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william567 posted:I've arrived here and am set up with China Unicom. Is it just my luck or is prepaid data here just terrible? I signed up with a prepaid card that was like 96 yuan (with 30 for the sim) and I went through the data allowance in an afternoon. Did you buy a used card? Also, was it a China Unicom store or some hole in the wall store that advertised itself as China Unicom? Sounds like you just got someone else's sim card with their data usage tacked on.
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Jun 25, 2013 03:23
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goldboilermark posted:GuestBob for president 2016. The last King of Scotland! I've heard Hainan isn't too bad in the winter. I had some coworkers spend a month there and they said it was nice. Just don't go during the national holidays I guess.
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Jul 9, 2013 14:32
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Eat This Glob posted:Long shot, but is anyone here familiar with rural Hebei Provence? I'm going over for a trade conference between Iowa and the provence as the international correspondent for my (two person writing staff) weekly newspaper. My boss - the other writer - was originally going to go, but doesn't want to any more, so I'm off to China for a week to write about people talking about pork, soybeans, and corn. I don't have an itinerary yet, but if you wouldn't mind me bouncing some general questions off you, send me a PM, or let me know where I can email you! I don't think anyone here has lived in Hebei but some might have visited. I lived in Henan for a couple of years, which is south of Hebei, and it's probably not much different though other than being poorer. Most of your time will probably be in Shijiazhuang, the capital. The air quality there is supposed to be especially bad and it's always worse in the winter everywhere in China. Bring a good 3M mask. You'll probably be brought around to different places and treated to banquets. How are you at drinking because they'll probably want to drink baijiu with you at said dinners? You don't have to by the way, no matter how offended they are. Offering beer instead also works.
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Jul 31, 2013 21:44
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SB35 posted:Girlfriend and I flew into Detroit, and holy poo poo, 9/10 people that work in that airport are enormous. She was simply amazed. When I got into Detroit once, the family across from me as I waited for my flight to Atlanta were fat rednecks in hunting camo. It was just a sampler for Florida, my final destination.
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Aug 7, 2013 07:39
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BadAstronaut posted:predownload a bunch of games on Steam Steam works fine in China. There's even a Beijing server that I got good download speeds on in the middle of China with the 2nd to 3rd slowest Internet in China. You'll need a VPN to buy things but downloading is not an issue. Even poo poo that's banned in China, like Hearts of Iron, can be downloaded no problem. Also, your 3DS eShop won't work and good luck finding games. Most the games are Japanese or the Chinese region. I'd leave the 3DS at home unless you only want to play what you bring with you. EDIT: Occasionally you'll find a US game, more so in BJ and SH. The selection will be limited though and the prices will be higher than US retail. I'm also assuming you have an EU 3DS. RocknRollaAyatollah fucked around with this message at 16:12 on Aug 8, 2013 |
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Aug 8, 2013 16:05
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There used to be more US region stuff but China just got it's own 3DS. They're supposed to be getting a PS3 release soon, if they haven't already. PS3 works great by the way. PSN has no issues and there is no region locking except for PSOne titles and the rare PS3 title like Persona 4 Arena. You can even get games cheaper than US retail at launch in English but that's mainly in BJ where competition reigns supreme and the market isn't inflated by cash flush expats throwing down ridiculous money.
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Aug 8, 2013 16:16
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systran posted:You're basically going to have to just get a flash cart and pirate games. I never saw a DS game in China because they would just offer to hook you up with a flash cart. Even when you try to buy a PS3 game at the store, they will tell you, "I can mod your PS3 for you instead and put all these games on it." Piracy in China is done without a second thought making "real games" or "real movies" pretty sparse and overpriced. Ni3 yao4 dao4ban3 hai2shi zheng4ban3 de? Do you want a pirated or a legit copy? Put some pinyin with your hanzi. Not everyone can read or write Chinese in this thread, especially the new people. Flashcarts don't work on the 3DS as well and will possibly brick it. They did for a short time but patching and a change to the Nintendo EULA has pretty much told people who even do homebrew to get hosed.
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Aug 8, 2013 16:24
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caberham posted:If only you made a pizza then you wouldn't be in this situation I don't think anyone physically has one yet. They just recently went on sale and sold out in 30 seconds.
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Aug 13, 2013 16:11
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I'm going to be back in Shanghai Saturday night. Anyone want to have an impromptu goonmeet Sunday?
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Aug 20, 2013 06:12
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VideoTapir posted:people still care about in flight entertainment? I like to catch up on the movies that I didn't get a chance to see, didn't want to pay to see, or what have never seen unless I was in such a situation. Delta and United usually have a good selection. American was pretty awful.
