Travel China and the World! » Living in China

2012 — Strange “Plans” Across China

Administrator — Mon, 30 Jan 2012 04:26:17 +0000

Recently I came across an article on-line that was citing that the movie "2012" (Sony Pictures, Roland Emmerich) which had a luke warm reception in the US (yes, lots of special effects, but not much of a deep thought in the script) actually has had quite an impact in China….

When I read that, it struck me — "Of course!" — China, the land of superstition

Plenty of hotels lack the 4-th floor assignment — as 4 is such an unlucky number (the pronunciation for the number 4 is too close to that of "death")
Kids are often conceived in auspicious years –> with the objective of securing special advantages for that child….
Plenty of other numbers are considered lucky or unlucky:
- 3 – considered lucky as it is close to the character for birth (生) in sound
- 5 – yes, ALSO a good number as it is associated with the five elements (Water, Fire, Earth, Wood, and Metal), which in turn are associated with THE EMPEROR
- 7 – is the lucky number for relationships…. (Go figure!)
- 8 — a REALLY LUCKY number in China — Why? Because it is close in sound to the character for prosperity (發 – short for "發財)
- …and the stories go…

As you can tell — plenty of superstitions. Then add this year also the terribly good fortune of it being the year of the Dragon, and yes, China may fix its languishing birth rate problem.

Here is where the birth rate is (per the National Bureau of Statistics in China):

Where are those kids gone....?

So the expectation is that 2013 will be a record year in birth rates in China! Mark my words!

A Posting from Another Blog – Covers the Issues that Exist Today with Air Travel Security Checks

Administrator — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 06:16:06 +0000

There have been already multiple cases of pretty aggressive behavior from the TSA agents at multiple airports. Just recently came at also a bit of a negative experience when crossing the security check point at that airport.

This artcile – which just posted - is a good example of how the various TSA agents and procedures at different airports vary quite a bit and at the end most travelers I have interacted with truly dislike the "go through security" point of their usually uneventful dally experience.

What is your experience with airport security ? Drop us a line….and safe travels!

Fluency in the Chinese Language and Chinese Experience

Administrator — Sun, 06 Nov 2011 18:59:34 +0000

Recently one of the well read blogs www.lostlaowai.com published an article which I thought was interesting and made me think…. They were questioning the notion of Chinese language proficiency. I myself have been asked many times the same question "Are you fluent in Chinese?" — which is a very tough one. So here / below are some thoughts on the subject….

Do you care to comment?

Fluency is something which is very much situation dependent. I have lived in China for many years (I came to the country as a foreign student in the Fall of 1987) — and have gone through the HSK tests (in July 1988) studied in Chinese University, got my diploma actually in the US (was an exchange student), spent years working in China and the US but with a lot of interactions with China and Taiwan and STILL find it difficult to claim fluency….(eventhough I handle business meetings in Chinese)
Wny ? Because there are plenty of situations when I will not be proficient enough to make it as a fluent speaker

Chinese is very specialized language. Being able to handle deep technical conversation and negotiations in a subject in Chinese does not mean you can handle a hospital visit with the same proficiency!
If you disagree — speak up, but having been in all those situations I can attest to that.

Like the comment someone said — "Some people go to China for a week and write a book, others spent a month and write an article, many of us lived in China for years and don't know what to say…"

Is She Fluent in Chinese or is the Forbidden City Police Guard ???

China and Chinese are a complex culture, language and as such expertise and fluency are difficult to define as well.

What brings Chinese Language (and culture) proficiency...?

What do you think ?

And now lets go back in time to 1988-1989 Shanghai….

