darkstar1 May 07, 2013 Comments(3)
Weixin, or WeChat, as it’s known to us English-speaking folk, is truly a revolutionary piece of technology. I’d heard about it for a couple of years from friends and was urged to download it and join the craze, but up until now I’ve never had a smart phone or tablet. Now that I do, I thought why not give it a whirl. When I ... Read More>>
90PercentTravel May 06, 2013
Today’s diary will take us to the most impressive and wild section of the Great Wall… forget about classical touristic path full of people fooling around and piling one onto the other one to take pictures on the most famous spots. Today there’s a big challenge waiting for us, but if it is true that the greatest joys come from ... Read More>>
darkstar1 Apr 28, 2013 Comments(6)
I’ve been in China a good while now and while I can’t claim to have completely melted into the society I do believe I’ve done rather well at adjusting to the various nuances and annoyances that often have most expats either screaming at the walls or running down the street naked. The spitting, the shouting, the littering, the ... Read More>>
darkstar1 Apr 25, 2013 Comments(1)
It’s amazing in China the sheer palette of varying social make ups, and by that I don’t only mean ethnicity, social or cultural background, I also ideas and viewpoints that come with certain age groups. It’s amazing to think most middle-aged people in China, who grew up during the cultural revolution, seem to have a very ... Read More>>
easyrider Apr 24, 2013 Comments(1)
Hey all! It’s a warm spring’s morning and as I’ve got the morning free and am nursing a mild hangover I thought I’d give some writing a whirl. Last night a few friends and I headed out for a few street beers as the weather was lovely and I was in an equally lovely mood. Ha! Anyway, during the consumption of said beers we ... Read More>>
darkstar1 Apr 18, 2013 Comments(4)
Being sick in China sucks. Well, being sick anywhere sucks really; but when we’re hit by a barrage of headaches or a nasty cold it seems that the symptoms and the road to recovery are somewhat more magnified than they would be elsewhere. I’m currently struck down with a ruthless cold that has left me at 50% for the past week or so, ... Read More>>
easyrider Apr 16, 2013 Comments(1)
Now I’ve been up and down the eastern spine of China several times during my short time here, whether it be to see friends, get out of where I am now (Hangzhou) or even take a trip with my school for work. At first, I liked what I saw, and despite the realization that almost all the cities looked the same, I did enjoy the various scenic ... Read More>>
darkstar1 Apr 11, 2013 Comments(2)
China can very easily get you down. Read the news, cross the road, open your window, look outside, teach a bunch a spoilt brats, and we can all feel the pressure at times and the screaming in our conscious which says “what the hell are you still doing here!” And up until recently, my daily frustrations in Beijing made me wonder what ... Read More>>
OwainLW Apr 09, 2013 Comments(1)
The use of Western music in China has always bemused me; from the pulsating beats of “Happy Birthday” pounding against the walls of a misty, dim-lit night club as quasi-wealthy 20-somethings slam down their shots of 3% beer as if it’s vodka, to the sickeningly dull looping Kenny G saxophone riffs that seemed to be installed in ... Read More>>
ruby311 Apr 08, 2013 Comments(2)
yummy! Read More>>
jonnathan Apr 08, 2013
The creation of Chinas biggest exhibition center for Chinese products outside china will take place in the city of Cancun, Mexico, planned to start with the groundbreaking ceremony after the spring festival on February 2013 to be completed in its first stage of seven by May 2014.The proposed complex would house 3,040 showrooms, divided among 14 ... Read More>>
wjit Apr 07, 2013 Comments(1)
Changing social conditions and norms are making it increasingly difficult for the young people to find a life partner through traditional channels and more and more solitary souls are turning to online dating services in search of a soul mate. In a series of articles, sino-us.com presents the real-life experience of one such man looking for love ... Read More>>
wyunf Apr 06, 2013 Comments(1)
for the bed Read More>>
darkstar1 Apr 02, 2013 Comments(2)
