IllinoisDave

Congrats! Welcome to the club.

I totally agree. If you have the time definately get out of the city. Guilin and the river cruise would be great. I wished we had been able to do that when I was there for the interview. IMHO Shenzhen isn't like Shanghai or Beijing as far as being an interesting place in and of itself. The places Shenzhen K1 mentions are nice enough and worth seeing, but Shenzhen itself is kind of antiseptic because it's a relatively new city. The air certainly isn't antiseptic, but the place is. Just my opinion.

I can't bring myself to drink hot water. Don't like tea or coffee. Out of politeness, I did drink some hot tea in China when we visited Christine's relatives. It was all I could do to get it down. After about the first 5 days of me ordering Sprite and ice cubes at every restaurant we ate at, I noticed there was suddenly Sprite at all the relatives houses. I love this woman! Now that she's here, Christine's drinks are almost exclusively hot. I've seen her drink cold pop twice. And she had a coffee float with ice cream once. She also wants no part of cold drinks during the MC time.

Now that's a project no one can find fault with.

David's right. It's down to just California and Vermont. If you live in Illinois you send to CA. Good luck!

He's doing his best to stir up a political debate, or a debate that turns political, or a discussion that turns into a debate that turns political, or a........ whatever........ who KNOWS what Roger is doing? Amazingly just about any topic can be turned into political debate if you choose to make it so, so don't. It's an act of free will, you don't need to make everything about politics. Roger is posting about environmental issues that have some affect on everyone at this site, whether directly or indirectly. Most at CFL have some interest in the state of affairs in China as we have family there and may possibly live there in the future during our retirement. Lee, with all due respect, what's happening in China is going to happen, with or without our input. Posting a series of one-sided articles reeks of a political agenda, whether or not anyone chooses to acknowledge it. I did NOTHING to push this into a political argument, I simply stated that I thought that's what Roger was doing with his barrage of 'the dam is evil' links. Would it be political if I posted links extolling the virtues of the dam while not mentioning the downside? I think it's bogus to put a negative (and political, in my opinion) spin on every development of this type. I'm not being poltical when I note that lessening the reliance on coal for power generation should be part of the conversation here. Between mining and burning, the long term effects of coal fired plants probably have at least as much negative impact as Three Gorges. As for people in China, I've asked my wife and friends about this. I think they are somewhat expert on the topic of China, having lived there all their lives. They are aware of the project and are universally quite proud of their country's efforts in this regard. When I asked my wife about the environmental impacts, she simply said (I'm paraphrasing) it's a trade off. Pretty astute in my book. As I posted earlier, she was born and grew up in a small house (to the age of 17, with 3 brothers and 3 sisters) with no electricity and no plumbing. There is no question in her mind that China is better off following the road to modernization and progress. American environmental sensibilities make no sense to her and frankly, they shouldn't. THAT is the key to this issue in my book. Promotion of an agenda here through posting links from only one perspective are missing this part of the story. Yes, I do think Roger was pushing a political agenda. No, nothing I posted was such, not in this thread and not in this sub-forum. That all belongs on TC, if anywhere. Posting several links about impending environmental catastrophe bear little relationship to what the vast majority of people in China are living with every day. Pretending that WE know or should have any say on what is happening in a country that, even with our travels and Chinese contacts, is so completely foreign to us, is arrogance in the extreme. Reading the articles, particularly the articles in Chinese newspapers, are interesting and can be quite informative, but the implication behind some of these selective postings is that WE need to head off some kind of enviro disaster. This is NOT our business and it smacks of an internationalist "Ugly American" attitude that I am frankly surprised to see endorsed on this forum. Good information, but biased due to being a one-sided monolog. Yes, that is an effort to stir up a political discussion, but I refuse to rise to the bait. Best Regards Politics can be injected into anything. Posting the articles reeks of a political agenda? How? He can speak for himself but do you really think Roger expects to be able to have any sort of impact on the Chinese government? Do we get to vote for anything or anyone in China that would be able to affect any of these issues? So he likes to post articles on subjects in which he's interested. So what? Just because it sticks in someowne's craw that he's doing it doesn't make it political. Just posting these articles isn't bashing China. At worst it's pointing out some areas where the Chinese gov't could improve things for it's citizens or showing where decisions that were made,in the case of the dam,have an adverse affect on thousands of people. Food for thought it seems to me, not a political agenda. He wants to live there one day for chrissakes! Why would he post articles pointing out some of these drawbacks purely for political purposes? If someone else wants to post articles extolling the virtues of lessening the reliance on coal I don't think anyone would accuse them of having a political agenda. The issues in the articles are of interest to him and he thinks maybe they might be to others as well. What's wrong with that? It's not like he's posting them in hopes of influencing the rest of us to vote Hu Jintao out of office or something. With all due respect to anyone's wife,including mine, do we really think they were exposed to all the facts about ANY environmental issue in China when they were there, be it the Three Gorges Dam or coal fired power plants? Your wife said it's a trade-off. Fair enough. Astute? Absolutely. I can't argue with it and I haven't seen Roger argue with it either. IMHO to say someone is "pushing" a political agenda by posting these articles here is a bit reactionary and over-sensitive. I think saying that these "selective" postings implies that WE should do something about the issues discussed is in itself a little arrogant. I didn't see anywhere in his postings where Roger advocated that WE interfere in China's business. What's wrong with being concerned about these issues enough to post articles about them on a Sino/American related website? What's wrong with even hoping that China will do something to clean up these environmental problems? Shouldn't we want the same thing for China that we want for our own country as well? Wanting it for China and talking about is hardly akin to arrogantly telling them they should do it or telling them how. You make us wanting a cleaner environment for China sound like us wanting them to change their governmental structure or something. A cleaner environment is something everyone should strive for everywhere. Telling China how to go about it would be arrogant. Wishing that they would and posting articles about it on a wesite certainly isn't. If Rog's articles were bait as you maintain, you sure have a funny way of not rising to it.

