Trip: China--The Beijinging
There are [51] stories from my trip: China--The Beijinging
CHINA | Monday, 1 Jan 2018 | Views [631]
This blog is rated "G/PG." Don't put anything on here you wouldn't want attributed to you if you ever run for President, Principal or Pope. The content is all mine, except as noted. Copyright William B. Kern 2008. Borrow anything you like, ... Read more >
CHINA | Saturday, 10 May 2008 | Views [2925]
Half or more of the many massage parlors are fronts for illegitimate services. As much as I would like a real massage, I haven't gotten one because I don't know how to say, "Real massage only" in Chinese. And I would feel rather silly saying ... Read more >
CHINA | Friday, 9 May 2008 | Views [382]
Don't come to Asia if you need everything to have a logical reason. You should also avoid: Africa, Australia, Europe, South America and North America. Most things in Antartica have a logical reason. Go there. Or the High Seas. Or Space.
CHINA | Friday, 2 May 2008 | Views [502]
By switching from a somewhat comprehensive health insurance scheme to a $5,000 deductible plan* I am saving $385/month. In most parts of China, I can live well on $385/month. For me, "living well" means being able to spend the day--or the ... Read more >
CHINA | Thursday, 1 May 2008 | Views [440]
A Chinese girl is not late unless she is more than 30 minutes late. It is universal. (Well, I only have experience with "nice" girls.) There is nothing you can do about it but think about how much more than 30 minutes you would happily give ... Read more >
CHINA | Thursday, 1 May 2008 | Views [350]
We all know of things that didn't survive the translation from Chinese to English (see Chinglish section, coming soon). But sometimes the result is decidedly more accurate than anything we have in English. For example, in Dongcheng: "The Pleasant ... Read more >
CHINA | Thursday, 1 May 2008 | Views [387]
You don't see people sleeping under bridges, or on sidewalks. You don't see beggars, graffiti, litter, the stars, firetrucks, carwashes, running hoses, benches, athletic socks, people running...
CHINA | Thursday, 1 May 2008 | Views [360]
I highly recommend China as a budget travel destination, with the caveat that She is not an easy place for the wheelchair-bound. Most places don't have ramps, many don't even have elevators, and crossing the street would be a perpetual nightmare. Make ... Read more >
CHINA | Thursday, 1 May 2008 | Views [352]
In a couple of years, China has gone from copying American IT business models to innovating their own. Beware American politicians who would stifle our entrepreneurial creativity by raising the corporate tax rate--already the 2nd highest in the industrial ... Read more >
CHINA | Thursday, 1 May 2008 | Views [359]
While the B2B (Business-to-Business) model flew high and then crashed in the US, China developed a more efficient B2B system. You order a computer, for example, by phone. A few hours later it is delivered. By bicycle. B2B: Business-to-Bicycle.
CHINA | Thursday, 1 May 2008 | Views [430]
Don't expect to get a better deal here on anything that China imports--unless you are going to Hong Kong. I paid 30% more for my camera than I would have in the States--and the instruction manual is in Chinese. Bring a laptop, buy it in Hong Kong, ... Read more >
CHINA | Thursday, 1 May 2008 | Views [373]
Chinese people, especially women, butt in line shamelessly, always pretending they didn't notice that you were there. They look left and merge right. Who cares? It's free entertainment, seeing the contortions they will go through to pull it off.
CHINA | Friday, 25 Apr 2008 | Views [341]
The Chinese government is Goal-Oriented; Chinese people are Process-Oriented. Whether giving or asking for directions in China, there doesn't appear to be any concern that the asking party reaches it's destination as a result. It is enough that you ... Read more >
CHINA | Friday, 25 Apr 2008 | Views [356]
Disabled Hero Saves Woman From Accident Liu Shuzhen, a woman from Hunan province, accidentally fell into a river in Beijing's Haidian district on Saturday morning while sitting there reading a book. Seeing her struggling for survival in the 2-m deep ... Read more >
CHINA | Thursday, 24 Apr 2008 | Views [337]
After riding my War-Ma bike on the streets of Beijing enough to wear out the pedals and gears, I probably have more right to use the phraseology "Ich bin ein Beijinger" than President Kennedy did when he employed it in Berlin. Despite the language ... Read more >
CHINA | Tuesday, 22 Apr 2008 | Views [300]
Life here is more like it was when the Human Soul came to be. People live closer to the land and what it produces, closer to each other, closer to the elements, closer to our primal past.
CHINA | Tuesday, 22 Apr 2008 | Views [366]
We saw no Westerners on the train from Xi'an, Shaanxi to Zhongwei, Ningxia. Yesterday we saw no Westerners in or around Zhongwei. The further I get from Western influence--the more Chinese my China gets--the better I feel. Like I am getting closer ... Read more >
CHINA | Monday, 21 Apr 2008 | Views [425]
When I was akid we played a game that might have been calkled, "Hide-In-Plain-View." An object was chosen, and everyone left the room except the person doing the "hiding." The object had to be "hidden" in plain view. ... Read more >
CHINA | Sunday, 20 Apr 2008 | Views [288]
Only In China Department: Embassy of the State of Palestine
CHINA | Sunday, 20 Apr 2008 | Views [389]
China has affirmative action, and just as in the US, it causes resentments. Minorities will be accepted to universities with lower grades than Han Chinese, for example. The resentment carries over into other areas. "Year after year we pour money ... Read more >
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