SHUO and a half

moving out to shuoesque.com

2011-06-01T17:02:00.000+08:00

Hello, all my friends. This blog has been moved to http://shuoesque.com/ which is my new domain name.^^

wuss yet fuss

2010-11-29T01:41:00.000+08:00

Lately I've put on some office weight which doesn't bother me at all. I've been chubby since I could remember. I wish I lived in the Tang dynasty because it's said that plump women back then were very popular and I could be a dream girl.^^

My friend told me that he was leaving Shenzhen and was making a farewell video. I understand. This city is regarded as my home but I also feel like steering clear of everything here for a while and explore something new in somewhere else. Explore how and where to? It's a question but someone mentioned Au Pair jobs. I might give it some thoughts.

This time last year I was having fun with D in Beijing. We were a happy couple and secretly I thought that we'd spend the rest of our lives together. But now, we're ocean apart and unlikely to meet up in the future. It was devastating but I'm moving on. How many things would change in one year? I have no idea.

However, I do realize that I've really been spoiling myself lately - went for an exam without any revision, had whatever food I wanted, terminated my internship and booked my flights to travel without informing anyone. These actions might have unintended consequences that will make my life strange, difficult but interesting. But I'll keep going and trust myself.

"We don't know the future but what we do now is a part of the future" - it's what my dear friend Amanda said to me. It always stuns me that we could actually make good friends via Internet. I'm visiting Shanghai again in December and gonna crash at Sharon's place who I met on Friendfeed. In fact I've made quite a few friends on that site and we even pulled off a gifts swaping not long ago.

中文ffer礼物漂流 ----

http://friendfeed.com/chinese-ff-swaps
http://www.flickr.com/photos/yogarrr/sets/72157625053512214/show/

coming away grateful

2010-11-24T17:18:00.001+08:00

So my internship at Maersk is terminated today. I regard myself lucky to be in a team with an easy-going leader and those bubbly workmates. I really appreciate all the sharing and training programmes.

(a sharing and training seminar)

(very considerate^^)

(Colleague Wendy hat Geburtstag!^^)

As the company just moved into a new office, I witnessed the open ceremony and met the Vice President of Hong Kong Limited, Søren Karas (who we think is very handsome).^^

(festive reception centre)

(Søren Karas)

(lion dancers)

(celebration snacks)

(pantry)

(Bye, my desk)

Goodbye, Maersk. I'll miss the Intranet and GFW-proof Internet here.

Happy Belated Birthday to Me!

2010-11-08T16:40:00.000+08:00

I had my 22nd birthday in late October.^^

I don't know why people tend to treat dinners as birthday gifts, but I received a special gift from my American friend Gregg. The gift came all the way from the States and would show me the other side of people there.

Don't let yourself overjoyed when you find a new way, because chances are that you'll get lost in it - the words are very apt to my current life. Since planning is not my strong suit, most of the time I just take things as they come. But lately I don't feel like sticking to the status quo whilst I can't neglect the benefit of living in the moment. But I believe some big plan for my future will get finalized sooner or later, though still can't help fretting about when and how will it come.

Me & Mom

2010-10-25T20:50:00.001+08:00

Every weekend mom made big meals because her beloved daughter would come home for weekend. But on week days, she only had simple, even humble meals because she "didn't feel like cooking" if just for herself.

One of her fingers got swollen last week and she didn't manage to tell me if I hadn't noticed. She'd had already seen a doctor and "it's no biggie, just rheumatoid arthritis." I knew, it was a age thing. She slipped out the fact that maybe later her other fingers would also have the same symptom.

Looking at her gnarled rough hands, I couldn't help shedding tears. I don't want to admit but mom is becoming less vigorous. I can also tell that she's going through her menopause as she constantly gets hot flashes and sweats more often.

At that moment, I got the feeling that things like moving out, leaving this city or studying abroad are all crap. I just want to stay with mom and people I love. That's all I need and care now.

I'm at work, literally.

2010-10-22T21:03:00.000+08:00

I've been using IMs for years but my status always was either "online" or "away", barely, "busy" (at some point, I didn't understand why signed in any IMs while you were busy). But now it's "I'm at work". Yes, I'm no longer a full-time sloppy student but a rookie in office.

I'm very lucky as the office has moved to the district I live in now and it only takes 30 minutes from my dorm to the office. They mentioned that the office would move, but I didn't know it would happen just before my internship started. My first week has been going very well. Actually it's better than I thought. I was stunned when I first saw two monitors on my desk and the suite seemed very "professional" to me.

There's no hierarchy or bureaucracy, unlike those state-owned companies. You don't have to butter anyone up or pretend to be busy. Workmates all seem friendly and gracious. But frankly, I've done little mingling, since I still feel a bit self-conscious. But it's surefire that I could blend in soon.

Just F.Y.I, I've adopted an English name - Samantha, for business occasions^^. Speaking of which, although it's a foreign company, I don't understand why everyone uses their English names instead of Chinese ones (while some names are not exactly English, say Yuki).

just another unstoppable life

2010-10-16T14:23:00.000+08:00

After the one-week internship at the International Exchange College of SZU, my another internship will get started next week. I nailed the second/final interview this Monday and was informed to be on board the Tuesday followed. I can't help tittering when I recall that for the final interview I whipped up a formal outfit in which I looked just like an elderly waitress.

Even though this Maersk internship is, what you may call it, a foray, I'm still (secretly) expecting to do something other than chippy paper work or telephone lifting. I'd like to practically give a whirl to everything. However it may be, I really am thrilled to be a member of the big family, even just for several months. I hope that my workmates are nice people and I believe that I could be wild card.^^

Several weeks ago, I wanted to be distracted by other element of my life because I had to let something/someone go and it wasn't easy. Good thing that now it's time for me to let go all the awful feeling I've been dealing with. When there's an end ,there's a "buck up". When there's a start, there's a "buckle up".

It's The Effort That Counts

2010-09-27T12:55:00.006+08:00

There was a job fair held at exhibition centre last Saturday. I didn't expect to nail anything there but just went to "see life". There were less job-hunters than we had thought but you could still see long queues in front of popular companies, say banks. After wandering in the exhibition hall for almost 1 hour, me and my friends decided to have fun in bingo hall.:P

"It's a season of sending zillions (or not so much) of resumes and getting no response." That's what I said on twitter the other day. Well, I did exaggerate a little bit because I actually got two interviews, though they all ended up "sorry...wish you a bright future". But I'm still willing to talk about it.^^

The first one was Bosch. I read their want AD of an English coach intern. My major is Chinese, but I didn't think my English is any worse than students (what an innocent girl :P). So I was bold enough to send my resume. The HR manager replied me instantly and told me they preferred a student of English major and with experience. But he said that there was a vacancy of administration assistant intern and suggested me going for a interview for that position. Friends told me that "administration assistant" meaned that you had to do miscellaneous errands, but I figured that there was no hurt in trying and met the HR manager.

The manager looked young and was gracious. Instead of informing me of resume there, he printed it out for me. I saw some marks on it which means he'd literally read it hehe. Afterwards, he wrote me an email and said that media related job was more suitable for me. REALLY? Or it was just one of those ways to reject people politely. I do think I was being a little too "Shuo" at the interview. Maybe I should've acted more tactfully. Thanks Bosch! It was my first official interview.

I figured that if I sent my resumes to common companies instead of educational institutions, they could barely be sifed through concerning my major. As I mentioned, I major in Chinese language and somewhat trained to be a teacher. So I was very excited when I got an interview at Maersk, another 500 Fortune Company. I was mostly excited about place I would be interviewed at - Diwang Tower, used to be the tallest construction (second to Saige). Well, a few foreign friends think Diwang is hideous but I have sentimental feeling for it because I witnessed the whole process of its soaring up while Shenzhen was less developed.

However, who would've thought that the interview lasted for more than 3 hours, including 1 hour for written tests. The written tests included two part, logic test and personality assessment. After that we were asked to write an English article according to given setting.

The logic test mainly consisted of syllogism assessment, patterns inference and calculation. I skipped all the calculating questions. Time was limited. I couldn't finish them all anyways.:P As for the personality assessment, we were given a lot of adjectives describing characteristic. First we were asked to
pick out the ones in line with your personality, as far as you were concerned. Then we picked out the adjectives that we thought we were like in other people's minds. The options were the same but we were not allowed to turn to the previous page to review our previous answers.

A guy who took the tests with me told me afterward that when picking out the adjectives for other people's minds, the less the better, because the more you chose, the more shortcomings you had. Writing an English article was a piece of cake. At last we handed in our answer sheets and resumes. The staff told us to stay where we were and the result would come out in 10 minutes.

10 minutes later, three of us were eliminated. There left six persons and I was one of them. The same staff came in and handed out a piece of paper to each of us. She asked us to draw three pictures of our past, present and future in 10 minutes, then explain them in English to the HR manager.

I always was a poor painter, so I only draw some simply "abstract" patterns using lines and circles. Other candidates all drew better than me but I don't think they explained their drawing very well because of their nonproficiency of oral English. And yes, I found that most candidates could speak English very well if they had happened to memorize the sentences, but couldn't pull it off if given new situations.

Later the HR manager divided us six into two groups and gave us different topics to talk about. Everyone got the chance to speak, only in turn. After over three hours, we were free to leave. Whatever the outcome, the whole interview process was fun. It's the effort that counts.^^

I took the following picture before I left. Just in case you don't know, Hong Kong was beckoning you in this picture.

Memory of Lijiang

2010-09-24T13:34:00.003+08:00

I didn't write many posts about my trip in Yunnan, because I wasn't organized enough to that. Well, I'm still not. But last night I caught up with the interesting guy I met in Lijiang, and recalled the days there. During my trip to Yunnan, I visited Lijiang for twice. I didn't explore that much for the first time because I had to prepare for Shangri-La. But fortunately, I got a second chance and made full use of it.

For visiting Luguhu Lake, I decided to join in one of those two-days travelling groups when I was Kunming. But just before our departure to Luguhu Lake, the manager of the agency told me that there was a landslide on the way to Luguhu Lake, so he couldn't take the risk. Instead, he offered me free accommodation of three days in a hotel located in Lijiang Ancient Town. Well, I was really tired out after the long journey to Shangri-La and they offered a cool compensation, so that's why I got to stay in Lijiang for another three days.

When I dragged my suitcase to the entrance of the ancient town, a girl sent from the hotel came and showed me the way. She seemed young and dressed in special national costume. She told me she was from Naxi minority and worked at the hotel I'd live in. She was shy but spoke good Putonghua. She even insisted on carrying the suitcase for me.

The hotel is called 丽江水岸(Sunny Riverside). There I met that cool guy I mentioned, because he was the owner. He is called 雪狼(Snow Wolf). This hotel is well-decorated (and luxury). As you may know, hotels located in Lijiang ancient town are all special. But this one is still eye-catching - the house, including everything in it were made of solid wood. It's in line with local conditions there as Lijiang is rather dry. There's no way a wooden house like that can survive in Shenzhen.

Snow Wolf showed me the ancient town in his way and treated me to different restaurants and bars. As he said, he wanted to show me the real and best Lijiang so that I wouldn't feel sorry for missing out Luguhu Lake. I think the local government should honor him as a freedom of the city.

I didn't regard Snow Wolf "cool" merely because of his generousness, but of his personality and his way of living. He's my parents' age which you could barely tell. He once served in the special forces and was still of strong physique. Not like those new-riches in China, he's public-spirited. As one of the leaders of some NGO, he helped found a primary school for orphans. I got to meet other members and they all turned out to be hiking freaks.^^

The five pictures above are how the ancient town looks in early morning. Lijiang in daytime is just like any other busy commercial streets, filled with travellers. Night life there could also be nasty and hardcore but thanks to Snow Wolf, I went to some tasteful bars. There I met talented musicians, talked about music with then and even sang a little, without drinking any alcohol. I loved it! You don't have to know each other's name or phone numbers and you won't even meet again, but you're no strangers at the moment. I told to myself that "I'm so gonna come back again".

Snow Wolf sounds like a figure in those chivalrous stories. And more than one friend asked me why was Snow Wolf so nice? What did he want for return? It's a question I once asked myself, but got no answer. Guess there're more nice and cool people than we thought and that's what travelling for.

"Get out of here. This land is cursed. Living here day after day, you think it's the center of the world." - "Cinema Paradiso"

stale

2010-09-18T21:59:00.004+08:00

It's still a personal blog, right?

Currently I have plenty of time at my own disposal since I have no more classes and my internship will only take six weeks in October. But things are as easy as it seems. I'm on the edge of graduation which means I'll become a job hunter soon. It's said that "毕业即失业" (graduation amounts to unemployment) which is true. But it's also true that people around me, despite unsatisfied, all have something to busy with. Yes, as long as you're willing to struggle and sweat, you'll find a way. Mom always tells me that "船到桥头自然直" (cross the bridge when you come to it), but it's a little too Taoist.^^

I'm trying to come into my own over the past few months. I haven't really talked about it but something in my life has changed since mom has a new marriage. Yes,it undoubtedly is a great thing from all aspects. I want her to be happy from the bottom of my heart. But deep down, it sticks out like a sore thumb to me, when a man holds your mom's hand and he's not your father (although it'd be weirder if it were), let alone he even moving in. It's been a long time since my parents split up so I really need time to be re-accustomed to be under the same roof with another guy. Well, he seems a very honest and reserved guy and treats mom very well, so I didn't reveal my feelings but kept everything to myself.

I should harshly reflect on myself too. I was the one who told her not to dwell on the old time and encouraged her to "go back on track in the dating world". But once she found someone and pulled off a new marriage, I become the one who pick on it. Mom worried that her remarriage would have a negative impact on me, so she didn't really consider it when I was younger... Alas, would I be put down as a selfish daughter? Nevertheless, all I have to do now is adjust my attitude. Hope that mom feels all her sacrifice was worth it.

The usual sensible and exuberant Shuo never leaves, but she also plays the baby act from time to time.

