carl.hops

Yuxi news: Yesterday a public notice was issued by the Yunnan Provincial Publicity Department's Press and Publication Administration. The injury and subsequent death of the Yuxi city Hongta district Beicheng town young man Li Qiaoming in a detention center has received broad media attention, especially on the Internet. The term 'eluding the cat' has become a hot Internet term in a very short time. In order to satisfy the public's right to know, the Yunnan provincial publicity departhment will form an investigative committee with other relevant departments and proceed to Kunming city Puning town on the morning of February 20 to find out the truth about the incident. We are presently looking for four netizens and other representatives from society to serve as members of the committee. You can register between now and 8:00pm on the evening of February 19, 2009." The notice also included a QQ account number and a telephone phone number. This piece of news was circulated quickly on the Internet. Many netizens cursed that this piece of "fake news" for being so obviously fake. Other netizens actually began to call. "There is no truth that needs to be hidden. We will show by actual action tomorrow that this is now a show." Yunnan provincie publicity department press and publication administration deputy director Gong Fei said that the main reason why netizens were suspicious about the 'eluding the cat' incident was that the information had not been open and transparent in a timely manner. This time, the relevant departments (which includes the Yunnan provincial party public department, the Yunnan provincial public security bureau, the Yunnan Political Legal Committee and the Yunnan provincial procuratorate). Their public invitation for netizens is the first time in the history of the Internet in China. Gong Fei said: "Before the public notice went out, we spent the entire morning convincing the other departments to cooperate with the media interviews. In the past, we did not respect the rules of journalism sufficiently and we did not understand the new media well enough. That was why we had a problem with public opinion. The purpose of this investigation is to show that there are no hidden secrets in this case." This decision had not been easy to make. "We basically discussed this for one whole morning. But in the end, we thought that a news story cannot just be 'blocked.' Besides this closed and opaque approach violated the people's right to know and caused the public to misinterpret the facts." As of the cutoff time of 8:30pm, 510 netizens were able to register successfully. 10 of them (an increase over the originally planned 4 due to the enthusiastic response) will be selected to join the investigative committee to go to the scene of the incident on the morning of February 20. The list of the investigative committee members includes: four government officials (1 from the provincial political legal committee, one from the provincial procuratorate and two from the provincial public security bureau); three media representatives (Xinhua; Yunnan Information Times; Yunnan Net); ten netizens and representatives from society (among the 8 already named, 5 are netizens, one is an insurance salesman, one is a technology worker and another one is a art student). Gong Fei said that the activity on February 20 does not pre-suppose any desired outcome. The investigators will be able to meet with the principals, visit the detention center and interview the key participants and police investigators. "They can deduce the truth of the matter through their own observations." Now no playing with any kittens Rog

The snow hit Tianjin as well, I was really surprised to see it. It just started to warm up, I know the crops are suffering but I hope it doesn't last too long. Its time for some sun shine!

I'll keep all of this in mind when looking at apartments in 4 years, real helpful!

I've been in and out of the house threads the past month and I didn't see a second view. Cant wait to see those photo's of Yuxi Roger! I've talked my mother into moving there with us now that shes losing her home.

Its interesting how there is a huge drought just 4 hours away from us yet were not effected? I've been watching on T.V. they have national guard and other military types out there getting water to people to drink and for the crops, they were even launching water into the air to act as rain

Tonight was a lot of fun, as soon as we arrived at the dock we saw tens of them flying through the sky. At first I even thought "what the heck are those" until I realized what was in my very hand. We got up to the water front and there were plenty of people selling Kong Ming Deng, when we whipped out our home made lantern heads turned people started talking and we even got a small crowd huddled around us as we lit up the candles, it did fill up with air but it wouldn't take flight, Yakun over heard someone say "I tried to make one so many times but I didn't make it work!" Nevertheless it was fun trying and we got a few good pictures out of it. After that we had even more fun, right when we arrived near someone selling lanterns my eye caught two policeman rounding them up and taking all the Kong Ming Deng!! I wasn't going to let them ruin the night so with Yakun in hand I dashed to the next salesmen on the dock (it was quite crowded) we looked behind us and there was a policemen right on our heels! Which made it kind of exciting I have to admit... Yakun was screeching "crazy foreigner!" But that was it, I was on a mission to fly! We reached the next person selling them, as I panicked to get 10 yuan from my pocket Yakun grabbed the first Kong Ming Deng handed to her and before the policeman could stop us we disappeared into the crowd. It seems they weren't stopping people from lighting them, just the sellers, so we made a circle back to our spot and lit it up, it started to fall at first but the wind picked it up and it flew like an eagle until it was the highest Kong Ming Deng in the sky, our wish is still out there somewhere. http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d162/0Vector/IMG_2925.jpg http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d162/0Vector/IMG_2926.jpg

We just finished making our own, tomorrow we plan to go to the waterfront and let her fly http://blog.sina.com.cn/samanthacarloveforever

Because making is fun! I found a cheap way to do it here: http://www.break.com/index/how-to-make-a-h...ir-balloon.html I'm going to substitute the balsa wood with plastic straws.

I'm looking for a cheap, simple way to make a flying lantern for the festival. I read somewhere you can use straws and birthday candles which sounds like a good plan but I'm stuck on what kind of paper to use, maybe someone can ask their gal how they used to do it?

living on 15$ a week, one person? This includes rent? I guess its possible... We spend about 180 on food every week.

I remember asking Yakun why the river running past the crops in her hometown was dry. Theres the explanation! Well, many of these homes have well's like her family's, I could be wrong but I don't think everyone will die of thirst.

eeh? Jin?? I have it for free right now, the roomies pay for cable t.v. now if only I could get free American T.V.....

