I promised these. My current apartment has 2 bedrooms, living room with dining area, kitchen and two bathrooms. The outside view is from my balcony and the pool picture is from the neighbourhood.
I'll post more later if requested.
OP out.
Friday, November 28, 2008
A few pics
I promised these. My current apartment has 2 bedrooms, living room with dining area, kitchen and two bathrooms. The outside view is from my balcony and the pool picture is from the neighbourhood.
I'll post more later if requested.
OP out.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
The eco news headlines are all bad, but is it really?
I'll comment on my new apartment with photos later. Markvs asked for some pics and I've taken a few, but haven't uploaded any. They are coming, though.
Here's a bit of ecological news I picked up. Don't drink water from the Yellow River:
"The Yellow River, the second-longest in China, has seen its water quality deteriorate rapidly in the last few years, as discharge from factories increases and water levels drop because of diversion for booming cities.
The river supplies a region chronically short of water but rich in industry.
The Yellow River Conservancy Committee said 33.8 percent of the river's water sampled registered worse than level 5, meaning it's unfit for drinking, aquaculture, industrial use and even agriculture, according to criteria used by the United Nations Environmental Program.
Only 16.1 percent of the river samples reached level 1 or 2 — water considered safe for household use.
Industry and manufacturing made up 70 percent of the discharge into the river, the notice said, with 23 percent coming from households and 6.4 percent from other sources. The notice did not identify specific pollutants."
The numbers above are not relevant, but what is, is the fact that the pollution is being acknowledeged. The real hope anyone can have at this point is that no other agency comes up with a competing study saying the water is safe (with percentages of their own.) Remember, there is no need to worry for the environment per se - you need to worry for the people living in the environment.
The news post lists a few other previous events related to water quality. Note this one: "In February pollution turned part of a major river system in central China red and foamy, forcing authorities to cut water supplies to as many as 200,000 people."
That is a case where nothing was done until the water was visibly unusable. Red and foamy. The problem is that the factories near the rivers are important to the local citizens. Working in a factory can offer a steady, safe and comfortable conditions compared to farming. And I'm not joking. Amid all the crap you hear about labour laws in China the factories are important sources for employment in many areas. You can't close them and say "go environment." But at least in this case, we are noting the water pollution before the river is red and foamy. There's hope that it doesn't become as bad.
Perhaps it will be easier to control pollution growth next year. The forecast is lower, coming to a 7.5% economic growth. That's the lowest rate since 1990. Keep it in mind when you evaluate environmental news in the coming year. The challenges are huge and control mechanisms often need to be built from the ground up. Small factories and shops have none existent or next to none environmental control.
But remember, China is trying. You might have heard Hong Kong has natual gas taxis running around, but did you know so does Guangzhou? Actually, Guangzhou has natural gas taxis and electric buses. I've even taken a trip in a domestically produced gas taxi in Guangzhou, very few cities let alone countries have similar setups. On a related note, Shell just agreed to sell two million tonnes of liquified naural gas to Petrochina under a 20 year contract.
The full newsposts are available at:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081125/ap_on_re_as/as_china_polluted_river
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081125/ap_on_bi_ge/as_china_economy
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081125/ap_on_bi_ge/as_china_shell_lng
OP out.
Here's a bit of ecological news I picked up. Don't drink water from the Yellow River:
"The Yellow River, the second-longest in China, has seen its water quality deteriorate rapidly in the last few years, as discharge from factories increases and water levels drop because of diversion for booming cities.
The river supplies a region chronically short of water but rich in industry.
The Yellow River Conservancy Committee said 33.8 percent of the river's water sampled registered worse than level 5, meaning it's unfit for drinking, aquaculture, industrial use and even agriculture, according to criteria used by the United Nations Environmental Program.
Only 16.1 percent of the river samples reached level 1 or 2 — water considered safe for household use.
