The Big C

I just got back from China; Guangzhou to be exact. Here's my "all about China in a nutshell" post.

China and the money

Money/shopping/material goods and gain should be among your primary concerns when you visit the place. When "they" say "stuff in China is cheap," "they" mean it. In fact, the currency of China (RMB) when translated to English (by a wise sage I know) means "youre getting ripped off". So when you ask someone how much somethign is for, they reply "200 you're getting ripped off" or "250 you're getting ripped off."

The reason for this is simple; there is always someone somwhere close by willing to sell you the same thing cheaper (Cardinal Rule number one).
There is no such thing as a bottom price. nada. I'll bet if you bargain hard enough they'll pay you to take stuff off them. Well, maybe not. Then again, maybe.

I had somethign like 40 sing spending money, with which I bought the following:

• a sweeeet graphite shaft pool cue in a gnaaarly wooden case. (26 $)
• gucci cufflinks (yes, you're right, what am i going to do with those) (4 $)
• 8 gb sony flash drive. (yes, 8 fishin' geebees) (14 $)
• mao zedong posters (4 $)
• turning a corner and seeing the same stuff at half the price (priceless $$$)

China and the place

Different parts of the city look pretty different. But most of the city looks like Delhi. In fact, there were instances when I was telling the cab driver, "if you turn left and go down that street you'll hit mall road, and from there Babloo's house is within walking distance." No, I don't know a Babloo, but sometimes I wish I did.

At other times, while walking through narrow gullies to get to that particular counerfeit shop, I could swear I'd be able to turn a corner and see kids playing cricket.

The university was alright, with the highlight being the coop that sold cigarette cartons for a buck, and beers for 60 cents. No, I don't smoke, but sometimes, I wish I did. Oh, and the university had lakes. Thats right; water-body-lake things. Apparently, a lot of universities in China have lakes in them. Very interesting. yawn.

It was also pretty hazy, so I felt right at home :P

China and the people

Chinese people are fun. Well, actually, playing dumb charades for four days straight is fun. I did not have a phrase book. So, I'm sure you can imagine (I'm talking about communication, just in case you hadn't already figured it out). But yes, the delegates at the conference (yes, I went there for a conference) were interesting and receptive. Made new friends, talked to people, etc even though my Chinese is limited to Ni Hao, naka, tckika?, xie xie, and meiyo (which was the word to know, pronounced mayo, like the stuff some people eat).

On a more interesting note though, one of the clubs we went to had a bikini-clad woman dancing with a python around her.

On an even more interesting note, at the airport, a woman tried to hand us a big doll house and convince us to take it with us past customs. No, really. Doesn't everyone know that all dolls at airports are stuffed with unmentionable items. And that chocolates have diamonds hidden in them. She didn't give us chocolate though, just the dolls; so we pretty much stayed awaaay from her.

got work and am sleepy now, will post a little more on china with pictures soon. maybe.

tc