Whatever, China may be bad. Not the Chinese.
Why? That makes no sense. Who did the cultural revolution?
Who colonized the world??? Committed atrocities??? Who was responsible for the holocaust?
people. Local people. Normal citizens.
Ach, youāre just arguing. Sorry, I like you, but I donāt care what your opinions are. Itās boring. Youāll say what youāll say, Iāll say what Iāll say, and weāll eventually get temped. And we both know exactly what the other will say anyway. 
Off to get acupuncture. Beijing guy.
love you too
[quote=āButtercupā]Yep, and I met some nice people in China. Most people were total arseholes, presumably because I am white and therefore donāt understand Chinese and am rich yet fundamentally inferior and so fair game. Once they know you do speak Chinese, they then get a one track mind and simply rudely harangue you about Taiwan.
hh, youāre right about students, but thatās the main group of people who get rid of any interest I have in China. Kids from āgoodā backgrounds with an entitlement complex and and over-inflated sense of their own worth. Nasty to their classmates, disrespectful to their teachers, and need a lot of babysit because they canāt / wonāt fit in in the UK.
And divea, that was the majority view of the staff, to the extent where teachers quit rather teach them. Thatās an interesting view - Chinese people are a āraceā. Doesnāt that make Taiwan, etc, not Chinese and Tibetans Chinese?[/quote]
Not to argue, just curious, can you elaborate on how or what they did to make you feel inferior? I get that all the time in China, like being taken on a merry-go-round and getting harrassed about Taiwan and all that, but that never occured to me as racism; I mean, itās not like they ban pets and people of any certain nationales from their shop or anything like that.
[quote=āpingantuā]Hey Guys,
I wonder if I should take a week in mainland China this summer??? Iāll be in Taiwan the month of June on vacation and I was planning on staying there the whole timeā¦ but it suddenly hit me. There are direct flights to China now and I wonder where I might go.
Like many of you, I cut my linguistic teeth in Taiwan and I donāt expect many communication problems. Where have you gone that rocked? Where would you go? Where is the REAL interesting and fun China?[/quote]
A week is short. you might want to do some destination travel or some plans, either Beijing/Shanghai/Hangzhou (Shanghai Expo 2010 in May is a big thing in town) or southern China-Xiamen, Guangzhou/Chengdu. It all depends on what you wantā¦you want party/city activities or historic sites stuffs. (you got to check Temple of Heaven if you end up going Beijingā¦Great!!)
If it is your first time and you are not worried abt budgets, I would recommend some big cities.
Shanghaiās prolly pretty nice. Except when I was in Shanghai a few weeks ago it felt like a big construction siteā¦ everywhere.
They are trying to get Shanghai Expo all set. Its going to be crazy in May.
They are trying to get Shanghai Expo all set. Its going to be crazy in May.[/quote]
Exactly my thought.
Me and my travel mate discussed about going there to the Expo would be nice or not, fun to see how all the construction would pay off, not fun at all to crowd with all the Chinese people wanna see the āgreat event that the whole world will be envious that we are havingā.
[quote=āzachaā]
Exactly my thought.
Me and my travel mate discussed about going there to the Expo would be nice or not, fun to see how all the construction would pay off, not fun at all to crowd with all the Chinese people wanna see the āgreat event that the whole world will be envious that we are havingā.[/quote]
it would be a crazy place. and unfortunately I might be stuck there for work. awhhhhhhh :fume:
Sitting in Hangzhou, which I havenāt visited since I did a six month internship in a hospital here almost twenty years ago. Theyāve made stunning changes to the West Lake, and the city has probably quadrupled in population, but yesterday riding around on a bicycle for the day was a real joy. Delightful, in fact.
Dropped down here after a week working up in Shanghai, which also impressed, as thereās markedly less concrete dust in the air and you get the feeling that the vast building site is almost near completion. And surprise, surprise, itās also very pleasant. I mean there are still problems, but I think itās shaping up quite nicely. Transport is a pain in the arse, as whenever you really want a taxi, so does half the city. While I can speak and read Chinese, I do get the feeling you could get around in at least first tier cities in China without a single word of the language. Hangzhou maybe not so easy, but possible.
Took the D train to Hangzhou, which cuts the time from I think four hours to one hour twenty minutes, and having arrived at the station early, was relieved to find a tout willing to upgrade my ticket for a much earlier train, at almost the full ticket price, mind you, but at just Rmb50, or the price of a beer in a decent place, was well worth it.
Overall, traveling in China is just so damned easier and pleasant than it used to be. And oh sweet Lord! The eye candy!
Footnote: I didn;t bother with the Expo, but I did meet people that did, such as our own Elegua, who seemed to think it worth a wander around, at least before the heat really sets in, while avoiding queuing up for the more crowded pavilions. You can, for example, go see the North Korea pavilion, which should be memorable, as hopefully the world will turn that communist Disneyland to dust soon.
HG
a week is barely long enough to get indoctrinated.
maybe long enough to catch Hepatitis C, or yellow fever.
Personally, I think you should go.
China is a huge country and with only one week, you will only get to be a hot-spots-tourist, so Iād suggest you hit the big cites like Beijing or Shanghai.
Go see the Great Wall in Beijing. Itās big and itās great!
Go to Hangzhou. Visit the lake - itās big and pretty.
There is also some small watertowns (Qingpu) around shanghai, that I think is worth seeing.
Suzhou also have some nice attractions - and Shanghai of course.
Forget about the clubs and bars for and just allow yourself to be a real tourist, giving itās only one week.
Take it all in - and I suggest you plan your travels so that your flight dates from/to Taiwan is in the weekends, that way the places you visit wont be so growed.
I think that China IS a visit worth, if you havenāt been there before. Make up your own mind of China.
Happy travels!