The China Megathread III: It is not a happy everyday

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Tourism & Travel > The China Megathread III: It is not a happy everyday

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Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

Never judge anything by star rating in China. There is horrible star inflation. Never stay lower than four stars and you probably won't get a soft bed for less than seven.

# ¿ Jun 25, 2013 06:16

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# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 00:41

Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

Thanks to colonial heritage, everyone in everywhere that you might want to go will speak some English and will speak English to you. A lot of the time, if you try Cantonese, they'll just speak English anyway because Rule Britannia!

There are like 80 HK goons though and some of us are native Cantonese speakers and will probably be happy to take you around to do cool stuff off the beaten track. Too bad you're here during the brutally hot summer, rainy season, typhoon season and work week though. That's inconvenient.

# ¿ Jun 26, 2013 03:29

Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

Come to Hong Kong as an NET. Live like a king. Synertia can tell you all about that. You'll get paid like 50 billion dollars and get a free ferrari.

Maybe not that hardcore, but you'll do a lot better than working at some mainland 'university' that doesn't care whether or not you show up for work. Also you can hang out with Hong Kong goons and we're cool. Plus all the benefits of not living under communist jackboots.

The NET scheme is tough to get into, but it sounds like you're a for-real teacher with real qualifications, so you should be able to pull it off.

edit: we should probably put the NET scheme in the OP somewhere.

# ¿ Jun 27, 2013 02:06

Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

'lei' and 'ngo' are marks of Cantonese, but maybe I am projecting.

# ¿ Jul 13, 2013 10:56

Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

Xian remains one of the coolest places in China for me. The high muslim population means it's easy to get non-treif food. Hooray!

The Great Mosque is an amazing thing that is way too often overlooked. If you just wandered into it, you might not even realize it's a mosque because in a lot of ways it just looks like a Chinese temple or palace.

The Wild Goose Pagoda is pretty awesome too because it's related to Dragon Ball Z in a roundabout way and is also just a neat 1400 year old structure.

Also outside of Xian is a neat Tang Palace that was the site of the Xian Incident and also an awesome set of tombs that I forgot which dynasty they belonged to and can't find on google. Oh well.

# ¿ Jul 14, 2013 04:42

Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

How long has there been controlled admission? I kind of remember it being a place you could just wander into back in 2009.

# ¿ Jul 14, 2013 13:08

Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

In other news, this is basically what my life in Hong Kong is like every day, so you should all try to move here asap.

# ¿ Jul 15, 2013 02:43

Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

Sounds like ancient hutong culture to me. I suggest moving to a more modernized, maybe more upscale area.

# ¿ Jul 16, 2013 03:47

Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

I wish someone was standing next to it for scale.

# ¿ Jul 17, 2013 05:26

Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

Arglebargle III posted:

Oh man Elysium is coming out in October and its art direction is being done by the same guy who did Blade Runner and at least one pre-screener has called it better than Bladerunner and I am so stoked.

Why is this post in any way related to tourism and travel in China?

Because Blade Runner had some Chinese characters in it?

# ¿ Jul 22, 2013 05:15

Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

Mr Gentleman posted:

I'll probably be moving to Hong Kong for work for the next few years, starting in January. Is there anyone I could PM with some questions about miscellaneous stuff about living there?

There are like a billion HK goons and we're all friendly and awesome, but I'm volunteering first.

# ¿ Jul 25, 2013 00:55

Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

My building has a pool too. I think every building in Hong Kong that isn't public housing has one.

# ¿ Jul 27, 2013 07:15

Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

BadAstronaut posted:

Are they all really well maintained and clean etc? Do many of the residents use them or are they more a nice-to-have novelty that people don't really take advantage of?

Well maintained and clean, but underutilized for sure.

And it closes at 7, so no chance to use it after work. It's really only an option on weekends.

# ¿ Jul 27, 2013 08:37

Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

Wonton posted:

There's another usage of the pool. You can always stab your husband from the back and jump from the 76th floor into the pool. : /

My favorite part of that story is that it was important for them to report that the pool was closed.

# ¿ Jul 28, 2013 05:26

Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

Just stay in Hong Kong. We'll take care of you. And November is basically the perfect time to come. It's finally stopped being cold and typhoon season is over.

# ¿ Jul 29, 2013 07:35

Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

LentThem posted:

Edit： Oh wait you want a pool, I have no idea on prices for that. Could just use any of the public pools where they charge like 25rmb/single entry or get a cheap gym membership.

poo poo, that much? They're $17-20 or $300/month in Hong Kong.

# ¿ Jul 30, 2013 03:15

Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

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.

# ¿ Aug 2, 2013 07:38

Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

Cantonese does not. It is /h/ just like English. Glottal fricative.

