Wednesday, 13 May 2009

Toilets in China

Before I first came to China, I have heard things like the toilets in China really stinks! You can smell a toilet miles away.. many of them doesnt even have doors!
Well, things are not as bad as I thought... in major cities and shopping malls, I consider the toilets okay... but from small eateries and restaurants, the toilets can be really dirty and smelly. You really have to stop breathing the moment you enter.. heh

Some pictures of China toilet:-
Most toilets here are of squatting type like the one in this picture. I guess it is cheaper to have a squatting toilets and the Chinese prefer to squat more than sit. I have seen squatting footprints on a sitting toilet bowl couple of times... Mmmm..
And.. do u see a bin there? Apparently, you are not suppose to throw tissue or anything into the toilet bowl as it will choke it but you got to throw them into the bin provided.
This is something new to me because back in Singapore we throw our tissue into the bowl.. i guess it should be more hygienic that way yah...
You see a lock on the toilet roll holder? The only reason i can think of is that there are people who steal toilet paper that they have to lock it? MMmmm

You see the last picture of the poster? It is taken from a above average restaurant in Guangzhou. We were laughing our heads off with my friends when we saw it... Mmmm.. funny funny..

Friday, 16 January 2009

Protesting in Guangzhou

Hi all, sorry for not blogging for some time.. was busy with work and traveling around.

I wish to caution my readers who are in China or coming over to Guangzhou, there have been a rise in protesting. With the global slowdown, China is not spared. Many companies has started to cut cost, downsize or retrench workers etc. This has resulted in a rise in public protest. I witness one of it last week when I was in Guangzhou. It was held near my office.
The banner in white is translated as: I want to eat, give me back my job!


Apparently, some 500 workers from the company was being retrenched. I was told by another friend that he saw another protest in DongFeng Road Guangzhou 2 days ago. Normally, these news are not reported as the media is government control. I believe the situation is worse in other factories dominated cities like DongGuan and Jiangmen.
Economy in South China is the most affected because it is driven mainly by exports. Many factories in the South are in exporting business, almost 80% are reported to have closed. Those who are surviving are struggling. Things are not looking good for them.

To add on, with the Chinese New Year (26th Jan09) coming, many companies are closed for the lunar new year holiday ( up to 2 weeks).. there are a lot of locals who go back to their hometowns. Train stations and airports are especially crowded this season. With many people out of job, you got to be extra careful...
Take care people.. it looks like 2009 will be a tough year, but when the going gets tough, the tough get going!

Wednesday, 5 November 2008

Guangzhou Seafood Centre

Hi all, i went to the Guangzhou seafood centre at Huang Sha District.
Just hop on to any taxi and tell the driver, Huang Sha Seafood Centre!
There, you can select your own seafood, lobster, fish, salmon, oysters, etc.. and you bring them to the restaurants nearby to ask them to cook for you.
Cheap and fresh!
That night, we spent in total about RMB500 for a table of 7 of us..



Weather in GZ seems to be turning cooler these few days.. wear thicker clothes.. take care!

Saturday, 1 November 2008

how to increase viewership?1

hi there... i realise that after a few months of starting this blog..
the readership is still very low...

Perhaps, the content here is not relevant for you..
Please help to give comments on how and what I should do to increase the readership..

thanks!!

Tuesday, 21 October 2008

Mobile telecommunication service provider in China

Hi folks, let us talk on the mobile telecommunication providers in China. Currently, there are 2 telecom provider here. ChinaMobile (中国移动) - which is using GSM network and is the bigger player, the smaller player is ChinaUnicom (中国联通)- which has either GSM or CDMA for you to choose. According to ChinaUnicom, using CDMA network is supposing healthier as the radiation is relatively lower than GSM.

China Mobile:-






ChinaUnicom:-




For most of us, I will encourage you to take up ChinaMobile instead of ChinaUnicom because they are bigger and they have more services. For example, I know I will not be able to roam ChinaUnicom CDMA when I am back in Singapore as Singapore only uses GSM. I understand that most countries, except Japan and Korea uses GSM and not CDMA.