Back from Blogger's Block

2010-09-06T14:32:00.003+08:00

FYI, I haven't blogged in English for a long while. As you may recognize later, my English is quite rusty now. :P

____________________________________________

This time last year, I was in Beijing. After that I visited Shanghai, Nanjing and my hometown Lianyungang. It sounds like a crazy vacation. But just a few days ago, I came back from Yunnan. I feel lucky to get the chance to explore this much. My trip to Yunnan lasted more than two weeks and I left my footprints in Kunming, Dali, Lijiang, Shangri-La and Sipsongpannna.

Travelling in Yunnan could easily wear you out, because transferring between different cities usually take you 5-8 hours (either by train or coach). Before I set foot on Yunnan, people kept telling me that Yunnan was "ruined" and commercialized by the local government. I thought I was well prepared to deal with it, but still encountered several unpleasant situations in Yunnan. But good thing that all this effort really paid off when I got to the marvelous natural landscapes.

After 24 hours on the train, I arrived in Kunming. But later I took another train to Dali, without staying over night. Dali is called Dali Bai Nationality Autonomous Prefecture in full name. As its name says, it's run by people of Bai minority. But in Yunnan, few local minority people do business. So the business industry there is mostly dominated by people of Han nationality or those "Hanifized' native people.

(Erhai, Dali)

After crashing Dali, I headed for Lijiang which is a must-go in Yunnan.That was my first time visiting Lijiang, later I went back and stayed for three days. Lijiang is famous for its ancient town and Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. The latter one is undoubtedly worth visiting.

(Lijiang Ancient Town)

(Jade Dragon Snow Mountain)

Shangri-La belongs to Yunnan but it also lies in the Tibet zone. I was worried about getting AHAD but I only got a little headache and that was all. But I didn't explore too much there except the Pudacuo National Park.

(Pudacuo National Park)

I'm under the impression that Sipsongpannna was boring too me. Maybe it's because the weather there is similar to it in Shenzhen. Plus I didn't meet any interesting people there.

(Sipsongpannna)

She

2010-05-09T00:59:00.000+08:00

She peels apples for me although I keep complaining that I hate apples.

She harps on about the importance of diet while refilling my bowl.

She wakes up late at night to see whether I kick my quilt away.

She barely cooks herself a decent meal unless I come home for the weekend.

She keeps my bedroom organized and clean no matter whether I'm going to be home.

She wants me to just try my best instead of pushing me to be No.1.

She knows that I'm grown-up but deep down still sees me as a kid.

She tells everyone that she's lucky to have me as a daughter.

She teaches me how to be a good decent woman and a great mother.

She is my mom, the most beautiful woman in the world.

Quick Recap

2010-04-14T10:48:00.004+08:00

Something funny yet inspiring happened to me lately. My German teacher recommended me to some woman as a German tutor. I was totally flattered. Just for the record, I've only been learning German for 6 months. But she thought I was adequate to the job and referred to me as her best student for now. But it didn't pan out. Nevertheless, the whole thing's a nice little ego boost for me.

What also can make my day is reading comments or any other kinda of feedback about my blog. Just in case you don't know, Blogger is blocked in China mainland like forever. So to a large extent, readers of this blog are non-Chinese or Chinese who would like to read some English stuff and be capable of bypassing the GFW.

I'm not concerned too much about daily traffic driven here but I do pay quite a little attention to which of posts are most read. By far I know my most popular posts go to "I Don't Have A Dream", "Chinese people? Incomprehensible!" and "Sex and the Univercity". I'm not be swift to generalize anything I see. However, what I found out is gonna illustrate the point that foreigners are more interested in self-reflection - they're fond of reading unharmonized posts which criticize the CCP, Communism, centralization or even Chairman Mao BY CHINESE OURSELVES.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but it's understandable. It's like "hunting for novelty". I assume that I'd feel the same way if I hear British people judge themselves. But the pathetic part of my case is that I'm entitled to speak up only outside the GFW, only beyond the sight of the "Internet harmonizers".

For one moment, those new notions dawn on me and I'm going for somewhat a westernized girl. But the next moment, I feel tied up by those old-fashioned values I grew up with. I can't totally let myself go. I wanna balance it all out. But from time to time, I got a bit overwhelmed by living these two lives.

Say one thing and do another - it's ironic that I actually grow into a typical Chinese. hehe, I'm in need of a bear hug.

(Below is a cartoon paraphrasing how Swedish media looks at Google's withdrawal from China.)

（这张图片咱们中国人看看就好，外国人看不懂，呵呵。）

mobile face - Chairman Maomao

2010-04-02T19:26:00.002+08:00

Since 1949, if you live in China, you have to put up with the over exposure of Chairman Mao because he does not only put in an appearance at Tian'anmen Square but also on the banknotes which you have to reach everyday.

He must bore you with the same complexion but it's not his fault because it's you that have been overlooking his potential facial expressions! I knew this little practical joke many years ago and should've post it yesterday(April Fools' Day). Later better than never. Now let me share it with you. Just take out any banknote with Mao and fold it as the following instruction tells you, then you'll find out.

Done? Now try to watch Mao from different positions...There you go! Mao is literally sentimental and has a mobile face!

I'm On Fire.

2010-03-31T13:07:00.000+08:00

I was meaning to move this blog to wordpress. But I didn't know its templates were not free-user-friendly until I set foot in wordpress. AND just when I was deeply in desperation and anguish(exaggeration alert!), I surprisingly found that Blogger released this Blogger Template Designer which perfectly meets my satisfaction. So I'm staying here at Blogger.^^ Speaking of free-user-friendliness, is it me or every Chinese would look for another way to do it if it's not free.

Google's Withdrawal is beyond my expectation but I'm not surprised. I suppose that it's the high time Beijing brought shame on Google though. Yet if we look on the bright side, Google didn't leave. It just moved to somewhere closed enough to be seen from Shenzhen. Not that I'm talking you into relocating to Hong Kong. But as long as you're not reconciled to be deprived of basic civil rights, you'd find a way to the real Internet, even to the real world.

Since the GFW did its duty, many Chinese netizens can't access to many services online. If you're an old member on friendfeed, you'd feel the desolation there. Good thing that there are still some friendfeed addicts holding their ground and I'm one of them. So there me and other friendfeeders living in China commenced on this Chinese friendfeed Swaps thing. Below is my mock-up of friendfeed logo.^^

Luckily I was the first one to receive the swap box from K.D. which was the first one to send out this box in Shanghai. We chose ff-boy and Cao Ni Ma as the "Daevas" of this event.^^

Fowllowing is what K.D. put in the box. I like the twitter bookmarks!

Here's little gifts from me: little Maggie and chocolates.

Now I'm gonna ship it to Paul. Well, Paul is in Guangzhou. I don't need to ship it.^^

What Expats Don't Understand about Shenzhen?

2010-03-24T21:44:00.004+08:00

I read this interesting report on Southern Metropolis Daily(2009-11-7). It covered 10 foreigners who already stayed in Shenzhen for some time. They encountered quite a few incomprehensible circumstances here and finally they couldn't help but bringing up many questions which even confused me. I picked out some questions and translated them into English.

Some of those questions somewhat show that they are lacking of common sense for living in China. Yet I have to admit that I feel confused in my city too. By Shenzhen, I reckon they actually mean China, because all these issues don't happen merely in Shenzhen but the whole country. People from outside of Shenzhen share the same characteristics, not to mention that most residents here are not native.

Sorry if this translation is rough, I did it within an hour.^^

Brad, American, 40, designer, here for 9 years

1. He doesn't understand why people drive without licences but with perfect assurance.

2. He doesn't understand why young people still throw plastic lunch boxes out of their car windows while there are so many environment-friendly texts in books.

3. He doesn't understand why he was asked about age, job and relationship status by total strangers even when he was on a bus.

4. He doesn't understand why people bought apartments and waited them to be revalued instead of moving in there.

5. He doesn't understand why students study hard in high school but totally unwind in college. Things are just opposite in America.

6. He doesn't understand why people are so clamorous in public. Europeans think Americans are loud, but comparing to people in Shenzhen, we're fairly quiet.

7. He doesn't understand why people often whine about the air condition in Shenzhen. It's much better than it in Hong Kong.

8. He doesn't understand why people are fond of getting some weird English names. Those names sound more like pizza shops or bistros.

Christian Buggelsheim, Austrian, 36, Hotel Manager, here for 3 years

1. He doesn't understand why business partners always drink Baijiu, nay, they tank it.

2. He doesn't understand why people fancy eating animals' organs. Everytime they ordered those spooky chicken paws, I got goose bumps.

3. He doesn't understand why Chinese can't understand his Mandarin. When he attended some social events with his girlfriend, he felt like an invisible person. They speaks too fast for me to catch up. Shenzhen is supposed to be international, but why I only found a few people here spoke fluent English.

4. He doesn't understand why there are few people in Shenzhen riding bikes. Isn't China a kingdom of bikes?

5. He doesn't understand why people in Shenzhen want to travel in Europe or America because Shenzhen seems perfect to him. This city becomes empty at holidays.

Frederic, French, 35, Executive Chef, here for 3 years

1. He doesn't understand why people can just drink or roll bones in a bar for hours.

2. He doesn't understand why there're so many bars in Shenzhen but only a few of them are worth going. Bars are full around 10 p.m.but get empty around 2 a.m..

3. He doesn't understand why people complain that "I paid that much but only got this little French food." Quantity plays a more important role here.

4. He doesn't understand why people go to a French restaurant but order American salad. They don't know "Bon Appetit" is French, do they?

5. He doesn't understand why chefs don't get enough respect in China. In Europe, chefs are appreciated as movie stars.

Daniel, American, 42, Electronic Industry, here for 2 years

1. He doesn't understand why people cough without covering their mounths and spit all the time.

2. He doesn't understand why women in Shenzhen are so realistic that they love you after knowing whether you own an apartment or a car.

3. He doesn't understand why some electric appliance are so expensive here. A toast machine costs you 9.9 dollars in America but costs 400 RMB here.

4. He doesn't understand why house price is so high here while rent so cheap.

5. He doesn't understand why can't he get clothes of his size, even when he choose the XXXL ones.

Mark, American, 59, Singer and English teacher, here for 10 years

1. He doesn't understand why foreigners in Shenzhen barely know Chinese culture or Chinese people.

2. He doesn't understand why some Chinese people say they don't love China.

3. He doesn't understand why "pig ears" can be food because he thinks they're nasty.

4. He doesn't understand why China changes so fast and is not easy to catch up with.

5. He doesn't understand why Chinese people put their family at the first place but he likes this value.

Karl, American, 40, professor, here for 3 months

1. He doesn't understand why the cable and the TV remotes ares so complicated.

2. He doesn't understand those English in textbooks is confusing and is like translated by machine.

3 He doesn't understand why children live with their parents and parents have to look after children's children.

Sun Seungkai, Korean, 32, Manager, here for 4 years

1. He doesn't understand why girls cover their beautiful legs with tights, even in Summer.

2. He doesn't understand why people don't like wearing hats, even if their hair is a mess, even they're bold. In Korea, almost everyone wear hats.

3. He doesn't understand why taxi drivers always argue with passengers.

Sakura Takumi, Japanese, 42, board chairman, here for 9 months

1. He doesn't understand why people randomly spit and litter.

2. He doesn't understand why people jump the red light and jump the queue

3. He doesn't understand why people are constantly late for anything and what's worse is, they tell you "I'll be there soon" but it still needs half an hour.

4. He doesn't understandwhy Shenzhe is near the sea but people are more fond of going to mountains.

5. He doesn't understand why people are socasual in public. "Everytime I went back to Japan, I felt stressed out because I was not allow to take phone calls on subway or bus, even with your earphone. But in Shenzhen, people talk on the phone even on formal occasions.

In addition, the following cartoon is from a Canadian. Let's see what he's trying to tell us.

1. There're many disabled people kotowing on the streets of downtown.

2. But they're just faking it.Their heads don't reach the ground. Their hair is long so it's hard to tell. And in fact, even they reach the ground, you can't hear anything either.

3. The main activity you can do is shopping, but what's odd is that there're only expensive name brands and high-class products. It's easy to get a 'Rolex' but it's very hard to get ordinary stuff.

4. It took me 3 days to find a knife in a supermarket.

Ringing a bell now?^^ hehe, It reminds me of another translation I post some time ago, "Chinese people? Incomprehensible!". If you're also an expat in Shenzhen or in China, I'd like to know what do you find incomprehensible.

just another post

2010-03-16T23:52:00.001+08:00

My German friend came back with her kids for a week. I was so delighted to get to see them after six months. I guess I like her a lot because she knew much about Chinese conventions and somehow could read my Chinese mind. I don't know many Germans but I suppose Germans are meant to be travellers because al my German friends told me they didn't miss their country that much and enjoyed their current lives. Well, things could change a lot just within six months - the kids became distant to me because they spoke only German while my German was absolutely rookie. I felt so terrible that I couldn't make myself understood to them.

She was nice to bring me a gift from Germany. Well, other than that, she was meaning to be a matchmaker and tried to hook me up with this guy who used to be her doctor. See? She was half-Chinese. She brought this up for several times but I was not interested.

(That beautiful gift as I mentioned. It was said to be a beer mug.^^)

Feel Like Crying

2010-03-11T22:43:00.001+08:00

I spent 10 days in last Summer holidays. It was the second time I visited there. I stayed at a couple's apartment and the guy's mother cooked for me. This lady had a very mild personality and I liked her a lot. Thanks to her, I didn't get serious homesick when I was in Beijing because she felt like a mom. She became a widow many years ago and raised up her son by her own. Her life was not easy. But her daughter-in-law was about to have a baby.

But very sadly, today I was told she had cancer and it was advanced. Her son just went back to their hometown to pick a cemetery with good Feng Shui. WHAT HAPPENED? My memory is still vivid, but things have already changed into the worst only half a year later? Just when her tear and sweat is about to pay off, she is leaving? NO WAY! The last thing in this world that I could handle is my beloved relatives or friends passing away. It'd tear me up. I don't know whether I should call her or what am I gonna say to her. I feel so devastated.

