Listen...

...And Look

After months of speculation about what would happened once they "chai’ed" the place we finally have an answer:

A living Plaza…

47 languages spoken…


186 currencies accepted…

This paradise is just down the street from us. But you know me I couldn’t not Google those facts (47 languages?, 186 currencies?). The results are in:

Top 50 languages in the World (most widely spoken)
Chinese, madarin (1,120) - English (480) - Spanish (332) - Arabic (235) - Bengali (182) - Russian (180) - Portuguese (170) - Japanese (125) - German (98) - Chinese, wu (77.2) - Javanese (75.5) - Korean (75) - French (72) - Turkish (67.7) - Telugu (66.4) - Chinese, Yue (Cantonese) (66) - Marathi India (64.8) - Tamil India, (63.1) - Italian (59) - Urdu (58) - Chinese, Min Nan (49) - Chinese, Jinyu (45) - Gujarati India, (44) - Polish (44) - Ukrainian (41) - Persian (37.3) - Chinese, Xiang (36) - Malayalam (34) - Chinese, Hakka (34) - Kannada (33.7) - Oriya (31) - Panjabi (30) - Sunda (27) - Panjabi (26) - Romanian (26) - Bhojpuri, (25) - Azerbaijani (24.4) - Maithili (24.3) - Hausa (24.2) - Burmese (22) - Serbo-Croatian (21) - Chinese, Gan (20.6) - Awadhi (20.5) - Thai (20) - Dutch (20) - Yoruba (20) - Sindhi (19.7)

Lucky you who speak “Hausa” or maybe “Yoruba” you will find somebody who will be able to answer your questions.

Now that we know you can be understood, let see if they’ll accept your money!

Most sources only list 164 currencies (not sure where they got the 24 others!)
Afghani AFA - Austral ARA - Baht THB - Balboa PAB - Birr ETB - Bolivar VEB - Boliviano BOB - Cedi GHC - Colón (Costa Rican) Rica - Córdoba NIC - Convertible Mark BAM - Cruzeiro Real BRR - Dalasi GMD - Dinar (Algerian) DZD - Dinar (Bahraini) BHD - Dinar (Croatian) HRD - Dinar (Iraqi) IQD - Dinar (Jordanian) JOD - Dinar (Kuwaiti) KWD - Dinar (Libyan) LYD - Dinar (Macedonian) MKD - Dinar (Serbian) CSD - Dinar (Tunisian) TND - Dirham (Moroccan) MAD - Dirham (UAE) AED - Dobra STD - Dollar (Australian) AUD - Dollar (Bahamian) BSD - Dollar (Barbados) BBD - Dollar (Belize) BZD - Dollar (Bermudian) BMD - Dollar (Brunei) BND - Dollar (Canadian) CAD - Dollar (Cayman Islands) KYD - Dollar (East Caribbean) XCD - Dollar (Fiji) FJD - Dollar (Guyana) GYD - Dollar (Hong Kong) - KD - Dollar (Jamaican) JMD - Dollar (Liberian) LRD - Dollar (Malaysian) MYR - Dollar (Namibian) NAD - Dollar (New Zealand) NZD - Dollar (Singapore) SGD - Dollar (Solomon Islands) SBD - Dollar (Taiwan, New) TWD - Dollar (Trinidad and Tobago) TTD - Dollar (US) USD - Dollar (Zimbabwe) ZWD - Dông VND - Drachma GRD - Dram AMD - Ekwele GQE - Escudo (Caboverdiano) CVE - Escudo (Timorian) TPE - Euro EUR - Forint HUF - Franc (de la Communauté financière africaine) [Central African Franc]) XAF - Franc (des Comptoirs français du Pacifique) [Pacific - Franc]) XPF - Franc (Burundi) BIF - Franc (Comorian) KMF - Franc (Djibouti) DJF - Franc (Guinea) GNS - Franc (Malagasy) MGF - Franc (Malian) MLF - Franc (Rwanda) RWF - Franc (Swiss) CHF - Franc (West African) XOF - Gourde HTG - Guarani PYG - Guilder (Aruban) AWG - Guilder (Netherlands Antilles) ANG - Guilder (Surinam) SRG - Hryvna UAH - Inti PEI - Karbovanet UAK - Kina PGK - Kip LAK - Koruna (Czech) CZK - Koruna (Slovak) SKK - Króna (Icelandic) ISK - Krona (Swedish) SEK - Krone (Danish) DKK - Krone (Norwegian) NOK - Kroon EEK - Kuna HRK - Kwacha (Malawian) MWK - Kwacha (Zambian) ZMK - Kyat MMK - Lari GEL - Lats LVL - Lek ALL - Lempira HNL - Leone SLL - Leu (Moldavian) MDL - Leu (Romanian) ROL - Lev BGL - Lilangeni SZL - Lira (Turkish) TRL - Litas LTL - Loti LSL - Manat (Azerbaijani) AZM - Manat (Turkmenistani) TMM - Maloti LSM - Metical MZM - Nakfa ERN - Naira NGN - New Kwanza AON - Nuevo Peso ARS - New Peso (Mexican) MXN - New Peso (Uruguayan) UYU - New Sol PEN - New Zloty PLN - Ngultrum BTN - Ouguiya MRO - Pa'anga TOP - Pataca MOP - Peso (Bolivian) BOP - Peso (Chilean) CLP - Peso (Colombian) COP - Peso (Cuban) CUP - Peso (Dominican Republic) DOP - Peso (Guinea-Bissau) GWP - Peso (Philippines) PHP - Pound (Egyptian) EGP - Pound (Falkland) FKP - Pound (Gibraltar) GIP - Pound (Lebanese) LBP - Pound (St Helena) SHP - Pound (Sterling) [United Kingdom Pound] GBP- Pound (Sudanese) SDG - Pound (Syrian) SYP - Pula BWP - Quetzal GTQ - Rand ZAR - Rand (financial) ZAL - Rial (Iranian) IRR - Rial (Omani) OMR - Riel KHR - Riyal (Qatari) QAR - Riyal (Saudi) SAR - Riyal (Yemeni) YER - Rouble (Belarussian) BYR - Rouble (Russian Federation) RUB - Rouble (USSR) SUR - Rouble (Tajik) TJR - Rufiyaa MVR - Rupee (Indian) INR - Rupee (Mauritius) MUR - Rupee (Nepalese) NPR - Rupee (Pakistani) PKR - Rupee (Seychelles) SCR - Rupee (Sri Lankan) LKR - Rupiah IDR - Shekel ILS - Shilling (Kenyan) KES - Shilling (Somali) SOS - Shilling (Tanzanian) TZS - Shilling (Ugandan) UGS - Som (Kyrgyzstani) KGS - Som (Uzbekistani) UZS - Taka BDT- Tala WST - Tenge KZT - Tugrik MNT - Unidades de Fomento CLF - Vatu VUV - Won (North Korean) KPW - Won (South Korean) KRW - Yen JPY - Yuan Renminbi CNY - Zaïre (New) CDZ