Administrator — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 02:58:29 +0000

Over the last several weekends I have been scanning old photos — some from the 1960s with me as kid, my parents…..Some of my early years in China. First there was the year in Beijing. Then I moved to Shanghai. What excitement! Shanghai was mysterious, there was the famous PEACE HOTEL with its Jazz Band, the tree covered streets in the old concessions, bicycles everywhere, NO SUBWAY, NO PEARL TOWER, NO PUDONG with the amazing buildings…. The Portman Ritz Carlton Hotel was yet to be built (a year later)….Minhang was a suburb in the country side — essentially a village and only us (the students) had any reason to go there — JiaoTa Freshman and Sophomore years were to be taken there…(Jiao Tong University)

Well, I am not going to write too much — might as well just see the photos…. And I will be adding a few more every so often….so keep checking in.

Let me know what you think….!
Thanks

Chengdu Dancing Stars…What to do on a hot summer afternoon…

Administrator — Sat, 04 Jun 2011 23:15:31 +0000

I have encountered (very often) interesting activities performed in various Chinese city parks. One of them has always been public dances — you do not have to wait long or stroll through too many parks before you encounter a place where a few speakers have been propped up, a CD or cassette player plugged in and a whole bunch of people from various age groups twirling around following the music…. Here is a perfect example of that… A hot afternoon in Chengdu’s People’s Park….

You can watch it here

or here

Click Here to See the Video of People’s Park Dancing

Some more interesting photos of the Great Wall at MuTianYu

Administrator — Sun, 29 May 2011 01:07:11 +0000

Well, so I figured that lots of visitors enjoy the photos on this blog so I decided to post some more — as the title of the posting states – these are images from The Great Wall at MuTianYu about an hour from the outskirts of Beijing. Enjoy

The Great Wall at MuTianYu - Through the Lens of late Winter

When is the right time to visit The Great Wall in China ????

Administrator — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 04:44:15 +0000

When is the best time to visit the Great Wall???? Well when no one else is thinking about it We had such a moment this March — the Wall (at Mutianyu) looked practically uninhabited — there hardly any visitors…as you can tell from the photo. This is probably the only time we have had such an opportunity….

Beijing Duck – Years later…. Still a Great Delicacy, but which is the BEST restaurant?

Administrator — Sun, 03 Apr 2011 15:03:38 +0000

Over the years I have eaten the famous Beijing KaoYa (Roast Duck) many times and have often asked myself “how do they do it”? How is it prepared? So here is what I understand to be the long process of getting your delicious roast duck prepared.
Once the duck is cleaned it is blown with air to separate skin from meat (did you ever wander how the skin pieces they cut in the restaurant come so neatly separated from the meat….?). Then they blanch the duck in hot water to stiffen the skin. Then baste it in sweet syrup and hang it to dry overnight. On the next day the skin is dry and becomes crisp. Then the duck is roasted in fruit tree wood fired oven — there is also a trick here — the fire is set in the front of the big oven and the ducks hang on hooks in the back of the oven. Apparently the duck roasts for about 40minutes and is done!

Well, now for the restaurants reviews…..There are numerous debates in guidebooks about which is the best Beijing Roast Duck restaurant and I do not think any conclusion has been reached over the years. So with that in mind you can think “so where do I go”? In my opinion the best approach to this is user (other travelers or people living in Beijing) reviews. Where do you find them? Many places — here on this blog I will tell you my opinion of course
Or you can look up reviews on other web sites, e.g.:
QuanJuDe restaurant
Review of DaDongKaoYa which also includes user reviews….

Now to my assessment – I think there are many good places place in Beijing that serve good Beijing Roast Duck. I have eaten the specialty in hotel restaurants — e.g. the Shangri-La on 3rd loop road in Haidian district (well that was a long time ago — in 2005), then over the years I have eaten also at Quanjude Restaurant, as well as at a strange establishment in Shunyi called The Goose and Duck Ranch — which was pretty underwhelming…..
But the best experience — both taste and surroundings — has been at the Da Dong Roast Duck restaurant on Jin Bao Street. The address is # 5/F, Jinbao Dasha, Jinbao Jie, Dongcheng District (# 东城区金宝街金宝大厦5层 )
The food in the restaurant is great — we had a variety of dishes before the actual roast duck was brought in — had both chicken, beef, pork dishes as well as vegetables and all was great!