One month ago, I gave it a lot of thought and decided to abort my study-in-Germany plan. It was sad to quit but it was for the best. Shame that I'm not as cool as those people who chase their dream bravely. I'd keep on learning German but I'd stay, stay in my city. I should face the reality and be responsible to my mom. I can't just ask her for a great deal of money and leave here alone. My friends said I would come back anyway but who knows what's gonna happen during my absence. There's a Chinese proverb, saying "A tree desires to stand still, but wind does not stop. A son desires to serve his/her parents, but they have gone."

I love you Mom! I love you all, my friends.

Still On Holiday

2010-03-04T15:02:00.000+08:00

My friends says I live like an elderly man on holidays - getting acupuncture or cupping and working out on that hill near my home. Yes, I have to admit that it sounds a little elderly but what is a young lifestyle, hanging out in the bars and getting tanked? I hardly think so.

But well, I also overspent on food, say Korean BBQ. The plate with meat looked good and costly. Friends told me meat was expensive in Korea. Maybe it's true but why were we having this overrated food instead of our local and more delicious one. hmm...I feel guilty.

I'm still on my summer-like Winter vacation, although the Lunar New Year was over a few days ago. We Chinese take the Lantern Festival as the end of the Lunar New Year. Except having Tang Yuan and shooting off fireworks, I got some paper lanterns which was a more authentic symbol of this festival. Happy belated Lantern Festival! And I'm very looking forward to the new semester.

one side effect of Spring Festival

2010-02-25T19:49:00.003+08:00

22 is a bloody evil age since people around you, no matter how free and easy you used to think they were, started to ask about your relationship status. Sometimes parents or older relatives could be a little too helpful with it. They urged you to get involved in a marriage-oriented relationship. They kinda held the opinion that "you don't have to love him or her deeply because your passion could thrive in the long run (yea, right). You just gotta find someone good enough to have a family with". I just tried to be kind and firm but I guess I'd have a family-reunion phobia after one year or two if I stay single. Well, it's not gonna be any better even if I find my right one, because they would urge you to marry by then.

Chinese people generally tend to be family-oriented and very much appreciate our family bonds. But at every Spring Festival I got the feeling that I was brain-washed. It's no fair to blame mom or other relatives on giving me the brainwash but I have to admit that what they did and said affected my mind in some ways - I barely paid attention to the things in my routine life and I neglected school, my ambitions and even didn't bother being cynical. Instead, the definition and the concept of FAMILY became more graphic in my consciousness. Maybe that was what Spring Festival originally for.

The other day I invited my British friend over for dinner. It was not the first time for mom to meet my foreign friend, but she was still being very Chinese. When he said he hadn't really thought of marriage, mom started to enlighten him (in Chinese though). It seemed funny to me. Well, I believe foreigners like my friend would take marriage more sincerely and seriously than most Chinese people (although they get divorced more easily) because most Westerners must commit to the ones they love, but not the ones "well-matched in their social and economic status".

Belated "Happy Year of Tiger"

2010-02-21T10:28:00.001+08:00

First and foremost, HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR!

Just when I decided to spend this Spring Festival in Shenzhen, I heard that it was snowy in hometown. It seems like I'd never get the chance to slip and fall down on the ice. Good thing the temperature dropped down right before the lunar new year and made it at least cold enough for a Spring Festival. It is never not festive in Shenzhe, even with those on and off popping of firecrackers. Several days before this bleak Spring Festival, I walked around the annual Flower Marker in Luohu as I did every year.

Shenzhen has no lack of flowers，so basically people go to the Flower Market just to join in the fun. It's more economical to actually buy flowers from the marker on Lunar New Year's Eve because it's the last day of the temporary market and everything there is on sale. It's said that it'd bring no luck if you purchase flowers after the Lunar New Year's Eve.

I spotted this new species of flowers. Don't you think it look like those birds in "Avatar"?^^

Besides flowers, there were some irrelevant stuff sold there,say goldfish, turtles and rabbits. Well, I can't expect to see tigers though.

Catch up on My Life

2010-01-26T22:10:00.001+08:00

School's out. Hurray! Well, it's not that "Hurray" because I've lived my school days as I've done holidays since I entered the uni. If your uni is in the same city as your home, it could be boring and you'd probably end up not appreciating those family moments. Take me as example, I actually made up some excuses to avoid returning home on weekends. And maybe that's the reason why mom would put the following "new element" in her specialty. If you ever read the posts about my hometown, it's no news to you.

I just said that my school days in uni were easy to go by, but when it comes to the revision for terminal exams, it's never the same. 8 exams and one paper were doing my head in. However, I did spoil myself a bit and took my mind off the exams, say having Schwarzwalder Kirsch Torte.^^

Other than that, my British friend was kind enough to invite me to dinner. He cooked Udon - a British guy cooked Japanese food for a Chinese girl. How could that be? hehe He spent the Christmas in the UK and just came back. It was very nice of him to give me a Calendar as a gift, because it meant that the gift was just for this year and he would give me something next year. :P

I'm not a big fan of Japanese food. But somehow I found Sushi make by Jusco tasted good, even better than in Japanese restaurants (by which I mean 禾绿回转寿司). Plus, the price was reasonable.

come back short

2009-12-27T13:42:00.000+08:00

Oh I hope it's not overgrown here since I haven't weeded it for two months! Now I figure out why there are so many abandoned blogs - once you stop posting for a little while, you're not motivate enough.

During my absence here, I spent 10 days in Beijing, again. But this time is not for sight-seeing, so I didn't take any fascinating photos to share here. Other than that, I didn't do anything beyond routine. And learning German is definitely major in my routine. As I learn more, it's getting more and more difficult. It's so difficult that the teacher doesn't even make effort to explain.=] And oh I almost forgot we had Christmas. Well, normally I don't celebrate Christmas but when you saw the whole world was having a good time, you could hardly sit back but ask them to share some fun.

It's pretty much about this post. I'm invited to another wedding dinner on New Year's Day. Will show some photos of it by then.

Fly Sheets Utilization 101

2009-10-29T23:28:00.003+08:00

Living in Shenzhen(or the entire China), you may have to live with fly sheets of all kinds as long as you happen to be a passerby. Some fly sheets are quite plain while some are swanky. You can surely refuse to accept them but chances are you have to pick them up from your own mailbox and glance over them and throw them away. Ugh, it's so not environment-friendly, is it? So instead of whining about this kind of waste, I mean to share something with you - fly sheets Utilization 101(with my chubby fingers^^).

Needed Materials: FLY SHEETS (oblong)

1. Fold it in half.

2. Fold it in half again and unfold it.

3. Fold both edges(the closed side) to centre. Then unfold them.

4. Open one side and fold it to the crease lines which you made in step 3.

5. Do the other side and do the same as shown in step 4.

6. Okay. I don't know how to explain this step in English but I guess the picture makes it quite clear.

7. Do the other side and do the same as shown in step 6.

8. Fold both edges to centre on both side.

9. Fold the bottom part up on both side.

10. Expand it and make the bottom flat. And done!

There you go. You just made a throwaway rubbish box with a fly sheet that you were going to trash.^^ You may use it to collect random litter, say fish bones, fruit peels, melon-seed shells.

street snapshot

2009-10-24T12:18:00.000+08:00

Even I'm a native in China, I do find things incomprehensible in my normal daily life. They're not the "mainstream" but I suppose they reflect something at some point. Well, instead of a judgemental person, I regard myself as a conscientious one about life.

Location: Beijing

This is the sign for a roast duck restaurant. As you may find, a part of it is missing. And now it's just a "roast bird" reataurant. Or it's a kind of publicity?

Location: my hometown

The local government is trying to popularize English to the salesmen. They chose the most effective way to do it - mark English with Chinese Characters as phonetic symbols. You may ask "Can it work?" No worry, because there's barely any foreigners there in this small town.

[ more about my hometown ]

Location: Shanghai

It was just some light rain, but this metro(from 353 to People Plaza) seemed flooded. I blamed the drainage system in Shanghai.

Location: Nanjing

I saw this catchphrase around Fuzimiao and got very confused. Let me translate it literally "Supporting the army is building a Great Wall. Loving the army is loving the national defence." - What the heck is that?

Location: Meilin, Shenzhen

This is a Police Bike! It's convenient to carry and to chase offenders at back street. At the critical moment, it can even be used as a weapon! (I'm laughing.)

Location: Bao'an, Shenzhen

This is a security guard booth, without any security but a giant police cap. It can surely be frightening to those criminals. Yes, right.

Location: Dongmen, Shenzhen

Remember my "Kappo" classmate? She's not alone. Check this out! "Backcab" and that hideous brand - just another Shanzhai product.

[ more on Shanzhai Kappa ]

I Don't Have a Dream.

2009-10-16T16:22:00.004+08:00

I love my kids but I could have fed tainted milk to them. I don't have a dream.

Children died because they studied in the jerry-built classrooms. I don't have a dream.

Officials are all accepting bribes, and they never feel ashamed of it. I don't have a dream.

Most lawyers no longer stand up for the victims.If they do,they'll be detained or jailed. I don't have a dream.

You've been living and working in this city for years, but all you can get is a 'temporary' residential permit. I don't have a dream.

Those actors and actresses who starred in the patriotic Chinese movie are not officially Chinese. I don't have a dream.

80 percent of water from China's rivers is polluted, and you may be poisoned if you drink it. I don't have a dream.

Not only at the Olympics,but every coal mine mishap in China also broke a record in death toll. I don't have a dream.

The Berlin wall collapsed 20 years ago, however the GFW is strengthening. I don't have a dream.

China is so vast but Twitter can't survive here. Seriously, I don't have a dream.

Share a joke with you ----------------

Osama Bin Laden recently said China is the only country where terrorists don’t dare to go. Al Qaeda once dispatched five terrorists to attack China. They were told to bomb five different places.

The first, who was to bomb an overpass, got lost on the labyrinthine bridges.

The second, who was to bomb a bus, couldn’t even get aboard because the bus was too crowded;

The third, who was to bomb a supermarket, got his remote control stolen;

The fourth, who was to bomb a building, was stopped and badly beaten by the security guards, who took him for a migrant worker asking for overdue wages, and yelled at him “don’t come for your salary, and don’t you dare to appeal!”;

The fifth, who was to bomb a coal mine, eventually made it, leaving more than 100 miners dead. But half a year later, he was executed by al Qaeda for “cheating,” since the incident was never reported in China.

SZU,Shame on You.

2009-10-09T12:40:00.000+08:00

To start off,I have to admit that "SZU,Shame on You" is definitely more sensational than the real.But it does make a catchy title.^^

F.Y.I,SZU is short for Shenzhen University.I've been studying in SZU for more than two years.I fairly enjoy my life there because,well,"small as it is, the sparrow has all the vital organs".But meanwhile,I did find something funny yet a bit of disgraceful.I was meaning to blog about it but didn't take enough photos as a proof.But now,I'm doing it.The following may not be made by SZU but happen there in SZU.

1. Somehow I suppose it was written by some foreign student because the capital letters don't apply to the writing habit of us Chinese people (I guess).

2. These students are about to graduate.It's understandable to take a photo of them and the landmark for a souvenir,but I don't think it's not necessary to actually stand on it.If everyone of us was gonna do the same thing,that sundial would be a ruin.

3. There are more than 20 canteens in SZU.I bet things like the following pics have happened in all the canteen.It happens too many times,so that we barely take it as a big deal.Everytime when someone started to complain about it,others would say something like "think about the starving children in Africa".

4."Wow,check on those legs" - that's not my point,dude.We were having a PE class but some were there in slipper.You may not be professional,but at least you gotta have a professional spirit.

5.People in Shenzhen are not strangers to Shanzhai.At some point,I suppose the name "Shanzhai" is adapted from Shenzhen.But this gal from my class really made me speechless.As a 21st century uni student,she just ignored the"KappO" and lived with it.

6.Yes,this is the map of SZU which is located right on the main gate.If you're careful enough,you may find it literally unbearable because there are two misspellings on it.What are the odds?

7.This kind of herbal tea is declared to be preventive against H1N1 virus - YEA RIGHT!

8.What are you doing guys?It's in the middle of a class,Japanese class though.Well,I'm taking this photo.Who am I blaming！

9.I don't know whether non-Chinese would get this,but it made me laugh so hard."Fathers are already old.Wait no more to show filial obedience" - an advertisement for Phiton necklace,ahead of the Father's Day.

To Be Continued......

a happy event

2009-09-24T09:50:00.000+08:00

Me and mom were invited to a wedding dinner last Sunday.I was looking forward to it because I hadn't been at a wedding for years.We presented 600 RMB because to Cantonese folks,the number 3,6 and 9 are regarded as lucky ones for happy events.To tell the truth,I didn't know the birde or the groom in person but I knew theirs parents.I was told that the bride was a nurse and the groom,teacher.What a perfect couple!And I stealthly thought the groom was cute,the bride was a beauty though.^^At the end of this year,one of my cousins is going to marry,too.Fortunately,I was asked to be a helper by then.Can't wait!

We were welcomed in by the couple and their relatives.After that,we headed for the reception desk to hand out our present which was the money I mentioned.Mom put the money in a red packet as everyone else did and they had to sign their names on the back of the packet.It was so sabby yet inevitable conventional,and I was a little disturbed by this formality.

(All the single young people were ready to catch the bouquet.But hey,I was single and I was supposed to be there too.Why was I taking this photo instead?)

(Little gift from the bride and the groom - candies,two packs of cigarettes and a red packet with 10 RMB in it.)

(Some typical wedding dinner dishes.)

It's a convention that once the fish dish is being served,it's the time for the couple to toast to the guests,table by table.And the bride has to change her wedding dress to Chinese-style dress - cheong-sam,while the groom doesn't have to.Normally,it's a torturing time for the couple,as they haven't had much food for a whole day but still have to drink much,even though they have some 'best men' to help a bit.

