Fu Lai
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Posts posted by Fu Lai
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Not yet, my card is not set up yet. I did see one on Amazon for $23. The three guides look really good for those of us wanting to see inside China.
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I got this message today and this looks really interesting to see China beyond the tourist traps.
Check out this new series of travel guides with a focus on ancient China. The site covers all of China and you can browse by region. Some amazing, beautiful off the beaten track villages and towns there, many of them are now accessible by high-speed rail. And you can download a copy of the ancient villages guide here: www.makedopublishing.com/ancientvillages1
http://www.makedopublishing.com/ancientvillages/tmpl2/Ancient%20china%20banner-01.jpg
Note: I am not affiliated with this at all. It is just something I saw and thought I would pass it along. The e-books cost $13 each.
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Good discussion. Yes, the richer folks here can afford the finer things (yes, tsap, 2-5000 for a dress is very extravagant (see the link I gave) - electronics are not cheaper here either) but the Chinese are famous for what? That's right... streeeeeeeeeeeeeeeetching the threads out of the yuan. My girl still tells me "my husband costs too much." And I thought I was pretty good at pinching pennies like I had a portable vise.
So I see all the cost-cutting measures the normal poorer folks use here. Besides using every different way to use any kind of food, expert shopping, thriftiness in most everything (little heat and electricity, low appliance usage, etc.), not eat out much and my newest discovery... water use.
These folks do not waste an ounce. They have bath sinks and showers which drain into a bucket, then use the water to flush the toilet. All kinds of water, if it is not too dirty is relegated to the bucket.
I will have to note that the people like us, then the lower wage earners, and even the folks in the sticks (I mean the real sticks - dirt floors, little running water or electricity, etc.) who migrate for low low end wage jobs seem to accept what they have and just try to get more. Folks are experts at getting the needed bang for their RMB.
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In Fushun, her pay was (is) 2400 RMB a month. Rent for a studio apartment is 500 RMB. So anything worth living in is closer to 1000 RMB.
Buying basic meat like ribs for a meal is an easy 100 RMB. In the US, you could buy ribs for a month or more on that. The same problem with clothes... Relatively speaking, they get much less buying power from what I have seen. And if your living off 30 RMB a month, then your living much more village style instead of socially with family and friends as you will eventually need to pay a lot more for eating out as a group... or your living off everyone else when you go out...We do not eat meat much, never as a standalone dish but 100RMB for ribs? I'll take a pic at the market here because 100 is waaaay too much for a meal of ribs... I'll guesstimate maybe 20RMB. Much cheaper than the USA (again city prices). We took some friends to dinner at a restaurant and the bill for the four of us was just a little over 100, and we took home leftovers. I got a really nice winter coat at this fashion store this year, 200RMB. I guess it is knowing where to shop and eat.
30RMB a day:
Breakfast: 3.5 Reganmian and tea -streetfood
Lunch at work: 1.5 Baozi and tea; 3.5 Noodle Veggie and Pork soup; 3 jiaozi
Supper at home: 4 Three vegetables; 3 Meat; 2 Tofu; ...tea and rice
5 Smokes
3 Beer
We don't eat at restaurants much, more at family and friends houses where it is cheaper on everyone. We rotate around so when it is our turn we dole out a couple hundred RMB. When we go to their places we bring a bottle of wine 30 RMB. Pretty comfortable life. Again, we are miserly and not extravagant at all.
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I didn't know it was difficult here, at least in Wuhan. My girl does it all the time, even when things are opened. Then again I know she is a demanding customer... soooooooooooo picky. And for a human of less than five feet she is very intimidating.
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You missed my point completely. ...
I guess I did miss your point.
You started with YOU thought it was expensive so even though you asked how do THEY afford it, I was stressing that from your point of view it should be cheap. Here, yes, life in the city is more expensive. But you still will not see 5000RMB dresses in the sticks or even in the city unless you are swanky shopping. http://s.taobao.com/search?q=women+dress&commend=all&ssid=s5-e&search_type=item&sourceId=tb.index&initiative_id=tbindexz_20130303Regular folks here in the city here make about 3-5000RMB a month, normal rent is 500-1000 a month. Food is relatively cheap for everybody and all the slight increases are screamed at! Luxury items... well everybody is saving. So there is a good reason for the miserly attitude around. This is only city talk because out in the sticks it is a whole different story. I know about a billion Chinese live in abject poverty... Chinassippi-style.
