I'm Leaving for China

Well, I kinda forgot to mention this earlier, but I'm catching an early flight out of NYC tomorrow bound for Beijing. I'll be studying Chinese language, history, and culture at a university there.

Being half Chinese yet unfamiliar with my heritage, I'm both excited and scared.

I'm bringing my camera with me, and I will share pictures when I get back (that is, if the communists don't smash my camera and throw me in jail for taking pictures of something off limits).

Anyway -- see you all when I get back.
AtM

p.s. bring on the sars and bird flu jokes.

XXXOOOXXX

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The best things in life, aren't things.

have fun and see you back in august!

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These words are my diaries screaming out loud

How the hell did a piece of news like that slip your mind?! :biggrin:

Sounds like a great opportunity, and I'm sure you'll make the most of it. Have a wonderful time - best of luck with it all! Safe trip mate :smile:

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[img]http://card.mygamercard.net/sig/Default/reno84.png[/img]
Designer @ Haiku Interactive | ReNo-vation.net

Remember to take a lot of pictures. :razz: We need the reference shots! :biggrin:

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''Everyone wades in s**t until they're competent enough to walk on it. Jesus style.''
Dystopia - Empires

Zaijian, AtM! Have fun over there. I'd love to go one day... looking forward to those photos.

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"If you talk at all during this lesson, you have detention. Do you understand?"

• My yr11 Economics teacher

How cool. Maybe you can tell us what you think from an internet caf?. If the Snarkpit isn't banned there for anti-communist propaganda.

COMMUNISTS ARE EVIL!!! YAY

FOR CAPITALISM AND THE DECADENT

WEST!!!

<span style="color: white;">[size=13]That ought to do it :smile: . Hope you have a great trip AtM.</span>[/size]

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Ham and Jam Contributor
http://www.hamandjam.org

'Get your stinking paws off me, you damned dirty ape!'

Damn it, me envies. Have fun over there :biggrin: .

:biggrin: Curse you Andrei... You pwned my avatar!

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''Everyone wades in s**t until they're competent enough to walk on it. Jesus style.''
Dystopia - Empires

Pvt.Scythe said:
We need the reference shots! :biggrin:

Illustrations... "This is a Chinese pron shop on the corner of.." and "Opium R us.." Lest we forget "Cat meat... and other fine foods.."

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The best things in life, aren't things.

:biggrin: Curse you Andrei... You pwned my avatar!

It's smiling evilly at you as we speak. :evilgrin:

Have a nice trip, and yea, take lots of pictures of communism stuff...and chinese stuff.

Bring back springrolls!

good luck, have fun, uh...don't die.

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Boo f**king Hoo

Send me "Beef Ro-Mein!!!"

• I've often wondered if stupid people in China walk around with English letters tattooed on their arms (like the americans with chinese tats). Maybe you can clear that one up for me.
• If someone has a tattoo of an "L" on thier arm, do they tell everyone it's an "R" ?

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I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com

Nickelplate said:
Send me "Beef Ro-Mein!!!"

• I've often wondered if stupid people in China walk around with English letters tattooed on their arms (like the americans with chinese tats). Maybe you can clear that one up for me.
• If someone has a tattoo of an "L" on thier arm, do they tell everyone it's an "R" ?

Now your just generarizing.

Nintendo Revorution.

Spartan said:
Now your just generarizing.

No, you're falling for his trap. :wink:
He got someone to notice and you fell for it.. Hook,line and sinker.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Funny this should come up. Serect.

French Toast said:
Funny this should come up. Serect.

At least it didn?t say ?erect?.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Omg. Press the erect button to turn the game on.

Yo yo yo guys.

So, I've been in my dorm room in Beijing for 4 nights now. I just got my internet set up, and its pretty slow, but I wanted to hop on and say hi.

I wandered around Beijing all day yesterday, getting lost and taking photos, but now I've got a decent grasp of the subway and bus systems, as well as all the crazy bills and coins they have over here.

I left my USB cable at home, so I'll have to wait till I get back to the US to show you all my pictures!
AtM

Heh, that must suck. Not having the cable, I mean. Maybe you could borrow one from someone in an internet cafe.

Cool, I'm surprised the snarkpit hasn't been banned.

Oh, and btw, google will be a bit odd over there, with all the censorship. So, take everything with a grain of salt.

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Dark_Kilauea
DVS Administration
http://www.dvstudio-production.com/

Dark_Kilauea said:
Cool, I'm surprised the snarkpit hasn't been banned.

