Archive by Author
Credit Card Cancellations Posted by Transparent Language on Feb 26, 2010
Last month, a friend of mine lost his 钱包 (wallet), containing his 信用卡 (credit card), which he then had to 取消 (cancel) before his 账户被盗 (account [could be] taken). A larger concern than the money inside was his 个人资料 (personal information). Personally, I 宁愿 (would rather) lose my cash than have to report a missing…
Real Estate in China Posted by Transparent Language on Feb 25, 2010
Yesterday I was walking in a 商场 (mall) in Shenzhen, and I found the 走道 (corridor) to be rather 暗 (dark) except for emergency lighting. It’s difficult to say if this was an early sign of the 房地产泡沫 (real estate bubble) in China, but at least 20 storefronts had 旺铺招租 (hot shop for rent) signs…
Dryer Woes Posted by Transparent Language on Feb 24, 2010
In my previous apartment in Beijing, the washer broke. In this apartment, the dryer does not work. Because the dryer does not work, we had to purchase a 超静型干衣机 (super-quiet dryer), which occupies a significant amount of floorspace and resembles an inflated 气球 (balloon). My washer has a 烘干 (drying) 功能 (function), but it appears…
Border Delay Posted by Transparent Language on Feb 23, 2010
Yesterday I was crossing back into Shenzhen from Hong Kong when something out of the ordinary happened. The immigration officer at the desk felt strongly that the photo on my 护照 (passport) did not 像 (look like) the person standing in front of her. She consulted with the officer sitting adjacent to her, and then…
Shanzhai Phones Posted by Transparent Language on Feb 20, 2010
When I told a friend of mine that an overwhelming amount of of the world’s 山寨 (bandit, or knockoff- see below) phones were manufactured within a 半径 (radius) of 2 miles from my apartment, he 怀疑 (suspected) that there was no way it could be true. Just yesterday, I sent him an article from the…
Chinese Tourism During Chinese New Year Posted by Transparent Language on Feb 16, 2010
I am currently writing from Laos, where yesterday I saw a large group of Chinese tourists busy on 春游 (spring travel). Several 房车 (RVs) were on the streets in Luang Prabang, not unlike some American tourists on tour. The tourists’ cars (they drove) 要么 (either) were from 云南 (Yunnan)，要么 (either, see below) were from 重庆…
Happy New Year! Posted by Transparent Language on Feb 13, 2010
Greetings from 老挝 (Laos) and 新年快乐 (Happy New Year) to everyone! This year is 虎年 (the year of the TIger), which marks the end of my own 本命年 (one’s own birth year), said to be the unluckiest/hardest year for people born in that year. For those of you born in the Year of the Tiger…