I honestly don't get why it seems to be so important for people to have a car. I assume there is some face and a little showoff-iness in it around here, but then again isn't there everywhere? Whenever my gf hints of the idea of buying a car I always say that if she can find more good reasons to do it than I can NOT to I'll go ahead and buy one. It's not even close.

-Expensive, polluting, dangerous, crashes (not the dangerous kind but the fender bender kind you see all the time), gasoline prices, theft risk, parking lot price, parking fees, lack of parking space, carvalue plummet, not to mention the traffic jams happening everywhere. Oh,, not to forget that you can take a taxi to and from work the 15-20 times a month you need to and it will still be much cheaper than buying a car and paying what is needed to keep it running.

Norman, I'm interested to know where exactly Tim called Chinese people "stupid"
It seems pretty clear to me that he is referring to humanity in general.
Also, I would be interested to hear more about your theory of positive feelings and its relationship to reduction in air pollution.
I think it's pretty clear that some people around here are indeed as stupid as he fears....

Maybe if we stopped calling Chinese people stupid and started being positive, that might make some headway on the problem.

Nah, much easier to simply despise Chinese people. Hurrah for expats!

I'm sure something will finally be done about the poor air quality (in cities around the world) when drivers can no longer see the car ahead of them, because that is a safety issue. A real, palpable threat...Someone please assure me that humans are not this stupid.

Just wanted to thank everyone who came down last night. We managed to raise about 3000rmb for the fund, and will looking at doing something again in the future. Particularly wanted to that everyone who helped me pull things together including Phil, Matthew, Chris, Greg, and Mark.

Hope people enjoyed the beer, music and sausages.

Tomorrow's the day. November 27, 2009. U.F.O. Disclosure.

they don't? looking at the traffic you'd think they were giving them away...

the new market will be on the light rail line, methinks

Hey all, interesting conversation.

I think it's ridiculous to assume we're the only ones in the universe. Undeniably there IS massive evidence of UFOs, but I don't believe all UFOs are extra-terrestrial.

just my 2c

Above all, PEACE to every one of you!

Half-way to Cheng Gong is not very convenient for ordinary Kunming people. Do the planners assume everyone has a car?

Funny you should ask...I talked Ai Hua into buying a few heaters, as I noticed the bars here are not really at the ideal temp for lager drinking. Hopefully they will arrive on time. Looking at getting Coopers in the future, as I am quite partial to it myself, but in the meal time will have to make do. Boags is on its way though for sure.

Jonathan, can you arrange for some heating and humidifiers on the night to create the illusion of an Australian summer? Might help the beers go down a bit better.

S_zhongguo, that's a glowing endorsement for burnt vegemite :/

I'm very happy to say I qualify for 3 out of the 4 - so i'm set. Although i now wish i didn't drag a sixer of Oz brews from ChengDu this weekend...

I should point out to kickkick too, just as Guiness outside of Ireland, Coopers Pale anywhere beyond 300km from Adelaide tastes like a jar of burnt vegemite (possibly even iSnack2.0).

For those who don't feel they fit into any of the above categories, then I'll throw in a few Redbacks, but you'll have to be quick.

I can't help but notice that the primary UFO-sighting locations in China--Heilongjiang, Xinjiang, and Yunnan, are on China's Russian, Central Asian, and Southeast Asian borders, which will be heavily militarized to begin with, and are also I believe the primary locations for many of China's military training bases.

Also, props to Zaphod for having an awesome name. Look forward to seeing him back in the Betelgeuse system.

How about some Coopers Pale Ale for those of us who aren't:

(a) calorie counting girls;
(b) Tasmanian;
(c) bogans; or
(d) wankers.