ambivalentmace:

But after independence, French slave owners demanded compensation. In 1825 the French monarch Charles X demanded Haiti pay an "independence debt" of 150m gold francs – 10 times the fledgling nation's annual revenue. The original sum was reduced but Haiti still paid 90m gold francs – about €17bn today – to France. It was still paying off this debt in 1947.

I wonder where Haiti would be on the world stage if this had not occurred.

icnif77:

diverdude1:

I dig cheese,, 100%,,  but if you've been in chiner awhile u would know they ain't (weren't) into the dairy.  I'm talking East China here,,, the Han.,,,   but after awhile they started gobbling up milk like it was going out of style,,, who in fk knows what that milk is they so covet now,,, but I'd bet a dollar to a doughnut it is some soy or something,,,,,,,, anyway,,, in the last several years they have gone mental for 'milk', but I've yet to see the Han embrace cheese.  I could be dead wrong though, maybe that tea shop is throwing on some sort of cheese,,,,but I'll stand by what I say ,,,,  Cheese & Tea,,, fkn gross!  gag me with a spoon!

icnif77:

You should try milk in Xinjiang ... sold in plastic bags by farmers outdoors. It tasted strange, but still ... I mostly drink milk as yogurt and while making yogurt, I discovered that bastards mixed powder milk with real cow ... disgusting.

Xinjiang cows are all skeletons, but you need loads of grass for cow to produce the milk ... Xinjiang is like Sahara ..., so let's supplement it with some powder from HK. Scum!

ambivalentmace:

I assume they just decided to invade the Shandong market, because I never saw them before Christmas in the same places. I would be really pissed waiting an hour for something that is disappointing, so just in case, I will wait till the fad dies down here, also I suspect because of the holiday, business is above normal, maybe next month I will venture into tea land.

icnif77:

Just make your own 'tea with butter'! What's the matter with your?

''One character means 'butter ...'' stands for

'How is your cholesterol' in Chino .... 

I was using codes ... 

ButT... can you imagine, you enter the real Prot's establishment and say:

''Puer Cha with butter, please!"

'Uneducated' Brits would call 'First Aid' for you ... 

diverdude1:

one of my main goals is to get out to Xinjiang,,,  particularly Kashmir,, and maybe even try bus rides all the way to Kazahkstan border.

and a weird dream is bike across the Taklamakan Desert....   but I heard the local coppers aren't into letting whitey roam around freely down there,,,  maybe me dead in desert is bad press or sth?

icnif77:

Kashmir (India&Pak) is active war zone last 5-10 years, so it's no-go zone, but have a stroll in Xinjiang while you are in Chiner especially Korla, Kasghar, Hottan. Other Eastern parts are too much Han-esisized. West is still almost intact of Han influence.

Have a peek at Korakoram pass on some 18000 ft. elevation. I wanted to cross from Kasghar to Gilgit in Pakistan in 2014, but I failed to get Paki's visa, so I still dream about it. There is daily bus ride from Kasghar to Sost and Gilgit on Pak side.

I doubt, laowai can go freely to Xinjiang since 2014/15 ... There are no foreign job openings for work in Xinjiang. That tells me, you might cannot go there.

44 Indian soldiers killed in Kashmir's car bomb blast yesterday:

https://news.yahoo.com/33-indian-soldiers-killed-20-193014594.html