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Post by icebear on Apr 15, 2006 0:21:06 GMT 7
I have a bit of time left before I need to be absolutely firm on where I want to live, work, and play in China this fall. In the meantime I might as well solicit as much advice as possible from the current experts, you.
Things I'm looking for: - A warm climate. I grew up in Alaska so I don't need the tropics to be satisfied. I currently go to school in Colorado and I like the weather here quite a bit, it snows rarely throughout the winter and when it does the ground is dry within days. I guess mild winters is a more accurate description of what I'm looking for. - A city. Probably the easiest one in China. More detail would include a city with a decent sized expat population, nightlife (I'm more about good atmosphere pubs/bars than clubs), and plazas with smooth ground, or modern architecture in general. On that last point... I've been skateboarding for around 10 years, and since its my most enjoyed pastime any moving decision I make involves my ability to skateboard. I don't expect there to be a huge skateboard scene throughout many, if any, cities in China, but smooth ground is the bare minimum to keep me sane. - Something less polluted or closer to natural preserves would be nice. I imagine this is a bit idealistic or unrealistic altogether, but I figured I'd throw it in there. Us Alaskans are fond of our greenery.
So the list isn't too demanding, and maybe a hundred or zero cities fit these... Shenzhen and Shanghai come highly recommended regarding skateboarding, which I imagine is due to them being so modern. I have also had Hangzhou and Guangzhou mentioned to me, but the more I learn about Guangzhou the less I'm entertaining it as possiblity. Hangzhou sounds nice enough regarding the natural aspects.
Many here seem to be quite enamored with Suzhou. How does it mesh with what I'm looking for?
Note: At the moment I'm leaning strongly towards Shenzhen, but I figured there's no harm in entertaining other locales.
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Post by Raoul Duke on Apr 15, 2006 3:50:26 GMT 7
Suzhou fits fairly well but gets a bit cold in the winter. Hangzhou and Shanghai are the same. They're all awfully nice places.
If you really want warm, look at Xiamen, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Nanning, Dongguan. Even they will get the odd cold blast over the winter. And when it comes to warm, any of these cities can easly give you too much of a good thing in the Summer...
If you'll look in the Library, you'll find info on some Chinese cities and also a bit on the weather.
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Post by Mr Nobody on Apr 15, 2006 17:53:27 GMT 7
Skateboarding. I think this would be largely suicidal in most public areas. Around your own college on the weekend when the students have gone home might be the go, though.
Ground, footpath, roads - crowded and rough. Concrete is uneven and broken, and the pavers are jagged with holes. People ride bikes, motorbikes, cars on the footpath, and they don't stick to any kind of road rules such as direction of travel or give way to pedestrians on a crossing. You will be going faster than most of the traffic, which will not try to avoid you, but ignore you completely. You probably will be going too fast for them to be able to judge where you are going to be and you could be in danger.
I used to ride a skateboard way back, so I am not completely ignorant, but maybe skateboards don't need such even surfaces these days. Dunno. I would say China is not a good place for skateboards, or at least, where I have been.
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Post by acjade on Apr 15, 2006 19:42:53 GMT 7
You must be into extreme sports wanting to skateboard in China. Perhaps they might let you have ago in Tiannamen Square if you pay someone enough money. First Tank Man now Skate board dude.
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Decurso
Barfly
Things you own end up owning you
Posts: 581
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Post by Decurso on Apr 15, 2006 22:38:15 GMT 7
If climate is a big concern..head to Kunming.It's a farely big city that stays warm all year and rarely gets too hot.
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Post by Nate M on Apr 15, 2006 22:44:29 GMT 7
I know that I've seen quite a few skateboarders in Tianjin, (although most of the rest of your requirements would probably disqualify it from consideration). Those big, open, boring, empty plazas Chinese cities are so fond of making are pretty decent places to practice. Actually using a skateboard as a mode of transportation, however, would probably be pretty much an exercise in futility, given the state of most Chinese roads and sidewalks.
