|
Warbird posted:So guess who's getting married later this year? Apparently me. Grandma asked the fortune teller when her granddaughter and the foreigner should get hitched, and it's August or about that time. I know a few of you are married to Chinese citizens, any wedding hot tips? I have no idea what I'm doing and I think/hope the inlaws are handling the logistics. Congratulations gaijin
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2016 14:33
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 28, 2024 11:57 |
|
|
Weddings have their regional differences so I can't help you. Also depends on family traditions and socio economic background
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2016 15:22
|
|
|
maybe you can have a rest
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2016 15:51
|
|
|
A family friend tried to kill me via alcohol poisoning at our (pre)engagement dinner, so hopefully they got the hint last time. Her family's pretty well to do in the Shandong province, but I doubt that helps any.
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2016 15:53
|
|
|
Generally the more north you go the heavier the drinking. the trashier they are
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2016 15:56
|
|
|
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2016 17:52
|
|
|
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2016 17:57
|
|
|
simplefish posted:Do you have a degree? A CELTA or other TEFL certificate? I have a degree and am in the process of completing a TEFL course, yeah. Still pretty hard to figure out where I might like to be, though east China seems a good bet
|
|
#
?
Apr 15, 2016 20:11
|
|
|
Paperhouse posted:Hi China thread. I'm strongly considering coming to work as a teacher in China and wondered if you had any sort of consensus on where to go/where not to go? I know that's pretty subjective but I'm having a hard time really narrowing down where I'd be aiming to work. Shanghai would be cool but I guess that's where everybody wants to go, so I'm not sure if it's viable for someone with no experience. Some people online suggest you'll only get a job there with experience. Perhaps living somewhere not far from Shanghai would be good? help. Jeoh posted:the only good city in china is chengdu e: Our company is hiring and our school is great; PM myself or Grand Fromage for more info. Oracle posted:How trustworthy is the Chinese mail system? If I'm sending documents with sensitive information to someone who needs to send them to the consulate are they going to get opened and read? Should I just use a courier? Mostly worried about identity theft. Welp, I got a package last week that had been sent out December 3rd, so... I've SO FAR only had one package disappear, and it's because my mom is a drunken derplord and decided not to print out and affix the hanzi address because "it'll be fine!" Regardless, I'd send it the safest possible way, just in case. Tracking, insurance, what have you.
|
|
#
?
Apr 18, 2016 12:15
|
|
|
bringmyfishback posted:SO FAR only had one package disappear, and it's because my mom is a drunken derplord and decided not to print out and affix the hanzi address because "it'll be fine!" Are we related? You're describing my mother, and my last two Christmas presents.
|
|
#
?
Apr 18, 2016 13:07
|
|
|
bringmyfishback posted:e: Our company is hiring and our school is great; PM myself or Grand Fromage for more info. How did you guys choose where you ended up? I'm starting to think I'd be better off applying for many cities and seeing what sticks since lots of them look interesting
|
|
#
?
Apr 18, 2016 15:34
|
|
|
They speak weird dialects everywhere unless you dump yourself in Heilongjiang or something.
|
|
#
?
Apr 18, 2016 16:09
|
|
|
If you work here, make sure you find a good work environment because that makes or breaks your china life. Even if you are placed in gently caress off bum town in the middle of Henan, if your school is good then you won't be as miserable. However the coastal and major cities tend to have their poo poo put together and attract better recruits because only sane people want to live in more modern areas. Unless you are those weird REAL CHINA AND ONLY SPEAK MANDARIN kind of person. Which actually does wonders for your language skills
|
|
#
?
Apr 18, 2016 16:54
|
|
|
So facing the prospect of marring my wife and then not seeing her for 3 months while her visa processes, I think we may just elope this weekend and get the whole mess started now. Now I can have people from both sides of the Pacific pissed at me! Yay!
|
|
#
?
Apr 18, 2016 18:01
|
|
|
You shouldnt do that to your wife
|
|
#
?
Apr 18, 2016 18:34
|
|
|
Don't have a choice I'm afraid. If she stops working, her CPT goes out the window. May as well get a license now, and having a proper wedding in 3 months once she can actually stay with me for longer than a weekend at a time.
|
|
#
?
Apr 18, 2016 18:54
|
|
|
I was talking about a typo on your other post, mate
|
|
#
?
Apr 18, 2016 19:05
|
|
|
Warbird posted:So guess who's getting married later this year? Apparently me. Grandma asked the fortune teller when her granddaughter and the foreigner should get hitched, and it's August or about that time. I know a few of you are married to Chinese citizens, any wedding hot tips? I have no idea what I'm doing and I think/hope the inlaws are handling the logistics.
|
|
#
?
