I don't know if this has already been posted as the story is March 26 2008.

I think this is an interesting way forward for China, Wonder what the effect would be.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7313998.stm

hey..everyone.

I am new here and from china.I found this website by search of google.there are a lot interesting things here.even I find so much chinese lessones in this website.that's really helpful for the people who want to learn chinese.

About me,I have been learning English for one year by myself.I found this "difficulty" language is very sexy.now I am interesting in the western culture,especially movies,musics,sports..etc. in fact,I found a way to learn English here.hmm...I can listen to the simple chinese dialogs,and I found it means in English.so I can leaning chinese(actually,I am good at it) and english at the same time.even if I am still a beginner of English.but I think I can learn it better in the near future.as you learn chinese.

hey,my grammar still bad,let's go ahead..

Hey..

So I have started to plan my trip to China that will happen around March 2009. I was wondering if anyone knows of any decent websites where I can find cheap accommodation all over China with reviews by people who have stayed there before etc? I'd prefer single rooms, not dorms.

I want to stay in Shanghai for a week, Wuhan for a few days and generally get a feel for different areas of China and where I might like to actually live within the next 5 years. I am not going anywhere near Hong Kong or Beijing on this visit as I am just not interested in those cities. I want to check out Shanghai because I have heard and read so much about it. Same goes for Wuhan.. Other than that, I am easy..

I am trying to workout how much a 3 week holiday is going to cost in terms of living expenses as well. In Sydney it would probably cost me between $100 and $200 a week if I ate take-out food for every meal and generally kept myself comfortable, interested, busy etc. I assume that it's not going to cost that much in China... but how much less.. this is the real mystery to me.

Thanks for all suggestions and tips.

hi i am Jesslyn B. i am learning Chinese so that i can know at least something if i ever go to china someday. i am very intrested in hereing about anything of china, or there language.

hi i am Jesslyn B. i am learning Chinese so that i can know at least something if i ever go to china someday. i am very intrested in hereing about anything of china, or there language.

Hey all.. good idea this group.. Should have thought of it when I had my questions the other day.

Anyway.. In my other conversation I ended up with a preliminary route to go around China. Here's what I came up with:

Shanghai -> Wuhan -> Chengdu -> Xi'an -> Beijing -> Jinan -> (some place just southwest of Shanghai, Zhanghou may be?) -> Shanghai.

The point of this post is to find out what others think would be a good first trip to China. What destinations would you suggest, without going into massive amount of detail on each location?

On my trip to China (and now a short stay in Taiwan as well.. hehe) I have decided to do it backpacking-style. I have NEVER backpacked before and I know that a few poddies have done this, I think sebire and gesang are at least two who have backpacked around China.

I am wondering what to take... are there things you took that you thought you needed and you ended up not needing? Are there things you didn't take and ended up needing? I'm really lost here..

Obviously I need to take a small sleeping bag, first aid kit, small toiletries bag, change of clothes.. but beyond that I am just not sure.

Hello  

My name is Smiley Jiang , I'm a chinese student in a city of China.

You don't know how exited I was when I found the site --ChinesePod , It's serched by Y!.com of US by the tags"chinese language english".

Because of a student ,I deeply desire to be a Proper English Speaker . So , I always go to the Y!.com ,Amazon.com ,Times.com which published in English.

This morning, When I watched news in Y!.com , a idea comes up to my mind ,  Why don't I serch a website about the language Chinese and English so that I can make lots of friends in US who want to learn Chinese , and Chinese people who live in US.

My friends ,  if you want to make a friend who live in China and use the mother tongue -- Chinese . Contact me

smiley520520@163.com (MSN and the E-mail)

364183196@qq.com (QQ is the most popular chat system in China)

My hobby is quite a lot such as all types of Hollywood movies or our country's excellent movies,Vedio or PC Games , Advertising Art, chat or surf online ,language study (English Japanese), Programme,etc.

So, thanks to our  缘分(don't know how to translate it , It's a Greaaaaaaaaaat Chinese word ) ,We will become the dear friend throughout the distance,  So I titled "Distance longing cross long distance"(the title imitated from a English article) .