Once again if you have "Birr" (from Ethiopia) or "Pula" (from Botswana) they will gladly take them.

I will keep you inform on the construction progress of this "Living Plaza"...There isn't much behind the billboard yet but I’m sure it will be ready for the Olympics!

One Free Extra Day This Month..

...So One More Post About The Olympics

Anywhere else in the world it would be considered harassment but we are in China…

China searches for Olympic medal ceremony hostesses with ideal looks (Xinhua)

"SHANGHAI - Young Chinese women whose "eye length is three-tenths of the face" and who have leveled shoulders and curvaceous thighs now have a competitive edge in joining the Olympic Games in August.
In another example of meticulous planning for the Summer Games, organizers are scouting for 40 hostesses among students in Shanghai's 10 universities -- with extremely detailed standards in appearance and body shape, local media reported.
According to the requirement, candidates should be between 18 and 24 and 1.68 and 1.78 meters in height. They should have a "ruddy and shiny complexion", "elastic skin" and "a plump but not fat body".
They should be built in such a way that helps demonstrate "the healthy and encouraging beauty of human bodies", added the requirement.
It also set strict standards on facial features, including the ratio between the "width of the nose and the length of the face", "width of the mouth and width between the pupils", Shanghai's Xinmin Evening News reported.
The candidates would also be judged from their demeanor and intellectual qualities by a panel of experts and have to go through three rounds of competitions before being selected.
Shanghai is the only place other than Beijing where Olympic organizers are searching for medal ceremony hostesses."

Pick A Date...

...We'll Find An Etiquette Campaign

I just love the headline...

BEIJING - Kate and Leo did it on the Titanic, so why shouldn't Chinese? After all, the habit goes back five millenia.

Liu Ying, a Beijing Municipal Bureau of Health official, noted that spitting was a major cause of the spread of respiratory diseases, especially in spring, echoing a Chinese slogan: "Spitting kills even more than an atomic bomb." (…) "I think it's healthier to spit rather than to swallow," said a netizen who called himself Mop Paparazzi on the Mop.com. Liu, however, said people didn't understand the purpose of the drive. "We are calling for stopping the rampant spitting on the pavement, not urging everyone not to spit at all," she explained. "You can wrap your spit with a napkin and throw it into a trash bin," she added. (…) The Olympic host has taken a series of measures to curb spitting, such as the distribution of spit sacks and a 50-yuan (US$7) fine for spitters.

A recent survey by the Beijing-based Renmin University found that in 2007, 2.54 percent of people surveyed in Beijing still spat in public, down by 2.36 percentage points from 2006. Or at least, that was how many admitted doing so. Many Chinese take the practice for granted.

I’m pretty sure that those 2.54 percent all live in my neighborhood!!!

To Drive Or..

...Not To Drive

I read the following article a few months ago in “That’s Beijing” Magazine:

Checking out that new McDonald's drive-thru in Changping District has just gotten a little bit easier for foreigners due to a new regulation. Temporary driver's licenses can be acquired for a maximum of 90 days, applicants are exempt from the tests normally required, and there are no limitations on the number of times a driver can re-apply – all starting this year.

The reason for this change, speculates Jeff Jia, Director of Beijing Easy Business Services, is for the convenience of visitors descending on the city for the 2008 Olympic Games. "If everything is convenient for tourists – tourist information systems, road conditions, road networks and traffic signs, road markings – more people [will be] interested in driving … [especially] those people who want to discover the real China." According to Jia, fees for this service have yet to be set by the government. At press time, temporary visa applicants need only pay for their photos, medical examination and other materials that need to be submitted.

But don't retire those hitchhiking thumbs just yet, as only foreigners in possession of visas with a validity period of three months or less are permitted to apply. Not ideal, but at least the three-month F visa finally has its benefits.

