Recently, I was browsing a forum topic on the cost of living in China. I’ve been meaning to write about this for a while, so I thought I’d take the opportunity to respond to question posed on the forum.
Author Archives: Stephen Cronin
What Do You Want: Professional Jobs In China Or Jobs Teaching English?
As outlined in a recent post called JobsInChina.com Brings You … Jobs In China, this site recently added a listing of jobs in China. As explained in the previous post, I decided to partner with NewChinaCareer. I also expressed one doubt Continue reading
Fake iPhone
Okay, here is a photo of a fake iPhone, taken by Robert Scoble of Scobalizer fame.
Robert used to be a famous blogger for Microsoft and now heads up FastCompany.tv. Robert appears to be in China for a couple of weeks to meet entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. He’s also taking some very interesting photos, including this one:
Not a surprise really – fake copies of everything are available in China. The IPhone would be a prime target. With his ex-Microsoft connection, I wonder what Robert thinks of all the fake Microsoft software you can buy for under USD$1?
I hope Robert enjoys his trip and posts some more photos of China. I also recommend you get over to his blog to read about his trip to China.
JobsInChina.com Brings You … Jobs In China
Yes, JobsInChina.com finally has a listing of jobs in China. In this post, I explain both the new service and the background to this decision.
Blue Skies In Beijing
Just to offset my last post about smog In southern China, here are some photos by Mario Carvajal of Tiananmen and the Forbidden City in Beijing under clear, blue skies.
I’ve told this to people again and again: In Beijing, the pollution can be horrible (though not as bad as Guangzhou), but you’ll also get some lovely days of perfect wheather as well. These photos prove it!
It may only be about one day per week, but it does happen!
Edit 4 July 2012: Unfortunately, it seems that the pollution and air quality in Beijing has gotten steadily worse and is at a new low point. There are still a few blus sky days, but not as many as there once were. Here’s to hoping that some of the measures the Chinese government is taking actually helps them.
Smog In China
The bad side of living in China: the pollution. It’s often, but not always, bad throughout most of China. However, in the southern areas (ie Guangdong) the pollution is terrible. The whole of Guangdong is often covered in smog.
Sepperer Markus recently posted a photo of some pretty bad smog in Hong Kong:
The reason for the terrible polution in Guangdong? The huge number of factories in Guangdong. Guangdong is wall to wall industrial from one side to the other. Of course there are problems with environmental controls in these factories too, which makes it even worse.
This picture matches the worst smog I’ve personally experienced, which was in Guangzhou. Shenzhen, where this was taken, is only about an hour away from Guangzhou, so it’s no surprise that conditions are similar.
Smog is the one thing I don’t like about living in China.
Full Face Sun Visors
Recently, egorick posted a picture of a cyclist wearing a full face sun visor:
Co-incidentally, I just came across an old post on Sinosplice called China’s Solar Visor Craze which discusses the sun visor craze starting in 2004. I’m pretty sure that I saw these way back in 2002 in Guangdong, so it may have taken a while for them to spread to the rest of the country.
The popularity of these sun visors is in large part due to an obsession with protecting themselves from the sun. This is especially prevalent in Chinese women, who want to have milky white skin – traditionally peasant women had dark skin from working in the fields, wheras high class ladies spent most of their time indoors and had pale skin as a result.
Anyway, these sun visors are a very clever invention and they seem to be spreading – I recently saw a lady wearing one of these full face sun visors in the middle of Brisbane! Not really surprising given the large number of Chinese people in Brisbane, but it took me rather aback.
Beijing Railway Station At Night
Magnifique, lizixiang, 璀璨！ posted a couple of superb photos of the Beijing Railway Station (Beijing Zhan) at night:
It looks very impressive at night time. The building is lit superbly, but that’s not a surprise – the Chinese are excellent at lighting buildings at night.
opened in the 1950s, as can be seen from its architecture (which merges traditional architecture with 50s-design). It is located in an extremely central location, just next to Jianguomen, and is within the confines of the city’s 2nd Ring Road.
The Beijing Railway Station is a familiar site to me (and to many other visitors to Beijing), although I’ve never caught a train from here. I used to catch a bus near here and the bus stop was always very busy!
Chinglish – No pissing on the Guangzhou Metro
gruntzooki posted a photo of a sign, clearly spelling out the policy of the Guangzhou Metro with regards to spitting around, pissing and littering rubbishes:
The full text of the sign is as follows:
Spitting around, pissing and littering rubbishes like pericarp and wastepaper are strictly prohibited and are subject to a fine of RMB 50 Yuan
So that’s clear then. I understand the spitting part (although does that mean you can spit if it’s only in one direction?) and fair enough about the pissing, but what’s pericarp?
Good to see Chinglish alive and well!
Rising Standards For English Teachers In China
This news is quite old now (from May), but I find it interesting that the publishing house Pearson is planning to buy a chain of schools in Shanghai. The Guardian reports that:
Textbook and newspaper publisher Pearson is poised to buy a chain of private schools in Shanghai to tap into the growing demand for English language teaching from increasingly affluent Chinese families.