大家好

我的名字叫Smiley Jiang ，我是一个来自中国某个城市的学生。

当我找到ChinesePod这个网站时，你不知道我有多么高兴，ChinesePod 是我用Y!.com通过关键词"chinese language english"搜索到的。

因为作为一个学生，我迫切想成为一个说一口地道英语的人，所以，我经常逛雅虎，亚马逊，时代这些用英文发布的美国网站。

今天早晨，当我在yahoo上看新闻的时候，我的灵光一闪：为什么不去找一个关于英文和中文的交流网站呢？？ 这样， 我就可以交到许许多多的想学中文的美国朋友，和一些住在美国的中国人。

我的朋友们，如果你也想交一个住在中国的，用他自己国家的母语中文说话的中国朋友的话，联系我吧。

smiley520520@163.com (MSN和电子邮件)

364183196@qq.com (QQ是在中国非常流行的聊天软件)

我的兴趣还挺广泛的，像是各种各样的好莱坞电影，还有我们国家本土的优秀电影,电视或电脑游戏什么的，广告艺术，上网，学习外语，编程等等。

真感谢我们之间的缘分啊（不知道该怎么翻译“缘分”，它真是个伟大的中文词语），我们会越过大洋成为亲密的朋友，所以，我将标题定为“我的渴望，穿越大洋”（这个好题目是在一篇英语文章上看到的）。

As the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949 next year will probably bring quite a number of festivities, events etc.

Are there any things to watch out for (new theme parks, newer and bigger statues or buildings)?

Do foreign visitors have to be aware of certain dates? (Apart from october 1st?)

Will Chinesepod have some promotions because of it - err...?

I enjoy  staying in http://lalachat.15880.com and chatting with the lesbian friends.  It isn't a fault.It depends on each.I met Winnie first also there at about June 2005 when Winnie turned back from Auckland just before.I saw a name of shanghai36.Nothing wired.It is the non-strange that came alone with a short story.At the end of the talk Winnie told me she just came back from Newzerland.It really attracted me since I had opened my eyes outside to find useful information abroad to broaden my visions.I asked her talking in English.I even can't express myself clearly at that time.Winnie rhetorically questioned me"why not?" To me ,a poor English guy, it was really really lovely. Winnie left me a suspension that she seemed to be a pilot. I don't think I got a fault. She clearly told me yes when I asked her if she was a pilot.So it surprised me again,ha ,a female pilot, a one who not only drives auto but airoplane.It was the first impression of Winnie.Beside the surprise, I left my mobile to Winnie.The next morning her call came.

If you're lesbian, you can find a lot of friends for the lesbian Website(http://www.15880.com) in china.

In the talk I knew that she just came back outside and brought a business about large amount of loan.Actually at that time  the most challangable is to find a good job.I realized about that after I met her first. I am in nature good at apprasing others.So I appraised that she got a rapid action in such a short time.

To be continued...

China is participating in Davos with quite an impressive line-up:

Chen Deming Minister of Commerce of the People's Republic of China

Wen Jiabao Premier of the People's Republic of China

Xia Deren Mayor of Dalian, People's Republic of China

Xie Fuzhan Director of the State Council of the People's Republic of China

Yang Jiechi Minister of Foreign Affairs of the People's Republic of China

Zhang Ping Chairman, National Development and Reform Commission

Here is a question I've been asking myself a long time : how do expatriates land on their jobs?
By expatriate I mean a home country salary + relocation package. Well the kind of contract that would magnet many chicks :)  I know a lots of you start from English teacher.

According to the authors of "China CEO", the 3 main criteria to select an expatriate are:
- professional qualities (expertise, international experience)
- personal qualities (multicultural mindset, commitment to learn)
- china specific qualities (humility, patience, guanxi-building).

China job market has rapidly evolved: 10 years ago speaking Chinese was sufficient to find a job as a foreigner. Now Multinational Corporation (MNC) assign Chinese employees abroad and lots of ex-expats are willing to accept local contracts. So it's no longer valid to start in a MNC and hope to be relocated in China after 2 years. For instance

Out of the more than 50,000 employees Siemens has in this country, 99.60 per cent are Chinese. The 200 expatriates that we have here on temporary assignments fulfill specific tasks. The typical expat job, as it was defined a few years ago, does often not exist anymore. At the same time, we have more than 100 Chinese managers that work for Siemens overseas on a one-year or longer assignment.

http://www.bizchina-update.com/content/view/914/45/

Here is an exchange I had with Wilfried Meyer, director of Human Ressources and executive Vice President of Siemens China , who generously shared his experience.