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Aug 21, 2013 05:58
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DontAskKant posted:Hey that 1:30-2:30 nap is a proud cultural tradition, also the mid morning nap and the lunch nap and after lunch nap and the post after lunch nap. At least in Korea, i hear it's similar in China. It's like working with less efficient Italians. Yeah, it's a pretty common thing throughout the world. At least regular businesses don't shut down in China like they do in Spain.
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Aug 25, 2013 07:44
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Grand Fromage posted:This napping goes on while you're supposed to be teaching a class and stuff, though. "Teaching" is a loose term at state schools.
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Aug 26, 2013 00:04
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Magna Kaser posted:pfft like the "traditional" characters Taiwan uses are themselves barbaric, simplified and lacking all the feel of true characters. Monster Hunter is a pretty cool game. It's easier going from traditional to simplified so it's not that hard. A lot of commonly used characters don't change and some of the ones that do, ge, 個 to 个, are pretty nice.
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Sep 11, 2013 23:29
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Facepalm Ranger posted:Gentlemen and Ladies, I come to you seeking the advice as per the purpose of this thread. Get a job at a college there. They usually pay decently, close to 10K in the nicer cities like Chengdu and end up being a part time job. You'll work at most 15 hours, won't have to do office hours, and the lesson planning is minimal. The expectations on you are also pretty nonexistent too.
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Oct 20, 2013 02:27
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GuestBob posted:In China "grey economy" can be read on a literal level: the colour of cement. Going to study Chinese would probably also be good since you're getting pretty serious with a Chinese girl. It'll get you to China and you'll be able to communicate with her family. Also, as has been said before you can tutor on the side without problems. Hell, you could even apply for a scholarship and get it paid for by the Chinese government.
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Oct 21, 2013 02:17
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Facepalm Ranger posted:Thanks for the response I've been working in retail since 2008 but only graduated last July, will that cause a problem? You really didn't read most of the posts in this thread directed at you, did you? You're over thinking this by a lot and there are no work visas for you unless you're sponsored before coming. No bar will have the pull or money necessary to legally hire you. Also, I told you there is no homework and barely any lesson planning at Chinese colleges. Chinese language learning is cheap and it's not like going to college full time. EDIT: If you're devoted to the goal of being a game artist as well, you shouldn't be coming to China. China will offer you a massive amount of time to work on your art or any other activity, you won't be doing much else unless you like drinking, but if you want that to be a career you really need to be making industry connections. Game companies are looking for good art but they're looking more for people with experience who can make deadlines. RocknRollaAyatollah fucked around with this message at 23:35 on Oct 21, 2013 |
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Oct 21, 2013 23:28
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ZombieParts posted:My black friend finds that toothpaste offensive. He said that mascot on there is actually from an old Black Face actor. When the toothpaste first came out the mascot was black and then no one liked it so they inverted it and now it's everywhere. It's Al Jolson, a famous black face actor and singer.
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Nov 6, 2013 08:57
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Mackieman posted:So, this thread was exceedingly helpful in several aspects of my information gathering for my trip to Shanghai. Now that I have been here for a couple of days and have attended two separate dinners in my honor (I have no idea why they think I'm important), I feel I was denied some critical, need-to-know information: It says 53% alcohol by volume on the label. That alone speaks louder than any goon story. EDIT: You're a strange and curious animal, a foreigner. It's like having Spider-Man come to your birthday party when you're 5 for most Chinese people. RocknRollaAyatollah fucked around with this message at 15:50 on Nov 6, 2013 |
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Nov 6, 2013 15:47
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mrgoodtrips posted:Few leads so far. English First seems like the one to avoid. Have you heard anything about Shane English? I'd rather teach adults but it looks like the odds are I'll be teaching kids. Shane is going to be just as bad, if not worse. These companies have predatory policies too about how much notice you have to give to quit and get a letter of recommendation. You have to have the letter by the way to get a new work visa in China. Unfortunately it usually ends up being too long of a time period to quit and get a better job at an actual school. Almost like they plan it that way or something.  I've never met anyone in Mainland China who worked a cram school job and liked it. The qualifications for teaching at regular schools and colleges are so low too, with better setups, that I don't know why anyone would choose something like English First other than complete ignorance about how things work over here. This is especially true for certified teachers. I've met and read stuff online from teachers with actual credentials working at these places and I want to slap them for making maybe 1/3 of what they could be making with better benefits and less hours. Who knows, maybe you might get lucky and a college will have a runner over Chinese New Year?