Industry and manufacturing made up 70 percent of the discharge into the river, the notice said, with 23 percent coming from households and 6.4 percent from other sources. The notice did not identify specific pollutants."
The numbers above are not relevant, but what is, is the fact that the pollution is being acknowledeged. The real hope anyone can have at this point is that no other agency comes up with a competing study saying the water is safe (with percentages of their own.) Remember, there is no need to worry for the environment per se - you need to worry for the people living in the environment.
The news post lists a few other previous events related to water quality. Note this one: "In February pollution turned part of a major river system in central China red and foamy, forcing authorities to cut water supplies to as many as 200,000 people."
That is a case where nothing was done until the water was visibly unusable. Red and foamy. The problem is that the factories near the rivers are important to the local citizens. Working in a factory can offer a steady, safe and comfortable conditions compared to farming. And I'm not joking. Amid all the crap you hear about labour laws in China the factories are important sources for employment in many areas. You can't close them and say "go environment." But at least in this case, we are noting the water pollution before the river is red and foamy. There's hope that it doesn't become as bad.
Perhaps it will be easier to control pollution growth next year. The forecast is lower, coming to a 7.5% economic growth. That's the lowest rate since 1990. Keep it in mind when you evaluate environmental news in the coming year. The challenges are huge and control mechanisms often need to be built from the ground up. Small factories and shops have none existent or next to none environmental control.
But remember, China is trying. You might have heard Hong Kong has natual gas taxis running around, but did you know so does Guangzhou? Actually, Guangzhou has natural gas taxis and electric buses. I've even taken a trip in a domestically produced gas taxi in Guangzhou, very few cities let alone countries have similar setups. On a related note, Shell just agreed to sell two million tonnes of liquified naural gas to Petrochina under a 20 year contract.
The full newsposts are available at:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081125/ap_on_re_as/as_china_polluted_river
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081125/ap_on_bi_ge/as_china_economy
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081125/ap_on_bi_ge/as_china_shell_lng
OP out.
Monday, November 24, 2008
More about driving
Driving really shows the true nature of people.
When I drive inside to my apartment's car park, I have to cross an opposing traffic lane. There is a bumb just before my car park's entrance on the opposing lane, so that the car's wouldn't drive so fast and let people move in and out from the condominium.
However, again today, there was an idiot who thought that HE should go before me, so he decide to speed up while approaching the access point to my condo (and the bumb). BAM! His brand new Mercedes' bottom hit the bumb, and hopefully there's at least a minor oil leak now. It was truly hilarious, and serves him/her right.
And this leads me to;
Maybe it's a bit hard to explain or prove in a blog entry, but people really are "me first" "I'm here" "me me me" etc etc. all the fucking time. One proof, however, could be that every brand or product name with letter "i" or letters "my" in the front sell ridiculously well.
People are mass-individuals. These kind of blogs are one way to trick ordinary people believe that they matter.
When I drive inside to my apartment's car park, I have to cross an opposing traffic lane. There is a bumb just before my car park's entrance on the opposing lane, so that the car's wouldn't drive so fast and let people move in and out from the condominium.
However, again today, there was an idiot who thought that HE should go before me, so he decide to speed up while approaching the access point to my condo (and the bumb). BAM! His brand new Mercedes' bottom hit the bumb, and hopefully there's at least a minor oil leak now. It was truly hilarious, and serves him/her right.
And this leads me to;
Maybe it's a bit hard to explain or prove in a blog entry, but people really are "me first" "I'm here" "me me me" etc etc. all the fucking time. One proof, however, could be that every brand or product name with letter "i" or letters "my" in the front sell ridiculously well.
People are mass-individuals. These kind of blogs are one way to trick ordinary people believe that they matter.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Coincidences
I'm moving. This Saturday I plan to move the main load and hand over the old keys on Sunday. I have paid the first 6 months' rent, deposit and I've got the keys. But I'll tell you how the moving went after the fact.
I'm just here to share with you that I got a nice deal, partly through luck.