Oh, and btw, google will be a bit odd over there, with all the censorship. So, take everything with a grain of salt.

AtoM's original post was probably something like;

HELP ME PLEASE!!!!
THEY TOOK ALL MY MONEY AND CLOTHES AND THEY TOOK AWAY MY USB CABLE IN CASE I TRIED TO HANG MYSELF!!!
I'VE BEEN LOCKED IN MY DORM FOR 4 DAYS!!!!!
I THINK THERE IS A BUS AND SUBWAY ROUTE NEARBY!!!
i'M SCARED!!!!
PLEASE HELP!!!

:rolleyes:

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i eat paint

lol man :smile:

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These words are my diaries screaming out loud

Couldn't be, there's a lack of incorrect grammer and spelling :smile:

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Dark_Kilauea
DVS Administration
http://www.dvstudio-production.com/

fishy said:
AtoM's original post was probably something like;

HELP ME PLEASE!!!!
THEY TOOK ALL MY MONEY AND CLOTHES AND THEY TOOK AWAY MY USB CABLE IN CASE I TRIED TO HANG MYSELF!!!
I'VE BEEN LOCKED IN MY DORM FOR 4 DAYS!!!!!
I THINK THERE IS A BUS AND SUBWAY ROUTE NEARBY!!!
i'M SCARED!!!!
PLEASE HELP!!!

:rolleyes:

This, has got to be the single most hilarious thing I have ever read since I came here..

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The best things in life, aren't things.

Whenver I am chatting with someone in China I always say things like "REVOLUTION! CAPITALISM!!! DOWN WITH THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF CHINA!" Just to get them killed so we can laugh about it later.

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I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com

Here's an excerpt from my journal, and its about this weekend.



10 Legs of the journey, including bus transfers, multiple cab rides, and 2 trips on a motorboat.

9 Of us lost in rural China, west of Beijing.

8 Dollars each for dinner, room and board, and breakfast at a Chinese ?motel? (I use that term loosely).

7 Of us (not including myself) climbed all over the crumbling historical remains of an ancient Chinese wall (bad idea).

6 Of us rode horses; the rest (including myself) took pictures and looked at the mountains.

5 Hours to get out of the city and make it to the desert.

4 times sandboarding down a dune in the Chinese desert

3 times I asked ?is that dog meat??

2 Crazy, scheming taxi drivers.

1 spontaneous weekend in China.



I didn't want to bore you with a longer update, but if you want you can check out the full version it is in my real journal, linked in my profile.

hums tune 12 days of Christmas

Looks like you had a memorable experience. Good or bad, it will be remembered. :smile:

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The best things in life, aren't things.

I bet china's scary. Don't they have a lot of.... asians over there?

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I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com

NYTimes.com Article:

Chinese Discuss Plan to Tighten Restrictions on Cyberspace

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/04/world/asia/04internet.html

SHANGHAI, July 3 ? Chinese authorities have announced their intention to step up their efforts to police and control the Internet and other communications technologies, including instant messaging and cellphones.

Speaking at a conference in Beijing last Wednesday, Cai Wu, director of the powerful Information Office of the State Council, or China's cabinet, said new control measures were needed "because more and more harmful information is being circulated online."

Another senior official who spoke at the same meeting, Wang Xudong, deputy minister of the information industry, said his ministry's next target would be developing technologies to regulate Web logs and search engines.

The potential new regulations, which are still in the discussion stage, are being considered at a time of exploding Internet and cellphone use that has created the freest atmosphere of communication this country has known under Communist rule, despite strenuous government efforts to contain it.

The measures contemplated reportedly include mandatory user registration for cellphones, according to reports from the conference. Now, users can easily buy cellphone cards in stores, obtaining a new telephone number without identifying themselves. Web sites, too, might be subject to registration.

The government's statement of intent is being seen as the beginning of its most ambitious effort yet to rein in high-tech communication. Analysts said the measures, introduced after a proposal to make the news media's unauthorized publication of "sudden events" a punishable offense, indicate an atmosphere of worry within the government about its ability to maintain power.

"Of course we don't want the government to do this," said Zhan Jiang, a professor at the China Youth University of Political Science. "It is related to the earlier announcement about breaking news, and it seems the government is trying to assert more and more control."

Isaac Mao, a popular Chinese blogger, said: "The government has found their political lives under pressure from the media, and they've decided they have to strengthen their power. They are working on a variety of measures, which they will deploy one by one in order to reach their big goal, which is to take full control of things. They don't want people to have any power. That's the big goal of the government."

