iyan46

We were in Beijing, Nanning, Guilin, and Yangshou i never felt someone was rude to me, i think it's more that i'm more used to seeing and talking with foreigners ... in America we see it all and always have. The Chinese as a people are still relatively new to having outsiders in their country and i think it's still very strange to them. When i said " Standoffish " in my original post i never meant that they were rude ... just the opposite .. they are very eager to talk but i think they just don't know how to approach us. After the young man started talking to me on the bus it was quite obvious that we were the center of attention and even though most of the people on the bus didn't understand me they were still very curious.

My SO thought it was so strange that i would say hello to everyone, she just didn't understand how i could talk to people i didn't even know. I found it strange that she lived in the same Apt building for many years and had never talked to most of her neighbors. It's not a very big building. She laughed at me when i talked to one old guy at a fruit stand for about 20 minutes, i spoke english, he spoke chinese, and he let me taste anything i pointed at ... we got along great without understanding a word the other was saying. I told her he didn't understand the english .. but he understood mmmmmmmmm! BTW .. i do know how to say hello in Chinese ... but thats all

I guess i'm at the age where retirement is getting closer every year, So what i've been doing quietly for the past year is investing in our future in China, Every cpl of months i send my SO some money WU to put into a savings account there .... the exchange is still pretty good there so were doing great with that. If anything happens to me in the future she will be well taken care of. After all .. she is giving up her career and retirement for me the least i can do is make sure she will be ok. It will also serve as a retirement fund for us when the time comes, I have made arrangements with her brother to continue to deposit for us after she is here. she owns her apt free and clear so we will always have a place to live and we've talked about selling it later and upgrading. we will see about that later. If i could find a decent job there i'd have already moved, but as we all know ...thats not easy unless your corperate or a teacher. And i'm not.

I sure hope so ... we already have the home there, and thats where the family is at and i can't think of a better place

I feel much the same way that you do. I have also traveled a lot. My wife used to tell me to look straight ahead and not look at the people and do not speak to anyone unless she told me it was ok. The Chinese people have endured a lot in their lives much different than we have. I think that they are cautious but have great hearts. I have found that China and it's people to be very fascinating and charming. But this varies greatly between the different cities. You say it much better than i do ... Thank You Good luck with your interview. Perhaps we will be neighbors in China one day. Thanks, and maybe someday in the future we can have a CFL get together in China ... wouldn't that be cool

I feel much the same way that you do. I have also traveled a lot. My wife used to tell me to look straight ahead and not look at the people and do not speak to anyone unless she told me it was ok. The Chinese people have endured a lot in their lives much different than we have. I think that they are cautious but have great hearts. I have found that China and it's people to be very fascinating and charming. But this varies greatly between the different cities. You say it much better than i do ... Thank You

Congratulations to the three of you

I don't mean standoffish in a bad way .... I've traveled extensivly and found most people in many countries to be forward and outspoken, meaning they and i will talk to most anyone at any time .... and the Chinese ( at least those i met ) would never approach me in a conversation unless i initiated it. Please understand ... i found a deep love for the Chinese people and in no way do i think bad of anyone there ... i'd just like to know your own impressions is all.

One of the things that sticks with me about my visit were the people, Mostly i found the general public to be " standoffish " but very curious, The entire time i was there only 2 people spoke directly to me ... other than friends that is. One was an old man who come up to me on the street in Nanning and spoke to me in Chinese, I didn't understand him but my SO translated and we had quite a conversation. The other was a young man on a bus in Beijing, he spoke chinglish but he was very curious about where i was from and what america ( florida ) was like. The only others were people trying to sell me something on the street or at the malls. What i found most entertaining, after i got used to it, were the people who would come out of stores or businesses or stop in the street and just watch me go by, and then look away if i looked directly at them. The people i did talk to i found to be very pleasant and warm and friendly ... and very open and accepting of me. I have a warm place in my heart for the people and i would love to retire there when the time comes.

