User Comments - phil
phil
Posted on: Chinese Breakfast
December 2, 2007 at 3:16 PMChinese breakfast...good subject. Not many items on the Chinese breakfast menu that I've found that are able to replace the aromas of fresh brewed coffee, eggs and bacon, kippers and toast, but, even I will get up at 06:00, pull on the thermal underwear, brave the -15C chill and visit the local 豆浆 and 油条 vendor for breakfast. Great stuff!
Posted on: Winter Fun
November 30, 2007 at 2:58 AMThe "calendar" referred to by VenusJin cannot be taken as a universal calendar. It is after all a Chinese farmer's calendar and is entirely relevant to that community. Since it refers to frost and snow it is also clearly northern China in origin. It is also based entirely on the solar calendar and not the lunar calendar. I can say from experience that it fits pretty well with the Dongbei climate. Frosts arrive in late October, small snow in November and big snow in December, severe cold in January...rains in April, heat in June, July and August. This year we have already had snow and night time temperatures down to -15C, certainly winter in my book! The seasons seem to be a bit arbitrary but if one accepts that they decided on four 3 month seasons and that the dates are the start dates then they also fit pretty closely too. Early November is when the day time temperatures start to go below 0C and mid February is when the daytime temperatures creep above 0C. The calendar has probably been used by the rural population of northern China for thousands of years and is largely based upon the reality so it is rather unreasonable for msc417 to suggest that it is all nonsense.
Posted on: Thanksgiving
November 23, 2007 at 1:36 PMHenning, Dongbei cai is probably the closest you will come to your "农民饭" in China. Plenty of potatoes, cabbage (including 酸菜 suan1cai4 = sauerkraut) and sausages at least, but also a great variety of other vegetables (but no turkeys!). I have found very little in print or on the web on Dongbei cai but the following link to EatingAsia and a restaurant in Kuala Lumpur, of all places, provides a glimpse and great descriptions of the wonderfully simple dishes that can be had. http://eatingasia.typepad.com/eatingasia/2005/10/dongbei_delight.html
Posted on: Thanksgiving
November 23, 2007 at 8:18 AMchangye, Depends where you are though, 土豆泥 is very common and popular here in Changchun and throughout the Dongbei region.
Posted on: 华南虎
November 23, 2007 at 7:55 AMNot sure if it is a Bloglines or CPod problem but in Bloglines, changye's post above is linked to another thread: What's Hot in ChinesePod and SpanishSense this week! by changye Now I rememeber, that is one of the past articles we learned before. And clicking on the link sends me to a blank lesson page on CPod? Other posts seem to link up OK though.
Posted on: Getting Reimbursed
September 27, 2007 at 12:18 PMAs I understand it a 收据 (fāpiào) is effectively a VAT receipt which is important for business reasons, as in any country with a VAT system. Therefore, all staff on business travel for example are required to obtain VAT receipts (fāpiào) for any expenses which they expect to be reimbursed. All fāpiào have the oval stamp at the top centre of Bazza's example and a unique serial number. A 收据 (shōujù) on the other hand is nothing more than a proof of purchase which in China may or may not be useful only for returning goods for refund or for warranty issues. As with anywhere else, many very small businesses are not registered for VAT and will not be able to issue a fāpiào. Others will only issue a fāpiào if you are willing to pay an additional few % on the price. The scratch thingy was introduced by the government a few years ago to encourage the use of fāpiào for reasons of VAT collection and to limit the "black economy".
Posted on: City Stats
August 27, 2007 at 7:12 AMMark, It is a little confusing to interpret populations quoted for China's cities. The following web page will give you an indication though. http://www.citypopulation.de/China-UA.html#Stadt_alpha Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing and Tianjin are municipalities which have provincial level status and come directly under the central government. As you can see the municipality has a very different population to the city (e.g Chongqing Municipality 30 million, Chongqing City 5 million). In addition, the figures quoted for cities don't give the full picture. For example the city of Changchun where I lived was quoted as 2.7 million which is the population of the urban area or "city proper". You will also see 7 million quoted elsewhere which is the population of the metropolitan area including the 7 surrounding counties. Nanyang is similar (according to Wikipedia; city 0.8 million, metropolitan area, including 10 counties, 10 million)
Posted on: Chinese Breakfast
December 2, 2007 at 3:49 PMLostInAsia, Thankfully not. I recall those things from my time in Taipei in the 70's. I assumed that they were some kind of technology transfer from the American forces stationed there at the time, as far removed from an egg and bacon butty you could not get.