Archive for the 'China' Category Page 3 of 11

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In Relation To… Where is Chuxiong?

March 26, 2007

chuxiong-china.jpg

I get asked where I live a lot. People don’t seem to realize that Chuxiong is a major player in the international scene. Okay it’s not at all, it’s a small, relatively poor Chinese city really far away from the rest of those good Chinese cities. Chuxiong can only look at it’s thriving neighboring cities (Kunming, Dali, Lijiang) and be jealous, because there this nothing to do here except “san bu”.

Here’s a little comparison (via Google Earth):
MI
KM
Chuxiong
0
0
Kunming
79
127
Laos
173
278
Vietnam
180
290
Myanmar
206
332
Shangri-La
240
386
Tibet
297
478
India
787
1,267
Hong Kong
791
1,273
Beijing
1,340
2,157
Tokyo
2,391
3,848
Paris
5,390
8,674
San Francisco
7,217
11,615
Boston
7,777
12,516
Tags: China Chuxiong 2 Comments

Ring Me Up

March 25, 2007

So I was like, I need some socks. Chun Mei was like, No thing Bob, let’s go down to the mini-store downstairs and get you some! Boom, they have the new Adidas soc… Hold up a second, WTF is that?

adidas.jpg

Someone obviously fell asleep in while studying their (pirated copy of the) Photoshop manual, because that’s a Nike logo! You can’t use a Nike logo with the Adidas URl you frigtard, that totally gives it away!

While I was at it, my Calvin Klein’s were getting a little stale. Time for some new underwear. So I went out to a farmer’s market and guess what, they have this new shit in China called fireproof underwear. And you can stretch these babies with a mini hoola-hoop and they’re not even trippin! Ring me up.

underwear.jpg

I’m with this idea — house fire or no fire, always project your junk.

Anyway I don’t know about you, but the latest technological advancements in sleepwear always makes me hungry. Doritos, nah. Pepsi Cola? Pass. Shrink-wrapped chicken feet? Hell. Yes. That is exactly what I’m talking about.

chickenfeet.jpg

This next one falls under the “There-Has-Got-to-Be-an-Explanation-For-This” Category. I needed some toothpaste, and I said, Hey Man, you got Crest?, and the clerk was like, No, but we have Black People Toothpaste, and I was like, WTF??, and they were like, yeah, Black People Tooth Paste, and I looked down at my arm, then back at her and said, Look I just need Crest, you know, WASH TEETH, and she said, Follow me.. Guess what:

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Tags: Blah China 6 Comments

The Joys of Living in China, Part I

March 25, 2007

DDG-12 Standard Missile Launch.jpg

Or perhaps living in a new house, where your neighbor’s house is connected to your house. Via six or so inches of brick.

After going to sleep at 6:30 am, I got to wake up (at 10 am) to what sounded like Tomahawk missiles being launched from the USS Enterprise. Or perhaps, them landing somewhere.

In reality, it is a construction worker with a huge sledge hammer, slamming it into the wall against my head.

It kinda sounds like this.

Good morning!

Update: Lucky for me, this is going to go on for three months. (Time to move back to the Kunming place.)

Tags: Chuxiong House China 0 Comments

Forward Delivery Housing, Continued

March 21, 2007

Update: I have seen two more shows on CCTV 2 about people getting screwed after purchasing a house before it is built. In the last two days I saw stories about the “new middle/upper class” in Yunnan and Sichuan losing their entire investment, and they have no one to turn to for help. The shows are overly dramatic with sappy soundtracks, which to me seems inappropriate for such a topic. (Is it a news story, or is it a drama to sell ads?)

