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Old 10-06-2007, 11:27 PM
Zeestein Zeestein is offline
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Default Ask me about China - a Chinese-born Foreigner\'s Impression

I recently had the opportunity to holiday in China for over 3 weeks and HK for 3 or 4 days. I didn't appreciate this country when younger, but this really is a nation with many faces.

I live in Melbourne, Australia and have done so for 15+ years (I'm 24, just graduated).

I didn't hit up like tourist haunts cos they're basically alike (nightclubs, bars etc) but instead stayed with my grandparents, so fire away about stuff you are curious about about common life in China - stuff like food, living standards, the economy, "free-market Communism" etc.

I'll try to answer your queries in a concise and timely manner.
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Old 10-07-2007, 02:50 AM
Zeestein Zeestein is offline
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Default Re: Ask me about China - a Chinese-born Foreigner\'s Impression

Various tidbits:

#1: in most public toilets, including places like McDonalds and KFC, you'd have to squat to poop

#2: there is an exam for further education once you reach the end of year 9, or your 3rd year of high school. The failure rate is high and the costs to continue schooling exhobirant. This is presumably why I only ever get served by cute chicks that would most certainly be jailbait in any place that attempts to "Western" like cafes or steakhouses.

#3: a popular drink sold widely in Fuzhou (north of HK/Taiwan, just south of Shanghai, located right along the eastern seaboard) is olive juice, which is basically the consistency and appearance of apple juice but with no apples, but olives. I like it.

#4: apparently the going rate for a massage/hooker in a hotel is $100 RMB, which is like ~US$13. I did not take her up.
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Old 10-07-2007, 03:36 AM
NewTeaBag NewTeaBag is offline
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Default Re: Ask me about China - a Chinese-born Foreigner\'s Impression

It's sooooooooooooooooooo darn HUDGE!

What spots would you reccomend (outside the big touristy traps like the great wall) to get a "taste of different parts" of CHina on say a 2 week visit. (I'm in Thailand so the jump isn't too far for me.
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Old 10-07-2007, 03:50 AM
Zeestein Zeestein is offline
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Default Re: Ask me about China - a Chinese-born Foreigner\'s Impression

NewTeaBag,

for all the hustle and bustle of the major cities, a little further inland reveals truly beautiful mountain-sides. I went to Wuyi Mountain during my trip, one of the 4 major UNESCO listed heritage sites in China. Just gorgeous, you could take a barge along the river in the morning and see the mountainside from the water. You could climb various peaks and sample the local tea which is really really excellent. The star attraction is undoubtedly the beautiful views from the mountains. There is now a genuine developed township, with tons of hotels and restaurants. Stay in the cheap places and you could have a great time for not much at all. The shops in the mountains itself are pretty expensive though.

I assume the 3 other world heritage sites are similar, though I understand Wuyi Mountain is the smallest in scale.

It was a 5 hr one-way train trip from Fuzhou (the capital of Fujian province).
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Old 10-07-2007, 10:29 AM
BPA234 BPA234 is offline
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Default Re: Ask me about China - a Chinese-born Foreigner\'s Impression

What are your thoughts in regards to the political climate amongst the population? Your grandparents must be really interesting to talk to since they have lived through so much.
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Old 10-07-2007, 11:01 AM
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  #7  
Old 10-08-2007, 12:39 AM
Zeestein Zeestein is offline
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Default Re: Ask me about China - a Chinese-born Foreigner\'s Impression

[ QUOTE ]
How do I buy chinese stocks?

[/ QUOTE ]

Make a trading account with pretty much any HK bank, they now allow mainland stock trading. I was in HK, made an account and wired in like A$10k in a matter of about 10 minutes. You just need your passport and driver's license for ID. It takes 3 days for the account to clear though.

The "rake" or brokeage fee is pretty high IMO, 0.35% for each transaction but with the bull market the way it is who cares I guess.
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  #8  
Old 10-08-2007, 12:50 AM
Zeestein Zeestein is offline
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Default Re: Ask me about China - a Chinese-born Foreigner\'s Impression

[ QUOTE ]
What are your thoughts in regards to the political climate amongst the population? Your grandparents must be really interesting to talk to since they have lived through so much.

[/ QUOTE ]

Everyone is just trying to go along in the daily lives. While personally I've had an uncle under house arrest without charge for a few years, stuff like that is almost accepted as the cost of doing business and building relationships. He's now out and freely buying into gaming floors in Macau.

My thoughts are that there is going to a huge rise in the number of the educated middle-class over the coming decade, and they are going to form families and have children it is going to prove incredibly difficult to provide for their wants without isolating the rural poor. It is going to be impossible for every middle class family to own a car without f'ing up what is already a very chaotic and messy roads system.

As far as I can tell, there are no politics in China. The Communist Party is in charge, and that's really that. Dissent from public figures like actors, directors, authors, playwrights and artists are very quickly clamped down. In general the people are just going about their daily lives in this free-market economy and not interested in Grand Ideals.
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  #9  
Old 10-08-2007, 02:17 AM
greg nice greg nice is offline
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Default Re: Ask me about China - a Chinese-born Foreigner\'s Impression

whats the RE market like in australia? is it in shambles like the US?
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  #10  
Old 10-08-2007, 02:42 AM
Zeestein Zeestein is offline
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Default Re: Ask me about China - a Chinese-born Foreigner\'s Impression

[ QUOTE ]
whats the RE market like in australia? is it in shambles like the US?

[/ QUOTE ]

I think there has been oversupply in mid-price apartments around the CBD in Melbourne, but demand for residential housing in suburbs near the city have been strong for a long time now. In certain suburbs what land you could've bought for 80k 10 years ago is now worth 500k+ which obviously means you're beating the market for a fair clip [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] There has been a rapid gentrification of previously unpopular residential suburbs as industrial towns become residential towns as work move offshore.

The thing is that interest rates are basically at historical lows, but in relative world terms Australia actually has a very high interest rate.

I would have to do more investigation regarding default rates on mortgages, haven't done much homework in this area cos I'm too poor to invest in RE anyway.

BTW: ask me about China
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