I must say that in general, China has a pretty generous amount of public holidays. In my mind, we’ve only just come out of Chinese New Year and are already about to enter another one with the morbidly named Tomb Sweeping Festival. After that, it’s the May Day Festival, then the Dragon Boat Festival, the Mid-Autumn Festival and the ... Read More>>
easyrider Mar 28, 2013 Comments(1)
There are obviously many aspects about life in China that can bring us down, though I have to say I think I’ve done ok so far in controlling my anger/mood and simply looking at all the crazy stuff that goes on here with a twinkle in my eye and a light-hearted smile across my lips. Yesterday I saw a pair of chengguans (street police/thugs) ... Read More>>
darkstar1 Mar 26, 2013 Comments(4)
We all worry about the day when our bodies finally give up on us and we have to reluctantly haul ourselves from the comfort of the toilet bowl to the nearby hospital. I’ve been in China for a while now and I must say aside from a couple of instances of food poisonings, I’ve been pretty lucky so far…well that was until last ... Read More>>
easyrider Mar 21, 2013
This has been something that’s been on my mind a lot of late. I recently met up with an old pal of mine who has been living in Switzerland for the past few years and I was really surprised when he told about the extent that Switzerland has had to adapt its tourist market for wealthy Chinese. He told me of little “China ... Read More>>
darkstar1 Mar 18, 2013 Comments(1)
Despite obvious food safety concerns and the like, China is still a culinary paradise for many reasons, and is known for its countless ingenious ways of cooking various types of foods in weird and wonderful ways. I have to say, that prior to my arrival in China I was a bit conservative on the old food front and stuck to my guns regarding what I ... Read More>>
easyrider Mar 15, 2013
I’ve been in this gig for several years now and I can say it’s a pretty fun job most of the time. I have a pretty relaxed schedule, live in a pretty chilled out city and get a decent enough salary to live comfortably and make some considerable savings for potential travelling or whatever. It’s not such a bad life. In our ... Read More>>
darkstar1 Mar 13, 2013 Comments(1)
Ok, I’m about to open a can of political worms with this one, though who doesn’t savour the opportunity to be an armchair pundit with almost no expertise on a subject which has been widely discussed by experts across the world? I certainly don’t, and this has been something on my mind of late. Yes China – I’m asking ... Read More>>
OwainLW Mar 11, 2013
Being British, many people would assume that a love of good food isn’t something that stifles its way into my thoughts too often, and I would say that most of the time, they’re right. I like my curry, my pizza, my Cantonese…it’s all good but I’ve never been too fussy about exactly it is I eat (save for the fact ... Read More>>
darkstar1 Mar 08, 2013
I recall an evening roughly a year ago where I was with a group of friends heading back home after a night out in one of the many chilled out bars located around Beijing’s Gulou area. In a turn of events that would surely contradict any perception of construction safety anywhere outside of China, we were approached by these bar owners who ... Read More>>
Amazingchina Mar 07, 2013
My tears was full of my eyes, wet my face, again and again, My heart was touched by a great man with unordinary life, Jean Valjean, from a prisoner that is full of hate and despair, Turn into a brave man with kindness, forgiveness and love for humanity. Nowadays, where is another Jean Valjean ? I think we generation are still selfish, cold and ... Read More>>
OwainLW Mar 06, 2013
First things first, although living in China does provide me with enough annoyances and frustrations to keep me going until I’m well and truly in the grave, there are some things which keep me happy here and remind me of my decision to come to China in the first place. They usually revolve around aesthetic things such as food, landscape, ... Read More>>
darkstar1 Mar 04, 2013
I’ve been living in Beijing for a few years now, and though I don’t think it can quite claim to have full “international city” status in the why that Hong Kong or possibly Shanghai do, it’s still pretty modern and forward-thinking enough for a dumbass foreigner like me to maraud their way around relatively ... Read More>>