User Comments - dmartind

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dmartind

Posted on: Scandal in the Pageant
April 1, 2008 at 8:43 AM

A while back my local Chinese tutor selected a newspaper article to review in class with the headline "艳照门" (Photo-gate). After which, being such a hard working student, I quickly Photoshopped some very mild photos of her for the next class session. She was NOT amused, and I am laying off the Photoshop for a while :-( So how similar are 艳照　and 绯闻? Would the publication of 艳照 just be part of the overall 绯闻? (And that photo is definitely her back)．

Posted on: Massage and Renting an Apartment
October 28, 2007 at 12:10 AM

When I went for my first Chinese massage, they convinced me to agree to a special kind of extra treatment, which I did not understand their description of, but figured I'd try anyway. It turned out to be a bunch of jars with air evacuated stuck to my back for several minutes, leaving big perfectly round bruises all over my back. I don't recall what that particular torture is called in Chinese, but I'll not be getting THAT treatment again.

Posted on: Driver's Licenses and Business
October 21, 2007 at 3:55 AM

Compared to Taiwan, it seems to me Mainland Drivers, particularly in Beijng, go much slower. And of course in Taiwan you don't have so many separate scooter/bike lanes as Mainland cities, so you have all those guys on motor scooters with a death wish, trying to pull out in front of all the cars the same split second the light changes. I'd rather drive in Beijing than Taipei, but Taipei seems safer for pedestrians.

Posted on: Driver's Licenses and Business
October 20, 2007 at 11:58 PM

I do not see as many car vs scooter/bike/pedestrian accidents as I expected. Probably they clear them quickly. Car on car/truck/bus accidents are myriad. Even for a minor fender bender accident, they must leave the vehicles in place in the road and await police to adjudicate blame (although I hear they changed that rule for Beijing and Shanghai for very minor accidents now). Pedestrians and bikers must look very carefully all the time to be safe. A couple years ago in Chengdu a city bus with bad brakes failed to stop completely at a bus stop plowed over people waiting for the bus, killing some. More recently I myself was hit by an electric bike that decided to ignore the red light, weave around the other bikes and scooters that had stopped at the light, and plow into us pedestrians in the cross walk. I am a pretty solid 250lbs -- maybe 100lbs heavier than this bike and rider combined, so I got a small bruise and did not even get knocked over. However, the rider flew off his bike and got minor scrapes, plus major damage to his lightweight electric bike -- like pieces broke off when it fell down. The crowd of other pedestrians was looking angry at him, and as soon as I saw the rider was able to walk, I just moved on, lest the angry crowd should eventually turn on me.

Posted on: Driver's Licenses and Business
October 20, 2007 at 7:28 AM

Driving Vision test: In Beijing several years ago I had a colleague who was nearly blind in one eye and went for his driver exam. They told him to cover one eye, so he used his right hand to hold the big soup spoon to cover his left (bad) eye. When they told him to switch sides, he put down his right hand, then switched the spoon to his left hand and used it to cover the same (bad) eye. Passed with flying colors.

Posted on: Driver's Licenses and Business
October 20, 2007 at 6:00 AM

I am a foreign driver in China. I have only driven in Beijing, Chengdu and areas near those cities. I think once you get used to the concept that everyone will drive the same way they might walk in a crowd (weaving in and out, some go fast, some slow, driving on sidewalks is allowed, etc.) it is not too bad. The best part is no one here seems really to get road rage. If they get cut off or some one nearly runs into them, or does a traffic blocking U-turn on red from the far right lane... they don't seem to get mad, but rather observe the innovative driving technique and save it for their own future use. My favorite driving story was when I fist got my driving license in Chengdu and the next morning decided to drive out to Metro (warehouse store). It was a Saturday morning with few cars, so I decided to ignore a NO LEFT TURN sign and save going an extra 4 city blocks to get onto the right road. When the light turned green I allowed the oncoming traffic to clear before I made my prohibited turn. Just as I came out of the turn I heard a Police car type horn and siren and saw flashing lights behind me - BUSTED.... er actually not. The police van sped past me as soon as he could get around. He was not at all annoyed by my illegal left turn, but rather by my passively waiting for the oncoming traffic clear first rather than aggressively pushing my way through like a REAL Chinese driver, blocking as many oncoming cars as possible until they would finally me through. BUT I seldom drive, because parking is a pain, and finding my way is a pain, and bus/taxi/train are all cheap. So I suggest everyone just follow Dear Amber's advice and NOT drive in China. One more warning -- if you look at a map, like say a Sichuan Province road map, don't be fooled by thick dark lines with national highway numbers that look like they would be nice 4-lane highways or larger. Once you get out of a big city, these national roads may well be unimproved single lane dirt roads for stretches of dozens to hundreds of kilometers.

Posted on: Driver's Licenses and Business
October 20, 2007 at 1:38 AM

There is an English translation (in MS Word format) of the ENTIRE question bank from which your 100 questions for Chinese Driver License Exam will be randomly selected (in verbatim). Some questions/answers are VERY silly, and others are simply incorrect/inconsistent between different versions of the same question. In other words, remember you are in the land of rote memorization -- Don't worry about the real laws, just memorize the questions and the "correct" answer.

Posted on: Of Beauty Pageants and Plastic Surgery
October 2, 2007 at 10:54 PM

About 2 or 3 years ago I was looking at a Chinese newspaper and they had before and after photos for 4 kinds of face/body plastic surgery photos ad for a clinic. I could easily tell what had been done in 3 of the 4 pairs of photos, but had no idea what the before and after pictures of the eyes were about . I couldn't read the captions at all back then and I was trying to figure out if eye color had changed slightly or something. Now years later I finally realize it was the (ridiculous) double eyelid surgery thing. Thanks to ChinesePod.

Posted on: Getting Reimbursed
September 27, 2007 at 12:18 PM

发票s are one thing in China I actually have experience with. Sometimes if you want a 发票 they want to charge you extra to 开one. Sometimes if you demand a 发票 they take out a 发票 book and a piece of carbon paper and write directly on the carbon paper to generate one carbon copy for you while NOT creating the original for themselves (no doubt a business tax dodging scheme). Sometimes they'll disappear to another store and come back with the completed 发票. My favorite thing is when they agree to give you a 发票 and then rather than just writing on it what you purchased, they ask what YOU want written... I assume so you can be reimbursed for "office supplies" when you really bought a PSP. Whenever I buy some computer part and they ask me what I want written on the 发票 I feel like saying "Women's underwear" or "Surgical Supplies" or maybe "Hammers for export to Canada," just to see their reaction, but I never have the guts to actually do it.

Posted on: Traveling and Chopsticks
September 22, 2007 at 1:33 AM

I think sometimes auspicious numbers and numerology-based dates are sometimes negotiable. I remember a Chinese friend asking our wedding date and birthdates, and consulting a book of numbers. Then she frowned and flipped more pages and grinned, "Okay, since you were married in the US, that means in China the date was a day later... oh, and you were born close to midnight so that counts as the next day and... ah, see, right here.. I KNEW IT! You two are a PERFECT match. Very auspicious indeed!"