Today in China

Girls from Sichuan are known to be the most beautiful girls in China… But it seems that Wei has to endure a lot in order to get his girlfriend satisfied…

His girlfriend apparently got so excited last time they kissed that she accidentally bit off Wei’s lower lip. It’s not the first time that this happen by Wei seems to somewhat enjoy it as he jokes saying “My girlfriend’s zodiac sign must be a dog”.

Source:
Weird Asia News

Here is the notice I found in the elevator a few days ago. N O    C O M M E N T . . .

I hope they didn’t put medicine in the swimming pool…

Here are the Top 10 Rules for bargaining in China I discovered in this morning’s edition of Beijing Weekend.

1. Dress down.
2. Feign fantastic disinterest.
3. Speak as much Chinese as you can.
4. When consulting with friends, use Pig Latin to speak freely among yourselves.
5. Pantomime a cardiac explosion after they offer their first outrageous price. Call the first price offered “luyouzhedejiage” (tourist price). Explain you’re not a tourist but actually living in Beijing. The usual tongue-in-cheek retort will be “Of course you’re not; I can clearly see you are Beijing ren”. Laugh heartily.
6. Panjiayuan’s peddlers love funny business, so fun finaglers with an aptitude for amusement will wheel better deals.
7. Tell them you come frequently with Chinese friends who’ve told you local prices.
8. Purport that another stall has the same thing for cheaper (about 10 yuan more than your willing to pay.
9. Once you’ve just got them where you want them, scrupulously inspect your item for any defects. Any blemishes offer final bargaining chips.
10. Start ridiculously low and increase your price by increments of 5 to 10 yuan. When you and the vendor come within 10 yuan of each other, offer to meet them in the middle.

So now, what are you waiting for? Take a cab and go practicing your new skills at panjiayuan, known also as the Thieves Market… And this name does not really come from the numerous pick-pockets you’ll find there but from the skilled shoppers…

Source:
Beijing Weekend, 2007-05-31

The concept of the TV Show ‘J’irai dormir chez vous’ (’I'll come sleep at your place’) by Antoine de Maximy is quite easy to understand. Here is the description made by Jenny Beaumont on her blog:

He travels around the world by himself, rigged with a hand-held video camera, a small camera on his shoulder and one on an extension that allows him to film himself filming. And meeting people. Because that is the object of his trips, he wants to meet the “real people” of whatever area he’s visiting, get himself invited to dinner and eventually to spend the night. It’s brilliant. And he’s hilarious, always smiling and making the best out of what sometimes turn out to be not-so-great situations.

So, why do I talk about this on Today in China? Well, yes! After Mali, Corsica, UK, Scotland, Bolivia and Canada… he finally made it in China!

So, enjoy! (ahem… sorry, but it’s all in French… However, I heard he is working on a longer movie in English!)

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Couleurs de Chine is organizing its fourth Tennis Tournament on Sunday May 20th at East Lake Villas from 8h30. You may register by going to GUSTAMENTA (in front of the French School) on Wednesday 16th (14h-16h), Thursday 17th (12h-14h), Friday 18th (15h30-17h) and Saturday 19th (10h-12h). The cost of the event is 250RMB (tournament+dinner) or 150RMB for just the dinner. Special fee for students is respectively 150RMB and 100RMB

Since 1998 Couleurs de Chine has been arranging sponsorships for children of ethnic minorities, mainly girls, from the Great Miao Mountains (in the north of Guangxi province and south-east Guizhou). In 2006, 3930 children (3594 girls) have been able to start school or continue their studies thanks to the sponsors who have agreed to help them throughout their school careers.
In addition, Couleurs de Chine ensures the building and the rehabilitation of schools and dormitories.

You may check their website for more information.

A swing has been set on a 700ft high viewing platform on the TV tower in Harbin city, Heilongjiang province. That tower is known to be the world’s second-highest steel tower, after the Kiev tower in Ukraine.

The name of the swing is “Game for brave people”. The participants sit on a steel seat and swing above the city, beyond the edge of the platform.

Anyone wanna try this? Anyone already did?

I just received the following Golden Pig from a colleague and wanted to share it with you!

I’m not sure it will display properly on all browser. Try to copy-paste it and to use Verdana as a Font!

Here is a picture version of what it should look like:

Here is a crazy commercial for a crazy game that seems to be distributed in China…

This morning, I received two funny chinese road signs from Christophe. This reminded me an article I read in China Daily last Wednesday:

For more than 30 years, a former engineer from Changzhou of Jiangsu Province has contributed almost all his energy to reading books and finding misspelled words.

Li developed an interest in spelling during the 1960s, when he was promoted from an engineer to a quality inspector in charge of inspecting circuit diagrams. He felt sick whenever he found some wrong words in diagrams and reports, and got accustomed to encircling them. He once registered a consulting company to help publishing houses correct misspellings in their books, but it collapsed due to sluggish business.

Nonetheless, Li won such a reputation that even the People’s Literature Publishing House once paid him 20,000 yuan (US$2,529) to proof-read 26 literary classics.

Last Friday, Li departed the city on a trip to find misspellings on nearby road signs.

I hope Mr. Li will start a website with all the misspelled road signs he will find!

Continue to see the two pictures from Christophe…

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