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Nov 11, 2013 11:06
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You guys do know that if you work at a university, you usually have enough free time that you can tutor on the side and make more money than exclusively tutoring. That way you can get to China pretty easily and then pick and choose who you work for on the side based on their reputation. This is opposed to coming over here and working for an ESL pimp. I don't have any leads at the moment, pm me in about 6 months I might have something. EDIT: I know it's rough coming to China with no context of what's a good job or not and having no idea of if your employer is exploitative or not. Unless you have real credentials and go through a international teaching fair, you're going to have a harder time finding an international school job. Just focus on getting into China legally and a job that lets you transfer pretty painlessly. EF though is not the job for that since they have pretty predatory policies. Also, though university jobs usually pay less, they're a lot more painless than cram schools and still let you pay off some of your debts or obligations while still living relatively comfortably. After you have two years in China under your belt, a lot more doors open up as well. RocknRollaAyatollah fucked around with this message at 00:03 on Nov 12, 2013 |
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Nov 11, 2013 23:38
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truavatar posted:Maybe she's not real. Is she Canadian?
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Nov 12, 2013 17:21
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ZombieParts posted:It's a small city in Mongolia, dude. The good news is it's a minority place so your food selection will be pretty good and a quick google search says you get Italian food places and even a couple of McDonalds. THe bad news is, they will be laid way back. The idea of a good time is to go see Grasslands and mountains. If that's your thing, you'll have a blast. Also, minorities in China will get along really well with you unless you mess with someone's girlfriend. Then you're on a poo poo list that includes several families. I've been to Hohhot, the locals like to get fall down drunk as much as people in Henan do. Hohhot is also not really that small either, it's a provincial capital. T3 but not a village by any stretch. In all honesty it was like a cleaner, colder, nicer Zhengzhou with a little more culture. They had a good selection of foreign food places, a store that sold imported goods, and the nicest most organized bootleg DVD store I've ever visited. Though it might not have as much as a Tier 1 or 2 city, you will be less likely to die of black lung. Facepalm Ranger posted:Have I hosed up bad by just not applying through the website? Probably but it will most likely all work out in the end.
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Nov 19, 2013 17:05
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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. I haven't been but I've been told it's pretty spread out. Taxis are going to be cheap but it's not as compact as most Chinese metropolises/concrete jungles.
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Nov 20, 2013 05:26
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TheBuilder posted:Honestly any tshirt that lets this laowai leave a party with two local girls gets my money. Results may vary. Offer not valid within Anhui Province.
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Nov 27, 2013 23:37
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This thread should be renamed, "The China Megathread III: Logan's Run 2: Rainy Rises"
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Dec 5, 2013 10:32
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YF19pilot posted:gently caress me, is everything about Yes, it is but that's just how things are normally done here. Be wary of the super sketchy and very obvious scams but remember that China is a sketchy, though safe, country in general.
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Dec 5, 2013 16:30
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Er Guo Tou sells a 70% baijiu that's a pretty good cheap starter if you don't have lighter fluid.
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Dec 22, 2013 03:14
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Pro-PRC Laowai posted:Like you would sacrifice 50% of your apartment to keeping an air mattress inflated on stand-by. Fixed that for you. Seoul is a pretty nice escape. I think Taiwan is the best escape because everybody still speaks Chinese but treats you like a human being without knowing you personally. You can also go chill on a nice beach and get 10Mbs.
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Dec 30, 2013 00:29
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bad day posted:Happy new year, all! I rapped in the new year and got paid for it, hope this year turns out to be better than the last. Drinking a g&t at the bar in your honor right now. I would if I could. I'm in Shanghai now and I'm trying not to spend money too much before my vacation.
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Jan 1, 2014 08:07
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Be Depressive posted:What's the best way to get from Hongquiao to Pudong airport? I was dumb and booked a hotel near the airport I was coming in from today, not the one I'm leaving from tomorrow. :facepalm: There's an express bus from Hongqiao to Pudong. It's pretty reliable, cheaper than a taxi, and lets you off at either of the two terminals. Line 2 takes forever in my experience and it's a busy line so you have to deal with everything that comes with that.
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Jan 12, 2014 10:44
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Ceciltron posted:Yeah, I'm here on a RP with a proper visa and such. 80RMB is nothing and even in a tier nothing city that's insanely low. You need to find a new job.