According to the Media Blue Book, a publication of Tsinghua University in Beijing, China now has 36.8 million Chinese blog sites and 16 million bloggers. According to a company called I-Research, China has 97.1 million search engine users.

Invoking these numbers, Mr. Cai of the Information Office of the State Councilsaid at the meeting, the Sunlight and Green Internet Conference, "How could we not regulate such a huge market?"

It is clear that Chinese authorities see search engines as an important choke point for information on the Internet, and they have won controversial agreements from Microsoft, Google and Yahoo to filter the search engine services they offer in China, screening out words the Chinese authorities deem troublesome.

The arrangements have received widespread criticism outside China, and among bloggers within the country as well. Google executives have expressed discomfort with the filtering agreement.

Whether used for conversations or short messaging, cellphones have played a major role in the wave of social unrest that has swept China in the past two years, allowing people to organize quickly and to spread news of police actions and other developments. The anonymous use of cellphones is a major loophole in the state's effort to monitor communications of all kinds, and the authorities seem determined to close it.

The rumors of new regulation have brought outrage from many Internet users here. "This free and beautiful kingdom created by bloggers finally has to face its anticipated cleansing," wrote a blogger whose online name is Zheng. "In the remote north, in that ancient city which is shrouded by yellow sand and dust, a force has gathered to begin the invasion of the homeland of bloggers," the blog continued, apparently referring to Beijing.

Others, however, say efforts to require registration of blogs and Web sites have been announced in the past but have never gone very far, and they express confidence that technology will allow them to stay one step ahead of the censors. Some are already exchanging tips online about how to frustrate the latest government efforts.

"I have noted the lifespan of new forms on the Internet here has been about one or two years," said Wang Yi, a law professor at Chengdu University and a prominent blogger. "Bulletin boards were very free, and after one or two years, they were restricted. Then we saw the emergence of personal Web sites, and after one or two years they were restricted. Then we had blogs. After a year or two, they moved to restrict them, too.

"I think the Internet in China will always find a way forward, because of technology and other factors. I am actually very optimistic."

Aren't these the same guys who promoted a game about doing chores several years ago?

Haha yeah, the game about being a hard working member of a communist society.

Anyway -- this announcement came after another one about how China wants to fine national and international journalists for scooping late-breaking news, like natural disasters, protests etc. It seems the Chinese government overtly prizes security and stability over freedom of information, while the American government does the same thing, slightly more covertly :smile:

Haha yeah, the game about being a hard working member of a communist society.

me wants badly

Addicted to Morphine said:
p.s. bring on the sars and bird flu jokes.

[b]LOL [color=orange]SARS BIRD FLU COMMUNISTS[/b][/color] [b]L[color=blue]OL[/b][/color]

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[Im_invisible] "I would suck a man off, but only for sustenance."

harmful information

<span style="color: lightblue;">So do the chinese women "love you long time"? :biggrin:

<span style="color: orange;"><span style="color: gold;">Bird flu communist carrying SARS, there's an idea for an videogame enemy... Golden I might even say.

AtM: How are the locals and how is the
food? And if you can get that game where you're a hardworking member of
communist society, I'd be delighted. :smile:

</span></span></span>

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''Everyone wades in s**t until they're competent enough to walk on it. Jesus style.''
Dystopia - Empires

Pvt.Scythe said:
<SPAN style="COLOR: lightblue"><SPAN style="COLOR: orange"><SPAN style="COLOR: gold">AtM: How are the locals and how is the food? And if you can get that game where you're a hardworking member of communist society, I'd be delighted. :smile:
</SPAN></SPAN></SPAN>

They usually get pretty happy when they hear you trying to speak Chinese, and don't mind being helpful. I think that's a fundamental difference between America and China. If you couldn't speak functiona English in NYC you probably would get told to "f**k off" more than you would be helped, where in Beijing everyone has so far been helpful despite my best efforts to mangle their language.

Additionally, the Beijing locals see westerners pretty often so they don't stare at me. My friend here has an afro though, and they stare at him all the time, and occasionally go up to him and tell him "your hair is special." Othertimes, they secretly try to take pictures of him. For example, my friend and I were standing around Tiananmen Square when we noticed we were in the way of some guy taking a picture of his friend, so we walked off to the side. They looked at us and then both walked back over to us and pretended not to be taking a picture of us, when clearly they were.