Sounds like you've pretty much answered your own question.

Welcome to CFL XiongMao XianSheng. Pull up a log and join us around the campfire. This is a great place to learn/teach/vent. There are a lot of folks here who've been where you're at or are there now. Hopefully something someone here says or does can help speed up your process. Good luck.

Congrats on your P1! Don't expect everything to go this fast. Best of luck.

To the extent that a single, or very few "top" people in a company make outrageously more percentage of the profit than the actual workers, then it is exploitation, and seems to need correction. ... It seems that the measure of a company should be how the people at the top are paid in comparison to the people at the bottom. I am not saying equivalent pay, but a fair distribution of profits. I would have a BIG problem if he gave no raises, wanted us working outrageous hours, and his salary went up my a huge amount. ... What should be monitored, and outlawed is the dis-proportionate profit of owners/executives at the expense of workers. You are living in a fairy tale. On this planet it is more than customary for CEOs to earn $1 million + while the average salary for those in the company is about $40k. And it is not going to change in your lifetime. You're right and that's the problem! The attitude that "Oh well, it's customary, live with it." Until people in this country and world decide to stop putting people in office who believe that the distribution of wealth is just fine and that the rich should get richer and the poor should get poorer, we'll all live under their thumbs.

How are you some of you people voicing your opinions when you have no clue...GUZ can do what ever they want......myself and my finance have never had a name change.... nothing was checked off as missing or wrong on blue slip.... 5 1/2 months later nothing....she also had a old Visa lady that had a bad cold that day and something went wrong.... but not name change! First of all, much of what is said here is someone's opinion. Most of the time it's their opinion offered in hopes that it can help a fellow member. You're free to consider it or not, it's your choice. As it's their choice whether to offer it or not. Secondly, the people offering these opinions usually DO have a clue. Their not first-time posters new to the process just throwing out wild-ass answers. Some have been through the exact scenario the OP presented. Others have second-hand knowledge of similar cases gleanded from this site. All of it is offered in hopes that it can help someone else, not just as wild speculation. Again, if you don't like their opinions or answers, ignore them. I'm very sorry for your situation and can only imagine how bitter you must be. But taking out that bitterness on people here won't help you much. Best of luck.

Sorry I'm finding this late Clayton. Best of luck to you and Wen Li!! Thinking pink all the way! Dave and Christine

CONGRATS AGAIN

Same here.

He announced in the P3-Inteview thread that they got pink. More details to come.

CONGRATS TO YOU GUYS!! When you get a chance post a new thread with the results so everyone can see it. Way to go!!

Lance, as usual your unique perspective offers an insight into the mindset of the Chinese people that many of us miss. To expect the Chinese people to be as passionate about a cleaner environment is probably too much to hope for in the short term. As you suggest, maybe the younger generation will pick up the baton and run with it. China's developed at a rate that hasn't allowed many things,like environmental protections, to keep up with industrial and economic expansion. We're probably going to have to give them some time to catch up in this regard as they are relatively new at the whole development thing. We don't have that excuse. As you said, we can do better and we should.

Good luck to all!! Make it a pink sweep!

He's doing his best to stir up a political debate, or a debate that turns political, or a discussion that turns into a debate that turns political, or a........ whatever........ who KNOWS what Roger is doing? Amazingly just about any topic can be turned into political debate if you choose to make it so, so don't. It's an act of free will, you don't need to make everything about politics. Roger is posting about environmental issues that have some affect on everyone at this site, whether directly or indirectly. Most at CFL have some interest in the state of affairs in China as we have family there and may possibly live there in the future during our retirement. Well said Lee.

Best of luck to you both! Sounds like she's very well prepared. Thinkin Pink.

