Simviation Forum - My trip to China (Part 3)

Jan 8^th, 2005 at 10:21am

Ben_M_K Ex Member

Here are 5 more.

Triple_7, Heres the Mcdonalds that I was telling you about Wink

We saw this all the time, there are many bikers in China

This was the view out our hotel in Guangzhou

This is the zoo Roll Eyes

A cool canal in Guangzhou

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Reply #1 - Jan 8^th, 2005 at 10:25am

ATI 9700pro Ex Member

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We saw this all the time, there are many bikers in China

Cool! There perfect bait for every annoyed car driver! Grin

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Reply #2 - Jan 8^th, 2005 at 1:19pm

Saitek Offline
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Well I am suprised they all wear helmets. I know it is the sensible thing to do, but I wouldn't have thought there was a law in China for that - and if there aren't laws people tend not to. Is there a law in China about this?

Funny to see MacDonalds there.. lol. The buildings there that are new are quite nice, but some of the old ones are quite sad really.

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Reply #3 - Jan 8^th, 2005 at 1:38pm

beaky Offline
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Quote:

Well I am suprised they all wear helmets. I know it is the sensible thing to do, but I wouldn't have thought there was a law in China for that - and if there aren't laws people tend not to. Is there a law in China about this?

Funny to see MacDonalds there.. lol. The buildings there that are new are quite nice, but some of the old ones are quite sad really.

They don't all have helmets- note the little girl(!).
Cool pictures!!

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Reply #4 - Jan 8^th, 2005 at 1:41pm

Ben_M_K Ex Member

Quote:

Well I am suprised they all wear helmets. I know it is the sensible thing to do, but I wouldn't have thought there was a law in China for that - and if there aren't laws people tend not to. Is there a law in China about this?

Funny to see MacDonalds there.. lol. The buildings there that are new are quite nice, but some of the old ones are quite sad really.

Nah they don't really wear helmets. They even bring newborns on board!

I agree, China was like that. The new stuff looked amazing but there was a lot of old junky apartments mixed in. Undecided

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Reply #5 - Jan 8^th, 2005 at 3:39pm

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So could you get a sweet and sour Big Mac? Grin

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Reply #6 - Jan 8^th, 2005 at 4:07pm

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I agree, China was like that. The new stuff looked amazing but there was a lot of old junky apartments mixed in. Undecided

Much the same as any big city then. You should see some parts of London. Of course, the tourists are kept well way from those areas. Roll Eyes

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Reply #7 - Jan 8^th, 2005 at 5:31pm

Saitek Offline
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I think I need my eyes tested for stronger lenses Rottydaddy! I never noticed her! Grin

True Doug... but there isn't really a comparison at the end of the day. Roll Eyes

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Reply #8 - Jan 8^th, 2005 at 6:31pm

Ben_M_K Ex Member

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So could you get a sweet and sour Big Mac? Grin

LOL!!!

I don't think so. It was all the same stuff you could get here.

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Reply #9 - Jan 8^th, 2005 at 7:05pm

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Wow! That brings back some memories of my trip over there...including the one of the Chinese McD fried chicken sandwich that wasn't exactly chicken Lips Sealed

.

&&It is better to remain silent and be considered a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.&&&&There were once four people named Everybody, Somebody, Nobody and Anybody. Somebody had to do a job, but Nobody wanted to do it. Nobody could see that Anybody could do it, and Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody's job. Nobody ended up doing it, and it so happened that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

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Reply #10 - Jan 8^th, 2005 at 7:34pm

Ben_M_K Ex Member

jkinght, what citie(s) did you go to?

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Reply #11 - Jan 8^th, 2005 at 9:36pm

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Ah...lemmie think...it's been a while.

Beijing
Zenghzhou
Shanghai
Then we went on a boat up the Yangtze River, up to the 3 Gorges Dam (well, then it was jus the construction site)
A couple others I can't remember
Hong Kong

That was 4 years ago, lots of fun we had.

&&It is better to remain silent and be considered a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt.&&&&There were once four people named Everybody, Somebody, Nobody and Anybody. Somebody had to do a job, but Nobody wanted to do it. Nobody could see that Anybody could do it, and Somebody got angry about that because it was Everybody's job. Nobody ended up doing it, and it so happened that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

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Reply #12 - Jan 8^th, 2005 at 10:36pm

Triple_7 Ex Member

lol Ive never been a McDonalds fan but im sure after eating plenty of taiwanese food it will be BIG welcome Wink

What i have tried isnt bad but just full of spices we normaly wouldnt use and some full of vegitables...Im not a big fan of vegitables eather Tongue

Will probly know sometime in march or april as to if i will make it Wink

Nice pics btw

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Reply #13 - Jan 8^th, 2005 at 10:43pm

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Hey...was it hard getting around without speaking Chinese or does someone you know speak Chinese...like a tourguide or whatever

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Reply #14 - Jan 9^th, 2005 at 11:49am

Ben_M_K Ex Member

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Hey...was it hard getting around without speaking Chinese or does someone you know speak Chinese...like a tourguide or whatever

Well we went to adopt my sister so we always had a guide around. In Beijing we had two, Sherry and Lineker, and in Guangzhou(where my sister was from), we also had two. Lineker came with us and we had one other one named Amy. So it was very easy as we were never really on our own accept in our hotel which was 5 Star. Wink

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Reply #15 - Jan 9^th, 2005 at 11:51am

Ben_M_K Ex Member

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lol Ive never been a McDonalds fan but im sure after eating plenty of taiwanese food it will be BIG welcome Wink

What i have tried isnt bad but just full of spices we normaly wouldnt use and some full of vegitables...Im not a big fan of vegitables eather Tongue

Will probly know sometime in march or april as to if i will make it Wink

Nice pics btw

Thanks!