Good Luck to you pha

I will tell her to look for you ... she will be there with her 16 yr old son and i think it would be great if you could say hello And I would love to see everyone there get the pink that day .. And the best of luck to you and Li Ping as well Btw ... born and raised in Mich. ...Moved to Fla 6 yrs ago

I will tell her to look for you ... she will be there with her 16 yr old son and i think it would be great if you could say hello And I would love to see everyone there get the pink that day .. And the best of luck to you and Li Ping as well

Congratulations once again, can you post your time line for the rest of us in waiting?? Timeline is now posted, Thanks for the tip

She needs that for the medical. It goes into the "Sealed Envelope" Best wishes, Gino & Lulu Thank You ... msg passed on

Does anyone know if Jing needs to have the Visa receipt when she goes to get her medical or can she get it afterwards? Dave

You are single right? at least i assume you are So you don't have a spouse .... yet I believe i put N/A in that line

This a copy of the email i received from Guanzhou, Note the underlined area.

I would like to take a minute to thank everyone for thier assistance, care and concern over the past couple of days .. the P4 for Jing finally showed up at ther house at 9:30pm last night .... we are now all set for her interview. It's great to know that there is so many people in here who care and help so many of us when there are questions and concerns. so CFL " THANK YOU ALL " Now keep your fingers crossed for us Dave & Jing

Now if you had talked about the striker putting one in the upper corner of the net you would be on my good list, but I hate baseball!!!! Thanks Lee ... i have emailed your msg to Jing, And i will speak to her in the morning ( her morning ) and explain it all to her Your help is greatly appreciated Dave & Jing

I will be calling them first thing Mon Morn, ( sun night ) Thanks

Thats a great idea ... but unfotunatly i'm not sure i'm very good at " a properly worded letter " i can only say what i know and ask what i can do.

DOS and the NVC can speak for general policies of all (world-wide) consulates, but they can't speak for Guangzhou. We need a way to contact the Guangzhou IV Unit. Email, mail (sometimes fax), and going there in person have been the only way to do that. perhaps your SO can get in to get a duplicate appt letter. Perhaps if you fax, and mail them that your SO will be there on Dec. xx, that might get her through. This is a bad position they are putting you in - I hope you get through it. I agree about the email or a phone number for us to get through on but unfortunatly the email link just sends an auto reply that says they no longer accept incoming email, i tried to buy minutes to call them and that didn't work, My SO sent a fax but so far no response, so the only way i know is to contact the NVC and ask if they will help. On Mon morn ( Guangzhou time ) i will call the number to contact the help desk at the embassy and see if i can get somewhere there. Jing is very upset over all of this but i told her we will never give up and if i have to i will go there and talk to them myself. Unfortunatly i can't get there before her interview date. We really do appreciate all them help we are getting in CFL ... it helps to talk to others who are going thru the same process even if this case is alittle messed up so far. And we are keeping our hopes up that the P4 Pkg will still arrive before she has to go to Guangzhou Dave & Jing

I did contact NVC the guy there said " tell her to just show up and tell them it didn't come and they will give her another one" I doubt that could happen. I have sent a detailed email to the NVC and asked them for help that way and i will also call back again on Mon. morning. Rescheduling is not a huge problem but we still have to contact a real person even to do that. When i call again on Monday morning i will ask them about tracking the P4 and if they can contact the Embassy in Guangzhou about reissuing the letter. I am not in Guangzhou or i would definatly be at the ACH meeting they hold on Mondays. Dave

What they tell you here doesn't always correspond to consulate policy. They may not let her in without an appointment letter. Contact them by emal at http://www.usembassy-china.org.cn/guangzhou/iv/email.html , and request a new appointment letter. Edit: Hopefully, this isn't the site that you said " This website no longer receives incoming email" about. It wouldn't load just now. That would be the same website

Thats an option ... but we would still have to talk to someone about that also. and so far we can't figure out how to talk to someone Call DOS @ 202.663.1225 Then press 1, then press 5, then press 0. Thank You, I just did what you said and called, The gentlman said that she should just show up on the interview date with her birth Cert, ( Original ) police report and everything else and just tell them the letter didn't come and they will pull her file then. I am going to pass this on to Jing and keep my fingers crossed! Thanks Gino They can contact the consulate for you.