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When you come to China . . .


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Bring PENS - I have a lifetime supply of Cross pens, Fisher space pens, and other brands WITH REFILLS. I keep the more expensive ones hidden from Jiaying to make sure she doesn't give them out as gifts (I hate when things just DISAPPEAR).

 

Pens in China are CRAP - I would take issue with the word 'decent' in this headline from the SCMP

 

Premier Li Keqiang had long lamented that China produced more than half the world’s steel but still had to import high grade metal to make decent pens

 

 

Despite producing some of the world’s most spectacular infrastructure and sending astronauts into space, China has finally overcome a technological obstacle that has vexed Premier Li Keqiang: the ability to produce a decent ballpoint pen using domestically-made materials and components.
Li has long said that the fact China could not make the high-grade steel and precision machinery required to make the key component of the pens – the metal ball and its casing – reflected badly on Chinese manufacturing in general, state media reported.
Now, after five years of trial and error, Taiyuan Iron and Steel, one of the country’s biggest stainless steelmakers, has worked out the appropriate mix of alloys for high-performance stainless steel and to extrude it into a wire feedstock just 2.3mm thick.
In January last year, Li lamented that China still relied heavily on imported high-grade steel even though it produced more than half of world’s crude iron and steel.

 

 

 

Also bring travel clocks and kitchen timers, knives, and scissors (although you CAN find decent knives and scissors)

 

 

 

 

 

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I remember when I first went to China (1997), I went with a large group of teachers assigned to various universities across the country. My initial assignment was in Hefei, Anhui. I was given a list of things I needed to get that could not be obtained in China. The previous teacher there told me to get glue sticks - impossible to get glue sticks she said. A couple of teachers were going down to a mall in San Dimas and I asked one to get me a couple of glue sticks. The smallest thing I had was a twenty, so I figured he would bring me the change. No - he found a store with a back to school sale and they had 10 glue sticks for a dollar. He brought me back close to 200 glue sticks. :Dah: And wouldn't you know it, I get to Hefei and you could buy glue sticks anywhere. I think I may still have some of those in a box somewhere.

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Bloomberg's take on the pens - an interesting look at politics and innovation in China

 

China's Latest Innovation? The Ballpoint Pen.
For the premier and others, the problem was about more than signing a smooth autograph. For years, it's been a popular symbol of all the perceived gaps and failings in China's vast industrial complex, from its reputation for poor quality to its inability to transition to making higher-value products. Amid an ailing economy, these failings started receiving attention at the highest levels of the government.
In 2011, China's Ministry of Science and Technology took the hint and launched a project called "Research and Development and Industrialization of Key Materials for the Pen Industry." It allocated nearly $9 million and conscripted the Taiyuan Iron & Steel Group Co., a giant state-owned stainless-steel manufacturer, known as TISCO, to lead the venture.

 

. . .

 

And that's where the problems really begin. Even if a private company wanted to invest in producing high-quality pen tips in China, concerns that the new technology would be stolen or hijacked would likely dissuade them. For pen manufacturers that means it's easier, and more profitable, to keep making lower quality pens. Rather than undertake the difficult process of intellectual-property reform, the government instead issues mandates for innovation, and invests in state-owned companies that think of politics first and profits later -- if at all.

 

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DEODORANT is now widely available, but only spray or roll-on. I still have several years worth of STICK deodorant that I brought with me from the states. That's something I'll need to check for in Hong Kong.

I finally got off deodorant. Seems like a steady diet of Chinese food stops BO.

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DEODORANT is now widely available, but only spray or roll-on. I still have several years worth of STICK deodorant that I brought with me from the states. That's something I'll need to check for in Hong Kong.

I finally got off deodorant. Seems like a steady diet of Chinese food stops BO.

 

BO :shutup: :shutup: I went with one of the most beautiful gals that I have ever seen a looooooong time ago from Marietta Georgia and she NEVER used deodorant and I never smelled even a hint of BO from her. She said that it was all about washing under your underarms gooda and frequently. I don't know. I do know that the odor comes from bacteria so I have read. I have also read that perspiration itself does not have an odor But I am sure that you can find something that will counter mend that too. I am not going to look it up though because I have a email to write and then go to bed.

 

The wife says that I WILL work tomorrow.

Edited by amberjack1234 (see edit history)
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Foot Spray / Powder

 

Can't find it over there so I have to bring extra for the nephew to keep his sneakers fresh. :)

 

 

They have it - check with a shoe repair shop, or at some of the large grocery stores

 

https://www.aliexpress.com/item-img/30ML-Feet-Care-Athlete-S-Foot-Medicine-Sprays-Deodorant-Beriberi-Sweat-Odor-Removal-Antiperspirant-Itchy-Exfoliating/32525603235.html?spm=2114.10010108.1000017.2.TtABFS#

 

This stuff is VERY powerful

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DEODORANT is now widely available, but only spray or roll-on. I still have several years worth of STICK deodorant that I brought with me from the states. That's something I'll need to check for in Hong Kong.

I finally got off deodorant. Seems like a steady diet of Chinese food stops BO.

BO :shutup: :shutup: I went with one of the most beautiful gals that I have ever seen a looooooong time ago from Marietta Georgia and she NEVER used deodorant and I never smelled even a hint of BO from her. She said that it was all about washing under your underarms gooda and frequently. I don't know. I do know that the odor comes from bacteria so I have read. I have also read that perspiration itself does not have an odor But I am sure that you can find something that will counter mend that too. I am not going to look it up though because I have a email to write and then go to bed.

 

The wife says that I WILL work tomorrow.

You're a gooda I mean smarta man to do what your wife says 😁 I am interested in hearing what you find out.

The first time I went to China I needed some deodorant but had to go without. Wife said China didn't have any. Not sure if she was telling me the truth though.

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Larry you should know that my wife is the world's leading expert in this and every other matter.

 

She says it my dietary change that has caused my bo to go away.

And besides, we save a dollar every couple of months

Mine is a 'spert too. There is nothing that she does not know, tells me how to do plumbing, carpentry work, electrical work everything except how to keep the yard clean and she goes dummy on me then. :oneeye:

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