User Comments - mafanni

Posted on: Christmas Gifts from China

the android platform doesn't work.

Posted on: Homeschooling

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/teacher-caught-sex-teen-parking-lot-article-1.1201771

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/principal-cheery-booster-article-1.1220441

how sad

Posted on: Getting Warm

Off topic but speaking of warm  can you do a qingwen on 例假 and I don't mean the holiday.  More so about idioms on the subject and examples sentences when lady's 'feelings' go  from loving one minute to 'postal' the next.

Posted on: No TP

Seinfeld had a show on this topic.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gysu0kgFwT0

Posted on: No TP

so was this a squat toilet? hate them!

Posted on: Sentence Grammar

what is the rules for using 的 & 得 and when? 

Posted on: A Day in the Life of a Student

The confusing part of chinese is the same character different pronounciation.

音乐  this 乐 is le or yue.  knowing which one to pronounce is the trick I guess.   my mnemonic for music is yin = sound yue(le)= happy.  so happy sound = music.

Posted on: They're Twins!

how do you say 'octomom'?

and how to say triplets, quadruplets, etc.... :)

三胞胎， 四胞胎?

Posted on: Illegal taxis

RELATED TAXI TIPS:

• A related scam: You (2 or more people) agree on a fixed price. When it’s time to pay, they’ll claim that the price was “per person.”

• Watch for the (above) fake bill swap when paying. Ideally, have smaller notes with you before you get in. Reminder: tipping is not expected (but heartily accepted).

• Instead of going with any taxi driver who is parked and has approached you, try flagging down one driving by on the street, even if you need to walk a couple of blocks (especially in touristy areas like the Forbidden City).

• To avoid overcharging by normal taxis, get a general idea of how much the fare should be by asking a local (e.g. hotel staff). Have them write down your destination in Chinese, along with their price estimate to show to your driver.

• If you’ve been overcharged or scammed, write down the license plate number as well as the driver’s ID number so that you can report them. Also, take some photos of the car and driver if possible.

• Whenever possible, I prefer to keep my luggage with me in the back seat in the unlikely event that I’m getting scammed and need to toss some bills at them and storm out.

Posted on: Illegal taxis

“Black” Taxi Scams & rip-offs:

Real, legit Beijing taxi

WHERE: Mostly around Beijing airports and tourist hot spots.

THE SCAM: Illegal taxis (黑车 = literally “black car”) that make a good living overcharging foreigners. “Black” doesn’t refer to the actual color of a taxi (just that they’re unlicensed and shady). Once you get in, you’re at their mercy. Sometimes, they’ll have a fake meter rigged to produce ridiculous rates. I’ve heard reports of these shady drivers just dropping people off at random destinations after collecting their payday as well as drivers who drive off with luggage as soon as the passenger gets out.

Shady Beijing taxi (see license plate- click to enlarge)

Note: in Beijing in particular, a lot of taxi drivers are relatively inexperienced and Beijing is notoriously confusing (and changing). So try to determine if they really know the destination and don’t automatically assume that they’re scamming you (they might just be lost). Also, I’ve been told that the government cracked down on these illegal taxis during the 2008 Olympics but still, there may still be some out there.

RULES OF THUMB:

• At the Beijing airport, catch a taxi by waiting in the official taxi line (avoid any touts outside or even the taxi desks inside). Always insist on using the meter.

• 

  Real Beijing taxi plate

  Fortunately, it’s easy to avoid these black taxis by just looking at their license plates. All legitimate taxis in Beijing all have a plate that starts with “京 B”

http://www.china-mike.com/china-travel-tips/avoiding-scams/