A lot easier to wait and change name on the card after getting Green Card, kill 2 birds with 1 stone. Immigrations status change like Green-Card and Naturalization needs to be reported to SSA anyway. But what if we want to get other things done with her given name/my surname like utilities,state ID/driver's license,bank accounts etc in the meantime? I think we've settled on Christine keeping her Chinese given name,using her family name as middle and my surname as last. We'll just use Christine with family,friends and people she meets etc. We may or may not change her first name after naturalization. With all that in mind, wouldn't it be better to go ahead and get the new card with given/family/my surname on it now and use it for all the other stuff?

Nice post Don. I agree with you on pretty much everything. I might take small exception to whether or not it's big business slowing things down, but I see your points. I used "big business" in my post mainly to make my point. Of course all businesses,large and small, should be held to the same standards and regulations. Are we getting better here in the US? Yes. Could we do it faster? Yes, I think we can. My main point is that I think we've given business/industry ample time to put more effective measures in place. And there are too many enablers out there who are, IMHO, too willing to give them as much time as they claim to need to take even the smallest of steps.

We just went last week. Yes, we got a letter that said we applied. They said the card should come in the mail in 10 days to 2 weeks. Then we'll be turning right around and taking the new card to a different office to get her surname changed and get another new card. Good luck.

The non-environmentalists have been equally wrong--if not more--many times. I just thought it was interesting that the pollution was less than expected due to the sheer amount of water that's flowing but as I-Dave points out, it's still very polluted, just not as expected. What is an environmentalist? Let's be clear, everyone in this world picture has an agenda. There are a great many militant groups that would like nothing better than to shut down the world economy in favor of pushing that agenda forward. On the other hand, there are Environmental Engineers who understand that working hand in hand with the planet to reduce toxic emissions, and clean wastewater is important. The key here is to take it one step at a time and celebrate victories and being cautious to minimize the impact upon the economy and culture. The message accompanied with an ongoing alarm about dirty water, dirty air, tainted products was old a long time ago. There are pessimists in life that are incapable of finding the positive in just about anything. These kind of people are just annoying to be around; people don't want to work with them, or for them. Then, there are those that know there is hard work to be done. A daunting task if you will. They celebrate small victories, but yet still notice the formidable task at hand. It's not news that China has issues with the environment. What is news, is that the people of China are learning to work with the many small cities and towns in educating the people to do things differently. My hat is off to them. They are faced with several factories that will fight to keep spigots carrying untreated waste into rivers and streams at all costs. Some of these posts concentrate on bashing the evil businesses and fail to focus on the people and culture. Lance, I appreciate your posts. You've got what I consider a clear perspective and open mind about these issues. You've also got a lot more background than most of us when it comes to Chinese culture. You mention environmentalists in one sentence and in the very next say militants want to shut down the world's economy to push an agenda. If you're connecting the two that's BS and you know it. I'm sick to death of anyone wanting big business or anyone else to do a better job of not polluting the planet for the rest of us labelled as "militants" "radicals" or "tree huggers" in the most derogatory tone possible. Are there ultra radicals who go too far with their advocacy? Yes. Should they be held accountable? Yes. Are there a great many groups of them who want to shut down the world economy? NO I suggest the time has passed for taking one step at a time and being cautious so as to minimize the effect on economy and culture. The polluters have had ample time to clean up their act while being coddled by the pro-business factions. They've been allowed to implement any pollution contols begrudgingly and at their own pace for decades now and all of us are paying for it. Like Detroit stalling safety devices and fuel economy for years while whining "It'll cost too much," polluters claim they can't make a profie if they're forced to clean up the stuff they pump into the environment. So while the planet becomes more and more polluted anti-environmentalists stand on the sidelines saying "Whoa, slow down. We can't go too fast with this lest we harm business." or "They're getting better. No, they really are. I'm not kidding." More BS So you'll have to excuse those "pessimists" among us who don't see the silver lining around that noxious cloud the local factory puts out or the lilies floating around the piles of pig shit in the local stream. That's pretty annoying to be around too. And even more annoying to hear the enablers talk about giving big business,here or in China, more time to get their act together. Don't try to turn this into a China-bashing thread. No one's bashing China and you know it. This is about pollution in a country we've all come to know and love. I'm certain Lance didn't post the article to show what a bad place China. People post articles here all the time about some negative and positive aspects about life in China. 99.9% of them do it because it's of interest to many of us for obvious reasons. All of our hats are off to the people in China who have to deal with this every day of their lives. And they're off as well to whatever business or governmental entities that are trying to improve those lives. But the fact remains that the problem is huge, globally as well as in China. Pointing that out and having a discussion about it doesn't amount to China bashing. "Fail to focus on the people and culture"?!!! How condescending. What the hell else do you think we're focusing on? Those of us who think China and the rest of the world can do a better job of cleaning up the environment want that done precisely for the people and their cultures! Otherwise, what's the point?

Try to find Wisconsin ginseng in the root form. It's supposed to be some of the best in the world. Hard to get in China. Maybe try a local Asian market? I ordered mine online but I don't think you have enough time to get it before you leave.