Randy W

This may not help, since it sounds like you know whay you are doing, but here goes My phone (and carrier) allows me to send MMS messages, which are like regular email. So, if she has an email-capable phone, I could send an email w/attachment to her regular email address. She (my SO) could then download to her phone from her email provider. But the SMS (texting) is a little more restrictive.

'Required round trip' simply means multiply the given price by 2, doesn't it? And that one-way tickets must be priced seperately

We are talking about 2 different kinds of cards here - the SIM card is inserted into a cell phone to connect you to a particular company's network, or a calling card, which allows you to call from a regular telephone. The SIM card was very convenient, and comparably inexpensive and provides a local number for others to call. Check www.china-mobile-phones .com/china-prepaid-sim.html for rates.

I bought a pre-paid SIM card at the Beijing airport from China Mobile for $35. The rates are 7 cents per minute in China, 38 cents to the US. You (or your SO) must have a GSM enabled, unlocked phone to do this.

Jingwen has and I can tell you they aren't flattering at all - even about his sexual habits and abilities. Don't ask me how she knows this - maybe urban legend. 146821[/snapback] My Chinese male friend at work used to live in a small town in China, where the toilets were public and had no stall dividers. He tells me that they had to be very careful to look for and cut out any pictures of Chairman Mao before using the newspaper which was available there for toilet paper. Someone very possibly would notice.

Welcome to CFL - I could provide links for you to read, but try just about any topic in this forum for starters. We are anticipating 5 months for our K-1. . . . and grab a bag of cheetos!

The China Post post offices are evrywhere, just like here in the US. They also do Western Union, so I know they have the computer facilities to do that.

Watch 'XiuXiu, the Sent Down Girl' (ÌìÔ¡ - Tian Yu), a very poignant movie about a girl who 'disappeared' to Tibet in a sort of Cultural exchange program, and was forgotten when the Cultural Revolution ended. A very good movie. Your SO probably hasn't seen it.

They have new declaration forms as of July 1 (that everyone must fill out), but I believe they don't ask about food.

I'm with Jim - use photo-quality paper, and it looks exactly like a real "original" photo, which of course it is.

Sorry - can't help you!

I believe the emails are responded to in one of the following ways: !) With a quick ( in as little as 3 or 4 hours), personalized response addressing the question 2) with a form letter (after 5 or 6 days) which only vaguely addresses the issue 3) or with action if they realize they had dropped your ball and that the best thing to do is to wait until you can expect a favorable response or a serious answer. In your case, that would be about 1 month after the last round of P4's.

That, of course, is a question for GUZ that may be answered on the interview letter. We don't have ours yet. If they are seriously asking for telegraphic codes, I would use the ones on my link above. Dictionary lookup (and ordering) (at least for my SO) is usually by radical and # of strokes. She can't do it alphabetically by the pinyin spelling, which of course would be different between Mandarin and Cantonese. I hear that the pinyin lookup is mainly for westerners. My guess is that any numbers submitted would be ignored, and that they would look at the signature instead. I think that the legal standard (like Mengxin pointed out) is Mandarin pinyin (even for Cantonese speakers).

Chinese Telegraphic Code telegraphic codes (pdf) Chinese Telegraph Code (CTC) The Chinese telegraphic code book, compiled in 1911, was used for sending Chinese characters over the electrical (hand-keyed, Morse) telegraph. For each of approximately 9800 characters (arranged in dictionary order) a 4 digit code number was assigned. The code is presented in the form of 100 one page charts, each with a 10 by 10 grid of cells, each cell containing a Chinese character and its 4 digit code number. The page number matches the first two code number digits, the row number matches the third code digit, and the column number matches the fourth code digit. This code is variously called ``dian4bao4ma3,'' ``Standard Telegraphic Code,'' ``Chinese Commercial Telegraph Code,'' ``Chinese Commercial Code,'' and ``telecode,'' and I have seen it abbreviated STC, CCC, and CTC. Entry numbers are commonly used in character dictionaries, but are NOT uniform. Some are grouped by sound, some by radical, and/or # of strokes.

. . . a print from one of yesterday's negatives?

AT&T directory enter Translation in the Business Category and Kansas City, Kansas Maybe someone else can reccomend a specific one

I sent it... FYI: You should edit your email out of the post... 146201[/snapback] Dave - you, too other bots who aren't as apparent as our two friends can collect these things

http://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/sehrgrosse/large-smiley-012.gifhttp://www.clicksmilies.com/s0105/huepfen/jumping-smiley-021.gif Good for you! Another step closer

If it might help - Nanning Private Investigator - SF based private investigator has associates in Nanning. Private Investigator From Rob's Nanning Site

A word of caution - I have heard from Chinese friends, that if you overstay the 6 months - even with an extension - you may be turned down next time, for that reason.

Sounds like a form letter (ah, email)

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so long ago.... I guess they learned from that one.... don't tell us anything!!! only wait, your peition is being processed, we will contact you on the next step!!! 145220[/snapback] What caught my eye was that someone had actually been able to trace the "customs delay" to the GUZ.

found a link - someone actually got some information from DHL once: http://candleforlove.com/forums/index.php?...295entry28295

It's not even necessary, although it may help sway the matter in his favor - consider it VERY IMPORTANT! Yes - check Frank's link above.