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

Dear Raymond,
tks for your email - my quote as well as your comments are correct and there is also no contradiction in both; you are more than welcome to add my quotation in your review. Yes, indeed we here in China have in the meantime lots of expatriates on a local contract and we hire mainly based on experiences/skill sets which we cannot find in the local market or where the quality might just not fit 100% with local candidates - because speed is everything we cannot wait until we can develop the missing skill sets but we rather need to recruit directly from the global labor markets.
 
In China more and more MNC are having significant problems finding excellent international or local talent since in most cases in the meantime also many international Chinese companies are offering the same salary packages, trainings, overseas assignments as MNC with  - in many cases -  1 significant difference that the CEO of the Chinese company is Chinese and therefore there is the theoretical chance for each and every chinese high potential to become CEO compared with many MNCs where the CEO is still a foreigner.
 
hope this helps a little and you are more than welcome to follow up in case there are any additional points/topics you would like to address
best regards

Wilfried Meyer

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

For more information read my amazon review

http://www.amazon.com/China-CEO-Experience-International-Business/review/product/0470821922/ref=cm_cr_dp_synop?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending#R31FVB9POQU827

Please tell me. I'm keen to hear from you. Any one who works in China is welcome. What type of contracts do you have ? How much your lifestyle has improved from your home country. What is the field you work in ?

Raymond Chenon

Seems like today on Cpod is the day for Chinese news. 

Following is an interesting article about the human rights exchange between China and the US.  China makes some very valid points. I love the "personality disorder" statement.

And man, not that it's a surprise, but politicians are such ass kissers!

Tough words on human rights

• James Reynolds
• 27 Feb 09, 11:25 GMT

This time of year sees a semi-ritualised exchange between China and the United States.

On Wednesday, the US State Department published its 2008 Human Rights report. The report includes a 47,000-word section on human rights problems in China:

"The government's human rights record remained poor and worsened in some areas. During the year the government increased its severe cultural and religious repression of ethnic minorities in Tibetan areas and the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region (XUAR), increased detention and harassment of dissidents and petitioners, and maintained tight controls on freedom of speech and the Internet."

Late on Thursday, China delivered its reply. The Information Office of the State Council released its 10th annual report on human rights problems in the United States.

China's 9000-word report paints a bleak picture of life in America:

* "Widespread violent crimes in the United States pose serious threats to its people's lives, property and personal security."

* "Americans live shorter lives than citizens of almost every other developed country, ranking 42nd in terms of life expectancy."

* "Drugs, suicide and other social problems prevail in the US."

* "Many young Americans have personality disorders."

* "Racial discrimination in the judicial system is appalling."

China then reaches its conclusion:

"The US practice of throwing stones at others while living in a glass house is a testimony to the double standards and hypocrisy of the United States in dealing with human rights issues, and has undermined its international image. We hereby advise the US government to begin anew, face its own human rights problems with courage, and stop the wrong practice of applying double standards on human rights issues."

Tough words from both sides. But this yearly exchange of human rights reports appears to have very little practical impact on US-China relations.

Just a few days ago, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton held talks in Beijing with all of China's leaders - the issue of human rights was barely mentioned (in public at least). The US and China have also just started two days of military talks in Beijing. And the two countries continue to rely on each other's business to get out of the world's recession.

This weekend I found this book (9.99 EUR) in my local bookstore. I'm interested in (Modern) Chinese Art and I like this book as background info. Maybe someone else might be interested in this (it's in English / French / German).

Btw, the person who owns the largest collection of chinese propaganda posters is a Dutch professor and you find more info here.

I am a chinese working in shanghai!

I came across this site unexpectedly

So ,I hope to make friends unexpectedly,too!

[disclaimer: I am the author of China Menu, and am try to get the word out, please delete the post if it's considered inappropriate for this forum]

I spent the past couple of months putting together an iPhone application to help newcomers order a great meal in almost any restaurant in China, without having to speak a word of Chinese.  You can check out a video of China Menu in action here:

http://chinabites.com/iphone/

I'd love any feedback from the community on China Menu, it's the product of about two years of independent research and photography, as well as seven years experience of living in China.

Hi, I am Keen, I come from ShenZhen University in China, I am good at Chinese and Computer. You can talking with me about everything, PM me

cheers!

Which city is the best place to live in China?

The question is as simple as that.  You don't have to love China (although perhaps you do), and you don't have to like every bit of her, but unless you are one of those people that found yourself in China almost by accident, or you just want to conduct business, chances are there are quite a few reasons you like China.  Please do tell, no matter if you were here, will be here, are here or are just observing from afar.