I am a cheapskate so a 4RMB breakfast on the way to work, an 8RMB lunch and a 10RMB dinner at home is normal. Toss in smokes and a beer and I spend about 30RMB a day including transit fare.
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China, expensive??? Coming from America it is China that is inexpensive!
5000RMB dresses? That would be top shelf in China.
If you buy imported goods in China then it is expensive for the people here but regular China stuff of all kinds is SUPERCHEAP for Americans.
How about a night in a 5 star hotel here, $50. Same for a fancy dinner. Nice lunch for $2? Where in America?
We bought a downtown 4 bedroom condo for what would cost a million plus in the USA, here it was $70,000.
See how far $100 goes in America grocery stores compared to 630RMB in China.
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Air Quality Indexes
Recently read an informative article (http://www.livefrombeijing.com/2013/01/demystifying-air-quality-numbers/) about how the air quality rankings work. As most everyone knows, China's standards are less stringent than America's, but that's not all there is to know about how it works.
Here are the pertinent facts:
http://www.livefrombeijing.com/wp-content/uploads/images/aqi-iaqi-comparison-new.png
Observations:
1) The US is more strict at low concentrations.
2) The systems are identical above a concentration of 150 (AQI of 200).
3) Neither system is linear, which is annoying and non-intuitive.
4) It is also very annoying that the numbers are so close (as opposed to a 1-10 index, for example). This means it is very easy to confuse AQI and concentration.
Summary
- Concentration is the most accurate way of describing air pollution, but isn’t good for public awareness and comparing multiple pollutants.
- Both the US and China use AQI systems. Both systems go from 0-500, and are not technically defined above 500.
- The US and Chinese systems are identical above an index value of 200 (PM2.5 concentration of 150), but slightly different below this level.
- Because the systems aren’t identical and have different slopes, you have to be very careful when saying something like “PM2.5 is 150.” The meaning of this statement is different depending on if you mean concentration OR US AQI OR Chinese AQI.
http://www.thebeijinger.com/files/u93526/2.jpg -
Top 10 worldwide includes #1 and #2 in Japan, #3 and #5 in Australia, and #7 and #10 in Switzerland. Asian cities make up 11 of the world’s 20 most expensive, while a decade ago this was six Asian vs. ten European cities, with four cities from the USA. The relative boom in many Asia-Pacific economies has pushed up bills for expats based in the region. In Shanghai, spending on accommodation has risen 73%. Rents in the world's most expensive property market, Hong Kong, rose 23% to $7,039 for a two-bedroom apartment. Rents in Beijing were up 15%. “The combination of increased prices on goods and a strengthening of the Chinese yuan has pushed Chinese cities up the ranking.”
http://www.china.org.cn/business/2013-02/06/content_27902181.htm
Shanghai is placed beside New York in a global cost of living index that also confirms Hong Kong's standing as the most expensive Chinese city.
New York is the benchmark city for the survey against which the cost of living in major cities is measured. Prices in Shanghai, on a weighted basis, match it.
With a score of 99 against New York's 100, Shanghai was ranked 30th of 131 cities, up 11 places from last year, by the Economist Intelligence Unit's survey.
Hong Kong led Chinese cities, taking fourth place in Asia and 14th spot worldwide. After Shanghai, Shenzhen was second among Chinese mainland cities, coming in 14th in Asia and holding down 40th place overall, followed by Dalian, Beijing and Guangzhou. These cities all moved up the ranks from last year.
Tokyo regained the title of the world's most expensive city.
The survey editor cited growing consumerism as a key factor for the rising cost of living in China.
Costs have gone up as increased consumer demand offsets wage increases and government efforts to keep the economy from overheating, Jon Copestake told China Daily.
Copestake suggested that the latest figures reflect recent economic expansion and the trend that China looks set to be the world's biggest economy, possibly as soon as 2020.
"China is catching up with other economies, so it's more expensive," he said. "You could say it is the price of success. It's a small price to pay, because wage inflation in China is still keeping up with the receding cost-of-living inflation, at the moment anyway."
Five years ago, Shanghai was ranked at 53 in the world.
Robert Theleen, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai, has seen living costs rocket during his 32-year stay in China.
"In cities like London or Chicago, they have well-developed logistics and supply chain management. That creates a fully competitive market which helps to cut costs," Theleen said.
