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Q: How to upgrade my boredom to boredom Plus during Chinese spring festival?
As I grew older I'm really not fond of spring festivals anymore.
Someone come to share something? Anything.
From what I've heard nobody really does like it.
The way it has been described to me, and what I keep reading about online is that younger people go home and have the extended family grilling and nagging them the whole time they're there ...
why aren't you married yet? Why don't you have a boyfriend / girlfriend? Oh you do have a boyfriend / girlfriend? well what's their economic situation? That's not good enough.. you need to marry someone rich so he can support the rest of us for eternity.... so you found a job? how much do you make? that's not enough.. the boy next door has a job that pays more and now his family think they're better than our family so you need to find a job and get rich fast so we have face again... oh you bought home a gift for your lazy unemployed cousin? what is it? a phone? but it's not an iphone, how can he be expected to be seen around the village with that? why you don't care about us... you're fatter! why are you so fat? you should be like the girl next door, she's not fat, why aren't you like her?... It's your fault we live on the farm in Henan and not Canada, you need to marry a Canadian so we can all go and live there and he can buy us a house to make the other villagers here jealous because everyone knows foreigners are rich, all you have to do is say 'I love you' and he'll marry you, I know because my friend saw it on tv...... why are you watching tv, you should be studying on your holiday, your cousin is studying now, why aren't you studying!
The rest of the time is spent playing majiang, watching endless tv, enduring the chain smokers and counting the hours until you can get on the train for 14 hours and go back to where you live most of the year.
Shining_brow:
Add: Oh, you did date a Canadian? Why? You should only date Chinese men! Foreigners don't understand our culture.
(note the having it both ways mentality!)
earthizen:
Spot on with those questions, classic of the mainland prying / spying / manipulating cult. Once victims themselves, tons of uneducated, uncivilized oldies use the opportunity to abuse the young with those abusive questions ---- to show their power and seniority. Sick cult it is.
heymikey:
Don't forget to mention that if you happen to have a Chinese partner you also become trapped in that bog. No exceptions for waiguoren.
cub:
@ stiggs, at least i will know what to be prepared for and to be cautious of when i marry a chinese lady from her parents/relatives Not living in china but in the US will help reduce this from happening
earthizen:
It looks like plenty of "kids" don't like it, so much so that the price for fake bf/gf for hire during chinese new year went up this year (2017). I will C&P the article as a new comment for clarity's sake but here is the link if you want to read it now. Article is published three days ago, on Jan. 25, 2017.
Since, I receive salary for more than a month of boredom, I 'decided' (meiyou 'decided', I was lucky ....!) to break the rule of 'don't move out of your house during Chinese New year, i.e. 'travel'' and booked a month long vacation in India ....
Online Tourist visa requires 'name and address of one person in India'....
How can I know somebody in India, if I've never been there? How can I book hotel in Delhi and list owner's name as my 'sponsor', if I didn't get visa yet?
I just made-up some name ( there are '77' different religions in India and every religion has specific names ....)
LOL - I had to 'due-diligence' 'first-match-w-last' names of India - LOL
I was lucky, because I got 30-days online Tourist visa, buTT ... since everything goes over the Internet, I must print visa confirmation, before show-up at the HK's airport.
My city is 'dead'. Nothing is open. I'll might have more luck with 'print shop' in HK.
retiredinchina:
check craiglist.org for india after you get there for things to do and services. try goa beach,its a beautiful place, lived there for 2 years.
heymikey:
Me gusta Delhi. Learn to bargain or they will skin you alive there. And dont tell them that it is your first time there. Prices of everyday food products are actually printed on them and thats the price you pay, dont trust them if they want you to pay more. Besides, take some pills for your stomach and think what to do in a health emergency. Plus get used to zombie like beggars. I know.Delhi well and as much as I love it, life there is a bit hardcore even as compared to China.
icnif77:
I'll be in Delhi and then I am moving to Kullu Valley as a renowned-NOT-alpinist 
. Got to see Himalaya from the other side of Nepal.
Do they use UK electricity plug in India or they 'rebelled' against British?
I'll bring UK plug adjuster with me.
From what I've heard nobody really does like it.