Apr 18, 2016 21:33
|
|
|
Paperhouse posted:I'm not ready yet to apply, but I do appreciate this. Chengdu actually does look great, though I got it in my head that I'd like to get reasonably okay at Mandarin and apparently they speak a weird dialect there? In Shanghai they don't even speak the same language as Mandarin (natively), they speak 吴语 which is as different to Mandarin as French is from Portuguese. That said, in Chengdu they speak another different dialect entirely so it's not much different. Like someone said, the only place they speak "proper" putonghua is way up north, everywhere else will have the majority of the people speaking accented Mandarin. Harbin is p cool actually (and very cheap) but it's also basically Siberia. Also for teaching especially, the money:cost of living ratio goes up a lot once you leave Shanghai and Beijing, so that's another thing to consider. Chengdu, Guangzhou, Xiamen, Chongqing, etc... are all big cities but have a much lower cost of living with not that much lower average salary. Shanghai and Beijing do have much larger expat crowds, more English-speaking/western-centric activities, more international food options, etc... so if you care about that there are legit benefits for that higher cost of living.
|
|
#
?
Apr 19, 2016 04:50
|
|
|
Magna Kaser posted:. This is THE thing to consider. If you aren't getting 15k a month plus in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen financially it makes no sense to live and work there, unless you really want the English-speaking/western centric activities, but if that's the case, you probably don't need to come to China for that and could just go to Korea or Japan or any other first world country in the world.
|
|
#
?
Apr 19, 2016 06:25
|
|
|
Magna Kaser posted:In Shanghai they don't even speak the same language as Mandarin (natively), they speak 吴语 which is as different to Mandarin as French is from Portuguese. I quoted Magna but this is really for paperhouse Shanghainese-accented mandarin is way more attractive sounding than the real stuff up north because nobody shoehorns "er" sounds into everything. Also the shanghainese dialect is pretty cool and at least for the more common words is a type of 'lazy mandarin' pronunciation replacement for words - also tones are much less important and if anything sounds a bit like spoken Japanese. If you learn this dialect it's like being part of a church community in that all Shanghai natives will instantly trust and respect you more (a lot of salesmen from elsewhere will learn it because it's an easy way to make sales). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTe7gC5mk8g Also if you've seen some of the other China discussions on the forums, Shanghai is a lot less "China" than almost anywhere else on the mainland (except maybe Shenzhen? or Xiamen?). For some people this is an advantage because China will break them unless they hang out in the shallow end, though for others that makes it a huge turn-off.
|
|
#
?
Apr 19, 2016 08:16
|
|
|
Trammel posted:Are we related? You're describing my mother, and my last two Christmas presents. I WISH I could get my brother to come over! Paperhouse posted:I'm not ready yet to apply, but I do appreciate this. Chengdu actually does look great, though I got it in my head that I'd like to get reasonably okay at Mandarin and apparently they speak a weird dialect there? All parts of China speak a weird dialect, really. You'll do fine speaking Mandarin with almost everyone. I didn't choose, really; GF is my real-life homie and he was like hey i can get you a job. It worked out well!
|
|
#
?
Apr 19, 2016 12:38
|
|
|
Tom Smykowski posted:I was talking about a typo on your other post, mate My bad, I'm not a native English speaker. I assume you're talking about me marrying my wife and not the fiance? Also, not happening this weekend because April is the 4th month of the year and we'll both drop dead if we get a legal document signed in that time. The fact that she typically uses the Lunar calendar for all her other superstition affairs notwithstanding. ReindeerF posted:Explain FATCA to them over drinks, if you're American. Not only is the gobsmacked reaction entertaining, but it doubles as the legal Leatherman of dealing with sticky Chinese family situations. I make a point not to discuss politics, religion, college football teams that are not Alabama, and general affairs pertaining to any aspect of finance if at app possible in polite company.
|
|
#
?
Apr 19, 2016 14:54
|
|
|
Where is the best place for a first time (tourist) visitor to stay in Shanghai? I value being able to wander to decent restaurants and bars at the end of the day without having to trek too far across the city.
|
|
#
?
Apr 20, 2016 01:45
|
|
|
Have any of you in China now seen the new The Jungle Book movie? If so, a buddy and I were curious as to what they called Baloo in Mandarin, since his name means literally "bear" in Hindi.
|
|
#
?
Apr 20, 2016 04:51
|
|
|
Cheesemaster200 posted:Where is the best place for a first time (tourist) visitor to stay in Shanghai? I value being able to wander to decent restaurants and bars at the end of the day without having to trek too far across the city. What's your budget? I recommend somewhere near the French quarter or Jing An area. You can walk around at night and go to some decent restaurants and bars. There's good craft beer places, good cocktail bars, decent Chinese restaurants and Japanese food too, and slightly less touristy than Nanjing lu/the bund. Plus you are on the green line so you are a few stop from the Bund/Yu gardens The Hanting All seasons I normally go to is now labeled as JI hotel. http://www.booking.com/hotel/cn/qua...highlight_room= The rate here is slightly more expensive but it's the only site in English as far as I know caberham fucked around with this message at 05:15 on Apr 20, 2016 |
|
#
?
