I had a Japanese-American girl friend and the family tradition was to make mochi for the New Year. My part was to get to Mom's house early pound for hours. I didn't see the rice cooked just joined brother and brother-in-laws in the heavy work.
They had enough equipment so two batches could be going at once. The cooked rice was put in to scooped out logs, and the mallets were big and heavy. They also made it a competition. Great family fun!
I got my Kindle Touch in early December. It works great!
If you use your Amazon account to buy it, tell them it is a gift and the will send it UNREGISTERED. You need to buy it and send it to someone who will remail it to you. If it is registered and stolen, it has been set to one click pay so a lot of stuff, MP3s, will be downloaded at your expense.
I had a little trouble registering my Touch in KM. I found the touch keypad difficult to use. I went to a restaurant and tried for an hour until a Chinese guy, who had never seen a Kindle, decided to help. He kept touching the touch screen :-)
I have Kindle for PC on two computers as well. Once you buy content you and use it on all your Kindle devices.
I have played around making eBooks for the Kindle. This is pretty easy to do. Key is to use Calibre. I convert from Word .docx to RTF then to MOBI. Calibre handles the conversions well.
Any assumption about food hygiene in China, or anywhere for that matter, is foolish. Ascribing cleanliness to a cultural, or ethnic, group defies common sense. Humans tend to act as individuals, especially when no one is looking, so saving a bit of money is usually the motivating factor.
Halal (the word means "legal") dietary laws generally refer the way animals are slaughtered and exclude certain animals.
Confusing Halal, or Kosher, with hygiene and sanitation will not protect you from getting terribly sick. Gutter oil use is some thing good Chinese do to save money.
Honestly, if concerns about food safety really bother you, China would be a very uncomfortable place to live. China's population didn't get to 1.3 billion people on gutter oil and fake eggs.
It seems to me the school is authorized to hire foreign teachers.
As part of the authorization, the school must post a bond and undergo training. I have been told the training is comprehensive would cover the visa process and taxation.
It is illegal to work on a tourist visa. Ultimately, you will incur the consequences of working illegally and failure to pay income taxes and any other charges arising from your employment. It school's illegal action is not your concern however, it does not protect you from Chinese law. The school screws up, it is always your fault.
Three years ago, some, in Kunming, were required to return to their home country to get a Z visa. Not sure if that is still the case. Shandong, being closer to Beijing, is going to more closely follow the central government rules.
Be very careful, without the Z visa, residence permit and authorization to work, you are exposed to a lot of pain. Check the many many sources for information on the internet. One of the better ones: middlekingdomlife.com
I understand CMB also offered a 6.0% rate for 90 days.
I have trouble with the "protected" claim. The wealth management facility would have an underlying borrower who would need to repay the loan. Should that borrower belly up, the depositors would be screwed.
With the current legal maximum of 3.3% interest on deposits, the 5.5 or 6% is mighty attractive. What bothers me is the Chinese tendency to create and fund projects that are not economically viable. When bank funded projects go south, the government banks can roll the loans over to remove the NPL aspect and not affect the balance sheet. When non government owned banks use wealth management products they would entail higher risk. Hence the higher interest paid to depositors. Wealth management products are off the bank's balance sheet. If the underlying borrower defaults, the banks is isolated but the money is gone. I would think 90 days would be safe, but, I wouldn't touch a 12 month deal.
One message read: "China Merchants Bank will issue a high interest financing product starting from June 28th to 30th. The product will be 90 days with a 5.5% interest rate. Please call us now."
The Hani rice terraces are about 1,300 years old. In Yuanyang, much is made of the Hani inventing this method of agriculture. But the Ifugao Rice Terraces in the Philippines are supposed to be 2,000 years old. Terraced farming can be found in Peru as well which is supposed to be 3,000 years old. Sadly, I have come to believe China did not invent every thing.
There is a season to get the usual terrace photos. In early Spring, before the rice is planted is when you can get great reflections. The wonderful colors escaped me until I found out the colors are photoshoped.
Sunsets are great but problematic. The burning of old rice plants produces a haze which is impenetrable to your camera lens. You can make some improvements with contrast and light adjustments later but you will start with a poor image. Hope for a strong wind.
I had more luck with sun rise but less luck with the driver. First morning the driver insisted on breakfast so there were no sunrise shots. Leave the hotel at least one hour before sun rise. Photos at sunrise from Dou Yi Cun were pretty good. You need to get there and set up in the dark. Use a tripod due to low light. As the light constantly changes you need to take the same shot over and over (I have a 64GB card and just click away). Unfortunately, there will at least one guy who will decide you have picked the right spot and will kick your tripod many times.
