BillV 8-16-2004

Could you use a home you own in China as a tax write-off? My wife and I have a home there and this year we made a trip there to do some home repairs and we pay a monthly fee for maintenance, security, and electricity which is a minimal fee $40 a month, the home is pay off. My question is could this be used as a write-off or would we need to rent it out? Could the trip or a portion be used as a write off? Or what could be considered a write-off if anything?

My wife told me to cancel Chinese TV when she got here, that if she was going to live here she would learn English. At her job at a private college they actually are paying for her to have a private tutor who is teaching her speaking, reading and writing English, one on one after work for 1 hour a day. She still calls her family and friends almost daily and when we go to the Chinese market once a week she will buy a newspaper mainly for the cooking section and converse with staff. After she arrived we bought whatever we needed together and have done all of our redecorating together. I love Chinese food which is nothing like what is the typical American-Chinese food, she is a wonderful cook and is now preparing many Italian, Spanish, Russian etc. dishes. We travel together I enjoy visiting China to see her friends and family we just got back in April, so if we go every year that is great, next year we plan on going to Taiwan before arriving in China.

China just spent millions of $ to issue new ID cards about two years ago. The ones you mention are only going to be supplemental for those inter-city migrants that inevitably gravitate towards bigger cities in search of a better life. Think of it as a hukou book turned ID card. My wife applied for her new ID card when we were in China in March/April. She received it last month (July). How does this work? Was it sent to her in the US? Was it sent to her in China? Do they send it via POST at all? Or do you have to personally go into the office to pick it up? Or can a relative go pick it up? Inquiring minds want to know. Thanks! My wife had a relative pick it up, but they are very cautious when it comes to releasing the new ID cards, they are picked up I believe at the local police station, it could depend on where they are located and who you know.

I've seen this story now on multiple media outlets, in China and the US, all reporting the same set of facts. Do have some info the rest of us aren't privy to? Maybe it was the fact that he was in financial ruin? and a disgrace in his eyes and he did what he thought was the honorable thing to do?

China just spent millions of $ to issue new ID cards about two years ago. The ones you mention are only going to be supplemental for those inter-city migrants that inevitably gravitate towards bigger cities in search of a better life. Think of it as a hukou book turned ID card. My wife applied for her new ID card when we were in China in March/April. She received it last month (July).

My wife applied for her new Chinese ID card while we were in China in March. Has anyone else's fianc'ee/spouse renewed theirs? My wife currently is in the states and her card was suppose to be ready in 3 months how can she pick it up if she is not there? Without returning to China anyone experience this? They may request that the cardholder pick it up in person? I was hoping a family member could pick it up if possible. We are not planning to return until maybe early next year.

The biggest reason my wife isn't bored is that she found a job not long after arriving and has been there over a year now. She is not happy when she isn't working and gets bored, plus the fact that she socializes at work with teachers, students and co-workers has really helped her acclimate to America. She has made some good friends who visit us and call her on the phone and her conversational skills have really improved.

My wife now likes it here in America and yes it is quite different from China's way of life. We will still spend time in China after I retire maybe 2-3 months at a time since we have a home and property there but my wife likes it here in America and would like us to spend the majority of our time here. She feels the food here is very affordable and superior to China. Since we shop at the Asian markets and I agree the American markets are very expensive in comparison. Also she likes her job at a private college where she can walk to work and having money to help her family and redecorate our home gives her satisfaction. After supper she will always tell me we need to walk that laying down watching TV no good. So we spend time outside in the yard, working in the garden picking vegetables and fruits, sitting in our chairs watching the chickens, or just talking about our day usually until sunset. She misses her family and friends very much but she stays in contact with regularly though our calling plan, which gives her 50 hours a month.

I used an interpreter with my wife in the beginning while she was in China and made 4 trips to see her and spend time with her there. After she came to America she attended ESL class but she got discouraged because most of her classmates were Mexican and spoke Spanish so instead she wanted to find a job. She found a job at an all-English speaking college for over a year now and her English skills have developed rapidly since. She also told me no Chinese television only English. My wife and I enjoy raising chickens and having a garden, fruit trees, working around the house decorating, inside and outside projects. I love her skills in the kitchen, she is such a hard worker at anything she does, she is very fashionable and very intelligent in general and when it comes to health and diet which has always been an interest of mine, she has taught me so much.

I won't refer to the food that I have eaten as weird but unusual as far as our western taste buds are concerned since I have actually gotten to enjoy some of these foods and dishes. I have tried deep fried silk worms, conch soup, turtle soup, sea worms fried and in soup, fried eels, durian, frogs, mackerel, shark, snake, bitter melon, South American papaya soup with ginseng, pigs feet soup, pig stomach soup, pig tail soup and ox tail soup to name a few.

