IllinoisDave

Sorry I missed this Michael. Congrats! Don't be alarmed when it actually comes. It's not really green at all.

Brother Charles you two will have been married for over 2 years by the time of the interview. As long as all the documents are in order I highly doubt you will be rejected as non bona fide. Give them what they ask for and you will be fine. I agree with you, but yyou know when Lao Po gets all concerned, it makes you start thinking "stuff"... I tell her not to worry, but when I get off the phone.... By the way, next month we will be married 2 years Thanks for the encouragement Brother C JMHO. Write up a nice letter of the evolution of your relationship, show it to her and send it. I agree with others that it probably won't make a whit of difference to GUZ. But it probably will to her. Isn't that what counts? B)

This has NOTHING to do with the "left" or the news networks and you know it Jessie. You just can't let any opportunity go by,even a tragedy like this, to get in your petty little political digs can you? The only thing you've managed to do is act in the exact manner you're accusing others of.

An interesting article about the change - China propaganda machine in quake damage control I guess it was just a matter of time before things got back to "normal." I do think we and Chinese citizens can take heart in the fact that the reporting was allowed to go somewhat unchecked for as long as it did. I see it as real progress on the part of the central gov't and hope their "experiment" in "free press" went well enough to let them consider returning to it again in the future. After all, the unusually open access that led to so much real-time reporting by domestic and international media actually did more for their cause than any amount of controlled propaganda could have done. Aid,assistance and empathy poured in from every province domestically and nearly every country internationally. The question going forward will be if all that attention leads to real reforms as far as the systemic corruption and inattention to building codes that seems to have led to so much needless loss of life in those schools.

Long, sad article that raises serious questions/issues I doubt we'll see on CCTV. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/25/world/as...ref=todayspaper

Leave it to the guvment to expedite something when you'd like to have more time. Best of luck to Bing.

Congrats RWS. Gonna miss those "comprehensive" trip reports.

CONGRATS!

Tsap and Lil Rabbit. No one deserves what you two have been through. But you've survived with your sanity,sense of humor and most importantly your dignity intact. I'm not sure many of us here would've been able to do that. You both have my utmost respect and admiration. Now you move on to a new chapter. Knowing what I know about both of you I have no doubt it will be a very happy chapter. Who knows, the heartless folks who had a hand in denying your visa may have unwittingly done you the biggest favor of your lives. It may not be the adventure you envisioned when you started this process, but it'll be an adventure nonetheless. I have no doubt you'll both make the best of it. Christine and I wish you the very best of luck and happiness in your future, whatever it may hold. Be well and don't be a stranger. Dave and Christine

Congrats and good luck.

CONGRATULATIONS!

So Rob and Jin finally get to stop circling and land huh? Good luck you two.

Well Darnell the advantage to living in Wuhan is that you don't have to go to the steam baths in the summer because Wuhan IS a steam bath... Chengdu has much better weather... Anybody have any experience in Shenzhen? My wife lived there for about 15 years and she liked it. She especially liked the weather. Yes, it can be hot. But I guess it's like people here living in Fla. or So Cal, you like it, get used to it or you leave. I only spent about a week there last year so my opinion doesn't carry too much weight. It was just ok for me but I liked Beijing better and Shanghai the best.

Welcome back Bill. I've only been to Shanghai,Hangzhou,Beijing,Shenzhen and Guangzhou so my experience is pretty limited as far as China goes. Shanghai is my favorite for a lot of reasons and GUZ my least favorite for others. But I didn't encounter anything in Beijing that would stop me from living there if it ever came to that. I enjoyed/disliked all the things you mentioned except for the language. Can't speak much Mandarin beyond Ni hao and Xie Xie.

Honestly, I didn't know about that little tidbit. Wish I had. Would've saved a few apprehensive hours waiting to see if the visa was actually at China Post. I don't remember reading that anywhere here before either. I'd be surprised if anyone else realized that option was available. I'm sure someone else will come along and make a liar out of me now for sure.

To quote Ed McMahon: "I did not know that."

CONGRATULATIONS!

The SSN specifically? Yes, (If Necessary) but the question is addressed toward the beneficiary http://guangzhou.usembassy-china.org.cn/up..._applicants.pdf So that seems to partly apply to an applicant who was previously married to a USC, hence the SSN request. It's not asking for the Petitioner's ex's SSN.

We're lucky in the sense that we don't have any friends or family who were directly affected by the quake. So my wife's reaction so far has been relatively restrained. She did wear black to her English class today. And she's not wearing any makeup or jewelry during the 3 days of mourning. Apparently some of her friends and family back in China are doing the same. Christine hasn't shown a lot of outward emotion since the quake. She doesn't really talk about it much unless I point out something I'm watching on CNN or CCTV. She doesn't go out of her way to watch the coverage but I do notice her reading Chinese websites that are talking about it. Usually when she does say anything, she speaks with a kind of quiet pride about how the Chinese people and government are dealing with the tragedy. She's especially proud of how people from the other provinces are doing whatever they can to help total strangers. She's made comments to the effect that this is a change from the way things have been in the past. She's very proud of that as well. I'm curious as to how others' wives/fiancees are dealing with it and what their reaction to it has been.

The SSN specifically?

Based on that response from GUZSpeaks, maybe it's time to recommend that all divorced USCs include in the kitchen sink as SOP a letter stating something to the effect of: "Due to concerns over identity theft etc, my ex-spouse has refused to provide his/her SSN. I have provided alternative proof of his/her separate residence." blah blah blah? Hopefully it would be a little easier to get the ex to provide photocopies of bills etc w/ current address as opposed to SSN. Now I didn't have to worry about any of this when I filed so I'm sure there are things I haven't considered and this suggestion may be worthless. Just thinking out loud.

CONGRATS CLAYTON!

Hang in there jimi. Just a minor setback.