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Jan 12, 2014 12:44
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BadAstronaut posted:You're leaving out an essential step there. I recommend finding a job first before you quit your job here. Your job is tied to your visa and the PSB loves collecting for the policemen's baijiu and hooker ball. RocknRollaAyatollah fucked around with this message at 05:08 on Jan 13, 2014 |
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Jan 13, 2014 05:00
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blinkyzero posted:For some reason your posts always remind me of a typical Vonnegut paragraph. He's just going full China in the China thread. EDIT: blinkyzero posted:I was gonna go all history teacher sperglord on this post, but I'll limit it to this: the Civil War was not only about slavery (in many ways slavery was pretty secondary to the conflict; hell, there was a slave state in the North during the War), so the Confederate flag flying in Mississippi isn't necessarily some great evil. That said, every time I hear someone say "IT'S ABOUT HERITAGE, NOT HATE" or ramble on in support of the Lost Cause (thanks, Faulkner, you beautiful rear end in a top hat) I want to stab things. Mostly eyeballs. I will on yours. The Civil War is a complex conflict but it's the expansion of slavery, not slavery itself, that causes the war. It becomes about slavery as a whole because Lincoln realizes that its central to the conflict and why the country would go into hysterics every 10-20 since its founding over equal representation. Even though the North didn't want to initially abolish slavery, every Southern fire eater, Confederate politician, and supporter of the new government believed that the election of Lincoln was the first step towards the destruction of their slave centered way of life. Just because slavery is legal in the border states during the war doesn't mean that the war is not about slavery. tl;dr Just say slavery Apu. RocknRollaAyatollah fucked around with this message at 23:58 on Feb 10, 2014 |
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Feb 10, 2014 23:31
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I'm surprised no one has noticed that Caberham is on his high horse about the institution of slavery and the mistreatment of dark skinned people when he lives in a society that feels that "owning" of SEA domestic servants is an inalienable right.
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Feb 11, 2014 00:20
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blinkyzero posted:Has modern China even had a non-Han head of state? No because being Han is like being "white" and a made up thing to increase national unity. The other nationalities are only allowed to sing, dance, and wear funny hats. Couple this with the largest recognized non-Han minority group only having 18 million people and you're going to get a lot of Han politicians.
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Feb 11, 2014 00:40
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Even including Taiwan, they've all been various flavors of Han.Bloodnose posted:"Only" 18 million. Only a larger population than 133 of the 192 UN member states. This is compared to 1.2 billion Han Chinese. So yes, only 18 million.
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Feb 11, 2014 01:14
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Tom Smykowski posted:Deng was Hakka which is like everything that got groups classified as minorities. Except Hakka aren't. Or something. Hakka is Han. It's like saying Irish people aren't white.
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Feb 11, 2014 02:28
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computer parts posted:I'm personally fascinated, though I haven't visited yet. It sounds like the US but without a few decades of infrastructure/education regarding basic issues. The water thing is taken to an extreme though. People believe it's a magical cure all and it has more to do with traditional Chinese medicine, yang levels, and Mao era propaganda. Chinese doctors only go to school for 4 years too and the college system is terrible so not much is done to revise this. A major health official in China recently commented on getting air purifiers for classrooms with the rebuttal, "It's a double edged sword because you have to leave the windows closed for the filters to work and that will increase viruses." The school nurse informed a teacher with the flu that he needed to cut up an onion into four pieces, place them in metal bowls of water, put each in the four corners of his room, and the flu should be gone in no time. Another coworker's hurt arm was from the ac blowing cold air on it and if he sits elsewhere, it will go away. She wanted me to take generic antibiotics for a mild case of food poisoning. She also refuses to let anyone stay in the room when the printer is used and opens all the windows because the fumes are highly toxic and will kill you. This is a woman with a medical degree by the way, not just a volunteer like a US school nurse. The favorite China-ism/Asian-ism on campus right now is, "It's snowing, heat's on, open the windows." I try to stay positive about China but it's insane sometimes here and you honestly have to vent about it because it has no valid reason to be happening. RocknRollaAyatollah fucked around with this message at 16:44 on Feb 11, 2014 |
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Feb 11, 2014 16:34
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GuestBob posted:Only three of us. I think there's only two now but there were some lurkers.
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Feb 17, 2014 06:10
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Sogol posted:I mostly don't work or try to work in China at this point because in most fields I feel the foreign expert model is patently false, a cult of celebrity and often actually harmful. I successfully persuaded most of my professional networks of this. Victory... Seconding this. It's about face and being able to show off your wealth. The foreigner is often a proverbial, or not so proverbial, "white elephant". It can be pretty ridiculous at times.
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Mar 6, 2014 23:54
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