China Travel Etiquette Photos, Videos and More
Bosnia: $70,000
Cambodia: $10,000
France: $385,500
Germany: $770,000
Hong Kong: $38.4 million
India: $5 million
Japan: $4.8 million
Macau: $14.3 million
New Zealand: $383,000
Norway: $3.92 million
Philippines: $450,000
Saudi Arabia: $60 million
Singapore: $270,000
South Korea: $1 million
Taiwan: $65 million
Thailand: $500,000
Turkey: $500,000
United States: $500,000
Vietnam: $200,000
via wiki as of today.
Just got back from China to visit the parents. I noticed a lot of newly paved roads and shiny crosswalks. My brother Tom came along this time and brought his Nikon.
Here is a sunrise shot we took at a secret location in Yunnan.
Also, look for a very special follow-up video soon.
Today, after waiting 3.5 hours in line at the San Francisco Chinese Consulate, I thought for sure I’d get my brother a VISA for our upcoming trip.
I brought his passport, a photo, a copy of his flight reservation, and the VISA application.Apparently, China tightened down on the rules. That’s an understatement.
I was told (in Chinese, btw) that I needed his birth certificate, the hotel he is staying at, and a written letter explaining his relationship to every that he will encounter in China. Allow me to focus on one part of that. We own two houses in China, so when I told them that there is no need for a hotel, she said, “Lemme see your house deed.”
ME: “Can I fax it?”
HER: “No.”
ME: “Can I call a hotel now and make a reser–”
HER: “No. Step aside, too many people!”
So. Just thought I’d write a little “what to expect” at the Consulate. Not to mention that this is my seventh time going to China, and all other times I barely filled out the form with no questions asked. Oh, and the fee for a VISA is now $160 USD (used to be $40 a few years ago.)
In short — everything on the VISA form will be scrutinized, so make sure it is all accurate and bring more information than you think you need.
Out of 1.6 million. Now I can just say “Just Google Robert Thompson“.
Update: Seems to oscillate between 8 and 11…
This is a pretty funny video I just found comparing Hillary Clinton’s tactics to Tonya Harding’s tactics. For our international visitors who don’t know who Tonya Harding is — you can read about her controversy here.
Enjoy!
Thanks to the Huffington Post and Head Butler for writing about the water buffalo movie!
As I sit here in my hotel room in Guangzhou, anticipating our interview at the American Embassy just down the street in about four hours, I’m contemplating whether or not to go back to Du Zhuan and visit the Su family to see how Little Longhorn is doing.
First impression: It looks… bad. The player is packed full of features, but at first glance the whole package is reminiscent of some Windows app from 1999 (”bigger is better”, fat bordered, bloated mess).
The background gradient fade reminds me of that tank game from ‘93 where you had to guess the angle and velocity of your shot to blow up your opponent.
And what’s up with the 42px of whitespace on the bottom of the player? Fixed!
And there is obviously no design standard for the for the graphic ads that are crammed on the top.
IMO, in order for Youtube Adsense Video Units to be effective, it has to be subtle — get people’s attention with a little video player. Don’t blow out half of their screen real estate. By setting the minimum dimensions to 400×415px, one must ask the question, where the hell are were we supposed to put this thing? How will it ever gracefully fit into a page of content?
Will people use it? Probably, because it’s Google, but I’ll bet there will be many revisions in the near future.
So I see this as a first step, especially with the improved content targeting, but I think it would benefit Google if they make some modifications:
Read Huffinton Post Article
Read Head Butler