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When I was in Kaifeng finding my way from Henan University to the site of the Song dynasty imperial palace I had cause to reflect on what the Song aristocrats would have thought about the steaming 10-foot piles of garbage lining the road. Everyone should go to Henan.
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Nov 20, 2013 07:10
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goldboilermark posted:I know it's a minor thing but Hohhot is actually in Inner Mongolia, which is in the country of China. Mongolia is an entirely separate country, and after going there earlier this year, is massively insane compared to China. I've never been to Hohhot, though, so I can't really comment on it as a city, but it is DEFINITELY in China. Fearcotton and I really want to go to Mongolia proper sometime, perhaps this year if possible. Did you do a write-up of that trip/can you post or PM me about it?
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Nov 20, 2013 12:07
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I actually like living in Henan. On days like today where you can see the sky. My life's pretty easy, there's enough to do that I don't get bored but am also not overwhelmed. People are generally pretty nice, nobody puts on airs.
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Nov 20, 2013 12:19
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MASSIVE POST:blinkyzero posted:Fearcotton and I really want to go to Mongolia proper sometime, perhaps this year if possible. Did you do a write-up of that trip/can you post or PM me about it? Ulaan Baatar was, again, awesome. But also sketchier than any place I've been in China. Street kids pick pocketing, teenagers pick pocketing, groups of middle aged men pick pocketing, hookers walking the streets dressed like they were going to the Thunderdome. After a day or two there, we caught a ride to some national park that had dinosaur statues. Stayed in a hotel during the off season so the staff made me play ping pong and pool for like 12 hours. We hitch hiked back to Ulaan Baatar and found a travel service run by a Swedish guy who hooked us up with a couple of Mongolian guys to take us out into the countryside. We drove around, camped, stopped to visit random people, fished, and watched one of our guides try to catch an eagle because "Arabians pay big money for eagles." Then we did more camping and saw wild horses. All the while, the eagle hunter guide was challenging me to prove my manliness while hitting on my girlfriend. It was nice after a year in China because it was like bizarro land. Up was down, black was white, there are like no people, the sky was blue and at night you could see goddamn stars. Benadryl Brownie posted:Hey guys, what can you tell me about Wuhan? I'm entertaining the idea of possibly moving there for ESL teaching. Nowhere near decided and have plenty of personal reservations, but I'm curious to know about the city. Is there like a particular job you're looking at? Like Argle said, it's like 3 smaller cities smashed together. I only ever went to Hankou and Wuchang (main train station is in Hankou, a lot of sites are in Wuchang). Someone told me the other area, Hanyang, is "very nice and convenient."
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Nov 20, 2013 12:38
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Don't they call Wuhan one of the "Three Furnaces" or something like that?
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Nov 20, 2013 15:44
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Donraj posted:Don't they call Wuhan one of the "Three Furnaces" or something like that? Yep. Apparently it gets hot as poo poo there sometimes. 三大火炉
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Nov 20, 2013 15:50
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Tom Smykowski posted:Mongolian trip report Mine was somewhat similar. I flew from Beijing into Ulaanbaatar (sp?) and had a friend pick me up at the airport. One of my friends over the past four years in Tianjin is a Mongolian girl who comes to Tianjin about once every two months for work and she said she'd hook anyone up who came to visit, so of course I decided I needed to go to Mongolia. We saw two accidents on the way back from the airport and she had gotten in an accident earlier that morning going to work. Too bad there isn't a :mongolia: emoticon. I stayed at some hostel in the city, there was like only one hostel. I had traditional Mongolian food my first night with the girl, and some beers. They were good. The next day we went way out to the countryside and did offroading, which wasn't really like offroading but like the road just kinda ended and we just kept going. Wild horses everywhere, and it was April so there was a