As for the food, there's such a variety of it and its all really good. Some of the restaurants are kinda dirty, and you do have to be careful about drinking something with ice, or eating unwashed vegetables, but if you just find a decent looking place the food is phenomenal. You can pretty much get a full tasty dinner for about 1 US dollar, and a decent breakfast for about 25 cents. Ice cream here is also about 6 cents.

I'm currently thinking about buying 4 seasons of the TV show 24, for about 25 dollars, which is a great bargain if you ask me.

As for that videogame, I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to track it down. I'll try though!

They usually get pretty happy when they hear you trying to speak Chinese, and don't mind being helpful.

Unless of course you answer in japanese, in which case you'd be promptly bludgeoned to death by the deeply offended locals.

Seriously, the number of anti-Japanese tv shows and movies on Chinese cable here are disturbing. They demonize the Japanese so much... and its everywhere.

Definitely surprised me.

Not surprising really considering the way the Japanese Army treated the
Chinese in WW2, bearing in mind China was more or less Communist
controlled even before they kicked out Chiang Kai Shek. Unlike Germany,
Japan still don't truly recognise their war crimes - prime fuel for the
Communist party who have the other chip on their shoulder of being in
the midst of "new" capitalist economies.

Well -- I know Sino-Japanese relationships are pretty bad, but I was still surprised at the sheer number of movies and tv shows that demonize the Japanese unapologetically (at any time of the day I can usually find 1 or 2 anti-Japanese war sagas on, as well as a comedy movie starring the Japanese as the bumbling villains who get killed over and over again by little Chinese kids, old people, and female villagers. I don't understand how diplomats expect to improve relations when they're basically dehumanizing the Japanese daily on national television, which surely has a huge effect on the Chinese population as a whole.

So, while I wasn't surprised there was bad blood, I was surprised by the sheer number and brashness of the anti-Japanese TV shows.

Ok, so Chinese to English translations are usually pretty bad.

Here are a few of the better ones I've seen so far on my trip.

While in a taxi on the highway, I noticed this gem:

Chinglish said:
Don't try fatigue driving!

While shopping for bathmats, one of the exclamations on the packaging:

Chinglish said:
Comfortably makes me feel so good!

On a huge lit up billboard add in the bar district, featuring a woman's clothing line:

Chinglish said:
Pleasantly surprise of groping

I have no clue what the last one was trying to say.

Also, I'm leaving for Shaolin (yeah, like the monks) in 20 minutes.

I think "pleasantly surprise of groping" is pretty obvious actually

On a related note, I'll be starting Mandarin Chinese lessons in a couple of weeks. Hope I get to use it over there one day. Sounds like youre having an awesome time!

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"If you talk at all during this lesson, you have detention. Do you understand?"

• My yr11 Economics teacher

Chiang Kai Shek was the last real Great Chinese IMHHHO.

Dude, how much is a gallon of Gasoline there? They better be paying what we are paying over here, because it's THEIR fault it's so high.... Probably paying 6 cents a gallon... shifty-eyed... comunist... grrr...

/me walks off mumbling to self.

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I tried sniffing coke, but the ice cubes kept getting stuck in my nose.
http://www.dimebowl.com

Nickelplate said:
They better be paying what we are paying over here, because it's THEIR fault it's so high....

Uhh, you don't really believe that, do you?

There is absolutely no real reason why we are paying as much as we are. America has the landmass to grow enough fuel crops to supply the entire globe.

Think about it. If you had a monopoly on the world in fossil fuels, wouldn't you invest a large percentage of that monies into slandering and impeding the progress toward alternatives?

I would hope that no intelligent person would blame China for acquiring their portion of the reserves left to this worlds supply of oil.

IMO, whoever can buy, should be allowed with no harassment.

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The best things in life, aren't things.

By that logic, its just as much your fault as it is theirs. Why dont you stop driving and let the rest of us have cheaper petrol?

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"If you talk at all during this lesson, you have detention. Do you understand?"

• My yr11 Economics teacher

wil5on said:
By that logic, its just as much your fault as it is theirs. Why dont you stop driving and let the rest of us have cheaper petrol?

I assume, you weren't talking to me? I hope, cause it made no sense otherwise.

Its a proven fact that the USA wastes more petrol than any other country on the globe. There are more self centered people on the highways per mile than anyplace you can imagine.

I drive for a living. I am ashamed to share the roadway with most of these people.

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The best things in life, aren't things.