# ¿ Aug 2, 2013 09:01

Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

MeramJert posted:

make you pay for incoming text messages

Like Hong Kong!

# ¿ Aug 7, 2013 10:03

Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

Magna Kaser posted:

Basically if you're gonna be doing most of your downloadin' from outside China, it might not be worth it to find a super fast 100M+ connection.

This is true for Hong Kong too, though not quite as severe. I pay for this stupid 100mbps connection and the fastest I get for foreign downloads and stuff is 20m. Speedtest usually even shows me getting 50m. Liars and cheats, PCCW!

# ¿ Aug 7, 2013 10:18

Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

Short answer: yes, you will be totally fine.

Long answer: what is your gender, race, nationality and age?

Other answer: My place is open to goons again since I broke up with the girlfriend who objected to me letting random strangers sleep in my house (good riddance, right?). PM me with details if you're interested (goes for everyone).

# ¿ Aug 9, 2013 05:26

Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

Platinum is cheaper than a night in Chungking Mansion.

Deep State of Mind fucked around with this message at 22:02 on Oct 11, 2017

# ¿ Aug 9, 2013 07:28

Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

Zhuhai is to Macau as Shenzhen is to Hong Kong. It's not a very Cantonese place. It's full of hookers and other laborers from other parts of China, which makes Mandarin the easy lingua franca.

Still, it's more laid back than Shenzhen and has generally more palatable air than most cities of its size. I think the best thing is that you can very easily do a day trip to Macau. Do a lot of those, make some connections and try to work in Macau instead. It's a fantastic place.

# ¿ Aug 14, 2013 10:05

Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

BadAstronaut posted:

I've been to Vegas twice, played some small poker tournaments, loved the hell out of it. A trip to Macau is definitely on the cards, as long as they don't only cater to high rollers (I was playing like $100 max), which I can't see being the case.

They only cater to high rollers.

Macau casinos have ridiculous minimums. It's impossible to find a blackjack table for less than HK$300 a hand. But don't worry because you probably won't find any game that isn't baccarat or sic bo. Casinos in Macau are literally 60% baccarat, 30% sic bo, 10% empty tables.

Poker minimums I don't remember because I don't play, but I do remember when a poker-playing friend from America visited, we couldn't find a table he could afford. He certainly could've afforded US$100.

# ¿ Aug 14, 2013 18:40

Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

Rental Sting posted:

What are the main draws of Macau for you guys other than the gambling? The Macau episode of No Reservations made Baccarat seem like the fun, quirky Asian equivalent of Black Jack, but I'm not much of a gambler as it is.

Baccarat isn't Asian and doesn't have any of the skill element that blackjack has.

Rental Sting posted:

Does it really have a pleasant, laid back Euro-colonial vibe?

Yes, very much so. They have preserved the colonial heritage of the city. That means the old center city has a lot of the old, colonial buildings and the rest of it has the classic Portuguese slums like the favelas of Brazil.

Rental Sting posted:

Is Portuguese spoken to any considerable degree?

Kinda but no not really. It's all over the city due to government regulations, but only the people who have Portuguese ethnicity or work in the government actually speak it. That's still a fair number of people though. Locals learn more English these days.

# ¿ Aug 15, 2013 00:16

Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

caberham posted:

Okura/Four Seasons are low key with the best toiletry sets ever.

Okura is in the Galaxy and it's awesome. My favorite feature there is that they have TVs built into goon-sized bathtubs. Baths rule.

# ¿ Aug 15, 2013 03:17

Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

There are no good deals in Macau anymore. That's why I haven't been in forever. I used to go like every other week. Prices have been steadily increasing, especially in the nicest hotels, despite them massively expanding room supply. Just hope the money laundering junket stuff dries up so it can turn into something more like Vegas.

# ¿ Aug 15, 2013 06:42

Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

That Holiday Inn is brand new though. It's at the new Sands Cotai. I've not stayed in the Holiday Inn there, but I spent two nights in the Conrad and that was really nice.

I mean yeah it's the Conrad versus the Holiday Inn, but still. It's Cotai. And it's brand new. Should be a good call.

If you can get friend price at the Wynn though, that's worth it. Those beds are amazing.

# ¿ Aug 15, 2013 07:47

Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

BadAstronaut posted:

And they serve drinks as standard to anyone playing the floor?

Only coffee, milk, tea and water. No liquor like Vegas.

BadAstronaut posted:

Where in HK would one need/want to stay to be close to the ferry?