It is still odd to me why a homeowner’s only option with such a serious crime is to contact the state-run television network to get answers. Obviously, the idea is, they run a show on fraud, millions of people see it, then the fraudulent company is pressured into fixing the problem. (Doesn’t it seem like if you started a property/construction company and built faulty houses, you should go to jail? Or at least get hit with a huge lawsuit? Who is accountable? Are these companies in cahoots with the government? The questions — the questions I have in my head…)

Wow, it doesn’t stop
Here are some of the details from yet another show on housing fraud:

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Tags: Blah China 2 Comments

Advice for Buying Property in China

March 19, 2007

sh-house.jpg

I can only speak for myself and my situation. After buying two houses and two commercial properties in China, I consider myself one of the lucky ones. I have not been ripped off or lied to (…yet), but I would say:

Do not by any property that is not built yet.

I did, and while the house was constructed without any major problems, I had an advantage. Specifically, we have a family friend who owns the real estate company, therefore, small problems we encountered were easily fixed. I assume most expatriates do not have this luxury.

This GoKunming.com interview sums it up quite well.

One, don’t invest in forward delivery housing - buying property before it’s finished or even begun to be built - the price may be a little cheaper, but the risk is much higher.

Why? Because you could end up with a house you cannot live in — you could lose your entire investment. Just last night, I watched a CCTV story about some Chinese families who bought into a new development and once the keys were delivered, they opened the door to their new house to see two inches of water flooding the living room, and the cement floor crumbled if you walked over it. They said no one will help them. (Where is the government agency to protect homeowners? Why do they have to resort to calling a television station to put pressure on these fraudulent companies?)

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Tags: Chuxiong House Home Improvement China Chuxiong 4 Comments

Cool Places in Kunming, Notes

March 15, 2007

We have been hanging out in Kunming for the last few days and I found a few places that most people already know about.

Salvador’s Coffee House is an American-owned coffee house/internet hangout/restaurant and was featured in a CNN article last year. The staff is cool and the coffee is great.

The Prague Cafe has two locations, one in Lijiang and one in Kunming. Both have the same atmosphere and have an excellent menu. Rumor has it that all the coffees listed on the menu are the same, that is, Yunnan Coffee. Whether this is true or not, Yunnan Coffee tastes good and is the cheapest, so I just avoid ordering the “Brazil or African” 30 RMB-a-cup versions. Oh, and they play Gotan, which is always all-good.

Both places are located next to Yunnan University, meaning there are a lot of Chinese and foreign students hanging out, studying English, talking about politics, using QQ (the most popular Chinese instant messaging program), and unfortunately, smoking up a storm.

Other news, I visited the official Panasonic repair center in Kunming and got my 3CCD camera fixed for $60 USD in one day. (They couldn’t get rid of the sticky buttons, thought, from that Diet Coke spill.) I also got a few BP-511 batteries for my Canon 300D, $13 each, at the Canon camera shop next to Bai Sheng (big mall in the center of downtown.)

Tags: Kunming Blah China 3 Comments

Traveling to Lijiang? Some tips and advice.

March 6, 2007

flowers.jpg

Third time to Lijiang. As of March 2007,

Do:

- visit Afternoon Sun for the Lavazza coffee and espressos (while in China, I haven’t found Lavazza anywhere)

- visit the Prague Cafe for great ambience, a good mix of Western and Chinese food, good coffee (however, they recently removed their computer and internet)

- all the rest of that touristy stuff (horse back rides, go to Zhongdian/Shangri-La for a while, get lost in the Old Town)

- try to get a shot of the Snow Mountain without clouds, it’s rare

- visit the Snow Mountain and take the tram up the side of the mountain

- try some of the local food, either at the street kiosks (er kuai, dou fu, etc) or just outside of the Old Town. Most places have menus with pictures, if not, just say, “Sui bian ni!” (”Whatever is fine!”) and wait for the bees and intenstines and all that good stuff

- go shopping, but try to find things that are unique to Lijiang (hand made or hand crafted things), and not things you can find in every other city in Yunnan (like Mingzu clothing, fakey jade, fakey silver, Mingzu dolls, traditional “Chinese” clothing, etc)

- help others take photos so a brother can be with his women in the shot

Don’t:

- visit the “screaming bars”, they’re loud, service is bad, very gimmicky

- go to KFC, don’t be like the rest of the lao wai

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Tags: China Photos 1 Comment
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