The housing area is said to be the best in Taizhou. It certainly looks the part - all of the 20+ buildings are less than 5 years old, near the city center but off the main road enough to be quiet and peaceful. There's a lush green hill on the other side. I've been there once before, asking about prices. The cheapest was 3300 RMB/month.
This time we decided I wouldn't take part in the apartment hunt at all and that I would only come look at an apartment once my wife had been trough the price negotiation.
So she did. She waded through several agencies, until the she found a nice deal. Trough the surprising Chinese social network. Guangxi. The real estate agent knew a friend of a landlord, whom my wife met when looking through agents. The friend was involved in the price negotiation and agreed to the terms.
2500 /month, 6 months up front, 3000 as a deposit. The average, we found out, is 3300-4000 /month, 12 (!) months up front, 5000 as a deposit. And since the friend had agreed to this, the landlord actually agreed too. When she arrived to the realtor she wasn't too happy. Actually, she had specified a higher rent for the apartment. But my wife had had the presence of mind to make sure and doubly sure that the price was the agreed one. After the landlord saw me, she remarked she should've push for a better price since I was foreign. On the other hand, she was relieved that she wouldn't really need to worry about her getting the rent money.
So, the air conditioners were bought in today while the TV cable was installed. The utilites all work and we'll be the first tenants in the apartment. The Internet will be set up tomorrow. I'll grab a few pictures once I get all my stuff sorted away. It's a short move from one part of the city to another, about 30 minutes in a car, so I expect things to go reasonably well.
OP Out.
I'm just here to share with you that I got a nice deal, partly through luck.
The housing area is said to be the best in Taizhou. It certainly looks the part - all of the 20+ buildings are less than 5 years old, near the city center but off the main road enough to be quiet and peaceful. There's a lush green hill on the other side. I've been there once before, asking about prices. The cheapest was 3300 RMB/month.
This time we decided I wouldn't take part in the apartment hunt at all and that I would only come look at an apartment once my wife had been trough the price negotiation.
So she did. She waded through several agencies, until the she found a nice deal. Trough the surprising Chinese social network. Guangxi. The real estate agent knew a friend of a landlord, whom my wife met when looking through agents. The friend was involved in the price negotiation and agreed to the terms.
2500 /month, 6 months up front, 3000 as a deposit. The average, we found out, is 3300-4000 /month, 12 (!) months up front, 5000 as a deposit. And since the friend had agreed to this, the landlord actually agreed too. When she arrived to the realtor she wasn't too happy. Actually, she had specified a higher rent for the apartment. But my wife had had the presence of mind to make sure and doubly sure that the price was the agreed one. After the landlord saw me, she remarked she should've push for a better price since I was foreign. On the other hand, she was relieved that she wouldn't really need to worry about her getting the rent money.
So, the air conditioners were bought in today while the TV cable was installed. The utilites all work and we'll be the first tenants in the apartment. The Internet will be set up tomorrow. I'll grab a few pictures once I get all my stuff sorted away. It's a short move from one part of the city to another, about 30 minutes in a car, so I expect things to go reasonably well.
OP Out.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Efficiency
Efficiency is when you march in to an office with papers in tow and the official makes your certificate while you wait. But I'm getting a little ahead of the story here.
About a month ago I contacted the Finnish maistrate asking how to apply for a paper declaring myself free to wed in a foreign country. It turned out they had a simple application available online, which they required signed as well as a second form they needed but didn't have online. The official in Finland was nice and responsive on the phone and emailed me the missing application to me the same night.
These maistrate applications were easy to get, but required additional work. The two steps were the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs who legalized the certificate by stamping and signing it. You see, Finland and China are not part of a mutual agreement where official documents of both nations would be directly usable in both. Instead, the stamped and signed official documents needs a second set of official identifiers from the government. This I got done by using a relative in Finland. They charged about 20e.