The following photo was captured from the VCR displaying at the dinner.See,they really make a cute couple.And I'm looking forward to the next happy event of them.^^Hope that they will be 永结同心，白头偕老.

lately

2009-09-23T11:06:00.000+08:00

I've been learning German since this new semester.It's never easy to pick up another language.It makes it even more confusing when you have learnt some language that is similar to the one you're learning - German and English.

I don't think German is as difficult as I thought,but its similarity to English is really giving a headache.I don't mean my English is interfering in the German learning process,instead,it's playing as a double-edged sword at this point.On one hand,the German "chicken intestine" and the Indo-European grammar don't stick out like a sore thumb to me.On the other hand,the semblable alphabet compared to the English one,plus those same spelling as English but pronounced different German words are literally beating me up.

I once felt that my mind was hungry for a puzzle to solve,and now I really get a real feast's worth of conundrums!huh.Bring it on German.Allure me,entice me,surprise me,astound me.I've been more on the fence with anything.My ambition has been taking a long nap,but it's about to wake up and get riled up.

The teacher suggests that we should avoid using English or use it as less as possible while we learn.What a joker!It's never gonna happen so long as I still live with the Internet.Besides,I won't commit my English to learning German.

As for my English,I believe it's totally fossilized.It's so not going any better( or worse?).I don't get my hopes up to make it to an more advanced level,unless I could live in some English-speaking country for several years.

I keep having this fancy dream - is there anyone kind and generous enough to support me to go to Germany or some English-speaking country,say the UK?^^

writing up on Nanjing

2009-09-19T22:27:00.000+08:00

After saying farewell to Shanghai,I made my way to Nanjing.I lived at the hostel which was located at Fuzimiao Temple and Qinhuai River.The Nanjing dialect is also beyond me,but I didn't encounter too much.When it comes to hotels or inns,Nanjing is definitely a traveller friendly city as they don't charge very much.Other than that,the transportation is very convenient there.Much less Nanjing is fairly a small city.Looking it back,I feel it's a shame that I didn't visit a single university in Nanjing.I'm so gonna do it next time.

(The hostel I stayed at.)

(Qinhuai River - better visit it at night,because the river is actually not clean and clear.^^)

Nanjing used to be the capital of the ancient China and of China in the Republican Period.As what Nazi did to Jewish,the Japanese made a outrageous massacre in Nanjing back in 1937.In order to push down all these resentment,the city emblem of Nanjing once was an mythical animal Pi Xiu(貔貅).

As what I wrote above,Nanjing played an important role back in the Republican Period.It can somehow explain why there's a Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in Nanjing.Well,it may seem to you that there are ‘Sun Yat-sen Mausoleums’or 'Zhongshan Roads' in every city of China mainland,or even Taiwai,but this one in Nanjing is literally the most authentic.

It figures that this mausoleum is totally a commercialized tourist attraction,but I still have something to say - the admission ticket is way too expensive,not to mention that you basically just do some hiking there.(Good thing that I got in without paying any money because I found that 'back door'."Yay me"!)

Another memorial for the ROC - Yuhuatai Martyrs Park.

Before I went to Nanjing,the place I wanted to visit most was The Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall.One day ahead of taking my departure,I got the chance to realize my dream.So there I standed,right in front of the solemn construction and vivid statues.Formal feeling came to you instantly.I didn't take any photos inside though.

Forgive but not forget.I'll always pray for world peace.

Still alive.

2009-09-12T16:56:00.000+08:00

I had an issue with my mom the other day.I tried to reason with her but she upheld her own theory.It ended up we were cool though,I felt hurt and was a bit irritated.My close friends told me that that don't it too hard,because that's the way parents are.They told me whatever parents said,they meant well.
Well,I think so and I would probably tell them the same thing if they encounter the same problem.But my un-Chinese friends had different attitude,and they told me "go talk with your mom and tell her you love her and care about her".However,it's just too hard for us Chinese children(at least my age) to actually talk to parents,not to mention say "I love you" to them(I got goose bumps just thought of it).

My Filipino friend said he didn't understand why his Chinese friend didn't hug his mom before flew to the States.I kissed and hugged my mom when I was little but not any more now.There's no such a formality or rule in "Chinese family ethics".

writing up on Shanghai

2009-09-02T18:14:00.000+08:00

Beijing is worth visiting and blogging.You could write millions of posts about every detail.In other words,Beijing is somewhat not bloggable because you could never pack it up in one or several posts.So let's move on to next station - Shanghai.

- Beijing -

- Shanghai -

"Nothing is so necessary for travelers as languages."I can't quite remember where I picked up this sentence but it spoke my mind when I arrived in Shanghai.It was the first time I realized how hard it could be for those Northern Chinese who first came to Guangdong and encountered jiggly Cantonese.Yea,I have to admit I couldn't understand a word when talked to local Shanghai citizens.It's a shame that I didn't pick some dialect from them.

Three days are too short for me to go through this big city.But I'd like to be outspoken about what I saw.The first one is,Shanghaiers are not so hospitable as Beijingers.I don't know whether it's because the language(I mean,I asked them in Putonghua and they didn't speak it well,so the conversation was disfunctional),but I could feel it in their eyes that "screw you".

As we know,specialties of Shanghai are not popular,even the local people would agree with it.But I reckon there's a reason for it - Shanghaiers put apparel first.Young people are dressy in Shanghai and Beijing but Beijingers also spend time and money on food.I come up with this expressionto discribe Shanghai girls and guys which is "pockets are cleaner than faces",if you know what I mean.But well, everyone has eccentricities and I did focus on their good qualities and minimize my annoyance at their odd ones.I appreciate Shanghai for its history,elegant old buildings and its local yet influential fashion style.

write up on Beijing (2)

2009-08-20T00:07:00.000+08:00

It's not a tourist guidance blog,so I'm not listing out those do's And don'ts on my trip in Beijing.And if you're interested,all the places of interest are googleable.So,I'll just put my pictures here.

Peking University

I wasn't allowed to enter the campus last time I visited it.But this time,it was totally open and I could even rent a bike there.Other than that,different kinds of souvenir were available,say poker of Peking University.^^

National Centre for the Performing Arts

(Bad weather still.)

the Great Hall of the People

(Advanced security check.)

(Very Communist.hehe)

"insects feast" in hometown

2009-08-16T12:03:00.001+08:00

I spent the Spring Festival this year in my hometown,Lianyungang,Jiangsu Province.And I revisited it this summer.This time I stayed more closed to the countryside,so I got the chance to taste the rural life.Unlike other Chinese people,no matter where I visit,the first thing I ask is not food.I prefer homemade dishes.But folks in hometown are always hospitable,there's no chance they would "release" me,as long as they can get that "one of highest-protein foods" - insects.(still chilling)

Well,I had heard of the insects dishes,like ants.Folks told me how they caught and cooked those locusts years ago when locusts wreaked havoc.They kept describing how tasty those fried insects were.I threw up inside but didn't show it.Maybe I hid it too well,folks actually prepared the "insects feast" for me.Just for your information,those insects are not so easy to get as before,so it must have cost them much which forced me to accept their hospitality.*SIGH* - this story tells us being Chinese can be really weary.

WARNING: The Following Pictures are very graphic. Discretion is strongly advised.

young cicadas | 蝉、知了

．·°∴ ☆．．·°．·°∴ ☆．．·°．·°∴ ☆．．·°

baby bees & bees | 蜂蛹，蜜蜂

．·°∴ ☆．．·°．·°∴ ☆．．·°．·°∴ ☆．．·°

silkworm | 蚕宝宝

．·°∴ ☆．．·°．·°∴ ☆．．·°．·°∴ ☆．．·°

Welcome to my world~And I actually had them.Ewwww,I loathe myself.But look on the bright side,I didn't have fried dragonflies or fried cockroaches(that's sick!!!)......Okay,endless EWwwww!

write up on Beijing (1)

2009-08-15T13:47:00.002+08:00

I'm back,after 20+ days travelling - 10 days in Beijing, 3 days in Shanghai, 3 days in Nanjing and one week in my hometown Lianyungang. It didn't feel that long when I came back. I told myself it might be the last summer holidays to be carefree and crazy, so I packed my bag and set off on my own. Thinking it back, I miss those days I moved alone. As long as you're travelling, you wouldn't feel lonely even if you have no company. Something has been bothering me since I came back. I was really not in the mood for blog. I wish I hadn't come back so soon. There's no special someone waiting for me anyway. Well,I'm supposed to say something positive. Let me start over. I find it's really hard to write up from memory after so many days, but good thing that I had pictures and twitter.

Destination 1: Beijing

Beijing's still too big to maintain and you'll never get enough security checks there. I went there last November. But in Summer, Beijing gives you a different impression, say the terrible air pollution. I don't know whether it was the Year of Olympics last year or my last visit was in winter, I didn't catch a glimpss of haze. But this time,I was so shocked by the low visibility. I stayed there for 10 days, basically 9 of them were gloomy.

UNCOMMON CLEAR SKY

♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥,.*♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥

USUAL GLOOMY SKY

♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥,.*♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥

MORNING,NOV,LAST YEAR（2008）

♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥,.*♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥

MORNING,JUL,THIS YEAR(2009)

♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥,.*♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥

Luckily, I got the chance to taste the local Beijing yoghourt. You can get one for ￥1.5-￥4. You have to finish it and return the bottle before you leave. If you wanna keep the bottle you gotta pay more.

♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥,.*♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥

We're all familiar with KFC, but do you know what the hell is a "KFC Select" is? Come to Beijing, and you'll figure it out.(It's located at Zhongguancun.)

♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥,.*♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥,.*,.♥

To be continued...

A bit of fuss.Just ignore me.

2009-07-17T11:09:00.006+08:00

I really gave much thought to the study-abroad thing,even I had to to hit the books for eight terminal exams.I got a great deal of useful suggestions from David Stegtizs,Olive Fee and the Internet.BTW,I really appreciate that I understand another language like English,otherwise I wouldn't have get so much information from non-Chinese people.

I ever dreamed of study in Britain but the tuition and expense must be outrageous.It's doomed to be a fantasy.Then I wanted to study in Germany which would cost less but still 300 thousand RMB.It's not a small number at all.But what bothers me most about that is not only the cost,but also the fact that I may have to put at least 4 years to finish the graduate school if I go to Germany which means by then I'll be 26+ years old.In that case,when I come back to China,I'd be single,unemployed and maybe kinda lost.Not to mention that I wouldn't be capable to take good care of my mother.

I was telling myself - "I'm getting 26 anyway.I'm getting old anyway.Sooner or later I'll have my family anyway.I'll be an annoying and lame old lady anyway.Why give up my dream for those inevitable phases of living?I just gotta get ready to begin a very empowered one."And it's just so unfair.If it's a 26-year-old guy who just came back from some foreign country,he must be popular and be ragarded as a golden bachelor.However,when this happens to a woman,she probably would be classified as an old maid in China.

I kept asking my friends this question,if they got into a dilemma,which would they be more sorry about,doing or not doing?I believe everyone will choose "not doing".However,making a decision could barely be simple as that.You have to do it so as to least people will get hurt.Confucious said,"Don't stray far from home when your parents are there."Yea,if I stick to the status quo going on my life,I'm likely to have a family and kids(terrible picture in mind) and my mom would be a merry grandma.That sounds more like a 26-year-old Chinese woman,doesn't it?

I once told my friend I didn't have a dream,and he laughed.Well,who doesn't have a dream?But my dream is too far to reach.It's good to be young,because you can dream,you have time to dream.Or in other word,you're juvenile enough to dream.It feels like the longer I start putting off starting my any plan,the longer it can remain a dream and not something I screw up at or something I finally give up.

I want to chase my dream but I also want to be at my mother's side as she was at mine.I could have some other dream but my mother is irreplaceable.Okay,at least I know I'd make a good daughter first.

----------------------------------------------------

I'll be on the train to Beijing this afternoon.Should get there after 24 hours.I'm going alone which sounds a little sad.There surely are some moments where I feel like being accompanied.To be honest,I'm a little,just a little worried because it's the first time I take a train on my own.

If Beijing is actually hot like an oven,I may not go anywhere but have watermelons and watch TV at my friend's place.hehe.After that,I plan to visit my hometown and drop by Shanghai and Nanjing beforehand - I know it's the last summer vacation to be crazy.

Anyhoo,I'll be safe and I'll be back.Farewell,Shenzhen.

Chinese people? Incomprehensible!

2009-06-28T17:52:00.005+08:00

Last year,I read this great article for the first time.The other day,I read it again and decided to translate it into English to tell you how Chinese people look at ourselves.Yi Zhongtian does have an insight into Chinese national characters.I couldn't help laughing when read this article.Well,differences exist in every country.But Chinese people share the same characters while behave differently,you always have to read between the lines.Some judge Yi that he should've brought up with some solutions about our flaws rather than just generalized them.But as I'm concerned,don’t even try to change them,unless you give us another 2000 years.

Chinese people,incomprehensible

Author:Yi Zhongtian
Original post:http://blog.sina.com.cn/s/blog_483c11a601008nd0.html

Chinese people are hard to comprehend in every case.

Take corruption as example,are Chinese people fond of that?Of course not.In fact,they all find it hateful.So do those bribees and bribers,I dare say.Why would the officials like to take the plunge of getting in jail,if they have money rolling in without corruption?And why would the bribers like to give out their sweat money,if their ways are unblocked?

So most people do not like corruption.However,they can hardly quit it.As the case stands,once Chinese people get in trouble,the first idea they come up with is how to “get in by the back door”.If the officials actually don’t accept grease of any kind,I'm afraid that people would feel disappointed and insecure because they’ve got no “promises”.Therefore,it’s not practicable either to totally forbid or to stop fighting corruption.The best way left is to establish some rules,like "It's allowed to be invited to dinner for once or twice",or "It's okay to accept one or two packs of cigarettes".There everyone is happy.