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Post by icebear on Apr 15, 2006 22:59:45 GMT 7
Thanks Nate. I'm not concerned about getting from point A to point B via the stick, but rather having a place I can do tricks.
For example, Prague by and large is a horrible city for skateboarding. It has mostly cobble everywhere and the winters suck. Even where there isn't cobble is usually covered in hoards of tourists. But still it has two plazas that are great for skateboarding. One of them is actually known world wide for being an amazing plaza to skateboard at. I guess the point here is that I'm not so concerned about it since I'm fairly confident any city of respectable size has too much urban terrain to not have anything skateable.
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Post by Nate M on Apr 15, 2006 23:28:45 GMT 7
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Post by Raoul Duke on Apr 16, 2006 1:39:31 GMT 7
Suzhou has a large paved/boardwalk area along one of its lakes. It's a big place for rollerblading; might be a good place to skateboard, too.
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Post by icebear on Apr 16, 2006 1:44:17 GMT 7
Essentially anywhere rollerblading can happen so can skateboarding. The wheels are pretty much the same size/material. Thanks Raoul regarding Suzhou. The more I read about that place the nicer it sounds, might have it as a contender against Shenzhen...
And Nate, the one in Shanghai has already opened if my friend's information is correct. Thanks for the site though, I hadn't seen any plans for it yet. Shenzhen also opened a park recently, and Hong Kong has one as well.
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Post by uberzilla on Apr 16, 2006 7:45:17 GMT 7
I have another question and it is kind of related; so rather then starting another thread, I will squat in this one. What is the average apartment or room size, provided by a schools. What is the typical lighting situation? Spare time will be spent painting. I will need to know what lights to bring. Thanks
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Newbs
SuperDuperBarfly!
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Post by Newbs on Apr 16, 2006 8:51:12 GMT 7
Average size of apartments. Kinda small by Hoganland standards, and I guess North American standards as well. Don't ask me to quote square metres, cos I don't know how many, but still, small. Others can give you a more accurate idea, but.
Lighting. Very dim, because "China must develop" so they save on electricity, switching lights off at the drop of a hat, etc. etc. See also leaving the airconditioning on thread in the Publik Bar. But the lights are of fairly low wattage, guessing about 25 to 40 incadescent. Lots of fluoro and those energy saving globes that use a lot less electricity. Aslo, check out floor lamps etc. at your local big supermarket.
I always had a very big question mark beside the issue of electrical safety in China. Live plugs, very thin leads that heated up alarmingly, and just the general attitude to prevention of accidents made me kinda cautious.
Okay, now I've actually read your post I can add a bit. Icebear, are you in North America? Voltage there is 120V, correct? China is 220V. I wouldn't bring lights, I'd get them in the Middle Kingdom, but see the above comments about safety.
If you're bringing electrical equipment you'll need a transformer. Other saloonites can give you more info than I can. Mr N, I'm looking in your direction.
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Post by icebear on Apr 16, 2006 9:33:44 GMT 7
Okay, now I've actually read your post I can add a bit. Icebear, are you in North America? Voltage there is 120V, correct? China is 220V. I wouldn't bring lights, I'd get them in the Middle Kingdom, but see the above comments about safety. If you're bringing electrical equipment you'll need a transformer. Other saloonites can give you more info than I can. Mr N, I'm looking in your direction. Yup, North America is 120V I think, but its extremely uncommon for any modern appliances to be made only for this voltage. Look at the plug for almost anything new and it says 100-240V, you only need the physical adaptor, not a transformer.