Not a Mcdonalds fan here either but like you said, it was awsome to eat a burgur. Wink

Also, we went to Pizza Hut which tasted very good and we saw a KFC so you probably will have a lot of options.

Also I wanted to ask, would you be going to a big city in Taiwan? If it's a smaller town, your chances of getting good American food will be more slim.

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Reply #16 - Jan 9^th, 2005 at 6:49pm

Triple_7 Ex Member

I would be staying with her family...They live on the outskirts of taipei and she says they spend most of their spare time in the city. So shouldnt have to many problems finding something Wink

or...at least i hope Tongue

I will only be there for about 1 to 2 weeks...Think there is some kind of 2 week limit on visitors Cry

Another thing to ask. What was customs like when you arrived. Do they check your lugage or ask any questions ??? I know re-entering the US there is importing laws as to how much you can bring back.

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Reply #17 - Jan 9^th, 2005 at 7:12pm

Hagar Offline
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Excuse me butting in chaps. I've never been to China or Taiwan but I understood they're two completely different countries with different laws. As I understand it, Taiwan is far more Americanised than China. Unless Ben went to China via Taiwan I doubt he would know much about it.

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Reply #18 - Jan 9^th, 2005 at 7:32pm

Triple_7 Ex Member

Just curious...Ive never been out of the country other then canada. Customs between china and taiwan might be different but re-entering the US should be the same Wink

As for one being more american involved i would have no idea. I have heard both ways ???

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Reply #19 - Jan 9^th, 2005 at 7:36pm

Hagar Offline
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Just curious...Ive never been out of the country other then canada. Customs between china and taiwan might be different but re-entering the US should be the same Wink

As for one being more american involved i would have no idea. I have heard both ways ???

I don't think China & Taiwan are on very friendly terms. I imagine travelling between the two countries might be a tad difficult.

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Reply #20 - Jan 9^th, 2005 at 7:42pm

Ben_M_K Ex Member

No problem Triple_7,

I'm happy to tell you anthing you want to know. And Doug, Taiwan must be REALLY Americanized if it's more so than China. EVERYONE knows some kind of English there. In fact, it's manditory that all schools teach it. Learning English in China is as commen as learning math here in the states.

It's very funny, customs were NOTHING, well hardly. When we deboarded the plane in Shanghai, a guy took our temperature, and thats it. It was late at nite and supposedly nobaody was really there. The Shanghai airport was so dead, you could hear peoples footsteps echoing across the whole terminal. Very funny. Even coming back into America, customs were'nt to bad. Sure they were a pain, but did'nt take any more than a half an hour. I would'nt really worry to much.

A word of advice, if you have a chance to go to Taiwan, especialy if you have never been overseas, by all means go! You won't have many chances to do something like that, especialy staying at a friends house!!! Shocked

You will never forget it!

-Ben

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Reply #21 - Jan 10^th, 2005 at 12:05pm

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Ben --- awesome pictures! You're quite good with a camera!

And I do think traveling directly between Taiwan and China might be a tad difficult. I wonder if there are any direct flights? China claims Taiwan as a province, even though it's had an independent government since the Kuomintang fled there in 1949. In fact, China has threatened to invade Taiwan if it does in fact declare independence. The US doesn't recognize Taiwan as an independent country, I dont think -- to keep China happy. Oops, sorry for the geopolitical excursion! I don't really know very much about either Chinese of Taiwanese society -- apart from what I've gathered from a good friend who's from Taiwan.

Ben -- I'm a little surprised to hear that the McDonald's fare was the same! I've been to McD's in India, and the menu is almost completely different! For one, there's no beef served ...

. The burgers are made out of lamb. And there's all kinds of spicy condiments available ...

... and they took your temperature on arrival? Wow -- I've never encountered that anywhere!

Triple7 -- let me echo Ben -- if you can go to Taiwan, do it! I love traveling, especially overseas, and wouldn't pass up an opportunity!

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Reply #22 - Jan 10^th, 2005 at 12:50pm

Ben_M_K Ex Member

Yeah they took our temperatur with a digital reader that took about 3 seconds each person.

That still took a long time considering there were about 400 people on the A340-600 we were on. Wink

Thanks for the complements on pics guys. I really did'nt do anything special to get such high quality, just snapped.lol It's only a 3.1 megapixel I believe.

