Zhou Zhou

Next time y'all fly into PRC read the reverse side of the entrance document that you complete for immigration. It 'splains it there...

>>>But none of these places is going to rate as "quiet"...There are afterall 1.3 billion people in China and everybody who can afford it loves to travel... <<< Excellent point! I am still amazed when we shop at a mall on a week day afternoon and it is packed like the week before Christmas in the US...so many people.

The thread was Taoism, does it fit in the US. The Taoists teach patience, peace, compassion, understanding and putting ethics before materialism. Will it fit in the US? Of course like the teachings of Christ it would be accepted by some, but these beliefs (like Christ's) would never fit with the greed, violence, racism, power capitalism of a militaristic nation like ours.

>>I second this (and all the other posts) about Li Jiang. Very nice. We will go back.<< Is Li Jiang near Kunming? Please tell me more. ZZ

We enjoyed the mountains, historic towns, hiking and rafting in Wu Yi Shan....Northwest Fujian. It's a small town with not many restaurants or night life. But we had a good time. ZZ

IllinoisDave, said a mouth full...the 2nd anniversary will be, Great!!!!

I had a lingering cold one winter in Fushun. A girl took me to a hospital and the Doctor examined me, they took an x-ray of my lungs, two different meds....total was $20. They wanted to give me an anti-biotic IV each day for a week, but I told them no. I survived w/o it. ZZ

English translations of the,"Tao Te Ching" (The Way) can be found in all good locally owned book stores. Lao tzu, wrote the 81 verses back in the 6th century and they are good for all to live by today. ZZ

I feel y'all gave good good advice and I appreciate hearing your experiences...I'm going to plan to go to the interview of my lao po. Xie xie....ZZ

He'll need to throw parties, make toasts, not be seen patting the asses of little boys or girls and not let his spies get caught.

I have seen how close families are in China...and friendships from school days will last forever...it's all amazing to me. My family is spread out all over the world w/o communications or reunions. Those that preach family values are the worst at visiting or being around when we want to visit them...Usonians have forgotten about family ties, connections or loyalties.

I'm anxious to see it in print...should be a keeper!

This all sounds good and something I would expect to happen with this new presidential administration. Brokenheart, wrote what many I'm sure have thought about...sure is much easier to cross from the south or from the north than to go through the legal process...What do y'all think?

The way my wife acts if she catches me without shoes or slippers makes me wonder what will happen to my feet... Out in the country where I live and where she will live we go, "bare foot" at most we wear flip-flops outdoors. I can't see much of a compromise on this.

>>Of all the time i been to China i have never registered and have never had a problem.<< I rented an apartment in Fushun for a month...stayed on a former farm coop for a couple weeks in Hubei and no other westerners, nada..also in Chengdu, Wuhan, Dalian, Shenyang, Yichang, Xiamen and Nanning and never registered. But I'm doing it from now on.

I've stayed in Chinese hotels, international hotels, many homes and sublet apartments...finally after reading and study, on my eighth trip to the PRC I registered. I don't want to be fined...I don't want to be deported...I don't want to be denied a visa. So from now on after a hot shower and good nights sleep we'll taxi to the PSB and register and then 15 minutes later we'll go to a good restaurant and get a great meal and wash it down with a couple good bottles of cold beer...then take a walk in the park. Life is so difficult if you make it that way. ZZ

True...when staying in a hotel they report your stay...but I stay in our home and thought I'd better start obeying the law. But, do what you feel you should do. ZZ

I have heard of some very bad consequences if caught not registering within 24 HOURS...deportation, refusal of future visas and 500¥ a day fines. So on my 8th visit I registered...first we went to the Public Safety Office and the person wasn't there...next day we called and were told to come in the next day...the next day we went and were successful..."OIC"!

Check this out, Mike & Jin...I told my lao po that I met you on-line...about y'all living on Hubin Bei Lu, the black chicken soup, etc. We laughed and remarked that it is a small world. She asked me to get a photo of y'all...so I sent her the pic you have posted here...she wrote back very excited and told me she has seen you at the Chairman Mao restaurant, sitting at the table where we sat last time...I rotfl...it is a small world. ZZ

>>What ordeal did you experience, getting married in China?<< I had a helluva time...we also had to go to my SO birth city, because I'm a lao wai...we stopped off and got our 6 photos together and went to marriage office...we gave our papers to the office worker and he threw them back at us and told us my single affidavit was out of date. So the next time I went to PRC I had a fresh affidavit and we got married, but even that was an ordeal and w/o help from a friend who is high up in provincial government we would not have gotten it done. ZZ

Probably a government official...the other models are popular too. I've seen many little white one with kind of a hatch back. Look on the side walks you'll see Buicks.

Very interesting TonyT, I saw a documentary sometime ago that stated China was Buick's biggest buyer. I think GM will survive. They need to and I beleive the country needs them to survive. My next new car will probably be an American made car. Buick, has been very popular because Chairman Mao had several over the years and the governments use them...how about those Tiger Woods bill boards in Shanghai? And check it out...Buicks are always parked on the sidewalks.

I think it's much harder for native English speaking Americans to learn to speak and pronounce Chinese properly than vice-versa. really? i think pronunciation is way easier in chinese, assuming you study for at least a few years I live in rural US and find most people intolerant of foreign accents, foreign people and anything other than white Usonians. But like ShaQuaNew, wrote most times their objections and bigotries are exhibited behind the backs of ... I took a little community ed course in Chinese and it was very interesting...once you get the tones down the grammar is not very difficult...but I've also found that in China they overlook your pronunciation and figure out what you're trying to say...gracias a Dios! ZZ

<<It is strange the way even the most pitiful little town will have a Chinese restaurant but 99% of them are not worth a darn. The chicken is like mystery meat. The beef is low grade. All the sauces for the dishes are too sweet. The fried shrimp has an inch of batter on it. There must be some national wholesaler that supplies them all with this formula Ameri-Chi "cuisine.">> ROTFLMAO!!!! ....that is soooo true! My lao po comes home with just a bag of groceries and 1 hour later the table is full of delicious dishes...

<<Oh yeah, has anyone bought tickets from flychina.com?>> I've used FlyChina and they are ok...I use Ctrip lately for domestic flights in PRC...I think the prices are better. ZZ