Didn’t think much about it until I read this other article last week:

BEIJING (Reuters) - Tourists seeking their own Olympian challenge while attending the Beijing Games this August might be tempted to get behind the wheel of a rental car and take a spin on the roads of the Chinese capital. For these intrepid tourists, here are some tips about how to drive in Beijing, a city with three million vehicles on its roads. Those who find the road rules overwhelming can ride the subway or take taxis, buses or limousines to sports venues.

1. Physics 101
Beijing drivers seem eager to challenge the physics principle that no two objects can simultaneously occupy the same point in space.
For instance, lane markers are largely ignored, serving no real purpose in keeping cars apart. When drivers want to get a good look down the road but the view is blocked by cars in front, drivers don't think twice about sliding halfway into the next lane and then straddling two lanes for as long as seems comfortable.
It's also not uncommon for drivers who have missed their exits to simply put the car in reverse and back up into traffic.

2. No-Look Turns
Some countries have rules allowing right turns on red lights. Beijing has something unique: No-look turns. That's right, they follow the maxim that "if you see me, you're responsible for not hitting me," and its corollary, "if I don't see you, it's not my fault if I hit you."
As a result, drivers regularly come flying into streets, merge onto highways or even switch lanes without the slightest attempt to check whether the way is clear. This habit seems a direct extension of China's bicycle culture, whereby every move is a calculated negotiation among throngs of cyclists flowing at roughly the same speed and in the same direction.
Keep your eyes open.

3. Emergency Lights
Don't panic if you see a police vehicle's flashing lights in your rear-view mirror. As a Chinese friend explained, police and other emergency workers typically turn them on just to show they are on duty. If there's no accompanying siren or honking, you can ignore them. Everyone does.
China may be an authoritarian state, but that doesn't mean authorities get much respect. Certainly, on the road they have to fend for themselves. Ordinary drivers can be seen honking and flashing bright lights at patrol cars that were deemed to be going too slowly.

4. Lost in Beijing
Reading maps is critical for anyone navigating a foreign city. But newcomers to Beijing may want to familiarize themselves not just with Beijing's main streets but also its bridges. That's because major intersections are known by the names of the overpass bridges that link intersecting streets.
Strangely, English maps give only the names of the roads, not the bridges. Road signs, however, give distances to upcoming bridges, not the roads. Go figure.

5. Give An Inch
Perhaps it's understandable in a country of 1.3 billion people that you don't get ahead by patiently waiting your turn. On the road, as in other aspects of their lives, Beijingers tend to grab opportunities whenever they appear. Such chances might come in the form of a few inches of space between cars in the next lane, just enough to squeeze in the car's nose and present the driver behind with the dilemma of giving way or causing a collision. The good thing is that Chinese drivers are generally not aggressive, and the high-testosterone road rage that is common on many U.S. highways, for instance, is not typical in Beijing.

6. Now Exhale
To its credit, Beijing is trying to keep drunk drivers off the road by making random spot-checks. Officers armed with portable breathalyzers jump from the curb when cars stop for red lights, forcing drivers to exhale into the machines. Unfortunately, the mouthpieces are used over and over as the officers move down a row of cars. When this driver made a feeble attempt to blow into the machine without making contact with the mouthpiece, an impatient officer suspected he'd caught a transgressor. He ordered me to the curb-side for a more thorough check. This time, though, he took a new mouthpiece from its plastic seal before the second test, which gave me the all-clear.

Happy driving, but be careful out there!


Well it doesn’t help me… since I’m not here on a tourist visa so if I ever want to drive I’d better go back to that funny translation of the Chinese Driving Code (more about this later!).

Anyhow this article made me wonder which one of the tourists who just stepped out of the airplane or the residents who have been living here for a few months, years and start to grasp the concept of driving by the Chinese, are more qualified hence allowed to drive in China.

A Cube, Some Water

...And A Few (Synchronized) Divers

The Water Cube, formally known as the National Aquatics Center, opened to the public a month ago (28th January). The building is recognized for its unique, bubble-like out padding made of ethylene-tetrafluoroethylene plastic pillow. It’s a 11,000-seat venue and apparently "The water in the pool is even better than drinking water." (!!). It cost 1.02 billion yuan (€102 million or $150 million) and was mostly funded apparently by wealthy Chinese living outside of the mainland.
We decided with a group of friends to take advantage of the Good Luck Beijing events that are going on (a good way of testing the new venues) and check out the venue ourselves before the crowds next August (check here if you don’t know what I’m talking about!!).
Our impression: due to Beijing weather and pollution (really Beijing is polluted?) the outside structure looked already dirty and worn and the interior was nothing to brag about. We thought that the cube looked more appealing from a distance and it apparently looks amazing at night when the bubbles are lit up.

The Outside !

The Pools!

The Inside!

At Night (Photo: China Daily)

At night time

It's Over...

(No, We Are Not Moving!)

It’s just Lantern Festival today which means the end of “It sounds like I’ve been living in a city under siege for the past 15 days”…. Because of the firework that is to say. One more big bang tonight and from tomorrow people can go back to a peaceful night of sleep. It personally didn’t bother me because I can sleep through any noise!!

Again if you want to know about Lantern festival… refer to last year post. Updating the blog this year is going to be so much faster… just need a few link to last year posts and here you go!!

Great time to buy them… they are on sale!