He said the service culture is not taking hold simply because people are used to relying on cheap labor. But this is changing as labor costs rise.
"It didn't matter 10 years ago. But now, to run a restaurant, you need to take advantage of modern technology to offset surging wages. If not, you will need to charge more to offset the costs," he said.
Theleen forecast that five years from now, Shanghai will experience a lowering of costs as the city replaces cheap labor.
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Ye Hang, a Shanghai native who worked at a New York Internet company for two years, concurred with the study's basic finding - that Shanghai is expensive.
"The cost of living in New York is relatively less than Shanghai," Ye said.
Ye said rent on a "nice one-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn or Queens, which involves only around a half-hour commute to downtown Manhattan", could be had for $1,500. An equivalent place in Shanghai, he said, would fetch more than 3,000 yuan (nearly $500) - a harder hit to the wallet in real terms.
While there are concerns that high living costs may deter talent, Theleen said it is a problem not unique to Shanghai. -
http://english.people.com.cn/mediafile/201302/17/F201302170809572623330660.jpg
"People come to pray in Wuhan’s Guiyuan Temple, Feb. 10, 2013. People believe burning incense on the first day of the Lunar New Year will bring good fortune for the whole year. (Chinanews.com/Zhang Chang) (Chinanews.com/Zhang Chang)"
http://english.people.com.cn/102774/8130805.html
I was there that day and also burnt incense.
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http://english.people.com.cn/90882/8131721.html
Hong Kong stands as the most expensive Chinese city in the global living cost index published by the UK's Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), followed by Shanghai and Shenzhen.
The survey, named the Worldwide Cost of Living 2013, sets New York as the benchmark city against other major cities. Hong Kong leads the Chinese cities, taking up the fourth place in Asia and 14th spot worldwide.
After Hong Kong, Shanghai ranks 30th on the list, up 11 places from last year, with a score of 99 against New York's 100. Five years ago, Shanghai was number 53 in the world.
The biannual survey compares more than 400 individual prices across 160 products and services, including food, drink, clothing, household supplies and personal care items, rent, transport, utility bills, private schools, domestic help and recreational costs. A range of stores: supermarkets, mid-priced stores and higher-priced outlets, were investigated. Instead of recommended retail prices or manufacturers' costs, the prices involved are what the paying customers are actually charged.
The survey is conducted every March and September and published in June and December. It has been a staple for over 30 years.
The following are the top 10 most expensive Chinese cities to live in.
No.1 Hong Kong（香港）World ranking: 14
No.2 Shanghai（上海）World ranking:30
No.3 Shenzhen, Guangdong Province（广东深圳）World ranking: 40
No.4 Dalian, Liaoning Province（辽宁大连）World ranking: 43
No.5 Beijing（北京）World ranking: 54
No.6 Taipei, Taiwan Province（台湾台北） World ranking: 60
No.7 Guangzhou, Guangdong Province（广东广州）World ranking: 71
No.8 Suzhou, Jiangsu Province（江苏苏州）World ranking: 72
No.9 Qingdao, Shandong Province（山东青岛）World ranking: 72
No.10 Tianjin（天津）World ranking: 79 -
Very good security-related request!
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Thanks for the words guys. I guess this thread is over and I'll join in the normal visitor's visa thread.
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I was reading this thread but it ended before a result was given...
http://candleforlove.com/forums/topic/41037-applying-for-a-b2-visa-after-marraige-with-us-citizen/
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Okay, so nothing's different than any other Chinese national visiting the USA?
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here you go:
http://inside-f.com/myjourney_3.1/css/funny-images-of-babies-with-quotes-645.jpg
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Unfortunately my mom is sick and old. So my wife (we got married 12.12.12 in Wuhan) and her mom want to meet her.
The thing is my mom is in the USA and my wife, her mom (neither have ever been -- or desired to go -- to the USA before) and I are in China. I'm the USA citizen who would also go along.
We would be staying at my mom's house. We just want to visit and then go back home to the good ol' PRC.
I know starting this month on the 16th that the USA visas can be applied for online here, I know how to do that. There is even going to be a new visa issuing office in Wuhan, hooray. We are thinking a July or August trip.
What are the requirements for these nonimmigrant visas for our trip? What are the do's and don'ts? Any help would be appreciated.
