Answers of the Day
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Aug 29,2014
At the wedding they will be expecting a red envelope with money inside. I would recommend giving between 300-500RMB depending on how close you are to the couple.
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Aug 28,2014
If you hold Residence permit, I suggest you open Gold account with Visa/Mc ATM card at China Merchants Bank. You can open Gold account with 1000 Rmb deposit.
Once, you'll receive your salary to the account, you can buy any currency (limit US$ 50 000/year) with 'spot exchange rate' applied (rate without banking fees) .
If you use ATM card outside of...
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463 . What is guanxi?Aug 26,2014
Guanxi is a system of connections around which Chinese social and professional relations revolve, basically having the right connections (shaking the right hand, drinking with the right person, ...) will make your life easier.
For e.g. being the drinking buddy of the chief of the local police can save you from jailtime if you happen to kill someone.
...
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Aug 22,2014
Lu Xun wrote something like The problem with our relationship with foreigners is that we've never seen them as equals. We've always either looked down on them as animals, or looked up to them as Emperors.
You can count on Lu Xun to sketch the modern Chinese character accurately in a few words (and yes, he died in 1936, but what he said stays completely relevant in 2014).
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Aug 20,2014
That's a horrid situation to be in.
If it were me I would say it's a local trait from your home country. Maybe also make up a story about white hair being considered lucky and that you consider yourself blessed to have it.
It sounds as if you work in a public school with lots of party members.
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Aug 18,2014
(sigh)
Why do i get the idea from all the similar 'anonymous' posts on illegal work recently that someone is trying to catch posters out?
My answer:
you take on illegal work at your own risk.
You have to evaluate the risk for yourself: you might be caught by the PSB, but then again you might not.
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Aug 15,2014
I have previously uttered
Chinese find it easy to believe but difficult to trust, whereas I find it difficult to believe but easy to trust. ("I" could be other westerners than me I guess)
Example. Mobile phones. People believe they are harmful (radiation blah blah blah) but do not trust...
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Aug 13,2014
Tangsuan Radio. They're funny and in Chinese (mostly with Beijing local accent), just like talk show and play Beijing indie band music sometime...
http://itunes.apple.com/cn/podcast/tang-suan-guang-bo-shen-zhou/...
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469 . Are you happy in China?Aug 12,2014
I convince myself that I am happy.... .. me too, just 3 years ...I have a fantastic family here in China, not just my wife, but a whole lot of people that are just plain good to me.
I am not happy about my Chinese language progress ... I thought 2 years, then 5 and now have resigned myself to 20 and then croaking/leaving.
I am for sure happy living in the tropics as opposed...
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Aug 10,2014
Today is the 15th day of the Hungry Ghost Festival. It's supposed to be the most haunting day of the festival since all manner of ghosts come out to play. Of course, there's no harm in getting a bite from food left lying around. Customs say that whatever food that was touched by them becomes tasteless. Maybe you could taste it to check if that's the case ?
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Aug 07,2014
It depends on you.
Many laowai come and live in poverty as you say and your salary will suck compared to whhat you earn now. This often a choice they have made. They live in smaller cities or work insanely low hours.
Others work 5 days a week and work 8 hours a day and make quite good money.
If you want to come close to your...
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Aug 03,2014
Love is universal, but the expression of it is cultural.
Don't underestimate the cultural differences. Open and honest communication is needed.
And. Listen to yourself, not your family. A relationship with a foreign man will be a lot different, and your family's expectations may be the cause of more problems than your own.
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Jul 30,2014
Hard to say, on the face of it Xi Jinping seems to be trying to do the right thing in clamping down on corruption. I think we will have to wait for a few years yet and see what if anything changes. This is a country that has had corruption at its centre for many generations, long enough that many people do not even recognise corruption when they see it, it is just how things get done. I think...
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Jul 30,2014
When I first came to China, my goals was to just survive a year as an ESL teacher. If I couldn't hack even a year I would feel like a loser for the rest of my life.
But luckily, it turned out that I have been here eight years (not really anchievement in itself) but I am happy how I have used that time to:
- travel
- learn Chinese,...
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Jul 26,2014
Most Chinese don't want to leave as opposed to the perception that they do. Like Ted, Tom et al said, they just want a better life. However, all of them want better lives fast, like yesterday. So we see them as conniving brats who rush to be first in line for anything, even for a sundae at Mackers. There are many who can afford to leave. They spend hundred of thousands sending their kids to...
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Jul 25,2014
Grow old? I'm already old so perhaps I will grow older. Yes, I will probably not go back. I live in a very small nation of 5.4 million people where 2.4 of them are foreigners. Total country land area is 660 sq kms, about 7 times smaller than Hainan Island. While China isn't as developed I find that I have more space here, even with 1.4 billion people. I have more opportunities here...
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Jul 23,2014
I think admin does it. What criteria they use is anybody's guess. I've got some of my posts selected as best answers but the why of it I don't know. I suppose they have their own guidelines, or perhaps use their gut feel?
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Jul 22,2014
1. Have a qualification in demand. It can be a Master or a PhD in science/engineering.
2. Have a skill in demand. Very good Chinese welders have been invited to work in Australia and they are now Australians... -
Jul 17,2014
If we believe the memories of Joseph Stillwell in China, back in the warlord era, most battles happened like that
* Army A and B meet at point C
* A few shots in the air, some artillery shot aimed at nothing very precise
* The largest army with all the cool gears win !
Most battles, it seems, not outright fights. Most armies were made of clueless, hungry, untrained guys... -
Jul 14,2014
Was it during the night ? It can be sky lanterns, which are popular in Asia (yes, it's a fire hazard)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sky_lanternOur sense of perspective (our capacity to deduce 3d geometry from two 2d images, one per eye) cease to work beyond 100 meters. It's...