What Did We Do?

...There must be some big meetings going on

Pekin Accueil web site blocked for the first time

Click on the picture to enlarge Click on the "Back" button of your browser to come back to this page

Even Gmail chat wasn't working...

Click on the picture to enlarge Click on the "Back" button of your browser to come back to this page

Since We Are On The Subject...

...Not that Valentine OR playboy has anything to do with the following but:

Condoms no longer evidence of prostitution in China (as of December 2007)

"Now police departments at all levels no longer take condoms as the proof of illegal sex activities in entertainment venues" said Han Mengjie, secretary of the National Center for AIDS Control and Prevention
All hotels in Beijing will be required to provide condoms in every room by the end of next year, though so far they are only available in 133 hotels out of 700 in Beijing, according to local government statistics.

And we all know what they do with used condoms!

There are even fake beauty salons!! (Reuters, Sept. 2007):

Beijing has launched a month-long crackdown on unlicensed beauty parlours and other common fronts for prostitution and gambling to sanitise the city ahead of a key Communist Party meeting next month.
Unregistered karaoke bars and bathhouses would also be targeted in a blitz across the city launched by 11 government departments, Friday's Beijing News reported.
"One third of the prostitutes detained by police in Beijing this year have come from these illegal beauty parlours," the paper quoted an unnamed police official as saying. "These salons make up 50 percent of all the prostitution dens in Beijing."
Police have also instructed China's growing ranks of property owners not to rent out their homes to people who "stay out late" and have "irregular lifestyles", the China Daily said in a separate report
The advice comes a week after Shanghai housing authorities drafted rules urging landlords not to rent rooms to unmarried couples and gays.(…) Other campaigns have included stripping highways of billboard advertisements for luxury goods that might fuel discontent among Beijing's poor, and cleansing local airwaves of "vulgar" and unpatriotic content.

...And Playboy

(Not that there is any correlation)

It all started with an interview of China Publications Import and Export Corporation vice-president Liang Jianrui who told China Daily: "We will provide most of the world's top-selling newspapers and magazines." So far nothing to stop the press since the relaxation of curbs on magazines and newspapers follows Olympic protocol. Previous host cities like Athens, Sydney and Atlanta were also asked to ensure journalists and athletes had access to all leading international publications. But then Liang also distinctly mentioned Playboy this way: "Our law forbids Playboy and we should obey this, but we can't rule out the possibility that it might make its debut (in China). There might be a demand for it." Although several influential domestic Chinese newspapers have since reported that they could not get official confirmation of the executive's remark --I presume no one would announce such a decision under the circumstances, even if there were one –

Beijing is going all out on a PR offensive to show the world next summer that it is an international city and is ready to bend the rules to give visitors a more comfortable stay. In addition to implementing a citywide clean-up campaign involving taxi-drivers and social etiquette lessons, it is ramping up English learning across the city, recruiting an unprecedented number of volunteers for the Games and doing its utmost to sanitize the environment and food hygiene levels in the city.
The good news for athletes, tourists and journalists during the 2008 Olympics is that they will be able to find many of their favorite paperbacks at downtown bookstores, while also being able to catch up on the latest news from the nine designated kiosks only hours after publications like the Financial Times are printed in Hong Kong. Popular Asian newspapers such as Hong Kong's South China Morning Post, Singapore's The Strait Times and France's L'Equipe will also be available, said Liang. Liang said his company is also talking with leading newspapers including The Washington Post and Los Angeles Times to keep down retail costs and make sure the papers arrive in a timely manner. These two dailies do not have access to printing presses in Hong Kong and must be flown from the United States to Beijing.

Each kiosk will retail over 100 kinds of newspapers and magazines, including publications that are difficult to find like The New York Times, Newsweek and Britain's The Sun famous for its topless Page 3 models. In the illustrative map published in China Daily, there were nine kiosks. Six of these are close to the National Stadium. There are three in the Olympics media village, one each in the Main Press Center, the Olympics Village and the International Broadcasting Center. Another one is at the Huabei Hotel, which will accommodate unregistered journalists. The one in Qingdao city is also located in the media center. It would seem that apart from the one kiosk at the Olympic Green, all the other kiosks are in places for journalists and athletes.

Conveniently located for the Athletes AND Journalists

One other blog made the following comment:
It shows that the authorities have come to the laughable conclusion that when foreigners complain about the lack of freedom of the press in China they are referring to pornography. (we’re talking about the BBC being constantly blocked.)
Even better than the fact that China appears to think that allowing porn equals free press, there seems to be an implication that the foreign athletes will go crazy without a playboy for a few weeks. The impression seems to be that after years of training, during the most two important weeks of their young lives these athletes will be hunting the city’s news stands for girlie mags.

I sure will keep you posted on the availability of the bunny magazine in Beijing next August. In fact I might have to send Jeff to find out since I will be in France where I’m pretty sure it is available (not that I would know!)

Valentine...

This is the one post every year that is dedicated to my loyal male reader(s?).

February Marie Claire Supplement

Dear you, if after looking at this magazine cover far too long (I know you did!) you plan on buying lingerie for you lovely wife/partner/mistress (?, we are in China!), feel free to download the user-friendly chart guide provided in last year post

* Magazine cover and idea for the post from camille

Right Or...