Some people reckon it's all due to the social convention in China.But I can't totally agree with that idea.When it comes to recreational activities using public funds,Chinese people seem to feel disgusted with it.Whereas,whoever you invite to join in the activity for their first time,he or she will be willing to do it and feel content.So it is obvious that people are not actually against those activities if they can reap the benefit of them.

I don’t mean that Chinese people say one thing and do another,nor they are double-faced.But there are many ways of the world,with much contradiction in terms.The ancestors left many teachings of the deceased,but some of them can't be wielded at the same time.For example,the ancestors told us to "ready to help others for a just cause",but then suggested us "not to meddling in things that do not concern you".Wait a minute!Are we doing it or not?See that’s why I call you a nerd - leave it,if it’s just an unimportant matter;go for it,if it is.So Good Samaritan is right,and standing-by is also right.There is much to be said on all sides.Each and everyone just has to claim himself is in the right.

But in that case,those experts who study the "Chinese National Characters" would have a headache to define Chinese with one expression or two.Chinese people are fairly frank but tactful,honest but sophisticated,distrustful but credulous,hidebound but flexible,self-serving but loyal,decent but incivilized,mild but ultra,economical but extravagant,old-fashioned but swanky,contented but get-rich-quick,superstitious but (mostly) irreligious,collectivistic but factious,picky but smooth,un-meddlesome but gossip,saying "Time is money" but taking time.China has vast territory,abundant resources and a splendid culture of more than 5,000 years.She “got rich first” but then experienced a period of suffering impoverishment and chronic decadence. "Lagging behind leaves one vulnerable to attack",as the history books tell us.

Anyway,Chinese people are hard to understand.Not just foreigners,even Chinese people find themselves incomprehensible.As a matter of fact,even "incomprehensible" can’t be the right word for everyone,because I’m convinced that someone will argue against it at once—"Incomprehensible?How so?I'm gonna define my people to you".Then he will talk about it in full details.I believe he'll make his point so that the listeners will all nod their agreement.But so what?They also nod when they listen to Tom, Dick or Henry,as long as they all make sense.Not to mention that in China,not every nodding means approval(while it doesn’t have to mean disapproval).It may just be a sign for “I'm listening”,or for being polite.So much as it's just a unconscious pattern of behavior.

Chinese people themselves just have too many issues,even about food.Chinese people,no matter from the North or South,are all fond of inviting or being invited to dine together. Virtually there are many differences about what to have and how to have it.If you’re treated by the Northern,chances are you get many different kinds of dishes and any of it can easily stuff you because there are normally a whole chicken or duck and much pork or lamp.You just gotta devour ravenously. At the same time,the Southern don’t order that many kinds and you won’t see much food on each plate.It doesn’t take much time to finish all of them.But those dishes seem more delicate—they make several kinds dishes from one chicken or add more ways to finish one fish.One thing led to another,the Northern start to think the Southern are petty and look down upon them,whilst the Southern think the Northern are douche.The most interesting thing is that they both call each other hypocrites.The Northern say,"we don’t even bothering using chopsticks for that little shabby food.Do you seriously wanna treat me or what?"Nevertheless,the Southern says,"we don’t have to waste anything to show our sincerity.We're not stuffed shirts.And order that much food?You must have nothing to do but eat."Thus,they’re both pure-hearted but misunderstood.

As my original point,Chinese people are literally incomprehensible.

those anime I grew up with

2009-06-24T00:06:00.356+08:00

I posted about my visit to ICIF the other day.There was a whole hall exhibiting animation cartoons,including Chinese and Japanese products.When I saw the exhibit of 蜡笔小新,the recollection of my childhood welled up in my head.You hardly see any Japanphile of my,but guess what,I grew up with enormous Japanese animations,with Cantonese dubbing.

Hongkong kept importing Japanese cartoons when I was young and it's still doing that.And the dubbing they made was very funny and impressive.At the same time,those Chinese-made cartoons weren't worth watching,not to mention the standard Mandarin dubbing was quite stiff.Later,mainland started to import some Japanese cartoons dubbed by Taiwanese.However,we're already very Cantonese-dubbing-oriented,so they are only good for the the children in other provinces of China who had no chances to enjoy those quality Japanese cartoons before.

I'm gonna make a list of part of Japanese cartoons I've ever watched,not inclding those I watched lately.Half of them are older than me.The list is not prioritized.^^

1.《櫻桃小丸子/ちびまる子ちゃん》

2.《天才寶貝/赤ちゃんと僕》

3.《流星花園/花より男子》

4.《宠物小精灵。ポケットモンスター》

5.《飛天少女豬事丁/とんでぶーりん》

6.《咕嚕咕嚕魔法陣/魔法陣グルグル》

7.《怪盜St.Tail/怪盗セイント・テール》

8.《婚紗小天使/愛天使伝説ウェディングピーチ》

9.《蠟筆小新/クレヨンしんちゃん》

10.《伙頭爸B/クッキングパパ》

11.《名偵探柯南/名探偵コナン》

12.《百变小樱Magic咭/カードキャプターさくら》

13.《魔神英雄传/魔神英雄伝ワタル》

14.《忍者亂太郎/忍たま乱太郎》

15.《四驅兄弟/爆走兄弟レッツ&ゴー!!》

16.《小孩子的玩具/こどものおもちゃ》

17.《七龙珠/ドラゴンボール》

18.《飘零燕/アルプスの少女ハイジ》

19.《機靈小和尚/一休さん》

20.《俏皮幻法小花仙/花の魔法使いマリーベル》

21.《哆啦A夢/ドラえもん》

22.《灌籃高手/スラムダンク》

23.《超音鼠/ソニック・ザ・ヘッジホッグ》

24.《紅頭巾Cha Cha/赤ずきんチャチャ》

25.《小魔女Doremi/おジャ魔女どれみ》

26.《我係小忌廉/魔法の天使クリィミーマミ》

27.《美少女战士/美少女戦士セーラームーン》

28.《娱乐金鱼眼/きんぎょ注意報！》

29.《藍寶石王子/リボンの騎士》

30.《小蜜蜂寻亲记/昆虫物語みなしごハッチ》

31.《神風怪盜/神風怪盗ジャンヌ》

32.《貓狗寵物街/3丁目のタマうちのタマ知りませんか?》

33.《铁臂阿童木/鉄腕アトム》

34.《變形金剛2010/戦え!超ロボット生命体トランスフォーマー2010》

35.《足球小將/キャプテン翼》

36.《超時空要塞/超時空要塞マクロス》

37.《反斗小王子/おじゃる丸》

38.《變形金剛2010/戦え!超ロボット生命体トランスフォーマー2010》

39.《BOM BOM彈珠人太空戰士/ボンバーマンジェッターズ》

40.《中華一番!》

............

Now I've seen everything.

2009-06-22T01:35:00.001+08:00

The modern China is known as a mega country of manufacturing and pirating is undeniably a major part of it.If Chinese people cry out their grievances that they didn't start the pirate thing,then they cannot be excused for creating the SHANZHAI culture.The Shanzhai culture came forth even earlier than the time it got its name.Not that I approve of Shanzhai,but as far as I'm concerned,Shanzhai is wiser than pirate anyways.It doesn't totally live in the shadow of the legal copy but (shameless) strickes out and gets its own labels and adherents.

(See!Obama just becomes the brand spokesman for "Blockberry".Not sure if he knows about this yet.)

Well,actually I'm not going to write a whole post about Shanzhai.Instead,I'm writing a review about my gate-crashing to the second-hand cellphone market in Huaqiangbei.I had this chance to keep my uncle company to stock his cellphone store in Jiangsu.He came all the way here because he knew the huge market of electronic products here in Shenzhen.But why second-hand?To be honest,I used to think that Chinese people conventionally prefer brand new stuff.We would rather pay more than getting a used thing,even if it's not even an old one.But things are different in Jiangsu.Internet is not made the best of use there.I mean,the mass netizens there are young people whom are literally just interested in QQ and online games.Plus,comercials on TV become unbearably irresponsible and keep babbling about those Shanzhai product.

One thing led to another,people start to pay more attention to those so-called latest and fancy stuff.People there have no problem to dress warmly and ear their fill but it's still too much to ask to try those things first-handly.Therefore,BANG!Secondhand products are becoming quite popular there.Okay,too much for the leading-in.Let's see what I got there at Huaqiangbei.

Huaqiangbei is definitely a place you love and hatel.It roughly provides enormous electronic products of any kind.Even if USB drive,you may find this many there.Amazing huh.

There I was,the secondhand-cellphone-market sreet at Huaqiangbei.So many people gather here,do the same business but still can make much profit.We can understand that how large the market is.

(I guess you already noticed those billboard with "CDMA" and "3G")

(This is one of the hundred stores at the street.)

(A tousy street stall right in front of the store.The board means "recycling of cellphone with a considerable price",not sure if my English makes sense though.)

(We got there quite early.Those counter-keepers just started to prepare everything.)

(I could barely name the brands of these Shanzhai cellphones,orr do they have any.Pretty colorful huh,it's one of the traits of Shanzhai cellphones.)

(You can tell they're not of good value from the mess.)

(It became quite mussy and lousy when more and more buyers appeared.I was wondering how did they communicate in such a noise.)

("No Smoking!"-Nobody gives it a damn.If there were a fire,we'd be all dead.)

(Thousands of cellphone shells of any kind,used for making old into new ones.It could happen that the blackhearted sellers sell the olds at full price and call you a sucker afterwards.)

(This kind of label is supposed to be on the legal cellphones.But now,I can get four pieces of them for 1RMB.My uncle said you could get whatever typr of label if you asked.You can hardly tell mock from original ones now.)

I felt like a paparazzi.It was not easy for me to take those photos because the seller were very cautious.Good thing that they knew they weren't doing anything glorious.I inquired of some friendly-looking sellers about the source of so many cellphones,both shanzhai ones and original ones.They told me three ways.

1st,from people who sold their old cellphones. (10%)

2nd,the government forbad those factories producing shanzhai cellphones.So they had to dispose the goods at low price,in the name of putting away the wasters.(60%)

3rd,everyday,millions of people all over China get their cellphones stolen,afterwards millions of stolen cellphones are being imported to Shenzhen......(30%)

eyeful litchi

2009-06-17T00:07:00.001+08:00

I've passed by Bao'an district on my way to or from the airport,but not actually in there.Lui always told me it was fairly a countryside but I know it's not that bad.Bao'an is undeveloped as urban districts and is a mass of indigene Shenzhenese(as I mentioned in a previous post).Coincidentally,one of my roomates is from a family like that.

There had been a lot of talk about visiting the orchard owned by her family but I didn't make it until last Friday.After one hour's journey in the worst bus in the world,we got somewhere in Bao'an.But we still needed her father to pick us up,otherwise we had to grab a cab to the terminal destination-Longshan Orchard/龙山果园.As introduced by my friend,this orchard is mainly a litchi one and last week was definitly the right time to pick litchi.

Okay,last minute lesson before enter the orchard:NO TRESPASSING！

I feel embarrassed of being very overwhelmed while seeing so many litch trees,nay,I hadn't see litchi trees actually with so many litchi hanging on them.^^

(emerald green baby litchi)

(hard red hebetic litchi)(cardinal red adult litchi)

Workers were boxing up the fruit.

Ther put leaves on the fruit to keep them fresh for a longer time.

Well,they normally put those less fresh fruit in boxes.

I helped.

I deserved them.^^(haha,shameless me)

Love is risky

2009-06-10T02:37:00.006+08:00

I had a movie night in yesterday and spent one hour or two on "He's Just Not That Into You".I heard about this movie before and I even found the books sold in my neighbourhood,but just had the mood to pop it.Being into sth./sb. is supposed to be a slang phrase in English but to people who don't know it(like my friends) may be misdled by literal interpretation.XD.

Checking out the cast of this movie,I felt it more like who's who.If I have to comment about it,I'd say that it is a standard chick flick,which isn't necessarily a negative feedback.I mean,to me,it tells us how the (American) modern relationships works and don't work out.Good thing that it isn't all about those juvenile dating games,otherwise I won't be writing this post.^^I was best impressed by the following line from this movies,

Mary: I had this guy leave me a voicemail at work, so I called him at home, and then he emailed me to my BlackBerry, and so I texted to his cell, and now you just have to go around checking all these different portals just to get rejected by seven different technologies.

hehe,I couldn't help laughing because it's so real.It is exhausting to hunt down every status your boyfriend makes on Facebook,Myspace or twitter.Over-analytics and over-generalisation are so commenly seemed in this kind of a fun loving date movie,and girls are not that sad or immature to have nothing better to do than to wait for calls.Plus,I have to point out that the (western) random pop cunture doesn't match my reality here,but it doesn't bother me sympathizing with the scenario or those phases we girls have ever been through.

I don't like the concept which patronizingly generalizise all guys to be jerks so they girls won't feel bad when get hurt.Maybe he's just not that into you.Girls are fond of reading signs which are mostly hypothetical.However,the worst feeling for girls is "I don't know",thus there's a stereotype,saying that girls are needy of settlement and commitment.Girls want promises because we don't want relationship to be stable,or even unchangeable.

But,I have a question here.What if he won't change into a jerk of any kind but he's commited to himself...What if he's very methodical,and even has planned up for his future ...I mean,what if it makes no difference to his life with or without you and you just happen to be his girlfriend.You still want that?

Yea,as my original point tells,love is risky.

one of the annually big events

2009-06-08T21:12:00.002+08:00

Since the China's college entrance examination system was resumed in 1977,the College entrance exam has been going on.I participated in this huge event in 2007 and it's the 2nd anniversary now.I wasn't a top student or a intelligent one,so I wasn't thinking a lot of and putting much pressure(that's why I end up studying in Shenzhen Uni but no offence to SZU^^).Now when I look back,I think those three bittersweet years are much more important than that very final exam.

I took the exam at my own school and I stayed at school during the three days of exam.I figured the best way to deal with the huge exam was treating it normally.It was raining quite hard and almost everyone sat the exam was in slippers which was very funny.I wasn't nervous after starting to read the paper,after all we'd done this of any kind for more than thousands of times.