ton of snow, and we found a decent group of yurts about two or three hours outside the city, and I got to go in and see it, they were all really nice. Having a cute Mongolian girl talk with them was rather helpful, I think. We then drove a bunch and went to the new Ghangis Khan statue. Pretty cool. Massive, actually. Then went back to Ulaanbaatar. The next day I museum hopped in the city. One was good, one was...meh. I think it was the Mongolian History Museum that was pretty worthwhile. The natural history museum was a bit rubbish, at least I think it was. Hung out at the hostel that evening and walked around a bit, but almost got hit by cars like every time I went anywhere, so that was rather unnerving. Next day went to the national park with the dinosaurs, although didn't actually go to where the dinosaurs were for more than a minute or two, we went horseback riding up into the mountains to some monastery and hung out there for a while. It was in Terelj National Park (sp?) Was a rather long trip actually. I'm also quite poor at horseback riding, and the guide was just like "Good luck" and just took off and I don't think my horse really appreciated me as much as most horses appreciate their riders. Don't know if that was something about me or if that was something about the horse, I prefer to think he wouldn't have appreciated anyone, but I can't be certain. Then we went and I got to play with some falcon and some camel which was kinda cool, but the camel sneezed on me, which was not very sanitary. Then we went clubbing that night and this married couple that the girl knew got wasted and had a huge fight in the middle of the dance floor. It was apparently the PREMIER club in Mongolia, which struck me as kind of cool, as I'm not sure I've ever been to a premier club in any country...ever. I went to Ashton Kutcher's bar in LA once but I got kicked out because i was wearing sandals. Pbbt. All in all, the club was a cracking time, but it was a bit expensive. Mongolia girls, not too shabby, BTW. Had another day or two where I just walked around, Mongolia was a bit frustrating honestly because I couldn't read the language and they would put pictures outside shops that would suggest they might sell a Coca-Cola or something like this but then you get inside and it is a laundry mat and the lady says something to you and you have absolutely zero idea what she is trying to say. Anyway, beautiful country, bars were expensive downtown, there is pretty much nothing outside of downtown which is nice coming from Tianjin, food was good, girls were beautiful, transportation was dodgy, experiences were things I could never do in the United States without signing a billion release forms. Would rate it 8/10, meaning I'd love to go back someday and am glad I did it, but have other places higher up on my list of things to do while I'm over here. edit: I'm trying to get some pictures up for y'all. edit 2: They are uploading. edit 3: They finished. edit 4: Holy poo poo they are huge lol wtf edit 5: No idea how to make them smaller, here are the links Out in the middle of nowhere - http://imgur.com/aB15rsd Ghangis Khan statue - http://imgur.com/7h84Gif Some yurt, cute little Monglian kid - http://imgur.com/L7EGpGz I think I was the only expat under the age of 60 in this baller club - http://imgur.com/zuLg6zd This was the only time my horse was in first place - http://imgur.com/fQt7XP2 Whoa - http://imgur.com/5yPDuKV I literally just spent 30 minutes of my life getting these pictures up. I need to learn computers. The Great Autismo! fucked around with this message at 18:00 on Nov 20, 2013 |
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Nov 20, 2013 17:28
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If I get this gig in Hohhot, I'm definitely going to Mongolia proper after I dick around Inner Mongolia for a bit. As long as EF doesn't completely jerk me around or screw me out of pay, I'm pretty much going to be spending every waking hour not teaching exploring poo poo.goldboilermark posted:Ghangis Khan statue - http://imgur.com/7h84Gif I have to see this now. It is on my short list. I also now know what you look like and will be able to stalk you if/when I get to visit Tianjin.
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Nov 20, 2013 18:45
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goldboilermark posted:
Thanks man, sounds wild. Those pictures are amazing. That is a god damned big bird.  Just seeing those wide open spaces makes me want to go. I get tired of there being people absolutely everywhere I go in this country. Even out in the hills here in Yuyao, you walk around a couple trees and bam, another village. After our resident Xinjiang goon mentioned a few pages back how empty that province is, I was looking up train tickets to Urumqi.