...Wrong Left

That driving on the wrong, sorry left, side of the road in Thailand made me wonder how many and which countries do indeed drive on the left and why?
A little google-ing and here’s part of the answer:

About a quarter of the world drives on the left, and the countries that do are mostly old British colonies. Up to the late 1700's, everybody traveled on the left side of the road because it's the sensible option for feudal, violent societies of mostly right-handed people. Jousting knights with their lances under their right arm naturally passed on each other's right, and if you passed a stranger on the road you walked on the left to ensure that your protective sword arm was between yourself and him.
Revolutionary France, however, overturned this practice as part of its sweeping social rethink. A change was carried out all over continental Europe by Napoleon. The reason it changed under Napoleon was because he was left handed his armies had to march on the right so he could keep his sword arm between him and any opponent.
From then on, any part of the world which was at some time part of the British Empire was thus left hand and any part colonized by the French was right hand.

In America, the French colonized the southern states (Louisiana for instance) and the Canadian east coast (Quebec). The Dutch colonized New York (or New Amsterdam). The Spanish and Portuguese colonized the southern Americas. So the British were a minority in shaping the 'traffic'. The drive-on-the-right policy was adopted by the USA, which was anxious to cast off all remaining links with its British colonial past.

Austria, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and the Channel Islands changed sides from left to right to conform to German practice during World War II. The last European country to convert to driving on the right was Sweden on September 3rd, 1967. And more recently, the Falkland Islands drove on the right during the period of Argentine occupation in the early 1980s (they are driving on the left side of the roads again!).

China changed to the right in 1946.

FYI: Egypt had been conquered by Napoleon before becoming a British dependency, and its traffic goes to the right. About Japan, the English minister to Japan achieved the coup of his career in 1859 when he persuaded his hosts to make keep-left the law.

Only 74 countries drive on the left side of the road. If converted to population, 34% (2 billion) drive on the left and 66% (4 billion) drive on the right. Right side wins. Left-side drivers do indeed drive on the WRONG side of the road… and all that because of the French!

Pick your side

Drive on the left side: Anguilla ; Antigua and Barbuda ;Australia ; Bahamas ; Bangladesh ; Barbados ; Bermuda ; Bhutan ; Botswana ; Brunei ; Cayman Islands ; Channel Islands (Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark, Herm, Jethou, Lihou, and Brecqhou, Ecrehous rocks and Les Minquiers) ; Christmas Island (Australia) ; Cook Islands ; Cyprus ; Dominica ; East Timor ; Falkland Islands ; Fiji ; Grenada ; Guyana ; Hong Kong ; India ; Indonesia ; Ireland ; Isles of Man; Jamaica ; Japan ; Kenya ; Kiribati ; Cocos (Keeling) Islands (Australia) ; Lesotho ; Macau ; Malawi ; Malaysia ; Maldives ; Malta ; Mauritius ; Montserrat ; Mozambique ; Namibia ; Nauru ; Nepal ; New Zealand ; Niue ; Norfolk Island (Australia) ; Pakistan; Papua New Guinea ; Pitcairn Islands (Britain) ; Saint Helena ; Saint Kitts and Nevis ; Saint Lucia ; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines ; Seychelles ; Singapore ; Solomon Islands ; Somaliland ; South Africa ; Sri Lanka ; Suriname ; Swaziland ; Tanzania ; Thailand ; Tokelau (New Zealand) ; Tonga ; Trinidad and Tobago ; Turks and Caicos Islands ; Tuvalu ; Uganda ; United Kingdom (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) ; Virgin Islands (British) ; Virgin Islands (US) ; Zambia ; Zimbabwe.

Thailand...

...Part II

ราชอาณาจักรไทย*

Thailand: 65 millions people, 514,000 km2 (or 198,000 sq mi), about the size of France or larger than the State of California. Capital: Bangkok. Driving on the wrong side of the road and another “weird” way of writing!! And by the way isn’t it terrible when you go to another country and start missing Chinese characters, well when they are not using roman letters at least.

So paradise looks like paradise anywhere. And with an airport as cute as this one, we've probably landed not far from it!

But here we got a little closer to paradise with our private bungalow right on the beach. And that’s pretty much all we did:

We did take a break one day and explore a little bit of the island:

On our way back home (Beijing!) we stopped in Bangkok (so we can cross it off of our list: “Been There, Done That!”) and visited some temples…Isn’t it what tourists are supposed to do?:

And because it’s Thailand… the traditional chocolate on the pillow in our room had a different flavor:

*Thailand in Thai

Thailand...

...Part I

So we are back from another trip. Yes it’s only been a month since our last “adventure” but I promise no more exotic trips for a while; next time “exotic” will come to us since my sister and her family will pay us a visit from St Barth (if you don’t know where it is, just open any gossip magazine and you will probably see at least a few celebrities lazing on its beach in the winter when they are tired of skiing in Aspen in the States or Gstaad in Switzerland and waiting to catch some rays in St Tropez in July/August).

Well back to me since it ain’t my sister’s Blog, is it? … While south of China was strangled by heavy snow (they apparently hadn’t seen that in 50 years) and the chaos that followed with the departure of millions of Chinese trying to go back to their home towns and family for the Chinese New Year holiday (a real institution here) we decided to escape the craziness of Chunjie (Spring Festival or Chinese New Year as it is known here) and migrate to Koh Samui in Thailand. Before showing you some pictures I would like to give you a brief geography lesson on the area because I cannot trust CNN and their maps for that*!!