To be honest,my memory about it is becoming vague.But I remember that our teachers and headmaters were all wearing red T-shirts,standing at the entrances the exam rooms,doing high five with us and even hugging with us.It was so touching.

(My head-teacher as well as History teacher.)

(My exam admission ticket.I've kept it since then.)

I didn't get good marks on Chinese and English.But I unexpectedly did pretty well in Maths and History.Anyway,that exam is definitely worth treasuring up in my life.

(The Admission letter I got from SZU,one month after the exam.)

June Fourth 2009

2009-06-04T15:46:00.006+08:00

Here's an old Chinese folk tale.A man buried his silver in the ground and put up a note, saying: "Three hundred ounces of silver is not buried here."His neighbour Ah Erh stole the silver and also put up a note with this: "Your neighbour Ah Erh didn't steal it."

(captured on "The Simpsons",season 16,episode 12)

Our Chinese government must have heard of this story,so they decided to not put up any notes and forced everyone to remove notes of any kinds.We Chinese people use another old idiom a lot--欲盖弥彰 which means the more what one tries to hide,the more it exposed.And now,I finally realise that,at some point,this idiom also means despotism,obscurant and low EQ.They're so wrong,even more wrong than doing the violence in 1989.Why are you so open-minded to May Fourth but not breathing a single word about June Fourth?

To be honest,I wasn't upset when Youtube and Blogger were blocked.I even reckoned that I was lucky to bypass the GFW.But at the moment where popular foreign websites were blocked and internal sites were told to shut up,I actually felt a bit irritated.What you treat us like kids?Good thing that the block thing spurred people on seeking for the Tiananmen Square protest,seeking for the truth.Numerous Chinese netizen felt violated and tried their best to break the WALL in order to let people know about the truth.

I reflected on myself that why hadn't I told anything about it,at least to people around.There I commenced doing what I just learned : introduce the GFW to people around you and pass around the tools to break the wall.It started off badly.Even if they knew about the GFW,they didn't care about it.I insisted on sending them the tool and forcing them use it,whereas it made me look like a radical person which is not that kind of image I meant to set up for myself.

I heard that an American instructor in my university displayed the video of Tian'anmen Square on June 4th,1989 and told his students that there was no democracy in China.I don't think much of his indignant deed.I mean,he was supposed to tell his Chinese students why the protest happened,what did those protestors go through and how did it end up.He merely just popped out the bloody scene and blamed our beloved country(he should point out CCP).It just made those students revolt against the "American devil".

To totally deny something is unwise.I believe that we need to build up an impersonal attitude.I mean,we can see from those videos that some students were indiscreet enough.When I read foreign press or the Taiwan media report,I know they're not being candid.Compared to them,I really appreciate insight of Hongkong meida which is more fair-and-square and genuine.I'm a traditional Chinese girl after all.

I just want to say,don't just talk about the June 4th,when it's June 4th.June 4th is a spirit,inciting us to continuously aspire after truth and rights.We deserve them.

summary

2009-05-31T00:36:00.003+08:00

Had dinner with someone who I had a crush on back in high school and we hadn't kept in touch after graduation even we are in the same uni now.It started off well.We talked about the good old days and caught up.But I ended up putting him into the "friends zone" for good.I didn't expect anything bewteen us to have a chance to be different,yet I did feel a bit disappointed at him because he didn't change at all.He was still the one capable to help me solve the math problem(I guess),the one who tells jokes that make me laugh.

However,when I heard his same old remark and heard that he still had his father drive for him back and forth,I couldn't help but questioning what kind of a twentysomething guy was he?I mean,while I 'm moving on,growing up,getting a lot of new insights and having myself more figured out,he stays the same and seems still like a high school student to me.Not that I belittle him,but for a spoiled guy like him,what else has he got?I'm not asking for any wealth nor not good enough to pick on,but I think I fairly deserve someone challeging and perceptive,somone I can actually learn something from.

We got three days off thanks to the Dragon Boat Festival.Yea,when it comes to holidays,it's always about consumerization.Like me,I watched a movie and had pizza during the three-day festival.And FIY,pizza is quite expensive in China.If not for getting together with old friends,I'd like to have a low key dinner and movie night in.I should probably stop being social before the Summer holidays,because my schedule seems to cost really a lot.I suppose I'm gonna spend 2000RMB merely in Beijing.Gotta save up,crazy girl!!!I hope the swine flu could be over soon,or else it may be a bit hard to make my trip go smoothly..

July.20~July.30 Beijing(北京) ，Tianjin（天津） (Chengde/承德,Qinhuangdao/秦皇岛)
July.31~August.5 Lianyungang/连云港 (Xuzhou/徐州)
August.6~August.8 Nanjing/南京 (Wuxi/无锡)
August.9~August.12 Suzhou/苏州 ( Hangzhou/杭州)
August.13~August.16 Shanghai/上海

● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

The following is photos taken on ICIF 2009 the other day.There's not much to tell,just a over-commercialized activity.It wasn't worth 50RMB,I suppose.

Stop procrastinating!!!

2009-05-27T02:33:00.003+08:00

There could have been a big change for my life in the past month but good thing that I didn't tell it because it wasn't gonna happen anyway.Here's the might-have-been,I practically decided to study abroad in Germany and even pushed ahead the language course thing.But later,mom had a heart-to-heart talk to me which made me quit that idea and realised how selfish and naive I was.I felt so ashamed for having this unrealistic desire.I regarded myself as a sensible girl why didn't consider that this plan would definitely give mom a heavier burden on her shoulder.I had always been grateful,but this time what on earth came over me?Anyhoo,I'm not going anywhere but sticking to the status quo.I know how life can be.It could change over night but not my life,for now.I drew a bunch of lines myself and the universe obviously doesn't want me to cross any of them.I'd better not piss off the universe or it would slap me.

Ahem,subject's changed!Let me post on the pictures taken in Guangzhou.But I don't feel like adding any commentary.And my story tells you,that if you mean to write about your latest trip or thought,DO IT NOW,or you would tend to be procrastinating and putting it off to endless tomorrow.And you probably end up writing nothing(like what I do right now).BTW,maybe that's the beauty of twitter:a digital history of your thoughts or mind which you're not allowed to reedit,(you can delete it tho).

詹天佑故居(smil)

沙面(smil)

上下九，沿江西路周边(smil)

recollection

2009-05-23T16:40:00.005+08:00

Caught up with some old friends last night.One of them just came back from L.A.We were teasing him about the swine flu before he told us he had already been back for 10 days and but been doing the self-quarantine.Good citizen indeed.I couldn't help but recalling that I had been so longing to study abroad and my ideal country was Germany and the UK.But I know it's quite unrealistic.Studying abroad is something for the rich people.For me,it's just a dream.Like my answer to D's question,the most important thing I've learnt so far is compromising.

We had a gossip time and breaking some juicy news was surely a major part of it.So there we knew that two of those never-get-a-boy-friend kind of girls actually got boyfriends.It was sidesplitting at some point.But later,I gave it some thought:Everyone will find the ONE sooner or later,no matter how disqualified he or she seems to us.Thinking about me,I don't drive,nor do well in cooking,I don't have a slender figure nor wear make-up,but there can be some guy who is fond of cooking and walking,and is looking for a humble girlfriend(rarely happens though).That's all Mr.Right all about,isn't it?Lui got a new boyfriend lately,I want one also.^^

So much for the girls talk.I'm going to write up more about my little trip to Guangzhou.I had been to Guangzhou a few times but all for transfer.I felt deeply regretful that I didn't realise its beauty and marvelous history before.I joined my friend in the "probationary party(CCP) members' activity" on the third day of my trip.But it didn't turn out to be that political,but patriotic instead.By metro,we got to our first destination,Peasant Movement Institute Station.It was a totally new place,nay a new name to me.So the local Cantonese in the old time didn't seem so materialistic.

We headed for Honghuagang/广州起义烈士陵园(红花岗).It was built to memorize the martyrs killed in Guangzhou uprising.

Huanghuagang Uprising (黄花岗起义) happened before the Xinhai Democratic Revolution in 1911. In April that year, Huang Xing of The Chinese Revolutionary League, led about 120 men to storm the government office of Guangdong and Guangxi in Guangzhou (Canton). However, the Qing Dynasty government knew the attack in advance, so the army was well-prepared. The revolutionary forces failed to occupy the office and 86 of the soldiers were killed. Huang Xing was wounded. He escaped to Hong Kong and 72 of the death soldiers' body were buried in Honghuagang (红花岗) at the east of Guangzhou. Hong means Red and Huang is Yellow in Chinese, also the surname of the leader, in memory of the martyrs in the unsuccessful revolution, Honghuagang changed to Huanghuagang.

And I really don't know how to write about this place in English,too Chinese-specific,so I'm not going to miseducate anyone here.

(Here's where Sun Yet-Sun claimed to be the provisional President of the Republic of China.)

To be continued...

Lingnan Impression Park

2009-05-15T13:19:00.002+08:00

Lingnan means Guangdong and the nearby provinces of the South China region.The Lingnan Impression Park is located in the Guangzhou University City.Basically,it shows some feature constructures,and the old-fashion Cantonese lifestyle.It was a bleak residence before,but now,after some renovation,it's turned into a combination of musuem and scenic spot.So I had to pay 25RMB to get in there(if not student,40RMB).

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mooncake mold/月饼模

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opera extracts/折子戏

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I needed a rickshaw puller.

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oyster-shell wall/蚝壳墙

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what people put on while selling the cock olive (Chinese olive)/鸡公榄.

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The most right one is an (unfamous) celebrity from Hongkong,Gabriel Wong/黄一山.Plus,we met Tat-Ming Cheung/张达明.

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puppet show/木偶戏

Welcome to Guangzhou HEMC!

2009-05-13T13:00:00.008+08:00

Tired out,sunburnt,somnolent,that's how I feel now over the past few days in Guangzhou.As I mentioned in last post,I went there last Thursday,came back Sunday.It was fun and way beyond my expectation.I should own it to friends I met there.I secrectly doubt that whether I'm capable to offer that kind of hospitality when sometime they drop by my place.

The first place I visited is Guangzhou Higher Education Mega Center ( 广州大学城 ) .It's quite convenient because there's direct coach from my uni,available from 9 a.m to 5:30 p.m.Plus,it costs only 40RMB which is economical.I got off after 1.5 hours at central station,then took the intramural bus 381 for 1RMB.There are 10 higher education institutions with totally 120,000 students.I stayed at residence block of Guangdong University of Foreign Studies.A friends shared her bed with me.

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In order to look around HEMC,I rent a bike and planned to go over all of it(1RMB per hour,very reasonable).But it was harder than it looked.I couldn't feel my legs when I didn't finish halfway of the whole journey.But those beautiful designed buildings of different campus paid off all the fatigue.Other than the camous,there were still a couple of recreational facilities and I even saw some undeveloped area and a few farmers there.

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So exhausted and starving,my friend treated me outside the residence.There was a night market which was very bustling.And I found the price was lower than it in Shenzhen,even the snack.

Goodbye in advance.

2009-05-05T20:40:00.000+08:00

We did the dubbing thing on the oral English class the other day.We were offered some scenes of Microcosmos.The whole class was divided into couple of groups.Our team worked out okay and all the rehearsal had really paid off.Since it was dubbing,we guys had to make up all the lines which were supposed to matched the motions of those little creatures.Therefore,it was rather a chance for everyone to show what they got.

After going through all the groups,there was plus size question mark arising on my head.Was it a collection for all the four-letter words?"Damn","shit","b**ch","a**hole","bastard"--good thing that there was no f*ck but I was shocked that my classmates could be so "urban".Maybe they thought those were the real English or stylish expressions,however I didn't feel comfortable.I didn't see our American English instructor's face,but I knew I was flushed by those words and I had to laugh off my embarrassment.

I believe you would associate what I said above with the TV series.and say "Darn tootin' those TV series."Do not feel confussed that "why Chinese people are able to watch practically all of the American TV" because Chinese are still so desperately studying English + there're a immense number of Chinese living abroad + Chinese are self-giving + Netizen in China is a gigantic group = many websites which focus on importing foreign TV series sprung out in a row.They provide with both Chinese and English subtitle which is a good way to learn English efficiently. Below is the screenshots.("How I Met Your Mother".YYeTs version)

Well,I don't want to over-generalize anything but why is the American media fond of seting up some erratic mother or father figure.Apart from Marge on THE SIMPSONS,I haven't seen any mother that accords with my definition of mother.Take FRIENDS as an example,Monica and Ross's parents,Rachel's mother,Chandler's parents,plus Charlie's mother on TWO AND A HALF MEN--they're all kinky at different levels.

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Speaking of mother,it'll be Mother's Day this Sunday but I won't be home but in Guangzhou instead.Getting a friend to join you on your latest plan can be difficult sometimes,so I'll go to Guangzhou alone and come back on Sunday.And before that,I'll stay in one of my friends dorm room for three nights which is agreeable and economical for me.

I'm quite looking forward to it because friends and former classmates who now study in uni in Guangzhou have kept asking me to visit them and their universities since the freshman year.Yet I was procastnating it all along for such and such things.I know the swine flu is top-line for now but I don't wanna postpone the trip any more.And I can't see myself getting in that kind of trouble,hopefully.

Below is some farewell pictures.^^Jin sent me a incredibly adorable gift on not-a-festival day.It's a pair of leopard-ears barrette which is totally taken a fancy by me.

B.I.M--bake it myself

2009-05-02T12:24:00.000+08:00

I'm much of a homemade person.I prefer homemade food rather than dining out,whereas it's always a shame to confess that I don't cook.In this regard,I got in touch with a baker and borrowed her baking equipments in order to improve my reputation.LOL.I mean that I like nurturing and nourishing myself.So there I made the scene at a not swanky flat.I seldom was meticulous and detailed oriented so I was worried about those potential awkward moments.But it turned out quite yum.Yay me.