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Nov 20, 2013 20:40
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about Mongolia, aka 
I guess in deference to the Mongols and their disdain for walls
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Yeah it was definitely a good time. A lot of my friends in Tianjin made fun of me for getting a week off in mid-April and going to...Mongolia. They all were pushing southeast Asia and instead I went to Mongolia. No one was making fun of me once they saw my pictures though  Also, yes, that is what I look like, but no one needs to stalk me, if you come to Tianjin the first round or two is on me so I imagine you would know what I look like at that point regardless. Cheers from San Diego, everyone!
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Nov 20, 2013 21:07
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How often are Chengdu meet ups then? You want a little white face in your goony group?!
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Nov 20, 2013 23:15
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In our hearts, we meet everyday. For food, every few weeks.YF19pilot posted:If I get this gig in Hohhot, I'm definitely going to Mongolia proper after I dick around Inner Mongolia for a bit. As long as EF doesn't completely jerk me around or screw me out of pay, I'm pretty much going to be spending every waking hour not teaching exploring poo poo.
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Nov 21, 2013 00:32
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Facepalm Ranger posted:How often are Chengdu meet ups then? You want a little white face in your goony group?! I dunno how many people will be around by next year. Everyone is leaving...
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Nov 21, 2013 01:22
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Magna Kaser posted:I dunno how many people will be around by next year. Everyone is leaving... Don't worry about those guys Facepalm, Chengdu is a great city. You should go for it.
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Nov 21, 2013 04:21
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Tom Smykowski posted:hookers walking the streets dressed like they were going to the Thunderdome Tom Smykowski posted:All the while, the eagle hunter guide was challenging me to prove my manliness while hitting on my girlfriend.  Well? Did you? Or were you cuckolded by the scion of the Great Khan? In short, I've always wanted to visit Mongolia. Now I want to go even more. Prob'ly go next year. Wanna learn some of their crazy parseltongue language first though.
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Nov 21, 2013 04:35
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I don't think anyone is leaving because of Chengdu. Chengdu is a cool place.
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Nov 21, 2013 07:57
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Yeah I should quit my job and stay in Chengdu.
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Nov 21, 2013 09:20
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This is a place holder for
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Nov 21, 2013 13:23
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I'm not leaving because of Chengdu either. This is my second time living here. And probably not my last.Bloodnose posted:I really wish you had a picture of that. Were they just dressed in tons of leather or did they actually have spiked shoulderpads or something? Bloodnose posted:
Bloodnose posted:In short, I've always wanted to visit Mongolia. Now I want to go even more. Prob'ly go next year. Wanna learn some of their crazy parseltongue language first though. The constant language lesson I heard was "IT IS PRONOUNCED CHINGHIS NOT GENGHIS CCCCHHHHHINGIS!"
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Nov 21, 2013 14:20
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Would it be better to get some barely passable Russian? I had this crazy idea of renting/buying then selling a motorcycle with a friend and going around that way for 2 weeks. Pickpocketing stories made me think, is it safe to camp out wherever you stop. I know it's legal to camp wherever, but should i worry about highwaymen?
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Nov 21, 2013 15:11
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I heard that it was more common for the older generation to learn Russian and now it's English or Chinese. My best bet would be that a little Mongolian would be more helpful than anything. In any small towns outside of the capital, I heard nothing but Mongolian. The only problem I had camping was a pack of dogs circling our campsite at night, slowly getting closer as the fire died down. And my tent not zipping up and me having a fear of large dogs and watching those goddamn eyes in the woods. Anywho, people in the countryside seemed generally friendly and welcoming, but I've heard and read stories about actual dangerous situations that aren't me being afraid of forest dogs. It's a big goddamn place though with like 2 million people, so you might not even cross anyone.
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Nov 21, 2013 15:27
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DontAskKant posted:Would it be better to get some barely passable Russian? My advice is don't worry about it.
