of the big 4s, and just go with 理财, insured if you feel like taking a bit of a hit on the interest, but like the security it offers. Current rates are around 5~5.3% uninsured, and 4.7~5% insured.
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Sep 22, 2013 08:44
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Don't invest money in China if you're white. When poo poo goes down, you will be thrown under the bus. poo poo will go down soon. If you have to put money in a bank, put it in Hong Kong in a tbtf western bank. HSBC is being dicks right now so I like Standard Chartered or Citi. But since you're planning to lock up money at a poo poo rate anyway, why not just do treasury bonds from whatever probably stable western country you're from? TIPS and stuff are always the best choice for conservative investments. If you wanna get somewhat riskier and somewhat higher returns, watch blue chip SOEs on the HKSE and buy in when they drop.
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Sep 22, 2013 09:20
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Arglebargle III posted:I'm not sure I would invest money in an insured Chinese bank in the next couple years, much less a non-guaranteed one. There's a financial crash on the horizon. The fact that people have been predicting it for years doesn't make it less likely. Yah it's more for diversification - I like having at least some money in rmb in a bank over here for various reasons, and I'd like to be getting a decent return on it while it is here. Thanks for the quick answer pro-prc! I see those options now. And yah that betel nut poo poo is foul. I tried it one time and felt nasty for a day. They keep trying to force one of their thousand different kinds of non-refrigerated milk products on him. Like a two year old will shrivel up if he doesn't get milk for a month. I'm letting him drink the watery yogurt stuff, I figure the good bacteria might be beating out the bad stuff. Or am I just being silly?
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Sep 22, 2013 09:24
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Bloodnose posted:Don't invest money in China if you're white. When poo poo goes down, you will be thrown under the bus. poo poo will go down soon. If you have to put money in a bank, put it in Hong Kong in a tbtf western bank. HSBC is being dicks right now so I like Standard Chartered or Citi. poo poo hasn't gone down and it ain't going down anytime soon.
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Sep 22, 2013 09:25
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Look at this jerk who doesn't know anything about investing. It's going down soon in terms of investment. I don't mean tomorrow. But I definitely mean before a 10-year bond matures.
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Sep 22, 2013 09:26
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I always forget whether it's a good strategy to buy the utilities or not.
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Sep 22, 2013 09:32
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It's not. Hope this helps.
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Sep 22, 2013 09:46
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Bloodnose posted:Look at this jerk who doesn't know anything about investing. It's going down soon in terms of investment. I don't mean tomorrow. But I definitely mean before a 10-year bond matures. By pretty much every standard, the west is even more hosed. Not that any if it matters, a major going under would be domino effect aaaaand it's gone. Also, people getting hosed out of money here tends to result in quite a bit more blood on the streets, so it's pretty much the last option on the table in any "crisis".
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Sep 22, 2013 10:07
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caberham posted:Typhoon Bar in Wanchai offers discounts during signal 8. Movies are still open, trains and restaurants are still running. If I go out again it'll be to there for sure then. Lan kwai fon looks fun at night too bad I went in the afternoon and my coworker is being a pussy and 'wants to go to bed'. Psh.
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Sep 22, 2013 11:24
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Pro-PRC Laowai posted:By pretty much every standard, the west is even more hosed. The inveterate Chinese response. Something happened? Look! The west is bad! You really have assimilated.
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Sep 22, 2013 11:28
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Bloodnose posted:Don't invest money in China if you're white. When poo poo goes down, you will be thrown under the bus. poo poo will go down soon. If you have to put money in a bank, put it in Hong Kong in a tbtf western bank. HSBC is being dicks right now so I like Standard Chartered or Citi. She's still a Chinese national, and the accounts are in her name. I've got Chinese stocks, 'blue chips' and not so blue, and that poo poo is a *ton* more risky, haha. Tips are negative return given the actual real inflation rate. 5% ain't too bad for this small hedge, and I realize its not risk free. So we were just over at the 'playground' in the projects across the street, where the trash is slightly less deep on the ground than our projects. While we were unescorted, this grandma comes up with this year or so old kid with all these puss filled blisters all over his shaved head/neck/wherever. Before I realize wtf, she's literally rubbing this diseased kid on my son. I kind of freak out, but I don't think I caused any international incidents. When the wife gets back, she goes to interrogate the grandma and find out what's wrong with this kid. Apparently he has 'bubbles'. Yah, no poo poo.