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Surrendering to romantic love, not anticipating a pink future
http://thinkingchinese.com/luo-hun-naked-marriage
裸= nude, 婚=marry; 'marrying naked', without money, an apartment or whatever necessities a new family requires... The 裸婚 luohun couples manage to promote romantic love, oppose some traditional concepts, while still avoid much of the criticism directed at the Chinese post-80s generation, as it is acknowledged that the conditions of 21st century China often do not provide them with better alternatives.
The difficulties in standing firmly on one's two feet within the competitive modern China economy has led youngsters to calculate their future plans and marriage possibilities gravely. Some couples wait for the university graduation day and then rush to marry - 毕婚 bihun, believing that the new earned diploma could make life easier, while others wait to find good jobs first. In addition, some youngsters prefer not to get into deep relationships before creating a firm foundation for a future family. This is true mainly for men, who must have something valuable to offer their loved ones, though the rising phenomenon of shengnv 剩女, ('left women', women who passed the normal marriage age and remain single), is also related so such socioeconomic pressures, and the focus people give to career over marriage.
With the above trends becoming more and more normative, some couples of the post- 80s generation (80后hou) change their priorities and bring about the 裸婚 luohun phenomenon, couples who don't have patience to wait until the unknown future serves them well, and just marry when they feel they are emotionally ready. 裸= nude, 婚=marry; 'marrying naked', without money, an apartment or whatever necessities a new family requires.
Most luohun couples claim that the most important base of marriage is emotion, love, and a deep acquaintance with the partner. Such couples might be in relationship for several years, so the 'naked marriage' isn't an act of impulse, just a desire not to wait too long, believing that the essence of marriage shouldn't be dependent on material conditions. Concerning the moment of expanding the family to three members, some luohun couples continue with the romantic 'wait-free' approach, while others decide that a newborn requires more stable conditions.
The big Chinese portal 163.com has recently conducted a survey regarding netizens' opinions about the luohun phenomenon. Though many of the internet users represent the 80hou generation it is still quite surprising that 53% claim that luohun is acceptable and over 56% believe that only couples that don't have any better choice choose to 'marry naked'. Concerning the question what in fact should be considered as luohun, 36% claim it's marrying before having one's own apartment, 19.7% believe it's not owning a car, 16% claim it's not having a wedding party, 15% say it's skipping the diamond ring and 13% consider not going on a honeymoon as luohun. (The survey can be watched here).
It seems that luohun is becoming more and more understandable and acceptable by not only 80hou members but by the entire society, which acknowledges that sometimes it could be the best possible choice. After all, luohun isn't a divorce-inducer impulsive act of 闪婚 (shanhun, 'flash marriage'), couples who marry soon after meeting, without getting to really know each other, leading often to a very short marriage lifespan.
Furthermore, luohun shows not only commitment to the mythic ideal of love, as isolated from material needs, but also shows respect to the marriage institute. By 'marry naked', couples refrain from moving in together before getting married (a phenomenon which is called 试婚 'attempt marriage'), a behavior which remains unacceptable by the majority of Chinese society. Though many parents are very concerned by a their son or daughter not having a substantial financial foundation when marrying, they themselves don't want to wait decades until meeting their first grandchild.
Promoting the idea of romantic love as the only important base of a marriage couple is not in accord with the traditional Chinese marriage style. The new challenges of the modern age, apartment prices, job competition and corruption make saving up money very crucial, but also lead to the notion that perhaps reaching a solid financial state before marriage is an unattainable target. While luohun couples push forward a romantic idea of love, in the eyes of society they at least don't promote more permissive 'irresponsible' concepts such as impulsive marriage, 'living in sin' or infidelity. -
"Life of Pi" also won for original score, cinematography and visual effects.
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"Have you ever been
to the dead end?
Have you ever seen
East Chicago scene?
Smokestacks burning,
choking life.
Long trucks exhausting,
the pink sky.
The grey and brown
of faces in town.
You can't pretend
you've never been
to the dead end
of Gary, IN."
Now I live in what is called the industrial home of China and I can witness that, folks, this ain't no Gary. Things like looking out my window and seeing solar power machines dotting every rooftop gives me a glimmer of hope that the end of the coal and nuclear era is approaching. The fact China became the largest wind energy provider worldwide to go along with their "biggest in the world" solar farms is also promising. Sure there are payoffs, money brings greed and that's poison everywhere so I hope the results will bring progressive change on this pollution disaster.