In red: china (ie our home for the last 18 months) In green: Vietnam (ie our xmas vacation) In Blue: Thailand!!

In Blue: Bangkok & Phuket (for reference) In Red: Koh Samui

Next post: The Suiter’s in Koh Samui. Because I’ve already talked wrote too much on this one.

*Europe and France by CNN:

What's it NOT supposed to look like

What it's supposed to look like

Happy New Year

...4706 in China but 2551 in Thailand*

I could have told you 新年快乐 Xin Nian Kuai Le (like last year) but my Chinese is so much better this year (cough, cough) that I prefer to use the very local 您吉祥 Nin2 Ji2 Xiang4, which apparently roughly translates as “wishing you luck and health in the new year”.

Because there is nothing better to wish a Happy Chinese New Year than with the cover of the free English magazine “That’s Beijing” (that every Expat looks for frenetically at the beginning of each month) so here it is just like last year. By the look at it, it seems like it’s the year of the rat… so if you were born 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72, 84 or even 96 years ago this is your 本命年 “BenMingNian” (“special year”, you are supposed to wear something red, be your underwear or just a string, for protection and good luck). More about Chinese zodiac here.

That’s Beijing Magazine

* Thai New Year, called Songkran is the ancient New Year's Day and it's celebrated between the 13th and 15th of April. The reference point is Lord Buddha's birth 543 before Jesus Christ.

I'm Telling You...

...It's Spring Time

Just to keep you informed because you might not have read it last year (shame on you!) but it’s spring time here in China. And since I don’t want to repeat myself, just check last year’s post on the topic.
And because spring starts before the (Chinese) New Year something horrible is supposed to happen… It should have been the same last year but nobody was talking about it in 2007, probably because they were just too happy that the Golden Pig had returned after 60 years!

Nico...

...& Carla

• Packing… check
• Passport… check
• Plane ticket… check
• Husband… check
• Kids…check
• Finally boarding… check
• Newspaper… check

Oh no, he’s making the headlines in this newspaper too!!!

Click on the picture to enlarge Click on the "Back" button of your browser to come back to this page

Update: it turns out he did get married the day I was reading the article (02.02.08)… but let’s not go there!

It's Vacation Time...

...Again!

It’s been a while now (1 month) since we got back from Vietnam and I think we need some vacation again!!!
Chinese New Year is just around the corner and Chinese National Holiday usually means chaos since everybody takes their vacation at the same time and even more during CNY. It’s the time of the year to be with family so millions of people (and especially migrant workers) hit the road. Once again we are not going back to see family (it’s not “our” traditional holiday) but we are hitting the road air and flying to much warmer climate for a week of pure indulgence in Koh Samui, Thailand. See you back in a week all tan!!!

Time to Flee The Country...

China’s worst winter weather in five decades will continue over the next three days, the China Meteorological Administration (CMA) told a news conference Wednesday.
The heavy snow and sleet has paralyzed transport and coal shipments, and led to travelers cramming railways stations and airports and power supply reductions in almost half of the 31 provinces and regions on the Chinese mainland.
The havoc was chiefly caused by the long-lasting sleet, which resulted from warm and cold air currents clashing over south China, said CMA spokesperson Jiao Haiyan.
The CMA was advising people in affected areas to stay home and reduce energy consumption during the holiday period of the Chinese Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival, she said.
Over the next 10 days, southwestern, eastern and southern China will embrace more snow and sleet with freezing temperatures while northern China will stay clear but windy, according to the CMA.
The snow struck as tens of millions of Chinese began to head home to celebrate the major Chinese holiday starting Feb. 7 this year, straining rail, air and road transport services as well as shipping. (Xinhua News Agency)

It Ain't Harbin...

...And It Ain't Close Either!

Last year we went to northern China, Harbin to be exact to the renowned Ice & Snow Festival. (I should put a link here to the post but I haven’t uploaded any pictures yet so just do a Google search to have an idea of what I’m talking about!!!). We heard about Beijing’s own Harbin kind-of-festival being held in Longqing Gorge so we decided to go and have a look. It’s a good 2-hour drive from downtown Beijing and as we were driving to the mountain there was not a snowflake in sight so we started to wonder how they could hold a Snow and Ice festival with a weather so uncooperative!!

They just build a big tent over the ice sculptures:

So Many People...

...So Few Names

When I wrote the post “What’s In A Name” (about the Olympics) I remembered that I had started a while back to write about Chinese Family names. I think the idea was triggered by the fact that 3 out of 7 of the company’s drivers are called Wang. One being our driver!

So what’s the reality: 85 percent out of China's 1.3 billion people share only 100 surnames even more, 70% of the Chinese population uses the same 45 surnames.

Sources differ but mostly the top ten being:

1. 李 Li
   
2. 王 Wang
   
3. 張 张 Zhang
   
4. 劉 刘 Liu
   
5. 陳 陈 Chen
   
6. 楊 杨 Yang
   
7. 黃 黄 Huang
   
8. 趙 赵 Zhao
   
9. 周 Zhou
   
10. 吳 吴 Wu.

our name came 41st on the list (it was 36th in 1990) 蘇 苏 Su

Having the same name as other people is an annoying fact of life for many people in China, causing lots of problems in household registration and daily life. To avoid giving their children names that are too common, some parents opt for rare and difficult characters. But this practice also creates problems, because computer input systems often do not recognize rare characters. According to the public security department, more than 40,000 people in Beijing are unable to get their identity cards because the rare characters in their names cannot be keyed into the computer.