At Dou Yi Cun, they have set up multiple positions for taking photos. This is quite good as it does get crowded in spite of having plenty of room. I would expect the tourists to increase now. Look for the local tourist map.
This is an extremely interesting building. I took quite a few photos of it in 2004. When the Bird and Flower market was being renovated I got past the barricades to take photos. I was really surprised to see this was one of the preserved buildings as the corner location would be great for a McD's, not!
Took several photos in April 2009 with the streets torn up around this grand building. I am glad to see it still standing. In Beijing, everything is laid to waste in the interest of money. At least Kunming is saving a bit of the past.
Be aware they will push whatever they are selling. Some of the staff have no idea about the technical side of appliances.
I went there to buy a stove. I repeatedly told them I would be using bottled gas. They sold me a stove. When I went to my local gas guy, I learned there are at least three kinds of gas sold. Luckily, B&Q did not deliver as promised. I went back to the store and discovered they had sold me a stove they needed to be hooked up to the gas main. I got my money back.
The sales lady was almost in tears, 没有问题！I don't know if it a safety or design issue, but I would think B&Q would know and care.
Subway starts at 9am. I have no idea where to catch an airport express bus. Eight taxis refused to go to the airport. After almost an hour standing on Beijing Lu took a black taxi, this dude drives slower than my mother, 120 yuan.
Flight back was delayed so I learned the subway stops running at 6:10pm.
Getting a taxi back was easy, more taxis than customers. Taxi was 87 yuan including 1o yuan toll, airport to Beichen area. Yes, he took a longer route than necessary.
Kunming imagines being a gateway for international travelers. New airport but hard to get to and from it.
Report: Yunnan bonds shaky
Posted byI understand CMB also offered a 6.0% rate for 90 days.
I have trouble with the "protected" claim. The wealth management facility would have an underlying borrower who would need to repay the loan. Should that borrower belly up, the depositors would be screwed.
With the current legal maximum of 3.3% interest on deposits, the 5.5 or 6% is mighty attractive. What bothers me is the Chinese tendency to create and fund projects that are not economically viable. When bank funded projects go south, the government banks can roll the loans over to remove the NPL aspect and not affect the balance sheet. When non government owned banks use wealth management products they would entail higher risk. Hence the higher interest paid to depositors. Wealth management products are off the bank's balance sheet. If the underlying borrower defaults, the banks is isolated but the money is gone. I would think 90 days would be safe, but, I wouldn't touch a 12 month deal.
Report: Yunnan bonds shaky
Posted byTiger, from a New York Times article:
One message read: "China Merchants Bank will issue a high interest financing product starting from June 28th to 30th. The product will be 90 days with a 5.5% interest rate. Please call us now."
Hani terraces garner UNESCO status
Posted byThe Hani rice terraces are about 1,300 years old. In Yuanyang, much is made of the Hani inventing this method of agriculture. But the Ifugao Rice Terraces in the Philippines are supposed to be 2,000 years old. Terraced farming can be found in Peru as well which is supposed to be 3,000 years old. Sadly, I have come to believe China did not invent every thing.
Hani terraces garner UNESCO status
Posted byThere is a season to get the usual terrace photos. In early Spring, before the rice is planted is when you can get great reflections. The wonderful colors escaped me until I found out the colors are photoshoped.
Sunsets are great but problematic. The burning of old rice plants produces a haze which is impenetrable to your camera lens. You can make some improvements with contrast and light adjustments later but you will start with a poor image. Hope for a strong wind.
I had more luck with sun rise but less luck with the driver. First morning the driver insisted on breakfast so there were no sunrise shots. Leave the hotel at least one hour before sun rise. Photos at sunrise from Dou Yi Cun were pretty good. You need to get there and set up in the dark. Use a tripod due to low light. As the light constantly changes you need to take the same shot over and over (I have a 64GB card and just click away). Unfortunately, there will at least one guy who will decide you have picked the right spot and will kick your tripod many times.
At Dou Yi Cun, they have set up multiple positions for taking photos. This is quite good as it does get crowded in spite of having plenty of room. I would expect the tourists to increase now. Look for the local tourist map.
Fulintang: Yunnan's oldest apothecary
Posted byThis is an extremely interesting building. I took quite a few photos of it in 2004. When the Bird and Flower market was being renovated I got past the barricades to take photos. I was really surprised to see this was one of the preserved buildings as the corner location would be great for a McD's, not!
Took several photos in April 2009 with the streets torn up around this grand building. I am glad to see it still standing. In Beijing, everything is laid to waste in the interest of money. At least Kunming is saving a bit of the past.
不拆！