User Comments - bodawei
bodawei
Posted on: Hostel Curfew
August 30, 2012 at 2:12 PMLike most things in China building relationships at hostels takes time - helps to stay a week, say. I tried to get friendly with (a) whoever makes the coffee, (b) whoever can make the wi-fi work, and (c) the lady in charge of the laundry. The 保安 you are probably not going to get friendly with but at least try (he's going to let you in after hours.)
Posted on: Talking about Illness
August 30, 2012 at 2:05 PMHmm, no experts got back to you George, so I will throw you my ideas. You can use 好多了 or 好得多 in this situation. You might say
我今天好多了 (Today I am much better.)
我吃药了就会好得多。 or maybe better still 我吃药了就会感觉好得多。(I felt much better after I took some medicine.)
There are other verbs for getting better but this will get you by.
Posted on: Hostel Curfew
August 30, 2012 at 1:47 PMGeorge - I liked your post too, nice and sticking to what you saw. Thanks a lot.
The other 'type' at hostels and cheap hotels I come across are people who live there semi-permanently, working on their bed or in the common areas (obviously Internet-based jobs.) Eg. I stayed in a room with a guy for a week who makes his living buying and selling army surplus. In a Shanghai inner-city hostel I was in a dorm for a couple of weeks with long-termers with jobs in the city. Most hostels I encountered this kind of resident.
Hostel dorms are often but not always mixed male and female - some big hostels have a mix of mixed and single sex.
Your comments on food are pretty spot on - most hostels try to do western food, with mixed results. I was sometimes peeved when there was nothing chinese on offer, but the staff sat down at the next table with chinese food. Sometimes they bought it down the road.
Posted on: iPhone vs Android
August 30, 2012 at 5:38 AM'刷机可以使系统更nice'
但是，如果刷得不成功，手机要变砖的，我们都从经验中学习啊！ :(
Posted on: Buying Goods from Abroad Online
August 29, 2012 at 3:58 PM...而且，有少数妈妈不能母乳喂养孩子还是母乳不够不多等等，
比如你看 。。。 http://www.chengdoo-magazine.com/pdf/ISSUE_056_WEB.pdf Mamahuhu column 八页上。
Posted on: Buying Goods from Abroad Online
August 28, 2012 at 8:36 AMThere are plenty of dairy products from Australasia (high prices? moot point; a little higher than in the country of origin) - dairy is in general pretty expensive in China whether imported or locally made. But I am not aware of a popular infant formula from that part of the world. On advice of Chinese parents we buy one made in Germany. Incidentally it's difficult to buy this product on the shelves in London because the maker has gained a bad name among consumers. So - seems we are all moving to online purchases, even in the UK.
Incidentally, I can't see the lesson and wondering if they deal with the problem of foreign e-businesses sending formula to an address in Chinese characters. So far we have not been able to buy anything online that is foreign sourced because they won't use Chinese characters.
Posted on: Commuting Options
August 28, 2012 at 5:14 AMWell that is one up on me George, I don't think I've ever been asked to put a seatbelt on. There must be a fine for the driver if you're not wearing it - which is why drivers always wear seatbelts.
Posted on: Commuting Options
August 28, 2012 at 4:40 AM' more about the society's experience with driving, than about any individual driver.'
Yes, I thought it was, but I think society is just the sum of individuals. Unless we are talking about 'government' or the regulators, and the rules and regulations they introduce, and there you have a point. The government is often taking a lead on these matters, difficult though that may be to accept.
The use of seat belts I would describe now as standard in Chengdu (front only) - as opposed to just having them fitted. (You must go to small towns?)
Strangely the most chaotic driving I have experienced is in Hangzhou where drivers commonly (in 2006, 2007) used the lanes dedicated to oncoming traffic if they were 'free'. I put this down to the innovation you mentioned - it certainly improved traffic flow. Driving culture varies quite a bit from place to place in China.
Posted on: Commuting Options
August 27, 2012 at 2:54 PMhi miskat
I already had a sense that you love the country - and now you have a daughter I imagine that really takes the discussion 'home'; I wonder how I would cope carrying around a vulnerable little child? I do worry about the scant use of seat belts although it is getting better in the cities.
We have a grand-daughter here and so we don't go in taxis because they can't properly belt her in. (Actually we had problems in Sydney for the same reason! Even making a special order for a taxi, specifying the age of the child, didn't guarantee a good result - on a couple of occasions we had to refuse to travel and order another taxi.)
Also - you live in Beijing I assume - the car capital of China. Also I have seen a documentary about cars being illegally raced on public streets in BJ.
'amount of cars in Beijing'
You should look up private car ownership rate in Beijing compared to your own country. It is the highest in China but still well below the rate in Australia. There is scope for squeezing a few more in. So, number 1 and 2 are somewhat related. And with more cars, the average speed will slow, lessening safety problems but increasing pollution. Your wish list items are related, some negatively.
You could do your bit for the environment by converting the family to a motorbike. :)
Posted on: Hostel Curfew
August 31, 2012 at 2:56 AMYeah, it is a part of hostel life in China that is different to anywhere else I have been. In fact the original (English) idea of hostels was that you could only stay a few days maximum.
I think that originally these guys stayed in the cheapest Chinese hotels, but then they got a taste of hostel life (bigger, more functional, public areas).