(I suppose there was no melamine in that milk or cream.)

(Seriously,my hands are so plump......)

(Seperating the egg white and yolk...)

(Stirring...)

Cheese cake

Tada~

Souffle

crazy week

2009-04-30T18:23:00.003+08:00

It was a crazy week for me but it was quite short--Thursday and Friday off,plus free weekend.Here comes the photos.Not in the mood writing commentary,I'm sick when I came back home.

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what been up to

2009-04-26T10:31:00.001+08:00

Haven't updated my blog for more than a week but it doesn't feel that long.It was a productive week.I sat in the German language class,being a guest student there.I have set up my mind to make an effort to German.No matter how it will turn out,I just wanna enjoy the learning process.Other than that,I went to a training organization not far from my uni.You're not gonna believe that I was there for the accountant training.I can't help laughing out loud because it sounds such a stupid idea now--anything that is related to Math is undoubtedly beyond me.

Anyway,I tried several different new things and had my life more figured out.Compared to most people,I have a fulfilling life.Yea,I can't deny that--I feel nurtured, loved and respected and not many people get that.I appreciate the life I have been given.However,I realised that,all that was missing was getting the most out of my life and I had got to push myself to experience more.There was a moment where I was worried that I would make some silly mistakes along the way.But as I told my friends,mistakes always happen and most of them end up being quite educational.

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Me and a bunch of classmates spent half of last Saturday on the museum.Technically,we were stuck there.We meant to hike on the Lian Hua Shan(莲花山) but it rained quite hard.So instead,we played uno at the lobby.

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This Saturday,I participated in a drama training.I saw it on douban and found it was in my neighbourhood.It was organised by some guys who had a great passion in drama.They were not students,one of them even was my mother's age.But they had young hearts and were great-hearted.I admire that and felt a bit shame secretly for having an old head on young shoulders.We didn't ask each other's careers but hobbies and avocations.It's always good to make some new friends and see new lives.I'm gonna do it again.

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Happened to see those kids doing morning exercise,So cute.(FYI,there's kindergarten in my uni.)

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Can anyone tell me what they are doing?I saw them doing it on several occasions at campus.

Sex and the UniverCity (2)

2009-04-15T22:39:00.005+08:00

On a recent Friday,one of my friends W came back from a class named "Human reproduction and eugenics/人类生殖与优生".She seemed to have a lot to talk about the fancy class,corresponding anxious of being judged.There,this is how she started,

"the teacher told us there was a girl vexed and almost bursted into tears when she just started to introduce something.That girl thought the teacher shouldn't have said anything dirty in class."

"She totally overreacted.That's what the class all about.What else was she expecting to hear?"said I.

"I don't know.But can I ask you a question?What does the words 'anal sex' mean?"asked she.

"You don't know?"

"No."

"But you're already 20."

"Does it matter?To begin with,the teacher told us a story that a couple who were both professors in college weren't able to have their kids yet they were quite heathy.However it turned out that they kept doing 'anal sex'.The teacher said she felt so sad about them,and about the sex education in China.But I don't know the word.Y(another girl who had the same class) doesn't know either. "she explained.

"Shame on them.Shame on YOU!!How can you,a twenty-year-old uni student,have no idea about it!"

After explaining to her,another girl showed up.I was gonna tell her what just happened and teased W about that.But once again,against my expectation.

"We can't have babies by anal sex?Really?Then why we can get pregnant by oral sex?"she asked.

"Unbelievable!How the hell can you get pregnant by oral sex?"

"Then why women use comdoms while giving a blow job?"aggrieved as she was.

"And that's why condoms have flavour......"

I couldn't believe we were having such a conversation,nor she would have put that question which literally drove me crazy--she already had the sex experience,yet didn't have the common sense about sex.I was completely speechless.That night was Friday night,so there was a rite of mass absence.The teacher didn't grumble but said "Those who are not here should have come and taken some instructions before they have those romance moments outside."--I could perceive the savour of anxiety of the youth rathen vexation of irreverence.

Who should be to blame?The parents,the government,the society or the young people themselves?After reading the news behind closed doors,I fell deeply into those thoughts.I attempted to discuss it with my fellows but those feedback gave me nothing but despondency--either they themselves didn't know those general sex knowledge or they sorta felt embarrassed and backed out of the discussion.I have to confess that I hesitated to write this post because I had to type some words or expressions which I'd heard of a lot but hardly said or written out.Whereas,I've retold my point for some times,so I'm so bold to organise my sentences and say it out loud,for the sake's of my peers.

I sheerly realised how importantly and how imperatively the sex education should be put on the agenda-it's quite a shame to say that tho.It shouldn't be an issue.Actually,it's not a problem to me as I know the whole thing since I was young.I reckon myself lucky because I didn't have to creeply pore over those sex thing,instead,I was instructed the proper education of adolescence.I had those kinds of class in my primary school and middle school.But,there was not any in my high school which is the most momentous three years to get the sex education for us youngster.As I never beat around the bush,then one thing led to the other,I'm regarded as some kind of sex mentor.In their eyes,those sex instructions aren't inclined to get before the very moment.But seriously,I feel anxious about people my age.They didn't get enough info for those romantic moments.

However,boys and girls are at different levels in this situation.As we all know,computer games are definitely a major part of boys life.But boys,who are hot-blooded,are hemmed by porn or whatnot.It's nasty at boys' dorm not only for the mess but also for the porn saved in the laptops.It's a rite that boys share downloaded videos,those "up to date" ones.Those boys are never hypocritical but they don't even bother confessing that.They even keep collections--one former classmate told me that he had 8G porn videos in his laptop.I suppose boys know women per se,or even know the skills,but they don't know how to protect either themselves or their girlfriends.

On girls' part,in their best mood,at their best time,they keep having those fancy dreams of relationship.Most of them are willing to leave their principles behind and go for the boys' rules.They don't know how to protect themselves or how to make things slow for girls' sake.I'm not being prudish but I wanna ask those girls,do you know what exactly are you doing?And are you sure?Yea,right!

Lack of knowledge ain't horrible,it is horrible that you take everything for granted.And that's why there're so many lasses being pregnant by accident as well as getting abortion secretly.China is now in an era of "sex blowout",people are quite indiscriminately open-minded to sex.It can be regarded as an improvement,but if we don't "say yes to the save sex",we're going to meet with another shameful sex plight.

[Continuation of Sex and the UniverCity (1) ]

homemade pancake

2009-04-13T01:12:00.000+08:00

It was another Sunday which means I stayed at home;nay I had food at home sweet home.I' always fond of homemade food.It may not contain topping or whatnot,whereas you feel love in it.I had one of my favourite pancakes on this Sunday.The outer skin was crisp but the inside chewed soft.

Like usual,mom said it wasn't hard to made which I found the flour part a bit complicated.The whole process seemed easy though.

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I got a new laptop last weekend.Evidently,the fellow on the right side is the new one.(Fujitsu v.s Gateway)^^

Fresh Eyes on Macau (3)

2009-04-07T23:05:00.004+08:00

Don't judge me.I'm not a nagging girl.It'll be the last post about my trip in Macau.^^Let's catch the last glimpse of it.

Chinese Element

Cultural Club/文化会馆

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Na Tcha Temple/哪吒古庙

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Hong Kung Temple/康公庙

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A-Ma Temple/妈阁庙

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The Tang Dynasty casino/唐城

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Kun Lam Statue/观音像

Humble Titbits

You can never get rid of Streets Ads,they're of different kinds tho.

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Toilets for pets.We need to import these to mainland.

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"Slumdog" of Macau.

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These ads are printed out rather than written by hand.Cannot tell which is better.

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It's not easy to find 10 cents coins or 20.

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Oh my goodness,gun's shop.

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Very interesting warning--"Cats have nine lives.How about you?"

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"Say yes to SAFE sex"--you know what,we need it in mainland too--please wait for my "Sex and the UniverCity (2)"

Write up for Qing Ming.

2009-04-05T11:42:00.000+08:00

清明

杜牧

清明时节雨纷纷，
路上行人欲断魂。
借问酒家何处有，
牧童遥指杏花村。

It should have rained yesterday!I don't mean that I like rainy days,but I found it a bit unbearable to have a sunny Qing Ming Jie.Anyway,it didn't bother me going stretching legs with mom.There's a monument in my neighbourhood,which is officially called Monument to the People's Heroes.It's sheerly a education base.When I got there,several floral baskets were already laid.It felt solemn.

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How could we Shenzhenese forget about Deng Xiaoping on one of those commemoration days?So there we were--on the top of Lian Hua Shan(Lotus Mountain) to look with reverence to the statue of Deng,which I'd done for heaps of times.I always found it regrettable that Deng passed away the before the day Hongkong came back(July 1st,1997).He must have been delighted.

Fresh Eyes on Macau (2)

2009-04-04T10:31:00.006+08:00

As everyone who has ever been to Macau says,it's "small".I don't deny it as a much of a walking person.We visited most of the sites on heels and didn't found any fatigue.The yellow-orange mark below,which starts from where we stayed,is our footprint.We got to nearly 20 sites through it,but it didn't took a long time to do that.

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The most well-known street,also the most popular destination of Macau should be the Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro(San Ma Lo)/亚美打利庇卢大马路（新马路）.It's polished with elegant architecture and cultural glory.In addition,it's a shopping centre indeed,even better than New Yaohan.Moreover,it's easy to get there.Practically,you're halfway there when you get to Casino Grand Lisboa/新葡京酒店, the yellow lotiform construction,which is across the China back(Banco Da China) /中国银行.Go along the street in between and there is San Ma Lo.There you can go through quite a few recommended feature spots.

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The green bars below represent soe of those marvelous casinos. As you can see,they're indeed rivals to each other.

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But the most outrageous casino of Macau is The Venetian/威尼斯人.

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Well,now locate the yellow building in the upper map and keep our eyes upon the following one.Where the arrow points is Golden Lotus Square/金莲花广场.

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Right behind the square,two musuems are there at hand,one is about wine,the other racing cars.Since I'm not expert at either one,I'm not leaving any critical comments here.But speaking of musuems,it's recommended to get a 'musuem pass' in the first place,with which you're allowed to visit six musuems of Macau with 5 days.But the most attraction is that you'll be offered a chance to sample those wine.We met with a flirting wine guy at the wine musuem who seemed to me was a Filipino.But never mind,at least now I know non-sweet are stronger than sweet ones.^^I found myself a terrible drinker,to the point that I felt a bit dizzy just after a sip or two.

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FYI,Macau Art Museum is just in the neighbourhood.How itsy-bitsy is Macau huh.^^

[MORE PICTURES on flickr]
To be continued......

Fresh Eyes on Macau (1)

2009-04-01T18:20:00.003+08:00

I'd been meaning to post about my trip in Macau as long as I got back,but I found it really not easy to get started because I wasn't organized at all.Until today,I finally get in writing about it.As I don't feel like making it into a diary,I'll classify the photos,followed by my personal commentary.

It was not the first time I went to Macau but first time we two girls,as solo travellers,planned the whole schedule on tour,which means we got more chances to explore the real Macau.But well,casinos,which are symbol of Macau,were not included this time.To be honest,not that I didn't want to gamble a bit,but once I entered the casinos I paniced-it was another world in there.Maybe I'll do it next time when my boyfriend having my back.^^

But speaking of casinos,I did like it at some point because they offered free bus.All you need to do is finding out the nearest casino from the place you're going to and going on a ride.You may have to enter the casino,but it doesn't take you little time to go out and head for your destination.Well,other than casinos,Macau is still worth visiting.

streets in Macau

Nobody would describe Macau as a mega city.I'm not saying that it is small,but almost everything there has a relatively smaller size.Take streets as an example,there hardly are some broad ways.But it's not a problem there because you can see minus size buses freely coming by and ritzy cars going like the wind.

The Macau-owned paths were paved with white square tiles.But as you can see in the photos above,the billboards somewhat brought me around to the memory of Hongkong.But not until I glimpsed at some postboxes did I call up where I was.Who said the old-fashioned snail mail was dead?You could easily spotted postboxes at some random street and the postboxes workes also like stamp machines(not all in operation tho).

churches in Macau

Churches could be one of the most attractive elements of Macau.All the churches there were world heritages.But I don't think I could tell their ages from the facade because I found some quite young-painted light yellow which was a frisky colour in my opinion.Yet I don't dare assert anything about churches because I hardly know about them(I even chickened out before enter them),but I always associated churches with weddings and vows.

And there it was,some staffs decorating the St.Anthony church.I found it holy romantic.I wish I would be invited to a wedding in church some day.It's shame that I never sat at church,not to mention do the church thing first-hand.I should turn to some churchgoer for that,even I'm not a Christian.But as far as I've seen,people who went to church in Macau were not Chinese-looking,instead,they were either Filipinos or Caucasian.

food in Macau

Take a sound of advice:do not go to the so-called well-known restaurants in Macau because there's more praise than pudding.What I highly recommend is snack stalls and night markets where you can have local snacks.Well,to me,those specialties are not that attractive,because I can get almost every food in Shenzhen,at a lower price.Fried rise wasn't special,the beef offal was just average and the curry was not better than what my british friend made.What's more,the price there was the same as it in Hongkong,or in other words,quite high.I did live it up in Macau-cost me $30+MOP per meal.FYI,it cost me 6 RMB per meal at school.

[MORE PICTURES on flickr]

To be continued......

wandering in Nanshan

2009-03-26T23:42:00.000+08:00

On this Thursday morning,there was a thunder storm here in Shenzhen.It hadn't rained this hard for a long time,so everybody seemed to enjoy the terrific view.But it didn't last long.

I went around to the Nantou acient fortress which was totally a boring place.Everything was being renovated,so I wasn't able to get in those sites.I was there when in primary school,and the fortress felt so different.（To be honest,it sucked~><）

(Groups of pupils were having their class trip there.Adorable~)

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Since I read the post "Chinese Guerilla Advertising",I've been kept my eyes on those street ads.And just on my way back to uni,I found two street ads that made me mad.