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Sep 22, 2013 11:43
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Baddog posted:Before I realize wtf, she's literally rubbing this diseased kid on my son.  The gently caress?You know what, based on my experience I think I can say that Chinese grannies should be outlawed.
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Sep 22, 2013 11:53
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OK so the new Detective Dee film is coming out this week; Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon 狄仁杰之神都龙王. The first one (Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame 狄仁杰之通天帝国;, 2011), despite a dodgy CGI deer, was surprisingly quite excellent. I am genuinely really excited for this because Tsui Hark is back directing, and when he's on form he makes some of China's best movies. Full stop. Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain is classic wuxia, and the sequel/remake released in 2001 is one of my favourite fims despite a very mixed critical reception. It reminds me of Interview With a Vampire in that it focuses on immortals with magical powers moping around feeling sorry for themselves. Tsui Hark's pretty great. He gave us A Better Tomorrow, the Chinese Ghost Story films (not the modern abomination) and New Dragon Gate Inn (1992)... Anyway, the worst thing (CGI aside) about the first Detective Dee was Andy Lau as the titular character. He always seems to give the same noncommittal kind of performance, but he isn't even in this one because it's a prequel, and if there's anything Andy Lau's not, it's young. I'm willing to bet that this film will be less Young Indiana Jones, and more Young Sherlock Holmes.
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Sep 22, 2013 14:19
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Rabelais D posted:OK so the new Detective Dee film is coming out this week; Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon 狄仁杰之神都龙王. The first one (Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame 狄仁杰之通天帝国;, 2011), despite a dodgy CGI deer, was surprisingly quite excellent. These are Judge Dee films, right? I've never seen any of the movies, but I've read many of the different takes on him by Eastern and Western authors and really liked most of them.
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Sep 22, 2013 14:45
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Arglebargle III posted:The inveterate Chinese response. Something happened? Look! The west is bad! You really have assimilated. Homerism is homerism, regardless of your nationality. Rumors of QDE2 ending are exactly why many currencies took a dive for a month or so. The US may be a hated market for financial partners post-9/11 and FACTA, but it pumps a gently caress ton of money into economies around the world via the banks that receive all the free money. When there's a hint that the US bank investments are going to reverse course and flow back upstream it has a huge effect internationally. Time things by perceptions of that, for now, and you can make a pile, basically.
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Sep 22, 2013 15:28
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ReindeerF posted:I netted about $3K on a wire transfer and won a debate with a Chinese financial adviser here specifically by not listening to the usual, "Yeah, but this time it's real because look how we're the future and the West is failing so the currency will only get stronger..." stuff. Now the special lady friend listens to me when it comes to markets. I'm curious as to how you accomplished this.
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Sep 22, 2013 15:46
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Just a little unsolicited advice for you guys that marry into the culture - if you have kids, never ever relinquish your child care duties to an in law or relative no matter how many times they offer. In my experience, my in laws (parents and sisters in law) felt I couldn't have any child care skills so they attempted to veil this distrust under the guise of trying to let me work on hobbies or sleep more during the first 3 months of the baby's life. I let my sister in law stay with my wife in our bed for 6 weeks and she helped feed and care for the baby before she started sleeping through the night. Other times, I'd be holding my daughter after work and the sister in law would sweep in to take her away so I could "play game". This really started loving with our home dynamic, my relationship with my wife, and the bond that wasn't being formed with my child. My wife was the first to put the brakes on the situation and got her sister the hell out of the house, and things improved tremendously. This is a critical time for bonding with your children, and you won't be able to get that back.
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Sep 22, 2013 15:58
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