johnxiaoying

A few years ago we took an old freighter converted to a tourist boat from Beihei to Weizhou dao. I never saw a life boat or life preserver. I'm always concerned with transportation in China except for the bullet trains, they're cool. The parents of the kids in Korea should each be allowed to cut a piece off the captain to feed the sharks.

I used to register on every visit at the local precinct near moms home. Two years ago the cop on duty said I'd have to go downtown to register. I assumed he was too lazy to do the paperwork. I have since said to hell with it. This is in Guilin where the local yocals see foreigners on a daily basis. If you are in a different local with few foreigners then your mileage may vary and probably best to register.

I experienced the same problem and delighted in rejecting back their bills with any minor issues. Now I just carry ATM and PayPal cards which seem to give a slightly better exchange rate than bills.

What I read was for John it's now 3200 (unknown currency) investment. Not sure if that's RMB or USD. Then, she will receive 1200 RMB per month. None of these add up to the 50K USD that Dennis mentioned. So, if one spends 3200, USD to initiate the monthly payments that according to John are 1200 RMB per month, which at current conversion rates about $197.00 USD. If were talking USD here, it would take a little more than 16 months to recoup the original 3200 USD investment. It's a bit confusing as both John and Dennis seem to be mixing currency calculations. $3200 is dollars. Wife has a friend who retired from the China social security system that got her set up a-z today. As often turns out what we hear from our spouse's can turn out considerably different, this is the current situation . Her friend advised her to put in approx. 40,000 yuan for a monthly payout of 2,000 yuan. Something about the payout will change year to year. Whatever in the he'll that means which was in response to my trying to point out that 1200 for 20,000 was a better rate than 2,000 for 40,000. Then she said she didn't really understand it. I quit on that one. Enough for now, pc is down and I'm about to toss this freaking kindle.

Thanks alot for the input guys. My wife has checked into the retirement and will make another visit to the local office tomorrow. Looks like for a cash payment of $3200 she can start receiving a 1200 rmb direct deposit each month. I'll follow up later if it pans out.

Ahhh, Guilin. Lovely place. Land of China foreigners. There are actually so many foreigners who visit there, that the local government suggested they put those dispensers to make them feel like they should tell their friends to visit also. The locals? Well, they still don't like soap or use it before preparing your meal. So sorry to say.... Darn, you just blew away that little reassurance I thought I had. I'll probably come down with Mao's revenge tomorrow as a result!

I'm happy to report that on this trip to Guilin I am seeing soap dispensers near the restrooms in some restaurants. It gives me a little reassurance that perhaps the employees might be using it.

A couple of questions on this China retirement and insurance. We're in China for another two weeks. What government agency would she need to talk to, to get this setup? Also, does anyone know how this China retirement would be affected once she becomes a US citizen?

I'm in Guilin and not much going on here other than light to moderate rain.

The same thing happened to my wife in Houston a few years ago. After flying to Houston and taking a cab to the consulate her photo was refused and she was sent to a photographer in China town!

Yes, $140 if you're near a China Embassy or Consulate. I just paid $200 to a service to act as my agent.

I haven't seen a need for my wife to be in a big hurry to do the citizenship thing. Get to vote - woopee. The downside to citizenship is getting to pay $200 for a China visa to go home for a visit. In the future state the reason for joining the party as a prerequisite to getting a half-ass decent job. The party members I know didn't join because of a profound love for the party, just a chance at a better future. My wife is nearing the end of her ten year green card so she'll likely be doing the citizenship thing in '14.

I've read of good samaritans being screwed big time for helping people who have had mishaps or traffic accidents. Seems a good too many people in China see it as an opportunity to personally profit. I started to run to help a guy who got hit on his electric bike by a ditz pulling out from the curb. Probably it was good for me that he was up before I could get there. Us laowai need to fight the urge to help someone when we're in China.

It's quite the opposite of what our system encourages.

FYI We booked flights to Shanghai last weekend, leaving in September for $1030. I was surprised to see American allows two checked bags included in the airfare. United only one. American Airlines Travel to/through/from Japan or China Number of Bags Allowed*One personal item: No charge One bag carry-on: No charge Two bags checked. No charge Size and Weight Per Bag Allowed*45 in/115 cm (carry-on) 62 in/158 cm (checked) 50 lbs./23 kgs (checked)

Made think of a friends friend 40 years ago. They called this guy Captain Christmas, when I inquired how they came up with that nickname, it was explained "red hair & green teeth."

In 1971 I was in the Navy, in Sasebo, Japan. It was normal to pee in the gutter, but not in the middle of the downtown shopping district. I'd seen plenty of Japanese business men set their brief cases down and take a whiz in broad daylight. This was really a convenient custom that young drunk sailors readily took to. We went to Nam, stopped off at Hong Kong on the way back to Japan where I met a young lady. We were walking in an unlit area near her home and I excused myself and walked over to a grassy area next to a fence. I began taking a whiz and she yelled at me "what are you doing, do you want to go to jail"? Not too far from Japan but far enough to have different customs.

We've all clouded our judgement. What else can a guy expect, being with an exotic woman in an exotic land? Just don't make any lifelong commitments until the cloud has lifted.

The video got me to guppy-up for the book.

They're too darn skinny to be proper flight attendants. I'm accustomed to being woken up every time a flight attendant waddles down the isle.

Here's a website I stumbled across. Type in a medical condition or medicine name and get the Chinese translation. http://www.drdict.com

That's what I did two years ago. Bought it from an ebay vendor located in Hong Kong, less than $30 delivered to the US. Got to Guilin and went to the local phone shop near moms home and got a sim card for cheap.

That's one lousy dinner show.

You might look at going to Hanoi and Halong Bay, known as the Guilin of the sea. Probably still chilly there as it's not much farther south than Beihai. There are tourist boats that will take you around Halong bay for two or three night trips. There's a ferry that takes tourists to Halong Bay from Beihai overnight, unfortunately you must have either a China or Vietnam passport. No laowai allowed. You'd be forced to fly or take a bus, transferring buses at the border (last I read) and then possibly a taxi. There are some nice resorts in Vietnam. I was in Vung Tau in 1971, beautiful beaches and water, similar to the Caribbean.

There are some beautiful views from Yaoshan mountain, just outside of Guilin. The cable car ride costs around $18, best I can remember. The problem is getting there and back to town. We had a friend drop us off and when we left we walked out to a cab and they didn't want to take us as they were reserved and waiting for their customers. We finally got one guy to drive us a couple miles to a bus stop. If you hire a taxi to wait while you go up the mountain and walk around, the cabbie would probably be waiting for two hours for your return. In Yangshuo you can rent a small boat with driver for just the two of you for about $15 for an hour to an hour and half down the Li. Have your wife go negotiate with the local vendors near the river (you'll need to hide and they may renig on the price when they see there is a laowai).