Archive for the ‘General’ Category

Jul262010

Posted By
Glen

Fact or Fiction VIII: Hey Ho! Expo!

Welcome back one and all to the July edition of Fact or Fiction. Those of you who read any or all of the last seven will know, every edition I will have a guest and we will discuss a few of the big issues in China of the day. Every answer will have a “Fact” or a “Fiction” and some justification to go along with it.

My guest today is Katherine, better known around here as Baoru. You can read her work on CNReviews where she posts a great deal about life in the Middle Kingdom. Quite recently her informative posts on the Shanghai Expo have received a great deal of web traffic, and for obvious reasons. She also writes a blog in Expotia, the Official Hotel Reservation Service Provider of Expo 2010. If that wasn’t enough, depending on your perspective, she is either lucky or brave enough to be a volunteer at the World Expo in Shanghai.

Looking at my guests resume, the topic seems rather obvious to me. We will be talking about the biggest event to currently be underway in China, the Shanghai Expo. We will be tackling issues like lines, toilets, and our favourite pavilions, so join us for Fact or Fiction 8: Hey Ho, Expo!

Jul242010

12Comments

Posted By
Travis

There and Back

I came to China on August 26, 2008. Before then, I took an inventory of what I’d packed. Clothes: 7 pairs of jeans, 14 pairs of socks, 2 pairs of shoes, 9 pairs of underwear, 11 shirts total, and 1 pair of glasses, no spare, no contacts. Toiletries: comb, brush, toothbrush, toothpaste, shaving cream, razor, [...]

Jul112010

11Comments

Posted By
Glen

Culture Shock…or Something Like It

I’m back in Canada now for the summer. While this should be easy for me after spending so much time in China, it’s not. This is a strange, strange place to me. What makes it worse is that I feel like I should get it, and people around me feel like I should get it too.

Over the last week or so, I’ve come up with a list of questions about this strange place called “North America” that I’m hoping some of you out there can answer, or provide other questions for your own reverse culture shock.

Jul082010

9Comments

Posted By
Travis

The Wedding

I went to a wedding last weekend. I’m not sure if it was a traditional wedding, if there really is such a thing among these billion grains of loose sand. I do know it took place in the bride’s hometown, outside. In the summer. A Hubei summer, no less. The mosquitoes were on the hunt, [...]

Jun212010

22Comments

Posted By
Glen

Fact or Fiction VII: The Veggie-Veggie Shakes

Welcome back one and all to the June edition of Fact or Fiction. Those of you who read any or all of the last six will know, every edition I will have a guest and we will discuss a few of the big issues in China of the day. Every answer will have a “Fact” or a “Fiction” and some justification to go along with it.

My guest today is Fred Dintenfass (aka @freddint aka fed-a-rama-lama-ding-dong) arrived in Beijing in 2006. Since then he’s been busy studying, editing, DJing, and eating all manner of things on sticks. Fred is the mastermind behind the world’s 4,375,463th most popular website — 10tonfunk. An infrequently updated repository of bad puns and worse product ideas. Despite being a vegetarian he is, as his Chinese friends and random strangers like to point out, overweight, and possibly pregnant.

Today, my esteemed guest and I are going to be talking about something near and dear to both of us, food. More specifically we are going to be talking about our diets. See we are both vegetarians living in the very omnivorous Middle Kingdom, and are going to talk about some of the issues that we face. So join us for Fact or Fiction 7: The Veggie-Veggie-Shakes.

Jun032010

3Comments

Posted By
Lost Laowai

Trouble getting on Shanghai Expat?

Our friends over at Shanghai Expat asked for our help getting the news out about some access problems their visitors might be experiencing. Always happy to help out our friends in the ‘sphere, here’s more information from them:

May312010

7Comments

Posted By
Glen

Fact or Fiction VI: Xinjiang, The Final Frontier

Welcome back one and all to the May edition of Fact or Fiction. Those of you who read either of the last three will know, every edition I will have a guest and we will discuss a few of the big issues in China of the day. Every answer will have a “Fact” or a “Fiction” and some justification to go along with it.

Today my guest is Josh Summers, a writer with a passion for the province of Xinjiang. He and his wife arrived in Xinjiang in August of 2006 and for reasons unknown to them stayed for almost four years. Their experiences in the province have been featured on sites such as the BBC, MSNBC and China Daily, but Josh takes most pride in the writings he publishes on his own site, Xinjiang: Far West China.

Although he moved back to Texas in March of 2010, he continues to focus on his adopted home back in China. In May he released a Turpan travel guide and is almost finished completing two more guides for Urumqi and Kashgar. The perks of life in America have already worn off after two months and he’s hoping to return again to Xinjiang in the future.

Today Josh and I are going to be discussing a variety of issues in the Westernmost region in the Middle Kingdom. So join us for Fact or Fiction 6: Xinjiang, the Final Frontier…

Apr262010

35Comments

Posted By
Ericka

You know you’ve been in China too long when…

You know you have been in China too long when:
You start shaving your eyebrows and stop shaving everywhere else;
You don’t know the conversion between CNY and USD;
You send back ice water for hot water;
You have a stock pile of deodorant;

Apr202010

13Comments

Posted By
Glen

Fact or Fiction V: The Glenpire Strikes Back

Welcome back one and all to the April edition of Fact or Fiction. Those of you who read either of the last three will know, every edition I will have a guest and we will discuss a few of the big issues in China of the day. Every answer will have a “Fact” or a “Fiction” and some justification to go along with it.

Today my guest is Rebekah Pothaar, the former editor of Ctrip and Chinatravel.net and former Shanghaiist and CNNGo contributor. She always dreamed of being a travel writer until she discovered through experience that writing is one of the most badly paid “glam” jobs on earth. So in 2009, she tossed her old dreams out the window and chose a life of corporate advertising in Shanghai. Since then she has what they call “career prospects” but rarely has time to write. Lonely Planet and The Telegraph phone her from time to time asking for her work, but she disdainfully asks them to show her the money. So far, they haven’t coughed up anything worth rolling out of bed for. She dreams that one day writers will be paid enough so she can leave the advertising business and return to writing again. In her spare time, she still enjoys traveling in China and lists camping on the Great Wall and running the Great Wall Marathon as her most unique China experiences. With the May Holiday coming up, Rebekah and I will be discussing several travel issues in this crazy country of ours.

So join us for Fact or Fiction 5: The Glenpire Strikes Back!! (…I’ve seriously been waiting four issues of this to use that title)

Apr102010

25Comments

Posted By
Matt

Ethical Vegetarianism

I tried being a vegetarian once, my first year of university. I was 18 and realized with delight that for the first time, my culinary options weren’t bound to whatever my parents came up with for dinner. I could stop eating meat, and nobody could stop me! Besides, I thought vegetarianism would help me lose [...]