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Guess why most of the people waiting in line are so young?

it is Black Mu Er.

Today I brought to lunch something my wife cooked last night. It contains Judas's Ear Fungus. I like it, but my colleagues are surprised. Do you like it?

My wife, a Legal Permanant Resident, is planning to travel to China with our child, an American citizen. As our child is under the age of 18 and I won't be with them for the trip, is that doable or do I need to sign some sort of Affidavit Authorization for Minor to Travel? I hate to see them turned away by the airline officials. Thanks

Americans may have a better safety net than Chinese. When American workers are laid off, they can have unemployment insurance benefits. Some union workers are paid at 90% of their regular salaries in addition to unemployment claims. Americans also have social security disability benefits, Medicaid, welfare checks, food stamps, public housing, etc. Chinese laid off workers do not have such luck.

The Chinese yuan has virtually stopped rising against the dollar for the past 6 months or so. With the new Adminstration and Congress policy, we are more likely to see Yuan to stall its appreciation against the dollar.

I do not know the exact difference among ox, cow and bull. Is cow a female and a bull male? What about an ox? Are they different breeds?

After my wife arrived here, I found a Chinese speaking Primary Physician for her, though the co-pay is $65 for every visit since the doctor works in a hospital setting. But I do not have to accompany her for Primary visits. For for specialist visits, I have to accompany her as an interpreter. My wife also uses herbal medicines for home remedy purposes.

Are those pills placebos? I remember we once had a placebo moderator.

Thank you all who have replied. I used a different software Windows DVD Maker. When I put in the first disc, the software rejected it as "not rewritable". But the second disc worked perfectly well. The original software which did not work was Windows Media Center. Thank you again for your suggestions!

Hello, everyone: I have Window Vista Home Edition. When I tried to burn a .MPG file into a DVD, I constantly got an error message. It says "Please insert writeable media that is compatible with CD or DVD recorder, and then try again". The DVD disk that I inserted was a Maxell DVD+R 4.7GB. My computer is a Compaq Desktop with a DVD drive labeled "RW DVD+R DL". Why aren't they compatible? Anyone has a clue? Thanks.

Yes, I agree. Many US jobs (especially union jobs) have high wages and very good benefits, as compared with Chinese workforce. Also, Chinese workers are learning fast and are catching up quickly. That is why American companies are shipping jobs abroad. US workforce needs to improve productivity if they want to keep their high wages.

Thank you so much, Jim. I will definately give them a call and check it out. We have never thought it is possible to prepare our own duck meals here. My wife (and her mom) said it is healthy to eat ducks in summer, because duck meat belongs to Yin (in Chinese) which should cool the body down in summer. My wife prefers old lean ducks to the big fat ones. Paul

Lucky you!

Yes, we often shop at Chinese grocery stores in Boston. One of my wife's favorite foods is roasted duck where she can buy from the Chinese food shop. But it is a lot more more expensive than roasted chicken. I checked the Owen's Poultry Farm in Needham, MA. The website says they say they sell turkey, not ducks. We rarely eat chickens, except when we dine in a fast food chain like McDonald or KFC, because the chickens here are raised in cages. Sometimes when we feel like eating a chicken, we usually buy a free range chicken from a whole food store. But why Americans do not like ducks or duck egges, is it because of its taste? You can buy roasted chickens from most of the supermarkets here, but not roasted ducks.

I understand why most people in this country don't like chicken feet. But what is the taboo about ducks? Why is it so difficult to find ducks (especially live ducks) and duck eggs in the States? My wife and I thought it would be nice to buy an old duck (preferrably a free range live duck) and then make a duck soup with some Chinese salted aged vegetables (pickles?). Is it Americans do not like the taste of ducks or is it too expensive to raise ducks on farmland?

Continental airline has direct flight from Beijing to Newark, non-stop. Price is good too. The immigration service at Newark is very experienced. Can't complain. Just my suggestion.

I had severe lower back pain a couple of months ago. The doctor said a firmer bed would help. So we tried each and every American retailer in the area and all of their firmest beds were considered "too soft". I ended up buying from a Chinese retailer. The mattress, made from palm trees, is as hard as a rock. It is so hard that I had to leave a blanket on the top of the mattress to serve as a "cushion".

I just checked with my bank: 100 USD => 96 CAD; 100 CAD => 93 USD. So when I convert into Candian dollar, I lose 4; and when I convert back into USD, I lose another 7. The total is 11 dollar for 100 dollar conversion back and forth, which is like 11% charge between buying and selling rates. I think I will just carry US dollar with me for the trip. Thank you for your responses.

Why are my marriage documents so important, since my wife already has her green card? I only have our origional marriage certificate printed in Chinese (the little red book). Is that good enough? I do not have the translated English version. Thank you all for your response.

So are you suggesting that there is no need to convert US dollar to Canadian dollar before I go, because they accept US dollar everywhere? Even when I ride a subway train or pay at a restaurant? Thank you for your response.

Also how do I convert the Canadian currency back into USD, when we return to the States. We are only staying there for a few days. My wife has a US green card. I do not think she needs a Canadian visa, right?

My family plan to travel to Canada this summer. We are going to drive into Canada, by the way. How do I change into Canadian dollar from U.S. dollar and obtain the best exchange rate? Here are options: (1) Drive into Canadian border and find a currency exchange place near the border. (2) Use a Canadian ATM machine inside of Canada to withdraw CAD with my U.S. bank debit card. (3) Change the USD in CAD in a U.S. bank before making the trip. (4) Change the USD into CAD in a Canadian bank after arriving at Canada. The thing is we may need Canadian currency right after we enter Canada. But I do not believe they accept USD there. I am not familiar with Canada at all. Any suggestion would be appreciated.

Ctrip is one of the most well-known websites in China. But I have not used it to book a flight. Anyway, you can always try to buy an air ticket to Chongqing at Shanghai international airport.

This is one of the lessons that I learned from this incident. After telling my wife about what happened, my wife said I had so many easy "marks" to identify myself as a "non-local"/"visitor". I just never imagined this would have happened in downtown Beijing. You said that you were easy marks but if you are Chinese American, then you look Chinese ¨C Right? You also speak the language ¨C Right? You have several abilities that we Americans don¡¯t have. So that we can learn¡­ what marks did you have to make you an easy target. Just curious! The way I dressed, the backpack that I carried with me, the accent I spoke Chinese with all indicated that I was not from Beijing local.