Which one? The Macau ferry is in Sheung Wan. You can stay in one of the Soho places and be pretty close. There's another ferry to Macau in Kowloon near Harbor City. The Marco Polo Hotel is really close to that one. If you mean the Star Ferry, the Marco Polo is a good choice again or I dunno, something in Central/Wan Chai on the other side. Other islands ferries... I don't know why you'd want to stay near those. Or the airport ferry, I think that's in Tsuen Wan and the airport express train is faster anyway.

Big Alf posted:

Another way of approaching it is to stay in HK and get the ferry across for the fight (I only gamble on sports and I'm a tourism atheist so seeing 'Historical Macau' doesn't float my boat.

So don't go to Macau. There's no sports books there. All Macau has is gambling and history. Shopping and eating is better in Hong Kong.

# ¿ Aug 15, 2013 09:18

Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

caberham posted:

Ummm..... you can ask for alcohol anytime.

And they give it to you free of charge? Regardless, it ain't like Vegas where cocktail waitresses prowl the floor looking for ways to get you drunk.

And I never said Macau doesn't have good food. I love eating in Macau. You forgot to mention the crystal lounge in the Grand Lisboa that has the only authentic sandwich deli in East Asia. On the whole though, Hong Kong has better dining options.

# ¿ Aug 15, 2013 09:52

Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

If you stay near the ferry terminal, you could very easily visit Macau just for your boxing match and spend the rest of your time in Hong Kong.

edit: hell, you don't even need to stay near the ferry terminal. The ferry is an hour's ride, runs 24 hours and from either dock on the Macau side to Cotai won't be more than 30 minutes including bus waiting. 15 if you take a taxi.

# ¿ Aug 15, 2013 10:25

Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

I recognize Big Wave Bay. It's not far from my place. I'll throw down the mattress for you.

# ¿ Aug 15, 2013 15:55

Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

Eat at Carl's Jr, Krispy Kreme and Papa John's.

That's the top of my list in Shanghai anyway.

# ¿ Aug 16, 2013 10:29

Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

BadAstronaut posted:

Any of you got any comment on flying Hong Kong airlines or Cathay Pacific? They good?

Cathay is my favorite airline that flies out of HK for anything. But even setting that aside, I would not choose Hong Kong Airlines because they will literally cause you to explode and die.

# ¿ Aug 20, 2013 09:50

Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

Smeef posted:

No personal screen, communal screens only showed Chinese hitorical dramas with no subs.

'historical' ( :eng101:

) is completely redundant here.

# ¿ Aug 21, 2013 07:39

Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

I also endorse that suggestion. Unironically. And being in Hong Kong, I will buy you a moon cake to celebrate.

# ¿ Aug 21, 2013 10:31

Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

GuestBob posted:

On another site I read a crash a burn story from a fool who came to China, didn't like his employer and called the US Embassy in Beijing to complain that his shower didn't work. If he'd called the British Embassy they'd have probably told him "naw mate, you want the Polish Embassy dahn the road, they do that sort of fing."

A friend of mine informed me yesterday that the Polish consulate in Hong Kong handles official business from the email address poland_hk@yahoo.com.hk

# ¿ Aug 22, 2013 03:54

Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

Rabelais D posted:

eating bits of meat that were more bone than meat

This is unacceptable and the primary reason I never eat at Cafe de Coral/Fairwood/Maxim. I'll never understand the Chinese way of stuffing a whole bony piece of meat in your mouth, sucking all the good stuff off and spitting the bone back out like a cartoon character. Why not just slice the meat off beforehand?

Then I see Chinese people at western restaurants eating ribs and chicken wings with utensils (or chopsticks :gonk:

) and I feel like I'm in a Brendan Fraser movie.

# ¿ Aug 26, 2013 16:04

Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

systran posted:

I just use the plastic gloves that I wear to eat sandwiches when I eat pizza.

I don't know if you're joking or not because some pizza places in Hong Kong actually give you cheap cellophane gloves.

# ¿ Aug 27, 2013 03:00

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# ¿ Apr 29, 2024 00:41

Deep State of Mind: Jul 30, 2006; "It was a busy day. I do not remember it all. In the morning, I thought I had lost my wallet. Then we went swimming and either overthrew a government or started a pro-American radio station. I can't really remember."; Fun Shoe

I strongly endorse comics/graphic novels for language learning, since they take realistic (err usually) spoken language and put it in written form, where it won't get mixed up by dialect/noise/stress. If you're still trying to learn everyday spoken language (which most ESL learners are), then literature and prose novels aren't that helpful, since they're full of flowery descriptive language that doesn't get used much outside of books.

Just don't use any science fiction or fantasy stories that have their own weird vocabularies.

# ¿ Aug 30, 2013 02:08

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Tourism & Travel > The China Megathread III: It is not a happy everyday

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