Traditionally, the father's family name is the first choice for a Chinese kid's surname, although the use of the mother's name is not uncommon. Under a new draft regulation released by the ministry of public security, parents will be able to combine their surnames for their children, a move that could open up 1.28 million new possibilities.

Chinese:...

...Finger In The Nose!

I have complained a number of times about how hard not easy it is to learn Chinese (besides yesterday wizard found with almost no help!!). Well of course having 3 hours a week of Chinese and doing NO homework aside doesn’t help improve my level. But I have found a new methodology and I would like to highly recommend it to any of our future visitors:

• That's not right: Sum Ting Wong
• Are you harboring a Fugitive?: Hu Yu Hai Ding
• See me ASAP: Kum Hia Nao
• Stupid Man: Dum Fuk
• Small Horse : Tai Ni Po Ni
• Did you go to the beach?: Wai Yu So Tan
• I bumped into a coffee table: Ai Bang Mai Fa Kin Ni
• I think you need a face lift: Chin Tu Fat
• It's very dark in here: Wao So Dim
• I thought you were on a diet: Wai Yu Mun Ching?
• This is a tow away zone: No Pah King
• Our meeting is scheduled for next week: Wai Yu Kum Nao?
• Staying out of sight: Lei Ying Lo
• He's cleaning his automobile: Wa Shing Ka
• Your body odor is offensive: Yu Stin Ki Pu
• Great: Fa Kin Su Pah

Always happy to help!!

I Cannot Trust You Anymore

It’s been far too long (couple months already) since I’ve told you anything about my beloved Carrefour (Jialefu)!!

Well it appears that Mr Marketing or whoever handles translation made a mistake when they designed the sign with the name Jia Le Fu in Chinese characters.

Here’s how JiaLeFu looks like when written in Chinese Characters:

Here’s the JiaLeFu sign:

Well I bet you don’t see any differences… but my eagle eye saw (with just a tiny tiny little help) that it’s missing a little leg. Just here:

Thankfully it doesn’t change the meaning from “happiness and prosperity for the family” to something nastier but it will never be the same now between me and Mr Carrefour…. I don’t think I can blindly trust him anymore.

Target Set...

...Target Reach!!

Pollution days are down.

The magic number was 245, as in 245 sunny days a year. We just got the result and there were 246 sunny days in Beijing in 2007. What count as a sunny day you may ask, well apparently it has more to do with pollution index that the sun.


“These agencies collect data from monitoring stations around the city and calculate an Air Pollution Index (API) indicating the potential harm to human health, with a range of 1-500. An API of 100 or less is a "blue sky" day. Annual targets for the number of "Blue Sky" days are set for Beijing and other major cities in China. On Jan. 1, the government announced "blue sky" days had improved to 246 last year, up from 100 in 1998
What wasn't reported, though, was a change in collection methods. The Beijing API is an average of data from selected monitoring stations. From 1998 to 2005, the same seven stations -- located in the city center -- were used to measure air quality. In 2006, however, just as international scrutiny on China's air quality was increasing, two stations monitoring traffic were dropped from the city API calculations, while three additional stations in less polluted areas were added.
Pollution levels on a typical day in Beijing, some researchers say, are nearly five times above World Health Organization standards for safety”

Does it count as a sunny day?

Humor Is Not In Their Genes

...Especially About The Chairman

They take their former leader very seriously

Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's

Citroen apologizes for scowling Mao ad
BEIJING (Reuters) - French car-maker Citroen has apologized to China for running a full-page advertisement in several Spanish newspapers featuring a poster of late Chinese leader Mao Zedong pulling a wry face at a sporty hatch-back.
Under the Biblical quotation "Render unto Caesar the things which are Caesar's," the text talked up Citroen's position as a car sales leader in a bombastic tone.
"It's true, we are leaders, but at Citroen the revolution never stops," the advertisement said.
"We are once more going to put in motion all the machinery of our technological ability, in order to repeat in 2008 the successes obtained in previous years," it added.
The Mao poster is similar to the huge painting of the Great Helmsman gazing out over Beijing's Tiananmen Square, except that it has been distorted to show lips screwed up and eyes squinting.
"The image has been wantonly distorted by the ad's designers. Mao looks very strange," Chinese state newspaper the Global Times observed Tuesday.
The scowling Mao had infuriated Chinese Internet users who saw it as a slight, it said.
"As a Chinese, I felt greatly insulted when seeing this ad," a posting on web portal Tianya (www.tianya.com) said. "It is not only insulting Chairman Mao, but the whole Chinese nation."
"Chairman Mao is the symbol of China, and what Citroen did lacks basic respect to China," another posting said. Many Chinese retain a God-like admiration for Mao, crediting him with uniting the country after the Communist Party's defeat of U.S.-backed Nationalists in the 1945-1949 civil war.
But historians have blamed Mao's tumultuous Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution for the deaths of millions through famines caused by disastrous economic policies and the persecution of thousands through politically motivated campaigns.
Citroen had pulled the ad and apologized to China in a letter sent to the Chinese paper, it said.
"Citroen expresses regret for any displeasure caused by the advertisement and apologizes to all who have been hurt by it," the Global Times quoted the letter as saying.
A spokeswoman for Citroen in China confirmed the apology letter.
"Citroen reiterates its friendship with the Chinese people, and highly respects China's representative figures and symbols," the spokeswoman told Reuters by telephone.

