|
SB35 posted:I had China Mobile 2G data so it was balls slow... Oh God, I decided to get a 2G SIM for my 3G Nexus 7 when I went travelling for a week in order to get some work done on the road, in the remote villages of Guizhou where wifi is but a legend. Pages were loading so slow I just couldn't do my work, so I had to go to the nearest decent sized town and check in to a nice hotel with wifi for a couple of days.
|
#
¿
Jun 25, 2013 04:18
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 3, 2024 19:17 |
|
|
caberham posted:Rabelais D, you in Hong Kong? We are setting up a DnD group or bi weekly gaming group in HK, you should come hang out with us. my email is [username][dot][spam] Gmail Yeah, I was fully set to go to Bloodnose's DnD session at the end of last year, but had to go to Shenzhen at the last minute. My China visa just expired so I am landlocked in HK at the moment, Thursday sounds good. Add me on wechat? 95442028
|
|
#
¿
Jun 25, 2013 04:58
|
|
|
caberham posted:
OK the Hanting All seasons are good, but let's not go crazy and suggest they are like the Hilton. Definitely excellent value for money, but the rooms are small and the decoration sparse. Also, no minibar and poor selection of complimentary teas, if I recall. I'm going to say three stars - but well worth it if you're travelling on your own dime or you want to save your company some money. Pick a newly opened one (2011 or newer), any hotel more than two years old in China tends to get hosed up with mold, weird stains on the furniture, etc. Oh, yeah...and great informative post Caberham. You're right in that all those budget hotels are basically people loving 24/7, with thin walls to boot... Rabelais D fucked around with this message at 06:15 on Jun 25, 2013 |
|
#
¿
Jun 25, 2013 06:04
|
|
Caberham's pick : Hanting All seasons
|
I feel bad for Dig Scott, who because his name happened to come first on the list, is now immortalised in the headline. Most of the reasons listed are breach of contract, which I have to assume happens to pretty much every school at some point?
|
|
#
¿
Jul 1, 2013 11:40
|
|
|
What self-respecting Tibetan eatery serves Snow instead of Lhasa Beer?
|
|
#
¿
Aug 20, 2013 08:08
|
|
|
I pretty much agree with Peter Goullart about most things when it comes to China, and Tibetan food is no exception. Time to post a quote! 'The yak steaks could not be tackled with knives — only with sharp axes; fried potatoes were raw, and the soup was plainly a dirty dish-water with something indescribable floating in it. In Gardar, in Sikang [Sichuan] Province, I had to exist for two months on a diet prepared by the Tibetan women of the Morowa tribe and, at the end, nearly gave up the ghost.' (Forgotten Kingdom)
|
|
#
¿
Aug 20, 2013 08:20
|
|
|
As a traditional British person (leek and potato being my favourite childhood soup) I used to despise Chinese soups. Salty water with bits of bone/seaweed/ridiculous vegetable(?) floating around in it. But they grew on me, and, around about the time I really mastered eating bits of meat that were more bone than meat, I saw the light. Chinese soups are cool, you just have to view the watery part as more of a drink/broth that goes alongside the chunky parts. Also black chickens are the best; totally superior to white chickens.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 26, 2013 15:28
|
|
|
This is purely anecdotal but in my experience mainland students get the hang of traditional quicker than HK students get the hang of simplified. Probably has something to do with past exposure though. I teach texts of both persuasions to students from both backgrounds. Go simplified, give it thirty years and it's all anyone will be using in HK at least anyway.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 3, 2013 07:31
|
|
|
BadAstronaut posted:OK, so it is all happening and I will be in Shanghai in a couple of weeks. I posted this in the LAN thread but figured here's the more appropriate spot for it. On top of the cool touristy, cultural, technological, etc sights and places to visit, are there any other cool spots in Shanghai that you guys can recommend? I'd say go to Xitang and enjoy a slice of (fully commercialised) 'old town China'. It's totally the Venice of the East. Alongside a billion other water towns. But because it's holiday time it will be mobbed and therefore unbearable. Instead enjoy your time in a city that is 90 odd years past its heyday and that has surprisingly little to see or do for such a large place. Hey, at least it's not Shenzhen!
