Rheno747, B.A., M.A., PhD, Hard Knocks U
- 2006-06-02
It's a generic term for "jail" or "prison". Usually people end up there for political reasons.
Raoul Duke
- 2006-06-01
Robin,
I don't know the letter of the law here. However, I rarely stay in anything above a 2-star hotel.
I'm a hotel minimalist...I want a clean bed and a terlet and a shower and that's about it. I'd rather spend my money being somewhere than sleeping. The 2-stars I've stayed in have almost all been perfectly fine in a rather funky Chinese way.
Anyway...I've never had the least bit of trouble staying in a 2-star hotel. I've never been questioned or turned away.
I don't recall commenting on the US police but I'd probably agree with whatever it was. I've commented on the Chinese police/bureaucracy and the collection of fees etc...
The vegetable rule is probably there to protect the veggies from you rather than the other way around. If you touch them and then don't buy them you've just gone and left them there with your cooties still on them. ;-{)
Robin Day B.Sc. MSc. B.Ed.
- 2006-06-01
I heard this from a Chinese teacher, that foreigners must stay in 3-star hotels or above. Is this rubbish or true? It was not forced on me in Yunnan. What you say about the US police is growing in Canada and Europe too...more and more Big Brother. It is all about collecting fees and taxes. In Italy I was not allowed to touch the vegetables I wanted to buy. The excuse? Germs!
Raoul Duke
- 2006-05-31
I think they want you getting physicals in their hospitals so they get their usual cut of the fee. TIFC.
I think you can get a 1-year tourist visa now. Pretty sure. Doesn't matter too much....generally easy to obtain and renew a tourist visa.
I wouldn't mind having a business here but not too interested in the usual English school thing. Too many competitors, too many crooks, too much weirdness and corruption. And I hate the #%@$ing parents.
I'm more interested in hotel/corporate training. Or opening a diner. And I have some internet things on the burner.
Robin Day B.Sc. MSc. B.Ed.
- 2006-05-31
I agree with Raoul. China is nice in places. What places? Well Yunnan is great: eternal spring, sunny weather because it is high, near the Himalayas and Laos Mayanmar, lots of things to see. I would also like to live on Hainan Island for a year. It is on the same latitude as North Vietnam and Luzon Philipines. Winter is very gentle. The problem with the north is the cold dreary winter, all the coal burned and the spring dust storms which are as bad as the ones in Arabia. My paper work was not so difficult but the papers accepted in China were initially rejected at the Chinese Embassey because they wanted me to redo my physical exam at their designated hospital. I guess China is legitimately worried about TB and AIDS coming into the country but in reality there are more health problems inside the country, especially from pollution and traffic. I've stayed pretty healthy here, surprise surprise. Tourists coming in are not screened and they can stay for quite a while. BTW, what is the maximum stay for a tourist? Anybody know?
I like my students too. They are not spoiled and are innocent in a lot of ways. Most are very helpful if asked. I find they have little concept of the outside world. They need contact with foreigners.
Raoul, instead of packing in ESL (as you metioned elsewhere) why not use your business skills and open a school in a pleasant climate? There are lots of people looking for partners and it is a profitable industry. There are ways to safeguard yourself like daily profit splitting. I'm helping to open schools in the Caribbean, Korea and the US. India is a growth area and English is widely spoken especially by the wealthy class. The higher places in India and Sri Lanka have a wonderful climate. Grow your own tea and coffee.
Rheno747, B.A., M.A., PhD, Hard Knocks U
- 2006-05-31
I know where you're coming from. These supposed authoritarian countries turn out to be anything but. When I go to Cambodia or Laos, countries with communist ties, I feel just as free as I do walking down a street in Iowa. No one watches me in those countries. No one comes up to me asking for my paperwork every five minutes. No one kicks in my hotel room doors and hauls me to various "Hiltons".
Given the concentration of law enforcement officers in the US and all the new leashes on people there, I'd say perhaps one would be even more "free" living in Laos or China. Maybe even Burma. Isn't it ironic? In Kunming you'll feel like you have more civil liberties than you will have in Peoria.
Raoul Duke
- 2006-05-30
Hey, being in China has its moments. Yeah, the papers are a hassle but most of us get through them OK. Sure, the industry is rife with cheating and corruption, but again most of us find a level here eventually.
The weather can be great. All depends on where you live. I, on the other hand, probably would not like the constant tropical steam of Thailand...
Necessities are not a problem at all...at least not unless you truly get stuck back into the sticks somewhere. My main withdrawal right now is for Mexican food...a wonderful thing but hardly life and death. Otherwise I can find just about anything I want here.
Somewhere in all the weirdness and chaos and rampant injustice that is China is a strange sense of freedom and fondness. I'd really miss it if I left.
Based on the testimonies I've heard and the posts I've read from those 'in the know', I have to say "stay away from China". China sounds like a place with too many regulations regarding passports and residency permits, too many fuzzy gray areas (the main spawning ground for scams) when it comes to contracts, too many shortages of necessities, and too many days of bad weather for my liking.
I'll stick to being a tourist when it comes to China.