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China's Ang Lee Wins Best Director Oscar
http://wiki.china.org.cn/wiki/index.php/Ang_Lee
http://wiki.china.org.cn/wiki/images/thumb/5/57/Ang_Lee2.JPEG/250px-Ang_Lee2.JPEG
Ang Lee (李安) won Best Director for "Life of Pi" at the 85th Oscar Academy Awards on Feb. 24, 2013 in Hollywood, California.
Ang Lee, an internationally acclaimed film director, has filmed a number of award-winning works, including “Eat Drink Man Woman,” “Sense and Sensibility,” “Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon,” “Brokeback Mountain” and “Lust, Caution.”
Born in 1954 in Taiwan, Lee was brought up in a traditional Chinese family. Under heavy family influence, Lee developed a deep understanding of Eastern culture. He studied in the U.S. at the University of Illinois in 1979, four years after graduating from National Taiwan University of Arts.In 1980, he received his bachelor’s degree in theater and continued his studies at New York University. He graduated in 1984 after producing a 43-minute drama, “Fine Line,” as his thesis, which won NYU’s Wasserman Award for Outstanding Direction. During his time at NYU, he also helped film Spike Lee’s “Joe’s Bed-Stuy Barbershop: We Cut Heads.”
Lee remained in the U.S. after graduation, unemployed and relying on his wife, Jane Lin, a molecular biologist, to provide for their family of four. Six years later, he submitted the screenplay for a comedy, “Pushing Hands,” to Taiwanese authorities. They offered him a hefty sum for the screenplay and the chance to direct the film, which won Golden Horse awards for best actor, actress and director. With his newfound fame, Lee directed “The Wedding Banquet,” a film about a family whose members had different cultural backgrounds. The film was a critical success, winning the Golden Bear at the Berlin Film Festival.
The following years saw consecutive successes in “Sense and Sensibility,” “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon,” “Brokeback Mountain” and “Lust, Caution.” “Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon” enthralled Western audiences with its martial arts sequences and philosophical script. It went on to win Oscars for Best Foreign Language Film and three other technical awards.
“Brokeback Mountain,” which sparked controversy with its exploration of homosexuality, was one of the most acclaimed films of 2005, winning 71 awards and an additional 52 nominations. The film helped Lee to become the first non-white to win the Oscar for Best Director.
“Lust, Caution” received the Golden Lion from the 2007 Biennale Venice Film Festival, despite its controversial sex scenes. The film also made mainland actress Tang Wei famous overnight.
Lee entered a new era in his own career in 2012 with the "Life of Pi," -- a 3D film based on the 2001 brain-twisting novel of the same title by Yann Martel, whihc tells the story of Pi, a 16-year-old Indian boy and the sole survivor of a sinking freighter, who finds himself on a lifeboat headed for an epic adventure with a Bengal tiger named Richard Parker.
"Lif of Pi" was nominated in 11 categories for the 85th Academy Awards on Jan. 10, 2013, including the best picture and the best director.
Lee won Best Director for "Life of Pi" at the 85th Oscar Academy Awards on Feb. 24, 2013 in Hollywood, California.
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It all boils down to money, money to clean it up and prevent it... BUT THEY CHOOSE NOT TO...
Sounds familiar... oh yeah, like the country of my birth.
Something will be done over here, has to happen and steps are being taken. We will see. I am not that pessimistic. -
Posted Today, 03:43 AM
Test 2
line deleted
Edited by Dumasse, Today, 03:44 AM.
The request was to give us a minute or two to make a quick post change without the "Edited by ..." line appearing. Notice you posted at 03:43 AM and edited a minute later? I have no idea if IPB software allows this but I do know other software does. I didn't mean anything about a reason given.
It's fine just like it is. It gives you enough time to edit it if you put your foot in your mouth and decide to change it.
Thank you sir for your consideration.
Top 10 most expensive Chinese cities to live in
in Expats
Posted
3RMB is for your basic cheap beer, 500ml. Snow or other brands, some are 2RMB. They will even deliver a 12 case to your door, 20 or 30RMB. Tastier beer is more, when you visit I'll take you across the street where they have many good beers. I get my girl to okay a streetfood place before I'll go there but really, reganmian is basically only noodles with sesame sauce and spices... a staple food in Wuhan. I live near an elementary school and a University so my street has a long row of streetfood that caters to the lunch crowd. Delicious.