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Reply #23 - Jan 10^th, 2005 at 4:56pm

Triple_7 Ex Member

Thanks for that info as well Wink

Please tell me the temp was taken under the toung Tongue

lol just joking Wink

And to answer iwannaflySC's question. As far as i know there is several direct flights between the mainland and Taiwan. Flying for my VA i have taken a Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong to Taipei. And on checking what kind of flights i might be looking at if i go. Most of them connect from somewhere in China. There was only a couple that came from somewhere else Wink

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Reply #24 - Jan 10^th, 2005 at 5:00pm

Ben_M_K Ex Member

Can I ask what cities in China those connecting flights are?

Guangzhoul JUST opened a brand new airport and it's VERY nice. State of the art. Wink

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Reply #25 - Jan 10^th, 2005 at 5:38pm

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Quote:

Thanks for that info as well Wink

Please tell me the temp was taken under the toung Tongue

lol just joking Wink

And to answer iwannaflySC's question. As far as i know there is several direct flights between the mainland and Taiwan. Flying for my VA i have taken a Cathay Pacific flight from Hong Kong to Taipei. And on checking what kind of flights i might be looking at if i go. Most of them connect from somewhere in China. There was only a couple that came from somewhere else Wink

Hey Triple7 ... I just Googled this -- apparently Hong Kong isn't "mainland China" ... it's a special Chinese administrative province. There is some kind of travel ban between Taiwan and the mainland (other than HKG). Some charter flights were allowed in 2003, but then discontinued. Here's a story from Voice of America:

http://www.voanews.com/english/2005-01-03-voa9.cfm

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Reply #26 - Jan 10^th, 2005 at 5:48pm

Hagar Offline
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Hong Kong was a British colony until 1997 when it was returned to the jurisdiction of China. http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/december/19/newsid_2538000/2538...

I believe it's still run much as before & very differently to the rest of China.

PS. Taiwan might not be as westernised as I thought.

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Reply #27 - Jan 10^th, 2005 at 6:23pm

Triple_7 Ex Member

hmmm. just checked flights again. its has probly been 2 months sence i last checked. seems there is no main flights i can find. though this list is only part of them. I do remember seeing at least a couple last time. shanghai and hong kong. Though now i notice any flights connecting through china are US based airlines. go to cheaptickets.com and look up flights from FWA to Taipei. rough dates would be leave july 25 and return august 5.

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Reply #28 - Jan 10^th, 2005 at 6:52pm

Ben_M_K Ex Member

Yes I see. Looks like there are some options where you could fly on a 777 Wink

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Reply #29 - Jan 10^th, 2005 at 7:00pm

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Glad you liked you visit to China, I have never been to China before, although I am from Hong Kong. The McDonalds in Hong Kong tastes much better than the ones here in Canada, also in Hong Kong, you get more selections, such as McWings (Like hot Wings), for a much lower price.

However, I quit on McDonald's Grin

Thanks
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Reply #30 - Jan 10^th, 2005 at 7:08pm

Triple_7 Ex Member

Ah yes...777 so close yet so far away Tongue

I'm stuck flying American and its affiliates so i can use my miles. That is the only affordable way i can go. the miles i have saved will take off most of the trip and only leave me with part of the fee and the taxes 8) If all goes as planned i sould only need about $200 for the tickets.

There will be other trips though. Already in the planning is a senior year spring break trip to London meaning most likely British Airways 777 from somewhere Grin

Not the entire class but those of us interested and can shell out what the school cant. Wink

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Reply #31 - Jan 11^th, 2005 at 3:22pm

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Quote:

Ah yes...777 so close yet so far away Tongue

I'm stuck flying American and its affiliates so i can use my miles. That is the only affordable way i can go. the miles i have saved will take off most of the trip and only leave me with part of the fee and the taxes 8) If all goes as planned i sould only need about $200 for the tickets.

Hey Triple_7 --- if you're planning on using freq. flier miles for an int'l trip, book well in advance ... like months and months. There's only a few seats on a given flight at the airlines allow freq. flier tickets.

Scary to think that just the fees and taxes are about USD200!

... Good luck!

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Reply #32 - Jan 11^th, 2005 at 4:23pm

Triple_7 Ex Member

I have a feeling any booking will be done in late March or early April. By then i could have the extra money saved to pay for the extras. She has to use a travel agent for her tickets when the time comes and if im going we will do it all at the same time to make sure flights match up. I stopped by a travel agent while my mom was checking on another trip. They did a cost estimate for me. Looks like around 200 for taxes. but considering i might have to pay for part of the main flight sence my miles might not be enough to make it that far and back + around 50 for passport and such...Its going to add up fast Undecided

But if work picks up soon that shouldnt be a problem Tongue

Though the way things go in a few months the taxes could rise Undecided

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Reply #33 - Jan 12^th, 2005 at 9:57am

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no air koryo ilyushins or tupolevs?

Russian planes: IL-76 (all standard length ones), Tu-154 and Il-62, Tu-134 and An-24RV&&&&AI flightplans and repaints can be found here

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