As you can see in the following pics,the left one says "false coin available" while the right "hallucinogen available".What's going on here!!!This is so outrageous!!!If people can sell these things openly,what else don't they dare do?Screw them--it's the first time I say this.

Sarah & Fabian

2009-03-20T19:57:00.000+08:00

I couldn't find the right word to describe how much I love them.Let the pictures speak for me.

coupon crasher

2009-03-17T20:44:00.003+08:00

What are you capable to see when you're at canteen?Various dishes,numerous people and now a coupon printer at my university.This machine's made the scene since last week.Actually I saw the same thing at some metro station a few weeks ago but I didn't expect it to show up on my campus.

First,you're supposed to pick whatever kind of couponappearing on the screen of the printer.Then print them out and use them as regular ones.Let me show you how it works(take McDonald's as an example).

Step One:Press the "food label(美食餐饮)" and enter a new page.

Step Two:Click the McDonald's Label and you'll see a couple of sets.

Step Three:Choose one and submit.

Step Four:Input your cellphone number and you'll get a message with a verification code.

Step Five:Input the code and what you choose just now will be printed out in terms of words(which means it won't print out the picture).

Tada,here comes the coupon.

In addition to the off-hand coupon printer,you can also find the digital coupon online.Like McDonald's,the coupon is already put on their official website waiting for you to get them slip out.[click here]You can see how despareately those businessmen are trying to encourage us to consume while there're actually quite a few people blindly doing shopping for those coupon(as if they don't have to pay a penny).However,I suppose this time,the website owner who supports this sort of machine is the real winner.

Modern Babel : Is Chinese language too Chinese? ( 1 )

2009-03-15T14:49:00.001+08:00

“有些吃饱了没事干的外国人，对我们的事情指手画脚。中国一不输出革命，二不输出饥饿和贫困，三不去折腾你们，还有什么好说的。”——习近平

1)"There are some well fed foreigners who have nothing better to do than point fingers at our affairs......."
2)"There are a few foreigners,with full stomachs,have nothing better to do than try to be backseat drivers of our country's own affairs......?"

When I first read the remark of vice-president Xi Jinping,I felt my anger somehow vented because what he said just hit the spot.But later I read the English version and found those sentences were translated literally.I was totally overwhelmed.The second one is way too outrageous!it's common sense that it's wrong to translate Chinese idioms word by word.That journalists must understand Chinese so I think the they did it on purpose.It's one of those cheap means for the media to mislead the mass.

Anyway,I really gave it much thought--is Chinese language too Chinese?I suddenly understand why the government are trying so desperately to spread our language outside China because if you don't understand our language better,you'll never read our mind.Chinese idioms or slangs are really culture-specific,thus I suppose the language itself builds up some kind of invisible boundary between us and the outside world.What sacarstic is that,on several occasions,it's us who mislead others by using inappropriate English words to define us.For example,we always call ourselves "Yellow people/黄种人",but as far as I know,yellow means yellow-belly or something like that.FYI,as for yellow,we also have different definition:a "yellow" joke=a blue joke;"yellow" VCD= blue VCD.

In addition,I think the way we translate other language unconsciously give people some personal impression.When it comes to countries name,basically we just transliterate them.But if you literally translate them back to English,you may find the characters we choose to represent them can make a huge difference to us Chinese people(maybe you think my translation is a bit eisegetical).

1. America=美洲 (continent of beauty)
2. Africa=非洲 (not a continent)
3. Germany=德国 (nation of virtue)
4. the UK=英国 (nation of hero)
5. France=法国 (nation of law)
6. Mauritius=毛里求斯 (seek for something inside a feather)
7. Egypt=埃及 (touched by dust)
8. Madagascar=马达加斯加 (add more motors to this)

The other day,a foreign friends of mine said,50 years later,maybe there was no one speaking Chinese but English in China.I know,nowadays,we say byebye more often than Zai Jian(再见),but it's impossible for any other language to replace ours.If Chinese language died out,Chinese culture would disappear.In English,YES can't be NO,nor NO YES.But in Chinese,YES = SHI (是),NO=NOT YES = BU SHI (不是) .You see that,we don't deny completely--we have to mention "yes" when we say "no".It might be the reason that Chinese people are described as tactful.On many occasions,I caught myself inevitably adding Chinese element in English which make me sound like beating around the bush.

When my foreign friends try to speak Chinese to me,they say Ni Hao(hello) and Ni Hao Ma(how are you) together.Then I have to reply them as "Ni Hao,We Hen Hao,Ni ne",but I feel it really weird.It's because,unlike English,we Chinese just say Ni Hao(hello) and reply Ni Hao(hello) when we greet to each other.It's sorta formalization and we don't actually ask or answer any question.As for me,when I run into someone,the first thing I say is "这么巧！你去哪啊？"(What a coincidence!Where are you heading?) rather than "Ni Hao/你好"(hello).

Some people,including Chinese,say that Chinese are not as good-mannered as Japanese or Korean because we don't have honorific in our language.But I think they're seriously mistaken,we don't have honorific but we show our respect by using or adding different words or names which you're not capable to tell the difference unless you're local.You may understand the complexity when you know there're many ways in Chinese to ask about age:a.你几岁了;b.你多大了;c.你是属什么的;d.你几几年时候出生的;e.您多大年龄了;f.您贵庚;g.您高寿……It could be a joke or an offense if you use the wrong one.Well,don't panic.We don't mind your mistake if you're not Chinese.^^

To be continued......

draft

2009-03-14T23:45:00.001+08:00

The other day,our American teacher showed us the very 1st episode of 'HEROS".Then he threw us a question "Do you think Simone likes Peter?Why?".We answered "yes,of course" but couldn't give any reasons.We just felt it.Finally,he told us "yes because she cheked out his butt" and displayed the scene again.We laughed,especially me--it's so culture-specific and is a typical Americanism question,I think.One of the delightful things is that I found the book of "Sex and the City" in my school library.I almost screamed out when saw it.I never expected to read the legendary book in my uni!Well,I don't mean I worship or look forward to the lifestyle of the four characters but I kinda have the SATC complex like other women do.I think what the four women have gone through is quite inspiring--women gotta live on ourselves no matter how your love life goes......Aw,I miss this show so much.

Speaking of which,I miss High School Musical too.I spent some time reviewing all of them.I cannot choose which one is my favourite but I know I'm not that looking forward to HSM 4 because there will be some new characters which is unbearable to me.

The other day,I was in the mood of getting those little fellas in my dorm room so I brought them back.But almost everyone told me "It's not easy to keep golden fish.They'll die soon one by one".I didn't care what they said because I didn't think I wasn't so terrible.However,after I took the following pics,a couple of hours later,one black fish became the first victim.I wasn't that spoony to be sad.But I couldn't believe it happened so fast.In case of killing more innocent little creatures,I'll be done with the golden fish thing when they all die. (-_-')

I got an interesting meme via facebook.It's created to help you pick up the name of your band. "Go to “Wikipedia.” Hit “random” and the first article you get is the name of your band. Then go to “Random Quotations” and the last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album. Then, go to Flickr and click on “Explore the Last Seven Days” and the third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover. "

The pic on the right hand is what I got eventually.AWESOME!

blah

2009-03-12T12:53:00.003+08:00

Lately,rather than loneliness,I feel I am in emptiness.However,I really don't want to be a part of a group activity,whereas,I like every single one in it.Though I'm sure I won't be a wackodoodle instead of a eccentric.^^ I was planning to reduce the time I spent on internet because I needed something solid.That's why,in the past days,I stayed in the library more often than before.

Last year,I watched Pride and Prejudice(1995),one of the BBC mini drama but I really didn't like those endless balls and Lizzy's extremely delicate sister Jane.Finished "North And South"(2004) last Sunday and I love it.I meant to write a review about it but I didn't dare to assert anything unless I go throughit first-hand.So I've been giving myself a headache--it's not a breeze for me to read the original English book.I'm not done with the whole book yet but I feel literarily comfortable reading it hitherto.There's no four-letter words or insulting saying in the book and what I read is all beautiful and elegant English.(I've learned English for a couple of years but been avoiding those so-called stylish but insulting slangs like what most of the American urban young people say.)

When Mr.Thornton and Margaret met at the station,I got so upset because I was afraid that Henry was gonna make trouble to the poor couple;or say something embarrassing to make Margaret indebted and change her mind.But I knew that I was being very Chinese--Margaret wouldn't give up her true love no matter what happened and Henry did let go as a decent gentleman.Margaret felt shy when Mr.Thornton looked at her amorously and pretended to talk about business,without looking in his eyes.I was tearful when Mr. Thornton took Margaret's hand and she timely kissed his hand.It's the very moment that they both eventually opened up to each other.This drama made me want to fall in love.Well,I know I'm so not insightful because love is the just one of the themes in the book.And is the South Britain really so picturesque?I was impressed by the place named Helstone.

North and South OST(by Martin Phipps)-----

1.Factory
2.I've Seen Hell

3.Thornton's Walk
4.Milton
5.Boucher
6.Horseman
7.Watching
8.Beginning
9.She'll Take You From Me
10.Look Back
11.Opening
12.Irishmen
13.Come Up Smiling
14.Northbound Train

wonder ect.

2009-03-08T12:02:00.000+08:00

I'm not capable to leave everything behind,instead,I just have some sort of skill to disremember and put those issues aside for a while.Yes,just for a while which means I gotta pay them off sooner or later.When the paying off phase comes,I can't fall asleep in bed but think about everytime.Sometimes it feels like a movie showing in my head.I know it's definitely a bad habit.

I think I kinda picked up some sentimentality which explains my blue lately.Well,I'm rest assured that my lost optimism will return soon.I am still looking forward to the future, I'm also looking to the recent past so as to better understand my current feelings.The other day,I noticed something changed in my mind about someone.I feel disturbed but there's no point revealing my feeling.When find out all saved-up wishes start coming out.But I suppose I'd better pretend that nothing's ever changed and sing the "Auld lang syne".

our Thursday out.

2009-03-06T20:33:00.000+08:00

According to The 24 Solar Terms/二十四节气,it was The Waking of Insects/惊蛰,which means the hibernate insects begin to wake up gradually.Shenzhen doesn't always go with the terms but yesterday when me and my friends had fun at Happy Valley,we were showed the other side of weather in Shenzhen.

It should have been a "low season" for Happy Valley yesterday,since it was a weekday and the weather didn't seem pleasant.But we still met quite a few people and had to queue.Once again,we realised how big our population was.Good thing that it didn't take much time to queue,and like always,I venture to everything except the haunted house.><

It rained for several time and we got wet,but it didn't spoil all the fun.It'd been several years since last time I was at Happy Valley,so this time I meant to look for my childhood there.However,I ended up exhausted and dizzy when came back,it told me nothing but I'm too old to indulge in pleasure and forget home and duty like kids.

don't take things for granted

2009-03-04T13:21:00.007+08:00

Had dinner with my high school roomate who also studies in my uni.She's moving back from the apartment rented by her and her boyfriend--they have been lived together outside the campus for nearly half a year.They live together and skip classes to travel from time to time.The couple both are children in wealthy families,so they live it up in a way I don't quite understand.Well,what I'm meaning to talk about is the reason she told me for moving back.She said it was "boring" for them to live together even she still liked him a lot.She thought when they were together, they felt more like close friends than lovers.She said it was a certain phase that couple had to go through.I felt very upset when she told me that--when I'm here waiting for my right guy,she's there being bored with her beloved partner?I like routine.I like waiting or being waited by someone everyday.And no matter where I'm going,I hope that I own a base area.Maybe they can't realise what happiness is because they never live on their own account but goof off.It's not easy for them to be grateful.Being judgemental once in a while does stress me out,but it doesn't stop me appreciating everything in life.

Since I was born and raised up in Shenzhen,sometimes I neglect some local issue unless someone brings it up which makes me think all night long.People come here with a gauntlet of judging eyes.But I suggest them putting the stereotype aside and trying to fit themselves into the whole society.Where does any stereotypes come from?A prejudice starts, and all of a sudden it spreads like wildfire,like "Asians can't drive,scot are cheap,Brazilians always put on way too much postage".(—_—')The economic base determines the superstructure,"so get rid of the superiority complex if you haven't seen every life here yet.My homeland is too old to change in a flash,too big to be general,too various to be classified,too great to be underestimated.We have millions of tough problems needed to be solved,one by one.

what this Sat all about.

2009-02-28T23:24:00.002+08:00

I hanged out with Lui today.It had been two months since last time I met him.We'd been catching up with each other tho.As a spender,he recommended some restaurant at Mix City.I always get my money's worth but sometimes I live it up like what other young gals do.However,it turned out a nice place with good value.We had the cook cook right in front of us which was so interesting that we even didn't feel like talking.We ordered a bottle of beer and I totally overestimated my capacity for liquor.Just a cup of beer made my face red.Then Lui said something witty,"......wild before drink,red after drink.You're like a shrimp."^^I couldn't quite recall when the last time I was at Mix City but it didn't change at all--as extravagant as before.

There's a supermarket in Mix City called Ole.Most of goods there are imported,so they're all expensive~"Can you imagine drinking pure water with a 400 RMB glass?"In addition to the extravagant price,we found something awfully surprising--they sell crocodile meat there with a real crocodile as a symbol.Well,I didn't mention I ever had pangolin soup before.

I had my first "jelly beans" later.They tasted just like normal candy,nothing special.Don't know why American people are so obsessed with them tho.

Since there were many posers(who brought laptops and sat there like attending to numerous affairs which couldn't be put off to next minute) at Startbucks as usual,we had to grab a coffee and sat on steps outside.Lui told me he'd been working on his book for a while.The book's gonna be about his life in China.He took out his notebook and pen as some idea came.

It's great that you're life is fabulous enough to be written in a book.I think people won't become as nice as Lui or Sarina until they've gone through a hard time.They're supportive and positive because they already know how to be open-minded to anything.