As for pricing, they are both somewhat similar. Under ChinaMobile, there are a few plans which they offer. Most Chinese local uses 神州行where incoming call is free (within the region, not whole China, ie, if you buy your card in Shanghai, incoming call when you are in Shanghai is free, but when you are in Guangzhou, it is chargeable). You can easier get a 神州行 sim card in newspaper stands, bookstores etc:Anybody can buy and you need not produce identity, cost you RMB100 (RMB20 for SIM card, RMB80 talk time). Whenever the value is low, just walk into any stores to buy a RMB50 or RMB100 top up card. Note this is all pre-paid, when you use up all the value in your card, your line will be automatically cut off.


Nevertheless, I will not encourage expats to take up the above plan, because the above plan does not offer international auto roaming. That is, if I use it, i cannot apply auto roaming and when I am out of China, I will not be reachable. Therefore I will encourage you to take up another plan call 全球通 - Go Tone, where you can apply auto roaming.

This plan has to be applied at the service counter at ChinaMobile, and you will need your passport to apply.

For more information, you can log on to their website at:-
http://www.chinamobile.com/en/
http://www.chinaunicom.com./

Take care!



Sunday, 12 October 2008

Hong Kong Trip

Hi folks! I hope you had an excellent weekend!
One thing good in Guangzhou is that it is just next to Macau and Hong Kong. Last Friday, I went over to Hong Kong for some work and the train to Hong Kong from Guangzhou is only less than 2 hours and cost HKD190.00 (one way).
If you are working in Guangzhou, I will encourage you to go over to Hong Kong or/and Macau for shopping or sight seeing.
The normal train ticket in China is in pink but the train tickets to Hong Kong look like this:-
The train station will look like this:-
Please note that, depending on your nationality, you may need a visa to enter Hong Kong.
I am glad to be a Singaporean, which does not need one to enter.. heh..
Everyday, there are 12 trips to and fro Guangzhou and Hong Kong (Kowloon). The train starts at Guangzhou East Train station (note that there are 2 train stations in Guangzhou, one is Guangzhou East, another Guangzhou Train station) The frequency and timings of the trian are as below. You may want to click to see a bigger picture.



Depending on which train you take, some trains will stop at DongGuang and/or Shenzhen station.
If you have big items or luggage, you may want to check in, but the train station will charge you for that. The charges is as below:-
This is how the train look like:-
As you can see the train is not very crowded. Therefore, you need not buy the train tickets in advance. You will only need to be there about 45mins to 1 hour earlier to buy the tickets and go through the customs.
However, this may not be true during peak seasons like the Chinese New Year or Holiday seasons where there are many travellers, and you will need to buy your tickets a few days in advance to secure a seat.


When you arrive in Hong Kong, the train stops just beside the MTR (hong kong subway) station. From there you can take the MTR which take you to almost anywhere in Hong Kong. This is the MTR station you will see:-
Alternatively, you may take a taxi which of course will be more costly. The starting fee for the taxi in Hong Kong is HKD16.00. A 10-15mins taxi ride will cost you about HKD50-60.
Or the bus is another good option:-


Have a great week!

Tuesday, 7 October 2008

Real KungFu - The chinese fast food restaurant

Hi people...
There are a lot of international fast food brands in China like McDonald and KFC. But, you may be surprise to see a chinese fast food chain in China called Real Kung Fu.

Being headquartered in Guangzhou, they have the most number of chains here. I see them everywhere in Guangzhou, and there is one Real KungFu at the basement of my office building.
Their logo: Bruce Lee. Maybe you will fight as good as him if you eat more? heh..


Being Chinese fast food, they serve most of their set meals with rice and soup unlike others with coke and burger or chicken. They market their food as something healthy as they are mostly steam and boiled. Unlike Mcd or KFC where it is mostly deep fried which most people deem it as unhealthy.

I do see them in Shanghai but not as many outlets as it is in Guangzhou.

The set meal cost between RMB20-25, normally come with rice, meat, veggie and soup. For more of their company info http://www.zkungfu.com/

I had Real KungFu a few times.. and I feel that it is quite Okay.. but i still think i cant fight that well.. Mmm..maybe i should eat more.. heh

Give it a try and let me know if it taste good? Take good care!