Apr 20, 2016 05:06
|
|
|
Thirteen Orphans posted:Have any of you in China now seen the new The Jungle Book movie? If so, a buddy and I were curious as to what they called Baloo in Mandarin, since his name means literally "bear" in Hindi. His name isn't just "bear", I know. I'm forgetting the exact characters used but it's something that sounds like "Baloo". e: whoops I was using a source for the book not the movie. Mowgli is 毛克利 (mao ke li) Baloo is "巴鲁" (ba lu) All the animals have a phonetically transliterated name, pretty much. Ailumao fucked around with this message at 05:51 on Apr 20, 2016 |
|
#
?
Apr 20, 2016 05:45
|
|
|
Magna Kaser posted:His name isn't just "bear", I know. I'm forgetting the exact characters used but it's something that sounds like "Baloo". Thank you!
|
|
#
?
Apr 20, 2016 05:57
|
|
|
Cheesemaster200 posted:Where is the best place for a first time (tourist) visitor to stay in Shanghai? I value being able to wander to decent restaurants and bars at the end of the day without having to trek too far across the city. Le Tour is pretty good. http://letourshanghai.com/v2/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=19&Itemid=114 It's in Jing'An and was pretty good as far as hostels go. There's a lot of nice bars and places to eat in that area. Most of the big drinking areas are in the French Concession. There weren't really any places that I can remember in the French Concession but if your Chinese is alright you could do a regular hotel.
|
|
#
?
Apr 20, 2016 12:09
|
|
|
My sister is going to China for work-related reasons and she's looking for a VPN for her and 4 other co-workers to use while they're there. Last I checked, Astrill still had issues working over iPhone/iPad (which she tells me is what most of them will be carrying), so does anyone have any other suggestions for a VPN?
|
|
#
?
Apr 20, 2016 16:11
|
|
|
S.D. posted:My sister is going to China for work-related reasons and she's looking for a VPN for her and 4 other co-workers to use while they're there. Last I checked, Astrill still had issues working over iPhone/iPad (which she tells me is what most of them will be carrying), so does anyone have any other suggestions for a VPN? If it's for work, then expense and prepay for some international mobile roaming data packs from your local Telco. Roaming data isn't hit by the GFW, it gets routed directly to the home country. Otherwise I can't recommend a business class VPN that works in China now.
|
|
#
?
Apr 20, 2016 16:17
|
|
|
Pretty much above. But internet speed will still be affected traversing the GFW+
|
|
#
?
Apr 20, 2016 16:44
|
|
|
caberham posted:What's your budget? I don't want to be more than $200 a night. Going with my girlfriend who has never been to Asia, so we are starting off in Shanghai and nice hotels. Southern Jing An is where I was previously looking, as it seemed far enough away from the Bund / People's Square to be less annoying, but still within traveling distance to everything. In regards to cell phone discussion; my employer gives me international AT&T SIM cards whenever I travel abroad so I can keep in touch. Will that be blocked or affected by the Chinese firewall?
|
|
#
?
Apr 20, 2016 21:53
|
|
|
$160 is standard decent quality with breakfast/internet/gym/pool/rides to public transportation. Also I see that hotel cheaper on Agoda
|
|
#
?
Apr 20, 2016 23:06
|
|
|
There's a chain of budget hotels in Shanghai called Hanting Express, maybe $100 per night though locations won't be as good.
|
|
#
?
Apr 21, 2016 03:21
|
|
|
Guys who spend lots of time in china should come back and post funny stories here, and gtfo out of gbs.
|
|
#
?
Apr 24, 2016 01:42
|
|
|
LentThem posted:Also the shanghainese dialect is pretty cool and at least for the more common words is a type of 'lazy mandarin' pronunciation replacement for words - also tones are much less important and if anything sounds a bit like spoken Japanese. If you learn this dialect it's like being part of a church community in that all Shanghai natives will instantly trust and respect you more (a lot of salesmen from elsewhere will learn it because it's an easy way to make sales).
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2016 06:03
|
|
|
Ragingsheep posted:Speaking of which, when did they start doing the announcements in Shanghinese on the buses? In the past few years there's been quite a resurgence in preserving topolects since adults realized the younger set are all basically unable to speak them whatsoever, and this is part of that. They're working on bringing Wu/Cantonese/Minnan/etc classes into classrooms now as well though that will probably be harder since 讲普通话，写规范字 and all that. When I lived in Hangzhou in about 2010-2011 there were some Hangzhounese (p similar to Shanghainese) schools popping up as an after school or weekend thing for kids. It's grown a lot since then.
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2016 08:37
|
|
|
Guess that just makes Guangdong Province super special because The TV station always had Cantonese programming. And everyone in Guangzhou speaks Cantonese.
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2016 09:51
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 28, 2024 11:57 |
|
|
caberham posted:Guess that just makes Guangdong Province super special because The TV station always had Cantonese programming. And everyone in Guangzhou speaks Cantonese. Nah it's just about being further away from Beijing. 山高皇帝远
|
|
#
?
Apr 26, 2016 10:19
|
|