Korean Job Discussion Forums

[pugwall]

[mikeyboy122]

I had a lady on the plane tell me you can get 20 years for trying to bring a bible into China. Is this true?

[RACETRAITOR]

[crazy_arcade]

I much preferred Western China to anyplace I had been to in the East or North. I really really want to get to Kunming next time. Justin Hale--you have no idea what you're talking about on this one. STFU.
I'll take Chengdu over any other city in China. After Chengdu, I would choose Xian. Those two cities destroy Beijing and Shanghai imo.

I wasn't too keen on Shanghai--it's pretty meh.
Beijing is definitely the more interesting city. I had an incredibly amount of time riding pedal bikes all around Beijing at night last August. Of course, my friend lives there and speaks fluent Mandarin--that helps just a little bit.

[Tiger Beer]

[Pyongshin Sangja]

At the risk of being the naysayer misanthrope in this this thread, here's my opinion on Shanghai:

A fucking shithole that, for all the hype about it being 'the showcase city for the the new China', is a prime example of all that is wrong with said 'new China'...

Pollution that makes Seoul look like Middle Earth; the WORST, MOST DANGEROUS DRIVERS on the planet; horrible, overpriced swill that passes there for 'food' (unless you are eating at 'upscale' (HAH!), heavily-hyped trendy restaurants), the SURLIEST officialdom I've experienced (including: Zambia-Tanzania Border guards who were drunk by noon and who couldn't read...Philippino Customs nazis...Shiftless, lazy Malay Immigration who'd rather spend 10 hours on a smoko than deal with a trainload of international visitors...Bug-up their-arses Canadian petty functionaries at Kelowna Airport who called the RCMP on me because I questioned their confiscation of a bottle of HP sauce...etc. etc.); all pale into insgnificance compared to dealing with Communist Govt apparatchiks i Shanghai...[Strangely enough, the Customs/Immi at the Airport were actually pretty friendly and efficient; it was in Shanghai itself they were fucking pricks...].

While I'll admit the foreigner-style pubs were of a variety and atmosphere not common in Korea - except for a few of the better hostelries - the hassle involved in getting to them, and the quality of the service once there was less than stellar. Add to this the congestion on the roads (again, made Seoul look like Saskatchewan...), the overwhelming construction/destruction campaign that was razing whole older, character-laden areas of the city as fast as possible in pursuit of some grand 'new China dream', and the general lack of consideration for anyone and anything, turned me off faster than one of Flotsam's posts... And don't get me elaborating on the 'drinking' water...

Pudong airport had ONE currency exchange place open when we were flying out - staffed by the same surly, uncommunicative and unhelpful functionary one encounters everywhere in Shanghai - who brusquely informed us that we couldn't re-convert our money to Korean Won, because we "didn't have the 'yellow form' from a bank..." This was because we'd withdrawn money from a bank machine (ATM to you Yanks...) and never used a bank...had to change the cash back in Korea.

So, my overall first impression of Shanghai? Keep it!

If this is China's vision of a city for the new millennium, God help them... no wonder our environment's fucked!

[BS.Dos.]

Went to both Shanghai and Beijing this past xmas. We really enjoyed both places.

As so far as Shanghai goes, on the plus side, there's plenty there to keep you occupied. High level of English is spoken. Food is 100 times better than anything I've eaten in Korea (check out the Xintiandi area and, if you can find it, Isabelle's, which is on a little side street just off the Central Huaihai Road near the Chongqing road flyover. H2 on map 3 of the lonely planet guide to Shanghai). Shopping is as good as anything you'll find in the West. Just don't expect them to give the stuff away.

On the downside, the traffic is awful as is the pollution. Getting a cab can be a scary experience. Away from the downtown districts it looks very shabby and dirty. Beggars are very persistent and annoying. Lot's of people are on the hustle and are on the look out to rinse a few Yuan out of you any chance they can get, not just on the street and in shops, but also in bars and restaurants. We went to the Cloud 9 bar on NYE, which was very dimly lit, so much so that you have to squint to see anything. We ordered a mid-priced bottle of wine and after the bartender had corked it he showed the bottle to us and, being as it was so gloomy, I simply nodded and he began to pour. When the bill arrived they had charged us double the amount. I questioned it and said they'd made a mistake and the bar tender said "No. You must pay as that was the bottle I showed you and you nodded" I said "yes, but that wasn't the bottle we ordered. If you've pulled up the wrong bottle and opened it, then that's your problem".

Anyway, he wasn't having it and neither were we. He got on the phone to his boss who reiterated that we should pay for the expensive wine to which we continuously refused. In the end, they said that if we paid the full amount for 2-glasses, then we could have a free extra glass, which didn't make any sense. Anyway, we paid for 2-glasses as agreed (full price, which was double the price per glass of the bottle we actually ordered) and the bartender wandered off leaving half the bottle still on the bar. We chugged it back and left, meaning we drank the whole bottle of this expensive stuff that we never asked for and only paid for two glasses.

The point is, we came across loads of little incidents like this where they try and rinse you for extra dosh. So be warned and stay spiky.

If you're looking for somewhere to stay, then you might like to consider The Eton in Pudong. It's amazing and very, very reasonably priced. Ask for a room with a view of the river and the skyline. It's amazing.

[Julius]

[cangel]

The Maglev was kind of cool.

[laogaiguk]

[BS.Dos.]

KTX goes the same speed.

[newton kabiddles]

[samd]

[Tiger Beer]

How about Shanghai and how 'international' it seems to be becoming? Anyone notice that? Or is it still pretty much a standard Chinese city and no more international than any other Asian city.

[Ginormousaurus]