User Comments - brendaninaus

Posted on: Handsome Foreign Student

Well I did have some guys call me shuàigē when I last visited China, and I didn't think they were trying to hit on me.

Posted on: Chinese Baijiu and the Best of the Worst

I can remember my first experience with baijiu. On my first trip to Beijing I met up with a friend. She asked me what I want to drink and I said to her to give me something Chinese.

When I found it hard to get through the bottle I suggested she help me drink it and I got the "I'm allergic to alcohol" excuse.

Posted on: Chinese Baijiu and the Best of the Worst

I actully bought a 900mL bottle of baijiu to use as disinfectant before I left China on my first trip in 2005. I bought for about 10RMB on the buddhist island of Putuoshan. I don't think alcohol is in agreement with buddhism which is why it was so cheap. I still use it today.

Posted on: Tea Refill

Yes, I have fallen for the tea. karaoke or whatever else they use to get you into a room for some way overpriced good. Usually I work it out before I have consumed anything but this doesn't always let you off. Last time I tried to push my way out as I didn't do anything that I would have to pay for, but the thugs they have to enforce payments, even when there isn't a reason for them, didn't agree.

I was pushed over and my hand fell on a glass which shattered and sent glass through it.

A visit to the police and hospital ensued. Not a good start to my holiday with my right hand stitched up.

So be careful with your morbid curiosity.

Posted on: Of Soldiers and Military People

when I was working at a defence contractor we often had visits from various defence forces. And I agree the navy had the most impressive uniform with the way brighter than white look.

I don't think Australia has a marine force, but I could be wrong.

Posted on: Registering for a Dating Website

No I didn't, and I think I might not have satisfied the income test, plus it's a long way to the beach from my house

Posted on: Registering for a Dating Website

I actually used a internet dating site to try and get local friends in the places I planned to visit on my trip to China. It is always good to have someone to give you local knowledge and help if you need it, and I had previously done it with some success in Vietnam. But the only Chinese I got responses for seemed only interested in marriage or dating. One convinced me to meet her when I visited Harbin, her hometown.

I contacted her on the hotel phone in Harbin and I thought she sounded a bit older than the early 20s she said she was (previously our contact was only email and chat rooms). She turns up, and sure enough, she was about in her 20s, but also there was her mother. The mother then started peppering me with a series of questions about my job (what's the salary, how stable was it etc.), my house (did I own it, how far from the beach) and so on. I got the message that sure, if I satisfied their expectations, I could marry the daughter, but the mother is coming too. I don't think the daughter could even speak English, she didn't the whole time we met, it had been the mother I was in contact with all along.

I have heard (and seen on TV) of Chinese parents organising partners for their children at regular meetings in public parks, I guess it may extend to online.

I have also had a Chinese language exchange partner where I live, who did meet her partner online, and emmigrated to Australia to marry him.

Posted on: Registering for a Dating Website

I actually asked a language exchange partner this question. I had also heard that Chinese need to deposit 50,000RMB as insurance they don't stay overseas. My language partner said you didn't need an exit visa and the only deposit was a requirement from my country's (Australia) government, but other Chinese friends have said things that indicate something different. Certainly there were at one stage issues with mainlanders going to Taiwan, which I thought was from the Chinese government.

There might be things brought up when you apply for a passport (which of course you will need to go overseas)

Posted on: Playing Ice Hockey

I have come across many Taiwanese who seem themselves as Chinese amd Taiwan as part of China, but they think the Beijing government as imposters, and the Taiwanese government as the legitimate Chinese government (as did the western world until the 1970s)

Posted on: Toothache

When I once went to Shanghai, I met an Australian Chinese at a backpackers I was staying at, who would visit his homeland once a year for a dental check up and avoid the prices (and waiting lists) you encounter in Australia. My recent experience for check up and 2 x-rays was $AUS140 (~900RMB)