The way it has been described to me, and what I keep reading about online is that younger people go home and have the extended family grilling and nagging them the whole time they're there ...
why aren't you married yet? Why don't you have a boyfriend / girlfriend? Oh you do have a boyfriend / girlfriend? well what's their economic situation? That's not good enough.. you need to marry someone rich so he can support the rest of us for eternity.... so you found a job? how much do you make? that's not enough.. the boy next door has a job that pays more and now his family think they're better than our family so you need to find a job and get rich fast so we have face again... oh you bought home a gift for your lazy unemployed cousin? what is it? a phone? but it's not an iphone, how can he be expected to be seen around the village with that? why you don't care about us... you're fatter! why are you so fat? you should be like the girl next door, she's not fat, why aren't you like her?... It's your fault we live on the farm in Henan and not Canada, you need to marry a Canadian so we can all go and live there and he can buy us a house to make the other villagers here jealous because everyone knows foreigners are rich, all you have to do is say 'I love you' and he'll marry you, I know because my friend saw it on tv...... why are you watching tv, you should be studying on your holiday, your cousin is studying now, why aren't you studying!
The rest of the time is spent playing majiang, watching endless tv, enduring the chain smokers and counting the hours until you can get on the train for 14 hours and go back to where you live most of the year.
Shining_brow:
Add: Oh, you did date a Canadian? Why? You should only date Chinese men! Foreigners don't understand our culture.
(note the having it both ways mentality!)
earthizen:
Spot on with those questions, classic of the mainland prying / spying / manipulating cult. Once victims themselves, tons of uneducated, uncivilized oldies use the opportunity to abuse the young with those abusive questions ---- to show their power and seniority. Sick cult it is.
heymikey:
Don't forget to mention that if you happen to have a Chinese partner you also become trapped in that bog. No exceptions for waiguoren.
cub:
@ stiggs, at least i will know what to be prepared for and to be cautious of when i marry a chinese lady from her parents/relatives Not living in china but in the US will help reduce this from happening
earthizen:
It looks like plenty of "kids" don't like it, so much so that the price for fake bf/gf for hire during chinese new year went up this year (2017). I will C&P the article as a new comment for clarity's sake but here is the link if you want to read it now. Article is published three days ago, on Jan. 25, 2017.
I know of a young girl (in her early 20s) going to Macau for bungee jump this chinese new year, costs about rmb 3600 per jump.
If that amount is not an issue for you, you can buy a few seconds of thrill and excitement to spice up your holidays with that.
retiredinchina:
damn prices have gone up, i used to bungee jump in fort worth texas off a 300 meter crane or a 150 meter crane, price was 100 dollars a jump plus 20 for the video of you trying to kill yourself, but this was 12 years ago.
Start learning for HSK 5 or 6 to be an A waiguoren plus...Find some goal, even temporary and go for it. Ive decided to stay in China for the winter break and I can understand now why all the normal foreigners left for their countries... Preparing for my HSK exam is at present the only thing that keeps me alive.
retiredinchina:
i cant remember the guys name but he has some hsk videos to help with the exam for free on you tube. my friends that have bothered to learn the language say it was very helpful.
Is everybody's Internet more-sucky-then-usually in holidays? I can't open comment, so I'll go for 'jackets' reply.
I guess, 1.2 billions Chinese are all texting in Spring festival ....
@mike: 'learn to bargain'? It's my 8th 'bargaining' year...... I must bargain in China all the time at the every new Contract offer.
I am the bargain master, except sometimes I just lose my patience and pay/accept whatever they offer.
I 'bargain' even on Western websites .....LOL.
I'll open new thread about last week's 'how to master Western (USA) website with 'you give me an advice..' Q.
Shining_brow:
It was until today... I can stream my radio today. I haven't been able to do that for a week or so.
icnif77:
I can't comment, again. This was my 10th attempt to comment and reply to you.
It's my Internet, because as soon as there's million wi-fi users listed on my puter's tag, nothing loads. But, last few days is extremely slow, even at night time.
2' from Home page to Answers page.
I have 4 windows open on Safari with 7-8 tabs continiously on, because load is a bit faster, when I don't open a page a-new.
That dude's 'internet speed meter' wouldn't even load, and after it loads, it gives me message 'enable pop-up window' as blocks on my puter would be cause for no load.
And, when I am on dentistry wi-fi, everything loads without problems.
SpongeBob:
The internet is fine here, I can even watch youtube videos. Thought you are in india?
icnif77:
No, I am heading there in few days. I usually purchase ticket at the lowest price possible. All flight ticket prices are up in January, because Chinese are heading abroad for holidays. January 10th-31st = 5k Rmb to Delhi-return, and from Feb.1st on = 3100 Rmb.