|
|
#
¿
Sep 4, 2013 17:43
|
|
|
Yeah, Tai O is really awesome, if a little bit depressing. The whole place stinks to high heaven of dried fish.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 5, 2013 03:50
|
|
|
Hotpot is way overpriced in most places. 'Here, pay through the nose for this platter of meat that you have to cook yourself. Yes, fresh from the freezer'
|
|
#
¿
Sep 6, 2013 08:49
|
|
|
Yup, when I lived in Ma On Shan I used to use the pull up bar and the dip bar in the park, and I had to share them with some pretty ripped locals. Maybe I'm just shameless, but I never even considered that I might be losing four dignity points. I think living in China tends to make people more self-conscious.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 8, 2013 02:08
|
|
|
I once lived in a modern development in Hangzhou that was called 'Boss 港' - the Boss Harbour; I felt most un-bosslike whenever i had to tell someone my address.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 12, 2013 08:41
|
|
|
OK so the new Detective Dee film is coming out this week; Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon 狄仁杰之神都龙王. The first one (Detective Dee and the Mystery of the Phantom Flame 狄仁杰之通天帝国;, 2011), despite a dodgy CGI deer, was surprisingly quite excellent. I am genuinely really excited for this because Tsui Hark is back directing, and when he's on form he makes some of China's best movies. Full stop. Zu Warriors from the Magic Mountain is classic wuxia, and the sequel/remake released in 2001 is one of my favourite fims despite a very mixed critical reception. It reminds me of Interview With a Vampire in that it focuses on immortals with magical powers moping around feeling sorry for themselves. Tsui Hark's pretty great. He gave us A Better Tomorrow, the Chinese Ghost Story films (not the modern abomination) and New Dragon Gate Inn (1992)... Anyway, the worst thing (CGI aside) about the first Detective Dee was Andy Lau as the titular character. He always seems to give the same noncommittal kind of performance, but he isn't even in this one because it's a prequel, and if there's anything Andy Lau's not, it's young. I'm willing to bet that this film will be less Young Indiana Jones, and more Young Sherlock Holmes.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 22, 2013 14:19
|
|
|
blinkyzero posted:These are Judge Dee films, right? I've never seen any of the movies, but I've read many of the different takes on him by Eastern and Western authors and really liked most of them. Yeah; although I never knew Judge Dee was a thing outside of China. I've read a few Judge Bao stories, and they were pretty cool, but the 2011 movie was my first exposure to Di Renjie.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 22, 2013 16:09
|
|
|
Big news guys! Four Seasons Shenzhen is opening in just four days. I got a promotional e-mail today. From their blurb: quote:From the moment you arrive in Shenzhen, you’ll feel like you’ve escaped to the future. Which is hardly surprising considering it’s one of China’s most vibrant destinations for business travellers. - A number of things to do so vast that they include 'shopping' in a list of three fairly generic things. Shenzhen isn't even good for shopping really. Whenever I have to go from HK to Shenzhen I feel like I am being marched back to a prisoner of war camp. Escape to the future*! *1980's dystopia.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 24, 2013 15:07
|
|
|
Somebody needs to publish a dictionary of public school euphemisms. Or at the very least a glossary.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 24, 2013 15:26
|
|
|
systran posted:
Three years in Chinese hotel time is like 15 years in normal hotel wear-and-tear time. I mean, Chinese hotels get hosed up super quickly. The bathrooms go moldy, if there's a carpet, you can bet it will be stained, etc. Even at the five star hotels. My tactic when staying in a Chinese hotel is to NEVER stay anywhere more than two years old, and aim for within a year old. The amount of development going on everywhere in the country actually makes this super easy. Note: I may have high standards, I also like to minimize the total possible number of guest butt cheeks to have sat down on my hotel's toilet seat.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 25, 2013 14:35
|
|
|
SB35 posted:I'll just assume you mean guest slippers. Surely they just squat on the toilet seat, sitting on it will let you catch a cold or get a disease. Sadly I fear the newly affluent middle classes are no longer averse to bum on seat contact.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 25, 2013 17:10
|
|
|
caberham posted:Bloodnose is still awesome. He writes better Cantonese than I do. Why doesn't anyone want to speak Mandarin with me Quoting for posterity; a HK'er complaining that he can't find enough mandarin speakers! For shame! When I use putonghua in class the local HK kids give me dirty looks, and the mainland guys start spazzing out with excitement.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 27, 2013 05:49
|
|
|
There's definitely a benefit to watching as much stuff in Mandarin as you possibly can. I got into Chinese film back in 2001 when I was still in university and I reckon it helped me a poo poo ton. TV basically sucks - I mean, all the dramas are absolute shite and the acting is just gobsmackingly terrible, but the panel shows and popularity contests are OK for passing the time - The Voice of China 中国好声音 on ZJTV 浙江卫视, I think it's Jiangsu TV that has the popular 'pick a new boyfriend' show with hilariously dolled-up floozies, it's called 非诚勿扰, I believe. Movies are better. But the docs are kinda heavy going and lots of the actual 'quality cinema' is artsy stuff. I suggest you find yourself a box set of Stephen Chow 周星驰 DVDs, should be easy enough in any corner DVD shop (do they still have those!?), they'll have subtitles and mandarin audio too. The guy who dubs Stephen Chow (HK actor) into Mandarin has a better voice than Chow does himself, so mandarin is actually preferred when watching the Chowster. He has so many good films there's no point in going over them all, but some gems are: 食神 The God of Cookery (traditional riches to rags to kung fu enlightenment tale of a guy who cooks pissing shrimp balls that bounce) 少林足球 Shaolin Soccer (team of kung fu monks who kick rear end at football; the team they play at the end of the tournament is called 'Evil Team' - best sports film ever? Yep!) 国产凌凌漆 From Beijing With Love (James Bond spoof; Chow is a philandering pork vendor that can kill house flies with throwing knives; also his shoe doubles as an electric razor - or it a blow dryer?) 西游记 (two films, A Chinese Odyssey parts 1 & 2), generally considered to be Chow's best films, but you may need some knowledge of A Journey to the West to get the most out of these) 喜剧之王 The King of Comedy (I still sometimes break into the 我开奔驰。你挖鼻屎 'I drive a Mercedes; you're just picking your nose' song) Anyone else a fan of Chow?