I Can Be Anyone I Want

...Even A Geologist!

That could totally be one of Jeremy's smart reply. He already told us that he wanted to live at school!

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For the ones who don't know, Jeffrey is a geologist/geophysicist!

Four...

...And Counting

Time flies...

Froggy...

...& Rosbif

This post has nothing to do with China but I thought it was funny and show with humor the relations between the French and the Brits.

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Beijing Olympic Games' Emblem...

...Or How They Came Up With The Idea

I received this a while back… and apparently it’s been forwarded even among (some of) the Chinese... I’m fully aware that the following can be offensive.

The Beijing 2008 Olympic Games emblem "Chinese Seal, Dancing Beijing"

Last Post About the Olympics for a while, promise (?!)

Friend...

...Lies

And since we are on the subject, let’s talk about the mascots: Fuwa. Formerly known as the Friendlies (because they were friends ?) but it appeared that some people whose English is not their first language thought it says… friend lies!!!
The new name Fuwa, which is the pinyin translation of their Chinese name, was adopted in October 2006. So who are the friendly fuwa (福娃).

Each Fuwa has a rhyming two-syllable name -a traditional way of expressing affection for children in China. There are:

• beibei, the blue one symbolizing the Fish
• jingjing, the black one symbolizing the Panda
• huanhuan in red symbolizing the Olympic Flame
• yingying, the yellow one symbolizing the Tibetan Antelope
• nini, the green one symbolizing the Swallow

When put together they make up the sentence "Beijing huanying ni" or "Beijing welcomes you" (or Welcome to Beijing)… how clever!

What's In A Name?

Just in case you have been living on Mars recently you might not be aware that this year is THE year for China big showcase to the world: the Olympic Games and it will happen the 08.08.08 at 08.08pm (August 8 or 8th of August 2008 at 8 o’clock and 8 minutes) well at least the start of the opening ceremony. The games last a little longer, until the 24th actually.

And no, it’s not by chance that the date and time were chosen: the number 8 happens to be a lucky number in China (see this post for the unlucky number!)

Since I sense I will probably write a lot about the Olympic this year (everything that is happening seems to be somehow connected to the Games) let's once and for all see what’s in the name:

奥运会
Ao4 Yun4 Hui4
Olympic Games
Jeux Olympiques
(The 3 official languages of the Oly)
(Yes French is one of them…I’m not trying to be patriotic)

That’s the contraction of a much longer word:

• ao4 lin2 pi3 ke4 (奥林匹克) you would have guest is the phonetic translation of Olympic.
• yun4 dong4 (运动) means Sport… we are still on track so far
• hui4 (会) is not the contraction of any other word it means conference, meeting, get-together…
  

Here you go: 7 months to practice your Chinese spelling (drawing?)

To know more about the Olympic (in Chinese, English and French)!

1. http://beijing2008.cn/
2. http://en.beijing2008.cn/
3. http://fr.beijing2008.cn/

tong2 yi ge shi4 jie4 tong2 yi ge meng2 xiang3 Un Monde Un Rêve

We Are Addicted To D...

...No, Not That.. Only DVDs!

We always liked the movies but it’s at an all new level now!!

Previously to our move we had heard about the pirated DVDs available in China, but what we didn’t imagine before coming here was how easily obtainable they were. We first thought that we would have to go to places we thought we never go to find them… how wrong we were! There are at every street corner (literally) and shops are there in plain view. I can even find them at my local “expat” supermarket!

So after watching more movies we ever thought possible (sometime the day of their release, thanks to copy of the Academy Award or copy of a projection at a movie theater –silhouette non optional!) we are now into television series. A full season (i.e 22-24 episodes) watched in the space of about a week. I am not sure I will ever be able to watch a series which runs over a period of several months (and I not even talking about the reruns!) ever again.

With a tag price of about ¥10 to 15 (€1 to 1.5 or $2) for a movie and ¥100 (€10 or $15) for one season of the series, and that’s because we prefer to splurge and have good copies (ie without shaky image, silhouette or change of language in the middle of the movie), our collection is growing exponentially by the day!

Not all master pieces!

It's Getting...

...Hot Cold In Here

Winter is coming, the temperatures are dropping… everybody is adding layers of clothing … even the trees are getting their own protection for the cold!

Happy New Year...

...But Not The Chinese New Year Yet!

Back from our holiday in Vietnam but not quite done with vacation yet… one more week of laziness. And since New Year usually rhymes with new resolution… mine for this year will be to keep the posting up to date!!!

Resolution are made to be broken, aren’t they?

Vietnam...

...In Pictures

Coming up soon(ish?!).

We're Outta Here...

...See You Next Year!

After working this morning (a proper paid job this time), finishing packing our suitcases, we are just hours away before going on our Christmas holiday. This year we decided to skip snow and cold weather whether in France or the States and instead favor sun and next door neighbor country.

No it’s not the Chinese flag with some missing stars!!

Pictures of Hanoi and Halong bay, HoChiMinh/Saigon and the Mekong Delta, Nha Trang…. When we come back… in the meantime: Merry Christmas

It's There...

...It's Not There!

Hot from the press: aah Photoshop…

Before…without boots

After… with Boots (wrong one on her right foot by the way!)

No wrinkles to take care at this age…