User Comments - vann0000

vann0000

Posted on: The Third Tone

February 3, 2008 at 8:55 PM

This is a great lesson....

Posted on: The DVD Ploy

February 2, 2008 at 8:40 PM

Such tiny characters with such tiny differences...I'm going to have to get new glasses...

Posted on: Buying a Pet and Food Poisoning

February 2, 2008 at 8:26 PM

Hum...no one mentioned this. When I eat at resturants in Shunde and Shenzhen, I ask the waitress to give me an extra bowl. I then use the bowl as a sort of wash basin. I'd pour the hot boiling tea over the sticks and rince out the bowls. This trick was taught to me by a great friend who came form Beijing. I haven't ever got sick...Well, aside from the very spicy Sechuan food. I guess, based on my experiences, that perhaps the illnesses are a result of poor dishwashing rather than food preparation. Anyways. Great lesson.

Posted on: Scams and Bus Culture

January 31, 2008 at 8:07 PM

Well, This is most interesting. I have been going back and forth to China since 1993. I have never been in any of these kinds of scams. (Though I was scammed so bad in the Phillippines that I still can't sit down.) I think it depends where you are. Shanghai is a big city, like HK. Any western people are considered targets, no matter how long youve lived there. But if you live in an area that most westerners visit you'll probably be safe. Here's a trick. Walk a dog. Any westerner who walks a dog is considered to be local. Same with carrying those rectangular packages of toilet paper. It also helps to hang out with local friends. I'd hate to go to some places in China without my friends. Not that I am afraid to be there, but the frends make it all so much more enjoyable. All that being said. If you are approached, and don't want to...If its a girl, ask her if she'll take 400 rmb, and if it's a guy you stop...stare...and growl. It usually works.