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Miles Smiles
Joined: 07 Jun 2010
Posts: 1294
Location: Heebee Jeebee
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 Posted: Thu Aug 04, 2011 8:17 pm Post subject: |
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| kev7161 wrote: |
| Hey Mods! Can there please be a sticky about this? No offense to the poster, but this question gets asked over and over again. Of course, everyone has their own priorities as to what should be brought over, but every thread seems to always list a dozen or so of the same items each time. |
China is an ever-changing country. In one small berg in 2006, there were NO e-bikes. then they appeared out of nowhere, and within a few months, they crowded the streets.
In my little berg of 2,000,000, there was only Chinese beer and Budweiser available in October, 2010. Within weeks, Stella Artois, Heineken, and Guinness was everywhere. Strangely, I couldn't locate a simple needle and thread. I was told to bring my holey socks and underwear into town and let one of the ladies with the manual sewing machines do the work. To this day, I cannot find any place that sells a simple needle and a spool of thread.
I couldn't find a place to buy greeting cards throughout the year last year. I was told to watch for them in the school supply stores and in one of the supermarkets right before a holiday.
Then, one day, a Hallmark card store opened up.
What might be more helpful than a sticky would be if the seeker says where he is headed.
Even better: if you don't want to answer the same questions over and over again, don't answer. It's that simple, n'est-ce pas? |
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seamallowance
Joined: 20 Apr 2010
Posts: 151
Location: Weishan, Jining, Shandong
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| Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2011 5:03 am Post subject: |
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| Laurence wrote: |
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| and a world map IN ENGLISH. |
image search + microsoft publisher + print? |
Not for us, silly. For the kids. A wall-sized map. So they can crowd around it and find places. |
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kev7161
Joined: 06 Feb 2004
Posts: 5880
Location: Suzhou, China
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| Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2011 2:28 pm Post subject: |
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| What might be more helpful than a sticky would be if the seeker says where he is headed. |
A sticky can be ever evolving. But to this day and the many years I've been on this site, every time someone asks "What should I bring?", I read: deodorant, deodorant, deodorant. Then someone comes along and says, "there IS deodorant here, but it is expensive and . . . blah, blah, blah"
My personal opinion is that a sticky would negate some of the repetitiveness and people can update it as they see fit. |
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7969
Joined: 26 Mar 2003
Posts: 5782
Location: Coastal Guangdong
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| Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2011 2:30 pm Post subject: |
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| I think a fully functioning search engine would be a better idea, and some kind of notice to remind people to try using it. |
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GuestBob
Joined: 18 Jun 2011
Posts: 270
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| Posted: Sun Aug 07, 2011 3:00 pm Post subject: |
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| kev7161 wrote: |
| My personal opinion is that a sticky would negate some of the repetitiveness and people can update it as they see fit. |
I agree but would qualify it with the fact that many people who use the internet don't like to read. Odd, considering that the internet is basically a text based medium.
The thing which prevents garbage posting is not more information but better information and the willingness to enforce a policy of "lurk more".
The general rule on some of the more successful forums is that "if an answer to your questions is in the first five or ten results of a straightforward search then you will be banned for posting a new thread".
The issue with Dave's is that there is a high occasional traffic (people who register to post one or two questions only) and a limited feeling of community. |
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kev7161
Joined: 06 Feb 2004
Posts: 5880
Location: Suzhou, China
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Non Sequitur
Joined: 23 May 2010
Posts: 4724
Location: China
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| Posted: Mon Aug 08, 2011 9:11 am Post subject: |
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7969 is right.
The lack of a search facility is a pain.
I used to get peeved when newbies asked questions that have been covered many times. But now having tried to use the search engine I re post stuff.
I was a newbie once and getting ready to leave for your first gig is bad enough without smart a**** like me snootily commenting that it has all been covered.
The point made about the rapidity of change is good. What was a rarity a year ago is now commonplace. |
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astrayalien
Joined: 01 Feb 2011
Posts: 85
Location: China
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| Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 10:39 am Post subject: |
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| I brought my favourite pillow (goose down) with me. This was a good decision. |
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nomad-ish
Joined: 21 Oct 2010
Posts: 153
Location: Moving up the food chain!
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| Posted: Thu Aug 18, 2011 4:54 pm Post subject: |
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| I'm also curious about which proxy servers to use and if I'd get in trouble for using one... |
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Mowgli
Joined: 18 Jun 2011
Posts: 4
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| Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2011 2:17 am Post subject: |
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| Dito. I am leaving in a week for Zhengzhou and I am wondering about proxy servers to allow me access to Facebook? |
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dean_a_jones
Joined: 03 Jul 2009
Posts: 1151
Location: Wuhan, China
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| Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2011 2:54 am Post subject: |
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| I am wondering about proxy servers to allow me access to Facebook? |
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| I'm also curious about which proxy servers to use and if I'd get in trouble for using one... |
You will find a lot of people don't want to discuss this openly, as naming the service they use could increase the chance that it will have future connection problems etc. Some have done so, I would suggest searching the forums to see if you can get some actual names.
Other places to look are expat sites (either national or local) aimed at China, which will often cover this kind of advice (though again, some will not name actual services). It is not hard with a bit of digging.
You won't get in trouble for using a proxy or VPN (at least I know no one who has). You might face connection difficulties if you are living in on campus housing and trapped behind a university firewall.
Paying for a VPN before you come over is what people seem to recommend, there are free services but their reliability is highly variable. If you want consistent access to that FB or twitter account you cannot live without, then this is probably the best option. It is usually harder to set them up once you arrive. Also I believe that depending on what content you want to access, you might want a country specific service (i.e. a US based one for access to Hulu, a UK based one for access to iPlayer).
I don't bother with social networking sites and don't have a VPN, and instead use a free proxy to access occasional blocked websites so I can read articles (not much is blocked, but blogger is, as are specialist sites you would expect to be blocked, amnesty or HRW for example). In my experience, proxy sites will often let you get to FB, but the functionality of the site means you cannot actually do much (i.e. buttons don't work).
If you are in touch with current teachers at your school, drop them a line and see what they do and if they have any ideas for you. |
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