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Air in Seoul (aqi) is 3x as bad as Beijing again. Get me to China so I can breathe, and start vacation.
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Aug 12, 2014 17:17
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Does South Korea still burn a lot of coal? How does the air there get so bad when they seem a lot more developed than China?
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Aug 12, 2014 17:28
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It doesn't get bad in much of the country, it's mostly just Seoul. Occasionally in winter clouds of Chinese coal smoke drift over, but mostly it's just regular old cars/industrial pollution. Tends to get trapped because Korean cities are basically all valley bowls surrounded by mountains. A really bad AQI day in Seoul is like 200 though, it doesn't even compare to China. It's just unusually clean in Beijing at the moment. E: Right now most of Seoul appears to be around 150 and Beijing is 75.
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Aug 12, 2014 17:33
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The AQI ratings never really make too much sense to me. 350 in Nanjing is worse than 250 in Nagoya or Taipei, but that 250 feels way better than 130 in Seoul. 130 in Seoul is pain for me.
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Aug 13, 2014 00:54
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Maybe you're conflating the general badness of Seoul with the air quality?
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Aug 13, 2014 02:44
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Question about tourist visas. I'm here on a Z visa and my girlfriend would like to come visit from the US in October because I have the week off for National Day. Apparently I need to send her an invitation letter and provide proof of my identity. Can I include a photocopy of my Z Visa, or residence permit, or will those not suffice? Should she just try to find a tourist group to sponsor her?
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Aug 13, 2014 08:21
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It's way easier to just get her a regular tourist visa.
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Aug 13, 2014 08:32
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Sever.
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Aug 13, 2014 08:35
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Zophar posted:Question about tourist visas. I'm here on a Z visa and my girlfriend would like to come visit from the US in October because I have the week off for National Day. Apparently I need to send her an invitation letter and provide proof of my identity. Can I include a photocopy of my Z Visa, or residence permit, or will those not suffice? Should she just try to find a tourist group to sponsor her? Have your company write something it should be fine. That's what most people in my company who have people come over do and I don't think a single one has been denied.
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Aug 13, 2014 09:06
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Letter, from yourself on company headed notepaper with company chop. Copies of your Passport's facing page, your Residence Permit and your FEC, all with company chop (to be on the safe side). The letter should include a line like this: "I, Goonlord McAlpha (US Passport number: 123456; Chinese Residence Permit number: 123456; DOB: 01/01/1979) am in desperate need of sex as the local women are not sturdy enough to bear my engorged bulk and I would like to invite my longstanding partner, Nicola Neckbeard (US Passport number: 123456; DOB: 01/01/1989) to visit me between [date] and [date] for the purposes of touring China on holiday, including the province in which I currently live and work. [offer of further information and assistance, blah]" Clear? The new "S1" visa category (which you shouldn't apply for) is actually applicable for the partners of Resident Permit holders. There's an unmarried couple near me who are here on a Z/S1 combination. But that's for long term. GuestBob fucked around with this message at 09:37 on Aug 13, 2014 |
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Aug 13, 2014 09:20
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GuestBob posted:Letter, from yourself on company headed notepaper with company chop. Copies of your Passport's facing page, your Residence Permit and your FEC, all with company chop (to be on the safe side). Put this in the OP
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Aug 13, 2014 10:00
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That's pretty good information, yeah. But gently caress, just book a hotel for one night and get a regular tourist visa. Save yourself the headache.
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Aug 13, 2014 10:01
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Jeoh posted:That's pretty good information, yeah. What's a regular tourist visa? Is there something different from the L Visa?
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Aug 13, 2014 10:33
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I mean, just going through the regular tourist procedure, instead of getting the invitation letter. It's the same visa in the end.
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Aug 13, 2014 11:28
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Zophar posted:What's a regular tourist visa? Is there something different from the L Visa? All you need is a return flight ticket and hotel booking confirmation to get a tourist visa. The hotel confirmation doesn't even have to be real, or you can just cancel it before you go. None of this invitation stuff is necessary.
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Aug 13, 2014 11:32
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Arakan posted:All you need is a return flight ticket and hotel booking confirmation to get a tourist visa. The hotel confirmation doesn't even have to be real, or you can just cancel it before you go. None of this invitation stuff is necessary. Cool, thanks for the tip. My school wants to take me to a clinic tomorrow to redo my health examination. I'm spooked over the blood draw and terrified about contamination. Any tips or assurances you guys have to ease my mind?
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Aug 13, 2014 12:54
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That's something that we do as well, the physical is done again in China. I hate needles to start and needles in China really bug me but I survived, though my posting is now terrible.
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Aug 13, 2014 12:59
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Last time i had blood drawn in china i had to make the nurse go put on a new glove because hers had blood on it. Good luck!
