A somewhat biased view on China…
We now have 10 active blogs on Today in China!
Here is the list of the blogs in no particular order:
I would like to recommend Keith’s blog on Business in China. Keith is the most recent member of Today in China and provides us a unique perspective on the growth opportunities in China. His blog explores and explains the economic growth of China and the business opportunities created by that growth.
I dedicate this port to The Chiners… Francesco seemed so happy when I sent him this link! hahaha!
So, if you plan to travel around China and are afraid of taking the plane or just want to travel on a low budget, take the train! The question now is to know which train or even if there is a train between two cities. This is exactly the purpose of this page on TravelChinaGuide.com.
Let’s take for example Francesco and Celine who want to travel to PingYao for the Chinese National Day. They are students in TianJin so they are looking for a train Leaving from TianJin and Going to PingYao. And the website gives them the information about the train 4478/4475 from Tangshan to Linfen that would leave TianJin at 11:10PM and arrive in PingYao at 2:09PM the next day. The website even gives the price of the tickets for hard seat (7USD), soft seat (12USD), hard sleeper (14USD) and soft sleeper (21USD). I would recommend the hard sleeper…
However, something that this website will not provide is the booking of the tickets… and believe me, the tickets for the three official holidays (Chinese New Year, Labour’s Day in May and Chinese National Day in October) are difficult to get. And I would not be surprised if they get more expensive than the ones advertised on the website.
Anyway, have a nice stay in PingYao and bring back lots of pictures!
Chinese, Japanese, Korean? Can you tell the difference? While I agree that it is quite easy to determine the origin of a group of CJKs I think it is quite difficult to tell for a specific individuals…
If you think it’s easy, then I challenge you! Go on AllLookSame.com and try their test. You have to identify the country of origin of 18 CJKs… And remember that a random pick would give you around 6 correct answers
I myself got 7 correct answers, which is 1 more than the average but still very bad. Just for fun, I asked a few Chinese colleagues and their results were pretty… 3/18, 9/18, 8/18!
So, is it true??? Do they all look same? Pass the test and share your results in the comments!
The now famous Beijing Buffalos are taking part in the Lufthansa Autumn Challenge 2006, a 5-a-side Soccer Tournament for amateur and corporate teams organized by the Red Ball Club of Beijing. The first prize? 5 round trip tickets to any European cities!
So far, we are the second of our group. Our next match is on the 8th of October at 20:00.
By the way, we are currently looking for a logo for our team. The logo should clearly show the threes B’s that define the team spirit of the Beijing Buffalos: Beijing, Buffalos and Beer and - of course - the fact that we are a Soccer Team. Please contact me if you want to send us a logo. If we choose your logo for our team’s T-Shirts, you will win a free Beer at either the Red Ball Club or the Beer Mania, the choice is yours!
Read more for the results so far!
After the train from Beijing to Lhasa, we know have the Potala Palace coming to Beijing! A replica of the Palace is indeed being built on the Tian An Men Square for the 1st of October, China National Day.
From the picture, it seems to be at least 6 meters high. Did you guys go to Tian An Men? What are your feeling about how Chinese Government is pushing the touristic industry in Tibet?
Source:
China Daily - 2006 09 13
I missed the BBP2 and BBP3 for being abroad too much… And, ahem…, I’m currently enjoying a one week business trip in the South of France… BUT!!! I might be back on the 20th of September, next Wednesday, just in time for the BBP 4 that will take place at La Baie Des Anges near Houhai on Saturday 23rd.
La Baie Des Anges just opened a few days ago and is a completely new style and typically French place with mediterranean cooking, French songs and European Electronic Music. - description from their website
Here are the needed information for you - bloggers, readers, friends - to go there!
Address: 5 Nanguanfang Hutong, Xicheng district (Just near Hutong Pizzas)
地址：西城区 后海 南官房胡同 5 号
I hope we will have some of the Today in China Bloggers! Emilie, Valentine, Xiaobudian (and Nicky, Stinky or even Human), Chloe, The Chiners, Keith, Carrie, Laurence (ermmmm… difficult since she moved to Singapore…), …
Yesterday, the Paralympic Mascot was unveiled during a ceremony that took place near at the BaDaLing Great Wall (八达岭). The Mascot, Fu Niu Lele (福牛乐乐) has is supposed to bring a message wishing Happiness to disabled people all over the world.
Fu (福) stands for lucky and auspicious and Lele (乐乐) happiness. Which makes the Mascot the Friendly Cow (牛, Niu) bringing Happiness and Luck. The Mascot is the work of Wu Guanying, Professor at the Academy of Arts and Design, Tsinghua University. He explains the choice of the Friendly Cow saying: “People with disabilities are very common around us so we chose a common animal to be the mascot for them.”
By the way, more than 120,000 applicants from Beijing have already registered to be volunteers for the Olympics and Paralympics, 75% of them being university and college students. 70,000 volunteers will be needed for the Olympics and 30,000 for the Paralympics. In addition, tens of thousands volunteers will be needed to offer services in transport, tourist guiding, reception, environmental protection and translation at the key areas near the competition venues, transportation hubs, scenic spots and commercial areas.
Source
China Daily Newspaper - 2006 09 07
China Daily is running a story about drug usage in entertainment businesses in Beijing. 120 owners and managers underwent a special anti-drug training last week and the authorities expect that another 900 will participate in the program thoughout this month.
The goal is to have all entertainment venues free of drugs before the end of the year and all public area druf free before the end of 2008. So, we’ll have Green Olympics with a blue sky everyday and no drug dealers in San Li Tun?
According to the official Bureau, since June 1st, 14 entertainment venues have been shut down or ordered to suspend business for half a year for their involvement in drug abuse: Jinri Liangyuan Club, Wanhang Club and Yudu Club in Haidian District, Olympic Dance Hall in Xuanwu District, Jinqilin Club and Juyuan Club in Fengtai District, and Highland Club in Xicheng District.
And to make it faster, any informant will receive an reward of 5000 to 10,000 RMB (500 to 1000 EUR). The China Daily website provides phone numbers and email address to contact the authorities…
Source
China Daily - 2006 09 06
The Chiners, Francesco & Celine, just arrived two weeks ago from Belgium. Just two weeks and they already have their appartment in Tianjin and a blog on Today in China! Amazing!
Okay, so… who are The Chiners? Francesco & Celine just graduated from my university, the Université Catholique de Louvain (UCL) in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium. They also had some Chinese Lesson with my teacher 法兰 (Falan).
Four years ago, 法兰 started to send her students to China mainland. Every year, 4 to 6 of her students arrive in China for one or several years. Most of them stay in Beijing with some others going to Tianjin, Shanghai or Xi’an. This year, besides The Chiners, you still have Denis and Florence who will stay in Beijing, at 北京外国语大学 (Beijing Waiguoyu Daxue, “Bei Wai”), the Beijing Foreign Studies University.
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