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Post by cheekygal on Apr 16, 2006 11:22:15 GMT 7
Yes, you can find places for skateboarding in Beijing. And I think there are even competitions held. Beijing has a big expat population and tons of bars and clubs and restaurants... But the pollution level is high. And summers are quite hot. There is sea about 2-3 hours drive away and you can find nature outside of Beijing or even in parks in within Beijing. Doubtful you can find a city in China with good pubs and bars and decent amount of foreigners THAT WON'T BE POLLUTED. Every more or less big city IS polluted. You can try Qingdao - they have skateboarding there. Not sure about skateboarding associations, but places for it - yes. Read on Qingdao at www.myredstar.com.cnNow Shenzhen... If you are looking for something NOT POLLUTED, sorry, Shenzhen is not your choice. Pollution level there reaches 70-80%. Worse for Guanzhou and Zhuahai. The houses don't have heating system in winter: they figured if temperature doesn't fall below 0C (which does occasionally), people don't need heat But it is a seaside, summers are really hot. May be you'll like it despite the pollution.
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loller
Up And Coming
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Post by loller on Apr 16, 2006 13:10:02 GMT 7
I've read quite a bit about the adaptors for US appliances to work, but I haven't seen any. Is this going to be an adaptor that allows multiple things to be plugged in, like an extension cord, or does it only work for one thing at a time.
Can I get a picture? Is this for basically any time of hardware that needs to be plugged in that has a standard plug? Because my Gamecube has a AC adaptor built in.
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Newbs
SuperDuperBarfly!
If you don't have your parents permission to be on this site, naughty, naughty. But Krusty forgives
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Post by Newbs on Apr 16, 2006 14:49:01 GMT 7
Is this of any assistance?
You'll notice that on the world map China is made up of, well, just about every damn colour in the rainbow and then a few more. There is more than 1 kind of plug used in China. In fact there's quite a few. However, the problem is easily solved. I bought a few 2m extension leads with a powerboard at the end. The powerboard had slots for every kind of plug, all rolled into one. Don't ask me how they did it but it works.
So much for plugs. As for transformers, well, that's once again for someone more expert than me to discuss with you.
PS We do seem to be using loooong URLs of late. Looks like you'll have to cut and paste. Dui bu qi.
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Post by Raoul Duke on Apr 16, 2006 17:33:17 GMT 7
There is a ton of stuff about Chinese apartments and electrical supply in the Library! Please give it a look!!!
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Post by uberzilla on Apr 16, 2006 20:34:36 GMT 7
OOPs Mea Culpa Thanks for info though. Most importantly about the brown out part! Library?
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Post by Raoul Duke on Apr 17, 2006 4:27:38 GMT 7
Ja! Dere's a whole big zection callt der Laowai Liberation League Lifestyle and Labor Lending Library!
It has a lot of treads dot at least shtart as Ussseful inforazion fur der livink in Chaina.
Look on der Home Page...
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Post by uberzilla on Apr 17, 2006 6:03:43 GMT 7
See this is what happens when you spend too much time debating the merits of Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi and engaging in other recalcitrant behavior More work less fun. Well right after this next post
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Post by Raoul Duke on Apr 17, 2006 12:00:11 GMT 7
The hard stuff's already done in the library to leave you more time for contemplating Zhang Zi Yi's navel.
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loller
Up And Coming
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Post by loller on Apr 17, 2006 13:49:06 GMT 7
There is a ton of stuff about Chinese apartments and electrical supply in the Library! Please give it a look!!! I did. No where did it address my specific concern.
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Post by cheekygal on Apr 17, 2006 18:49:24 GMT 7
I just read in That's Beijing magazine there is place in Haidian for rollerskating (I am sure skateboarding as well). Women pay 5RMB at the entrance, men - 10RMB nah nah nah nah
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Post by con's fly is open on Apr 17, 2006 22:02:33 GMT 7
That's the whole secret to Ladies' Night: if women show up, men will follow, and spend money freely.
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gengrant
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Post by gengrant on Apr 17, 2006 23:19:45 GMT 7
What debate? There's a debate? I thought we were pretty much all in consensus here regarding this issue... does the rollerskating include roller blading, or are they still in the Qing Dynasty on this issue too? For that i'd pay 10 kuai...but for those heavy, '80s style roller derby roller skates? no thanks.
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