I have modem plugged into the wall and I am using it through wi-fi in my apartment. There's one wi-fi user without password on my puter's scan. Always when he's on, my Internet doesn't load. However, I can't join him and use his wi-fi, but when I turn wi-fi 'off&on' on my machine, I always get reconnected to his wi-fi. He might have stronger signal than me. No ming bai how that works.
I can't find, where the bastard is to tell him to lock his wi-fi with password.
He's gone now, and I can open all pages.
SpongeBob:
Maybe he purchased a larger data package so he gets faster internet. It's more expensive though, also the provider matters. Good that you have a neighbor like that, though some hackers can hack your device via open internet connections too. Maybe he's been going through your phone and saw all the exotic contents in there and got free English lessons. Lol.
icnif77:
His wi-fi name is part in English: 'yunmi-water-purifier'.
My phone is 150 Rmb Nokia in red. 
You can hack my phone as much as you like. 
But, I can see on my puter (I think!??), if somebody is on my wi-fi. I have locked mine with password, he doesn't. Everybody on my scan (some 20 users) has lock on, except 'clean-water-mastard' doesn't have it.
It's business name, so he must have stronger package than me.
SpongeBob:
Oh i happened to have the same phone, it's nokia 5300 isn't it?
icnif77:
No numbers on my 'device' 
. Maybe red coloring covered the no.
It was HK$ 190, more than 3y ago.
Battery is still OK, 'cause I rarely remember to take it off the charger.
I am contemplating of buying new model with 'translator' or maybe I'll just choose 'that expense is wasting of monies' and keep my 'brick'.
Nobody ever calls me, anyway .... Bastard, it rings only when am eating or taking a shower.
SpongeBob:
Oh, I saw it in the movies, and the ringtone isn't even yours, once you answer it, a lady tells you 7 days...7 days...
And 7 days later she'll be delivering herself to your home via your tv. She's bad at make up though.
icnif77:
Here Bonge ... first, you have to pay to read it, and then you have to pay again to watch it over the teli.
SpongeBob:
What an economic society! No wonder sadako never came to visit.
Whoa. So much prejudice in here.
I've heard about all those rumors about family pushing young people to get married and expecting money and gifts too. BUT shame I have never experienced it myself. I guess it's just like gunshots in America, it sounds so scary and the whole world knows about it once there's one, but it's not like an everyday thing and some people just won't experience it.That must be one of the reasons why my Cny is so boring. I wouldn't mind to go on several blind dates if anyone set one up for me! Lol.
Plus we are not materialist, why would anyone want things they don't like or need as NY gifts to stuff their room, take up so much of their space and clutter their life? Gift is a big no-no, money would be ok, but I don't owe anyone any money, so I don't gift anyone any money. We only play hongbao games with spending money for less than 10rmb in our family wechat group, it was just for fun. If gifting someone money makes you depressed, you should not do it! What's a big deal in that??
You guys are deeply poisoned by Viki and her shit, aren't you?
Stiggs:
Speaking only for myself here, I don't know about anyone else... I'm not at all influenced or poisoned by anything Vicky says. My understanding of CNY and why a lot of people don't like it comes from friends telling me why they hate going home for it, and Chinese media. You say it's not like that for you, well good, but it obviously is for a lot people...it's bad enough that an industry has sprung up where people hire themselves out as fake boy or girlfriends to people who can't deal with the family pressuring them. I even heard a song that's doing the rounds about new year pressure. I don't see any predjudice here, just people saying it like it often is. How is that predjudiced?
icnif77:
I've never heard Chinese telling about 'not liking CNY'. Dental office manager, guy in his 30-tis, (single, I think) was asking me yesterday, if foreigners in China like Chinese holidays, and I replied, I usually stay home, because everywhere is brazillion Chinese.
He said, he loves to go home and see his family. They are all in the same Province, just in different cities.
Kind of patriotic holidays for Chinese, I'd say.
SpongeBob:
You should totally tell all of them about spongebob, I want to make all of them super jealous.
icnif77:
I did tell them last week, buTT .... instead 'sponge', I said 'do yaa' nou Bonge Spob?' and nobody got it .... I don't know, why.
SpongeBob:
I'm sure their childhood is incomplete without Runny Babbit. Now they just have yet another reason to be jealous.
Englteachted:
Prejudice? Those stories come from Chinese people like you. You haven't 'experienced' it because you don't eve know who you really are.