So enjoy your delicious roast duck feast!

What to pay attention to in planning a trip across China-Hong Kong Border for the cases when your time is short

Administrator — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 17:49:50 +0000

Here is the follow up summary to the experience I had recently in crossing the Shenzhen to Hong Kong border crossing. If you are planning to take a flight from Hong Kong airport and you need to get there from Shenzhen, keep the following in mind:

* Saturdays at the border crossing are crazy — lots of people going to Hong Kong for the weekend — keep that in mind as the time needed to make it to Hong Kong increases exponentially
* The advice the hotel gives you is NOT necessarily correct. A two hour max trip can easily become a three hour one
* If you are caught at the border in one of the shuttle / minivans (e.g. the Sky Limo ones) and you are running late for your flight you can try to talk to the Hong Kong border control officers to let you (and minivan) through one of the special channels — once you cross the border you still have at least 35 minutes drive to the Lantau island / Hong Kong airport

Crossing from Shenzhen into Hong Kong for a Flight from Hong Kong Airport

Administrator — Sun, 27 Feb 2011 02:26:51 +0000

This week I had to take a flight from Hong Kong to Los Angeles, CA. This was after a several day stay in Shenzhen. On Friday night after all business was done, I checked with the hotel I was staying for the schedule for the shuttle — the Sky Limo — which I usually take for my trip to the Hong Kong airport. Once again the hotel staff informed me that I would not need any longer than a 2 hour slot to make it to the airport. My flight was at 1pm so a shuttle leaving at 9:35 am seemed like a plenty safe choice

Well, little that I know! When the shuttle did not show up at 9:35 at the Westin hotel (the Westin Nanshan) I was only slightly concerned. The concierge started apologizing and in a typical way of predicting time and schedule started telling every 5 minutes that the shuttle was 2-3 minutes away You get the picture right….

Finally around 10am the shuttle arrived. As usual it took me to the transfer depot where we had to change to a Hong Kong licensed minivan (nothing new here). I will talk about the issue with that in a separate “How To” posting later today or tomorrow.

Once we were in the Hong Kong minivan I thought “No worries — we have plenty of time…” — Again, I may be repeating myself, but here it comes — an ominous “Little that I know”

Once at the border we saw a big queue of cars and minivans. I thought — well, that has been the case on other crossings, so I should not be worried. My opinion changed once I timed the first car in the queue in our lane — it stayed waiting to enter the inspection area for about 15min. I quickly calculated — 8 cars in front of us — if each takes 10-15minutes we are in BIG TROUBLE. At 11am we were the forth van in the queue……I asked the driver for any reason that this crossing was so slow…as I had been here (on that border crossing) previously on at least 2 occasions both Saturday crossings.

Side note: Why is Saturday crossing different? Well, because tons of Shenzhen people go to Hong Kong for the weekend to do shopping, go to Disneyland, etc.

The driver shrugged and said — “well it is just slow”. But he had a good idea — once we cross the China side of the border, I should try to talk to any Hong Kong official and see if they can let us through a special channel and reduce the wait….

Well, at 11:45 am or so (for my 1pm flight) we crossed the Chinese border. At that point I rushed out of the minivan to the Hong Kong border booths carrying a laptop with my itinerary. One of the border guard guys rushed out of a booth as I was running across a concrete expanse that was all the lanes for cars crossing the border. He managed to yell at me to stop, which I did and explained to him in Chinese that I had a really short time till my flight and after some debates inside one of the booths, he stepped out and told me to bring the van into one of the empty channels…..By 11:50am we crossed finally the Hong Kong border and the driver sped for the airport on Lantau island.

Finally, I was able to get to the airport by 12:30pm — and believe it or not was able to make the flight leaving Hong Kong at 1:05pm !!!

Next, I will share some advice for you for those situations. Stay tuned…