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Aug 13, 2014 13:52
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maybe it has always been terrible
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Aug 13, 2014 13:56
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i havent had this problem in china before, but remember: possibly up to a million of the people with hiv in china got it because of government sponsored bloodwork
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Aug 13, 2014 14:06
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For people asking about what to do in Sichuan: there is an embarrassment of national parks in the south of the province near the border with Yunnan province. I am in Yibin Bamboo Sea National Park right now but on my way I found out there are like three other big parks in the area. There are busses running from Chengdu New South Gate station or you can go to Yibin by bus or sleeper train. In Yibin the South Shore bus station only runs busses to the attractions in the area. When I was there today, there were at least 2 dozen buses to varius locations, probably 20 different parks forests and mountains. Beware, the train to Yibin is slower than the bus because it stops at every 3rd and 4th tier city along the way as well as a few podunk towns. It is quite scenic though; the railroad follows a river valley most of the way. You can sleep on the train and if 3.5 hours on a coach bus sounds too uncomfortable you can do 5.5 hours in a sleeper car instead. One last thing, a lot of these locations are national parks, which means they are quite big. It would be convenient to have a car or a bike to get around inside these attractions. I know this maybe a bit of a stumbling block for most goony types, and it's hard to bring a bike, but Yibin has a public bike system and you may, with a little foresight, steal one for use in a public park.
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Aug 13, 2014 15:00
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Has anyone been to 平乐 Ping Le? Bugblatter's hostel owner bud recommended it as an old well preserved village.
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Aug 13, 2014 15:51
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I'm thinking of visiting Hong Kong. Maybe in November. Probably for about a week before hitting up the rest of china for some tourism. Any recommendations?
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Aug 13, 2014 17:10
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So this National Day week off in October thing, is that everybody like spring festival? What are the dates off? My family wants me to visit and I wasn't sure if there was any significant time off before CNY.
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Aug 13, 2014 17:22
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Grand Fromage posted:So this National Day week off in October thing, is that everybody like spring festival? What are the dates off? My family wants me to visit and I wasn't sure if there was any significant time off before CNY. It's october 1-7 but you'll probably have to work Sep 27/28 and Oct 11/12, both weekends, because China. But every company is a little different!!
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Aug 13, 2014 17:39
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also you won't know which weekends you have to work until two or three days before you have to work them
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Aug 13, 2014 17:57
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Ceciltron posted:I'm thinking of visiting Hong Kong. Maybe in November. Probably for about a week before hitting up the rest of china for some tourism. Any recommendations? Come hang out in Tianjin for a day or two tia
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Aug 13, 2014 18:11
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goldboilermark posted:Come hang out in Tianjin for a day or two tia Actually trying to fit in Tianjin but doing so may jeopardise my plans to go to Chengdu. Places I want to see/visit (departure point would probably be from an arrival and a few days in Hong Kong) (in no specific order): Shanghai Suzhou Nanjing Tianjin Chengdu Zhouzhuang Guilin I know I can't reach everything, but I'd be happy to cover maybe 1/2 of these in 2 weeks (probably in November).
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Aug 13, 2014 20:46
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MeramJert posted:i havent had this problem in china before, but remember: possibly up to a million of the people with hiv in china got it because of government sponsored bloodwork Well, now I'm freaking out. Don't think I was prepared for this job.
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Aug 13, 2014 23:00
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That was from like blood donations awhile ago. I never had any sanitation problems when I got health checks.
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Aug 13, 2014 23:13
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So what's the recommended VPN service these days? vypr, 12vpn, astrill? I was using some garbage 'privateinternetaccess' VPN, not very useful.
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Aug 13, 2014 23:13
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systran posted:also you won't know which weekends you have to work until two or three days before you have to work them I don't think that's true. My office already has a thing up telling us what weekends are work days. I'm in America that whole time though hahaha suckers!
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Aug 14, 2014 00:48
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The university I worked at posted the whole semester schedule online like a week or two before the classes started. It was in a weird place on the website and all in Chinese but it was there.
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Aug 14, 2014 01:09
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Ceciltron posted:Actually trying to fit in Tianjin but doing so may jeopardise my plans to go to Chengdu. Tianjin is the one that doesn't fit in and no hard feelings if you can't make it but really if you come I'll show ya some cool places and we can drink some good beers 
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Aug 14, 2014 02:07
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stubinator posted:So what's the recommended VPN service these days? See the last few pages. What works for you probably doesn't work for someone else because of how the firewall is different around the country. Just get some free trials and try them for yourself.
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Aug 14, 2014 02:17
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Everyone is coming to Chengdu I should do an updated post about it.
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Aug 14, 2014 02:46
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Zophar posted:Well, now I'm freaking out. Don't think I was prepared for this job. The E/E & Quarantine Medical Center is used to dealing with foreigners who think that they are going to catch AIDS from a Chinese hospital toilet seat. You have nothing to worry about. Settle down.
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Aug 14, 2014 02:56
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I guess for me the real decision-makers are whether or not a city has: 1. cool old stuff 2. good air (still traumatised by harbin's winter) 3. goons to show us around/chill with 4. gardens (I'm a sucker for classical gardens) Between chengdu and tianjin, which wins?
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Aug 14, 2014 02:58
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stubinator posted:So what's the recommended VPN service these days? Aero is right, different everywhere. GF had good luck with express VPN on computer and phone. Not the cheapest but not as expensive as vypr
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Aug 14, 2014 03:10
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GuestBob posted:The E/E & Quarantine Medical Center is used to dealing with foreigners who think that they are going to catch AIDS from a Chinese hospital toilet seat. You have nothing to worry about. Settle down. This is a pretty fun article to read: http://www.theguardian.com/world/2001/jun/11/china.internationaleducationnews good luck!
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Aug 14, 2014 03:13
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