In response to the high demand (a result of increasing family pressure to get marry) in the land of fakes, the price of a fake bf/gf (to take home) for hire went up this chinese new year, in some cases as high as RMB 6000 a night. This probably applies to "top quality" material, not just the looks but "educated", "rich", "successful career" ......etc. at least good enough to fool the client's parents, grandparents, and all the busybodies floating around the village who would be grilling him/her.
Not that easy considering this is the land of crooks and fakes. You better be the Crook of Crooks! If you can do it, then make it five nights, you have a "healthy" RMB 30,000, and that doesn't include daytime business. "Healthy" hongbaos paving the streets!
If you're not into money (at least that's what you tell the world), you get to fine tune your acting skills (which is second nature for most mainlanders anyway), spicing up an otherwise "boring holiday".
earthizen:
www.cnbc.com/2017/01/25/lunar-new-year-spike-in-price-of-chinas-fake-boyfriends-and-girlfriends-hired-by-singles-to-save-face-over-the-holidays.html
Lunar New Year spike in price of China’s fake boyfriends and girlfriends, hired by singles to save face over the holidays Rachel Cheung Wednesday, 25 Jan 2017 | 8:20 PM ET SCMP
The run-up to this year's Lunar New Year holiday in China has seen a surge in demand for rented girlfriends or boyfriends, as single millennials look to pass themselves off to their families as being in a relationship when they go home for the annual celebrations.
In China, where producing offspring is seen as an important filial obligation, pressure to get married and give birth can be overwhelming, so much so that people seek this temporary – and pricey – solution to appeasing their parents and other relatives.
The cost of renting a pretend partner typically ranges from 500 yuan to 2,000 yuan a night, plus expenses. However, prices have soared ahead of the Spring Festival holiday, during which young urban dwellers return home for family reunions. One desperate bachelor is offering to pay up to 6,000 yuan on Chinese social media platform Baidu to a woman who'll have a meal and spend a night with his family.
On one Chinese website dedicated to boyfriend and girlfriend rental, most of the customers are bachelors looking for a decent, polished woman to play their girlfriend. Many customers, and fake partners for hire, specify that they only require or provide "green" services – meaning no sexual services are involved, not even kissing.
"I am renting out my time only, not my body," says a 27-year-old woman from Shenzhen on the website.
One man claims to be a professional actor and says he can not only pretend to be a temporary boyfriend or lover, but provide emotional support and even enter a fake marriage. Another one offering his services says he can provide cover to a client for an extended period of time by making regular phone calls to their parents – for an extra charge, of course.
Users of this website are required to register, meaning they must state their occupation, marital status, educational background, weight and height. It is also mandatory they register their body shape (choosing from descriptions such as sexy, curvy, petite, standard and muscular).
Since most such websites function merely as chat rooms to connect two parties, rather than as middlemen, there is no way of ensuring the quality of the services a fake partner provides if hired, or that they match their profile pictures – or even whether they will show up.
However, some businesses have adopted a more sophisticated and lucrative model. One such website, Zuren77, uses the tagline "rent a person for one dollar" and calls itself a crowdfunding platform. Its interface looks very similar to that of online shopping apps; there are location filters to narrow down your search, recommendations of popular products and a shopping cart to which to add your desired items – in this case, girls.
Unlike most websites in this business, users do not have to negotiate a fake-partner hire individually. Instead, after paying a subscription fee, they can bid for the girls they desire, starting from 1 yuan an hour. Once bidding for a woman's services reaches 188 yuan an hour, the man to benefit from them is selected randomly from among the bidders.
While some commentators have aired ethical and moral concerns about the practice of renting a fake partner, an academic says its existence points to the disparity between the attitudes of older and younger Chinese people towards marriage and family.
"The older generation tends to put marriage before everything, and [to them] even a bad marriage may be better than staying single," says Yue Qian, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of British Columbia. "But the younger generation is exposed to Western values to a greater degree ... and think marital status is not the only measure of happiness and success."
Boredom is not someone else's fault, it is a personal reaction to a situation.
why not cultivate new interests if you have free time and are not at work?
no-one can tell you what interests you should cultivate, this is a personal journey of discovery through trial and persistence.
there is a whole world outside of the internet that is worth discovering, be it learning a new skill or expanding your mind through study of a special interest topic, (that does not have to lead to a qualification)
Blondie_:
there are 1000's of links - this is where you use your initiative and find things yourself.
No-one can tell you how to fill your time or what intersts you, you have to find this out for yourself.
'Learn to be happy with what you have, and you'll be happy your entire life. Desire is a goal, not need.'
Buy travel tickets after Feb 3rd, great deals, so go some where and get laid bro.