The second step was the Chinese embassy in Finland. For a document of this nature to be accepted in China, they need to authorize the legalization with a further stamp (it comes with a cool hologram sticker too.) They charged a little under 60e but were fast as well. The mail-in service is cheaper but takes longer (one day for 60e versus a week for 20e.) With this, the certificate is ready and has about five stamps and four signatures. Plus your own signature.
Get the paper to China. 100e for the courier covered my cost, but it was quick. I strongly recommend against cheaper options for important documents.
In China the local notary will need to translate the document. This is the step where all the stamps are needed, as the translation will be official too. The Zhejiang notary did the translation in a reasonable timeframe, for less than 200 RMB. They then stamp the Chinese translation together with the original document, so that now your certificate has five and a half stamps plus four plus two signatures. You are ready for the final hurdle, the local bureau in charge of the wedding registry.
You would expect it to be horrible by now, right? We walked in at about 10am with the documents in tow. The official took them asked for a copy of a couple of them (Household registry for my significant other, identifications) and gave a pair of documents to fill. Name, Date of Birth and such, nothing you couldn't answer off the top of your head unless you forgot where you were born. There was even a service available to have the paper filled for you if you couldn't read/write. (Not catering to the foreigners, but they would help a laowai too, I assume.)
The official checked the documents, printed a confirmation out and asked for one more signature plus 9 RMB. Official documents followed immediately.
The last step of the journey took 30 minutes, three A4 papers and no hassle at all. I walked out with a Chinese marriage certificate bound in a small red booklet with golden letters on top. Fancier than what would be provided in Finland.
I wish to apologize for all my lady readers seeking an eligible bachelor, there's one less fish in the sea.
OP out.
About a month ago I contacted the Finnish maistrate asking how to apply for a paper declaring myself free to wed in a foreign country. It turned out they had a simple application available online, which they required signed as well as a second form they needed but didn't have online. The official in Finland was nice and responsive on the phone and emailed me the missing application to me the same night.
These maistrate applications were easy to get, but required additional work. The two steps were the Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affairs who legalized the certificate by stamping and signing it. You see, Finland and China are not part of a mutual agreement where official documents of both nations would be directly usable in both. Instead, the stamped and signed official documents needs a second set of official identifiers from the government. This I got done by using a relative in Finland. They charged about 20e.
The second step was the Chinese embassy in Finland. For a document of this nature to be accepted in China, they need to authorize the legalization with a further stamp (it comes with a cool hologram sticker too.) They charged a little under 60e but were fast as well. The mail-in service is cheaper but takes longer (one day for 60e versus a week for 20e.) With this, the certificate is ready and has about five stamps and four signatures. Plus your own signature.
Get the paper to China. 100e for the courier covered my cost, but it was quick. I strongly recommend against cheaper options for important documents.
In China the local notary will need to translate the document. This is the step where all the stamps are needed, as the translation will be official too. The Zhejiang notary did the translation in a reasonable timeframe, for less than 200 RMB. They then stamp the Chinese translation together with the original document, so that now your certificate has five and a half stamps plus four plus two signatures. You are ready for the final hurdle, the local bureau in charge of the wedding registry.
You would expect it to be horrible by now, right? We walked in at about 10am with the documents in tow. The official took them asked for a copy of a couple of them (Household registry for my significant other, identifications) and gave a pair of documents to fill. Name, Date of Birth and such, nothing you couldn't answer off the top of your head unless you forgot where you were born. There was even a service available to have the paper filled for you if you couldn't read/write. (Not catering to the foreigners, but they would help a laowai too, I assume.)
The official checked the documents, printed a confirmation out and asked for one more signature plus 9 RMB. Official documents followed immediately.
The last step of the journey took 30 minutes, three A4 papers and no hassle at all. I walked out with a Chinese marriage certificate bound in a small red booklet with golden letters on top. Fancier than what would be provided in Finland.
I wish to apologize for all my lady readers seeking an eligible bachelor, there's one less fish in the sea.
OP out.
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