Even if he or she has never worked under Social Security, your spouse can begin collecting the benefits as early as age 62. However, if the benefit begins early, the amount will be permanently reduced by a percentage based on the number of months up to his or her full retirement age. They can receive a benefit equal to one-half of your full retirement amount if they start receiving benefits at their full retirement age. Proof of U.S. citizenship or lawful alien status if you (or a spouse or child applying for benefits) were not born in the U.S http://www.socialsecurity.gov/retire2/yourspouse.htm http://www.socialsecurity.gov/retirement/

I'm not sure that I would care to live in a house with a cremation urn, either. In China the Chinese believe the deceased who are cremated and placed in urns should be buried underground in a gravesite and not kept in the house, they can pay a yearly fee to keep the urns at a cemetery until they purchase the gravesite. My wife also believes in spirits or ghost and they are not something to take lightly. Each year they have a ceremony for the deceased where they burn incense, replicas of currency, gold coins, shoes, etc. and will eat a feast in honor of the dead to ensure they have everything they will need in their afterlife. She doesn't understand how or why Americans can celebrate Halloween and thinks it is a foolish tradition.

My wife also utilizes balms made in Hong Kong. One of her remedies for a cold is to heat in a saucepan Coca-Cola and ginger. She also uses ginseng (Wisconsin) in her cooking; one of my favorites is Mexican papaya, which is a large orange texture with ginseng, after cooking it has the texture of tomatoes. She will also use ginseng when preparing venison or elk.

Is the fee for the Petiton to Remove Conditions (I-751) still $270.00. Has anyone heard anything in regards to the fee increase?

I encourage my wife to talk about her job when I come home from work. I will occasionally discuss mine but I enjoy asking her to tell me how her day was and listening to her.

I still remember the first time I visited China when I would take a shower I would use a bar soap then my wife asked me if I was using it, I said yes she then told me it was for clothes.

http://www.reliefweb.int/mapc/asi_east/cnt/chn/chnsrd.html Roger were in Southern China our home is in the city of Zhanjiang the property is on the outside more in the agriculture area of Zhanjiang. While we were there they were harvesting sugar cane, pineappples and coconuts. The property is surrounded by banana's trees which were also being harvested and boxed when we were there, it is beautiful country nor far from the ocean we had to take a ferry to get there. There are quite a variety of fruit on the property coconuts, banana's, papaya and mango's. http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t30/Bar...wg/P1010027.jpg

My wife and I just returned from China last Thursday we have a home there in a gated secured housing community, were on the first floor of a six story building, utilities cost us around $40 a month the home is paid for. While there we visited her fathers old home, which has been vacant for many years what our plans are, is to build a small wall originally then taller later on around the acreage and restore the existing building it is a stone building which will need a new roof, windows, doors and maybe a floor right now there are banana trees growing inside it will not be an extensive remolded but just preserve it and later use for who knows what. Then we would like to build a smaller home maybe a one or two story home inside for family a second home or for a vacation retreat it is surrounded by banana, mango and coconut trees we see a lot of potential in the area and believe they will be building a bridge in the future to make the area more accessible. http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t30/Bar...g/China07-7.jpg http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t30/Bar.../China07-11.jpg http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t30/Bar...awg/China12.jpg

For dentist appointments I originally took her to a Chinese dentist now that my wife is working at an all English-speaking environment college she is able to converse very well even talking on the phone with her co-workers and friends in English she now goes to my family dentist were she has no problem understanding him. As far as medical appointments I would also go into the exam room with her they also would provide an interpreter either on the phone or in person at no cost just one of our benefits. She now has no problems meeting friends or going out she went to her first play in March and really enjoyed it.

We bought a pound and a half of ginseng today at $59 a pound to take to China for family, yes Roger the American ginseng was from Wisconsin they did say it was the only state they bought it from, hopefully the price was reasonable. It was coincidence that the Chinese man at the store was from my wife’s hometown of Zhanjiang. It was interesting to watch them prepare the ginseng they would first heat it and then slice it and seal it in individual bags after it cool down.

We will plant our garden once we get back from China in April. Since we have two gardens one will be just corn and beans the other we will plant tomatos, peppers, squash, crookneck and zucchini, cucumbers, parsley, onions and maybe some Chinese green leafy vegetables. Right now the chickens have been taking their dust baths in the garden we currently have 8 when we get back we will probably add another 6. It is currently 82 degrees the cherry tree and apple trees are flowering we also have blackberries and boysenberries, grape vines, orange and fig trees. We enjoy spending time in the yard during the evenings during the summer.

When my wife and I go to China this month she will be taking a pound of ginseng, as far as I know this will not be a problem. Has anyone any knowledge in regards to transporting to China, she will buy it whole and have it sliced up here. She tells me Chinese feel American ginseng is number one, she will be taking it to give family and friends

My wife will keep her Chinese name, which is what I prefer. Most people do not have any problems with the pronunciation once they have heard it spoken. I would not have a problem if she wanted an American name. I am just glad she has expressed no interest in changing her name because I like her name, it is unique and not common and it is her.

When my wife and I arrived in San Francisco I declared some packaged meat (pork sausage). We were actually going through the inspection and they had asked if we had any meat products or vegetables. I showed them and they confiscated the sausage they told me no pork or chicken will be allowed in the US. We did bring in some dried fish, which was not a problem. She had no problems with lotion, oils, herbs, honey or personal belongings.

Is the only time a Chinese would need a visa would be if they have a U.S. Passport? I have noticed on the Visa Application form it is in English and Chinese. It states applicants born in China who apply Chinese visa with his or her new foreign passport is required to submit his or her Chinese passport or last foreign passport.