Saw this today: http://chinesequest.blogspot.com/2009/01/c...tv-at-home.html If you want some free China TV stations you can watch (VLC is a free media player for windows).

I think what were saying here is neither of you are right or wrong, all media conviently leaves out pieces of information, this morning I watched routers news on the internet where it said Tibetan loyalist group members rioted when Hu Jintao traveled to the UK. On the news here in china it spoke of how well everything went in the UK and gave a 2 second speech at the end of how there was a disturbance during his visit but nothing about Tibetan rioters throwing gas bombs and such as the other had reported. Things left out, things sensationalized its all there in every media, its not new..... I think we all took a class on propaganda in school didn't we? And everyone is going to see what they want to see. Personally, I allow my self about 30 minutes of news a day unless lao po turns it on in the evening.

when eating at xiao fei yang (little fat sheep) I noticed that one side was hotter than the other and asked Yakun why, she told me that the oil makes the water hotter.

There are many things on the menu I don't care for, some things I honestly wonder why they are even their because there is nothing edible on them (small baby birds bbq'd to a crisp with no meat on them) But for all the strange and gross things there are much better choices for eating healthy in Asian cuisine than our "traditional" meat and potatoes American diet. Stick to the veggies, fruits and the occasional chicken/pork/beef and you will be in heaven. We have some pretty nasty stuff on our menu's all the same, we just don't see the ugly part of it I.E. hot dogs, and im not talking about the "all turkey" "all chicken" kind either

good point! I've tried some of them before and didn't like em, you think I'd pay more attention to what was being ordered by Yakun but we can both get tired at the end of the day.. ahh laziness. That and I have a horrible memory which isn't making this easy, she had to tell me how to say dumplings (jiaoze) about eight times in the past week so you can imagine her frustration also haha Ooh, before any of you think I came up with the little transcribing thing on my own I forgot to add this little link: http://www.sinosplice.com/life/archives/20...food-in-chinese

Not that im rather selective in what I eat, but I would like to order something tasty every time I just got back from taking a picture at our favorite noodle shop and now I'm in the process of transcribing the entire menu. Using http://hk.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php?p...m=1&wdeac=0 and my wacom tablet with its writing recognition I'm slowly making progress. The owners gave me a funny look and a smile, the younger one trying to explain to the older lady why he thought I was taking pictures

So not all of us want to take on the daunting task of learning Mandarin, at least not to the advanced level, or even the intermediate. Its not easy, thats for sure. I'm having trouble just ordering off the menu! And I know for those of you in China you have been on your own in the local restaurant at least once wondering how the heck you are going to order something with out a snail in it, this time don't pick up the cell phone and for gods sake don't hand it to the f¨² w¨´ yu¨¢n. Its time to show her your not helpless in China! I've been in this situation more than once and now that School is about to kick up again I am sure to find my self THERE again. So here is something to get you started. http://www.howtoorderchinesefood.com/ http://www.likealocal.cn/ good luck, and don't let those "wtf did you just say" looks discourage you. B)

I haven't, thats good to hear you like it there! I'll try and find your post in the MK, no smoking here, not even dad :-) were both "health conscious" just like feeling good really.

I'm still looking at other possibilities, I'd rather stay in China as I think everyone would. Yunnan looks quite nice, possibly further south of Kunming, Yuxi maybe? Its developing fast and not THAT huge compared to the other big city's right now its population is only around 3 million. And looks like a nice temperate place with no huge natural disasters happening. Quiet, possible market for English teaching etc... Hmn, right now our plan is for me to finish school by 2013 and head back to America for 5 or so years to save up some money to start the little venture depending on how the economy is and the exchange rate. Maybe we wont need to, but I think she really wants to experience it. I could definitely use your skills tsap when it comes to making my home, I do want it to be somewhat American... which is to say... built with out all the new materials being scratched and cracked as they are being placed.. I want to build it my self but I have no experience

I like to plan plan plan, and live in the moment even more. Right now I'm in planning mode sitting here with Lao Po and the parents, we plan on taking care of em when they reach that certain age. I've talked a lot about moving to southern China and setting up a school near Guilin (that place had a big impact on me when I went) but now you've got me thinking outside China, the great thing is the parents are on board. Anywhere we decide they will follow, dad seems to be very upbeat about my idea of starting a business teaching English even though the business plan may change. You say Malaysia is good, but can I set up a business teaching English? Could I even get a customer? I don't plan on staying Idle, also, I'm designing a nice little abode for us to stay in, here is what I've got so far: http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d162/0Vector/CFL_1.jpg Any way I could build this in Malaysia? Hmn... Lao Po seems to be interested. One thing that bothers me, what of the natural disasters, wouldn't want to lose the investment B) there have been 6 cyclones since the 60's and in 2004 they were hit pretty hard, land slides happen often also.

This is all very funny, whenever we get on a crowded bus I alway's have a good time laughing my way on as everyone pushes and shoves. I've learned to start pushing with the crowed and soon it feels like we are all one big herd of cattle swaying back and forth like sea water flooding the bus. There are some tall Chinese... but I can still see over the crowed into the clearing 6'4

China, can learn a bit of pedestrian right of way (sorry I'm from Portland) **EDIT** Lao Po doesn't agree, because there are many many Chinese compared to america walking around, so I nix what I said and change it to " China, can learn a bit of pedestrian right of way for Lao Wai" America, can learn to relax and enjoy family life instead of neglecting it for work

this is expert advice