|
|
#
¿
Sep 27, 2013 08:25
|
|
|
Wait, that's not an objective fact?!?
|
|
#
¿
Sep 27, 2013 08:29
|
|
|
Cantonese, which is just some crappy dialect of the glorious standard language anyway.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 27, 2013 08:32
|
|
|
caberham posted:
Well, to become good at (Mandarin) Chinese, you need to think like the (mainland Han) Chinese...
|
|
#
¿
Sep 27, 2013 08:49
|
|
I'm going to suffer a heart attack.
|
Chinese zoos: imagine going on a tour of Auschwitz except there are still prisoners there, and the visitors are throwing poo poo at them whilst laughing. China: Man's inhumanity to EVERYTHING
|
|
#
¿
Sep 27, 2013 10:29
|
|
|
My wife sent me this picture postcard from Shenzhen: A whole brood (50+) of cockroaches that were unlucky enough to hatch inside a 'cockroach house' (pest control device, '蟑螂屋', basically a clump of pesticide in a cardboard box that the cockroaches go into.) It's not pictured, but the cardboard 'house' has a picture of a smiling cockroach waving from a window on the side. You can see the white picket fence though. It's actually pretty sad, and the fact that I bought these for my wife in the supermarket has probably given me bad karma. I've lived in a fair few places across China, and the country has a cockroach problem the likes of which God has never seen. I once saw swarms of them, thousands upon thousands, pouring out/into the storm drains in Huzhou. Blergh. Rabelais D fucked around with this message at 15:51 on Sep 27, 2013 |
|
#
¿
Sep 27, 2013 15:48
|
|
|
Very much in her house. And it's an expensive 'modern apartment' too.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 27, 2013 16:26
|
|
|
Your body is processing all the new and wonderful bacteria to be found here, and the less said about gutter oil the better. You literally can't avoid it if you're eating out.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 3, 2013 01:19
|
|
|
I met a local student in Guilin who was studying at Guilin University of Technology, and he said he chose to study there because Guilin has a reputation for being a 'beautiful place'. Of course he was depressed as all hell because Guilin is actually a giant dirty concrete slum and the university is also pretty poo poo. Curse you and your widely promulgated tourist hyperbole, China!
|
|
#
¿
Oct 4, 2013 04:41
|
|
|
21 Whitfield near Tin Hau is more like a serviced apartment style hotel, but it's island side with absolutely amazing views of Central and Victoria Harbour, very modern and spotlessly clean (opened last year) and when I stayed it only cost HKD 1300 or so. Downside is that there's no breakfast, but you get a great fully equipped kitchen so you can make your own.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 16, 2013 04:40
|
|
|
His girlfriend a) studies in the UK and b) has parents that own multiple apartments in one of China's larger cities. Because he is planning to mooch off them and live rent free then it's safe to say that this dude won't starve.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 19, 2013 17:58
|
|
|
I really think he might be better off coming on an L and doing some random tuition cash in hand if he needs some pocket money (not advocating working illegally, but a few hundred RMB here and there is a bit of a grey area, right?). His actual expenses will be minimal. Also, might I say that Chengdu accented mandarin is basically my favourite. I am visiting Chengdu next month to present at a conference, anyone know the Southwest University for Nationalities 西南民族大学? Google says it is a couple of hundred metres from the airport - like I could literally get off the plane and walk to my conference? Rabelais D fucked around with this message at 02:24 on Oct 20, 2013 |
|
#
¿
Oct 20, 2013 02:22
|
|
|
Oh sure go to Dundee, develop a crack habit and subsist on fried confectionery, or go to Chengdu and stay rent free in a nice apartment, have lovely Szechuan food everyday and spend your weekends petting pandas... To be honest if you can bum around Sichuan for a few months after graduating then you may as well do it. Learning a bit of Chinese would be a bonus.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 22, 2013 02:08
|
|
|
Pro-PRC for someone who is often touted as business class Goonlord of China it really does seem like you are living a miserable existence in a lovely housing development! First the dirty ditch now package delivery extortion. Wow, who wouldn't want to be a homeowner in China!? EDIT: Although I'm just jealous because I throw money down the drain in rent. Rabelais D fucked around with this message at 02:57 on Oct 29, 2013 |
|
#
¿
Oct 29, 2013 02:32
|
|
|
One of my colleagues just said that she "has a friend" at BBC China and apparently the rumours are that the drivers of the jeep were from Xinjiang.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 29, 2013 07:04
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 3, 2024 19:17 |
|
|
caberham posted:I insisted on her blow drying her hair after showering! ...In the end I didn't complain... What sort of monster does this?!
|
|
#
¿
Oct 31, 2013 05:43
|
|