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Nov 21, 2013 15:27
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Medical today! Gonna have so many samples china will probably clone me! EDIT: I'm in Excellent Health! They took an awful lot of blood. Facepalm Ranger fucked around with this message at 11:09 on Nov 26, 2013 |
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Nov 26, 2013 08:48
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Facepalm Ranger posted:Medical today! Gonna have so many samples china will probably clone me! Synertia has your test results. He'll be delivering them shortly.
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Nov 26, 2013 09:38
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blinkyzero posted:Synertia has your test results. He'll be delivering them shortly. Looks like he's pregnant with a turd, boys.
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Nov 26, 2013 09:44
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Congratulations, Facepalm Ranger! 
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Nov 26, 2013 09:52
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synertia posted:Looks like he's pregnant with a turd, boys. I'll name him.... ...Joey joe-joe
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Nov 26, 2013 11:16
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synertia posted:Looks like he's pregnant with a turd, boys. A few days of oily peppery chinese food will cure him of his ability to produce solid turds.
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Nov 27, 2013 03:50
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I arrived in Hong Kong today from my brief tour of Japan. It was either really cloudy or I have never seen such bad smog before in Hong Kong itself. I am taking off to Wuhan tomorrow for a couple of days until December 7 cause practically all my family is still there. I am excited to feast on Dou Pi.
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Nov 27, 2013 10:55
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AQI today is 135, It's really gross. Fortunately it won't get any worse. Enjoy your time in Wuhan the furnace! I just checked the aqi charts. Whoa, Wuhan is 97, Zhengzhou at 50. That's really really hard to believe.
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Nov 27, 2013 11:00
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It was 230+ in Shanghai on Monday. This is not a brag.
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Nov 27, 2013 11:15
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caberham posted:AQI today is 135, It's really gross. Fortunately it won't get any worse. Enjoy your time in Wuhan the furnace! I just checked the aqi charts. I have been coughing cause my throat was itchy since I landed. No idea of the AQ is a factor. It wasn't this bad even a week ago before I took off for Japan. I didn't believe the stories about the smog in Hong Kong until now. Also the past two times I visited Wuhan were in the middle of summer. I am excited to not have to sweat through my shirt. 
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Nov 27, 2013 13:17
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 My old co-worker and friend had the great idea of taking Chinese 成语 and idiomatic phrases and turn them into cool t-shirts. He is also a goon, but mostly lurks. He is a teacher and invested his life savings into the designs and then website, and all the shirts. Anyways, I thought I'd share it with you guys because you are mostly China nerds and enjoy obscure nerdy poo poo. The t-shirts are super good quality and form fitting. The website and accompanying videos are pretty amusing as well.. http://www.youarerong.com/ Rong is the company name. Its also his username. Some examples:    
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Nov 27, 2013 13:44
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http://www.youarerong.com/home.html if you want to skip the loving Flash intro
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Nov 27, 2013 13:52
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Click anywhere on the screen to skip when it's playing.
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Nov 27, 2013 13:54
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caberham posted:AQI today is 135, It's really gross. Fortunately it won't get any worse. Enjoy your time in Wuhan the furnace! I just checked the aqi charts. 135 is nothing, WTF. I FART 135.
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Nov 27, 2013 14:06
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Alright question about Chinese income tax. Basic reading had me understand the employer takes it out of my monthly pay check, I keep the payslips as proof and then do I'm guessing either a final payment at the end of the tax year or when I leave end of the visa? Any links would help, I'm just going through the first pages of google. Edit: will buy archives to check out the faqs links. BCR fucked around with this message at 14:33 on Nov 27, 2013 |
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Nov 27, 2013 14:20
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drat, those are some hella expensive tshirts.
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Nov 27, 2013 15:22
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B-Rad posted:
I love taking Chinese idioms and making them super chinglish and saying them. Never though to put it on a shirt though. Haha. That's awesome.
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Nov 27, 2013 15:39
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Quality brother. I promise you will have never looked better.
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Nov 27, 2013 15:40
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