China Travel

Everything to do with travelling in China

Sweatin’ it out in Suzhou

Despite the repressive heat and complete lack of rain (it’s only drizzled once or twice since I posted about it), the title is pointing more towards a different climate – the Olympic/visa climate. I’ve been intentionally quiet lately because, to be honest, my stay in China has been resting on a bed of nails. My …

July 25, 2008
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Beijing Blacklisting Blacks?

So, story goes – sometime yesterday afternoon both Shanghaiist and Beijing Boyce reported on a South China Morning Post article by Tom Miller entitled “Authorities order bars not to serve black people”. Mrs. Granite Studio (YJ), Danwei, Beijing Boyce and a number of others have jumped to the call and found no evidence that supports …

July 19, 2008
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Now that’s a launch party

I’m not sure what our little “Venice of the East” did to encourage it, but in the last six months to a year Suzhou has gone from having virtually no English city/culture magazines to having no less than three – and with the official launch of that’s Suzhou last night, there’s little doubt the mags …

July 12, 2008
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Mailbag: Suzhou, home for cheats and liars?

Being that this blog has been around for a while now, and that it consistently lists at the top of the search results for many things “Suzhou”, I tend to get my fair share of e-mails from readers or random passers-by. Most of these are e-mails from folks moving to Suzhou, or China in general, …

June 22, 2008
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Our Apartment in Suzhou SIP (video/photos)

As I mentioned a couple weeks back, we’re moving to a new apartment at the end of the month. As it is fully furnished (I’ve yet to rent an apartment here that isn’t – though some call into question the definition of “fully”), yesterday we had to head over to the new place and meet …

June 8, 2008
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Movin’ on up … to the first floor

Well, it’s official. Mags, Addie and I are all moving to a new apartment at the end of June. We’ve been talking about moving for quite a while now, and with our lease up next month, it was time to either piss or get off the pot… alright, there was no pots, and I wouldn’t …

May 21, 2008
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How us Suzhou Expats can help quake victims

My friend Rebecca just let me know that Suzhou Bookworm, which also has an affiliated location in Chengdu, is collecting donations to assist those affected by Monday’s horrible earthquake in Sichuan. If any fellow Suzhou expats have means to help, please read the following for details. The Bookworm’s sister branch in Chengdu has become a …

May 14, 2008
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Am I the only one that didn’t feel it?

So, as everyone is now well aware, China was hit by a major (7.8) earthquake at 2:30 this afternoon. Current reports cite nearly 9,000 dead, and its effects were felt as far north as Beijing, in the south east in Taipei, and directly east of me in Shanghai. I had no idea. At the time …

May 13, 2008
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Suzhou Bookworm’s East & West Music Fest

I swear, this town gets a little bit more livable every day. I mean, we’ve got an Irish Pub that serves Guinness on tap, we’ve got one, two, three places that I can get a taco, we’ve a cafe/bookshop/lending library loaded to the rafters with English-language books, we’ve got an English-language movie cinema playing Iron …

May 8, 2008
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Carrefour-3-2-1 – Protest!

So, the fateful day has arrived – the day when Carrefour unleashes its anti-China, pride-taking, I-fart-in-your-general-direction May Holiday sale on the masses of Chinese willing to sell out their nation in order to save a few jiao. The sale, of course, is backed by French members of the Eight-Nation Alliance, who were frozen more than …

May 1, 2008
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Humanaughtahaironmyhead

So, spring is in the air in lovely Suzhou. Yes – our two weeks of paradise have arrived, and just in time for the droves of tourists looking to capture a picture of the city’s tranquil gardens (which are overflowing with tourists looking to capture a picture of the city’s tranquil gardens). Spring always stirs …

April 30, 2008
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English movie cinema in Suzhou

There were a few major adjustments I had to undergo when I moved to Suzhou from Dalian back in August 2006, namely: a lack of abundant Korean food, no Walmart, no slick light-rail mass transit, and no English-language movie theatres. Well, it’s been a year and a half and I’m happy to report that this …

March 25, 2008
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