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I expect to be visiting Qingdao, in China North of Shanghai, on business for a few days from about November 12th. I don't know exactly when or how I'll arrive and leave yet but probably but not certainly via Shanghai both ways. Depending on circumstances I may (or may not) get a chance to look around a day or so either side of this period. I'd be interested in any (polite & sensible :-) ) suggestions of sites or sights to see while I'm there. Either Qingdao, Shanghai or China related or anything from industries, scenery, food, notable customs or whatever. I will have a camera or 3* with me, but will quite probably get to take far fewer than my usual complement of photos). I've been to Taiwan several times but never to mainland China, so I have a general experience of Chinese culture. My vocab is about 2 words (Nihau, XieXie). Maybe I could add a very few more words to that. R KM 5D or 7D DSLR (choose 1) Xacti (palm sized, movie capable) A2??? (less obtrusive than xD - quality goodish)

Add "thai-gee-la" to your vocab - "Far too expensive". Also "Book-a-che" = "my pleasure" "pee-ju" = beer, but the more common name is the brand name "Ching - tau" English is pretty widely spoken in the hotels etc. & I didn't have a problem communicating. If you need any specific phrases I can find out. The monorail from Shanghai airport to the city looked worth the ride & is probably a lot quicker than by car. The city itself is supposed to be well worth a visit but I didn't manage it - I was stuck in the outer suburbs for a week with a problem to fix. RP On 01/11/2007, Russell McMahon <spam_OUTapptechTakeThisOuTparadise.net.nz> wrote: {Quote hidden}> I expect to be visiting Qingdao, in China North of Shanghai, > on business for a few days from about November 12th. I don't > know exactly when or how I'll arrive and leave yet but > probably but not certainly via Shanghai both ways. > Depending on circumstances I may (or may not) get a chance > to look around a day or so either side of this period. I'd > be interested in any (polite & sensible :-) ) suggestions of > sites or sights to see while I'm there. Either Qingdao, > Shanghai or China related or anything from industries, > scenery, food, notable customs or whatever. I will have a > camera or 3* with me, but will quite probably get to take > far fewer than my usual complement of photos). I've been to > Taiwan several times but never to mainland China, so I have > a general experience of Chinese culture. My vocab is about 2 > words (Nihau, XieXie). Maybe I could add a very few more > words to that. > > > R > > > KM 5D or 7D DSLR (choose 1) > Xacti (palm sized, movie capable) > A2??? (less obtrusive than xD - quality goodish) > > -

>> The monorail from Shanghai airport to the city looked worth the ride & >> is probably a lot quicker than by car. The city itself is supposed to >> be well worth a visit but I didn't manage it - I was stuck in the >> outer suburbs for a week with a problem to fix. >> >> > Yeah, about (atleast) 300km/h faster. > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shanghai_Maglev_Train For all of 5 mins, yes. The Maglev is certainly worth riding, but it spends half the time accelerating to 400km/h before almost immediately slowing to stop! The terminal is in the middle of nowhere (ok, Pudong), but if you're not staying near there it can be a problem since there aren't a lot of taxis at the Maglev station. There is a metro (subway) station at the Maglev terminus, and it's easy for even a non-Chinese speaker like me to buy a ticket from the English-friendly machines, but forget it if it's rush hour and you have luggage - the Metro is packed! Mind you, it beats the crazy taxi ride from the airport - I generally sit there white-knuckled as the driver weaves in and out of traffic at twice the speed limit... As for what to see in Shanghai, it's not much of a tourist town, so there's not a lot, really. Going to the Bund at night, to see Pudong lit up across the river, is a must-do. Women seem to enjoy the shopping, but it seems to be all fashion, so boring! And there's always $1 DVDs to be had, plus "Rolex" salesmen, "Art students", "English students" etc. trying to extract money from you in various ways, especially along Nanjing Road. If you like museums, the Shanghai museum is well worth a look. The Yu garden is nice, as is the area around there with market stalls and such. But Shanghai is clearly a place for doing business in, not seeing sights... - David

On 11/1/07, Russell McMahon <.....apptechKILLspam@spam@paradise.net.nz> wrote: > I expect to be visiting Qingdao, in China North of Shanghai, > on business for a few days from about November 12th. I don't > know exactly when or how I'll arrive and leave yet but > probably but not certainly via Shanghai both ways. > Depending on circumstances I may (or may not) get a chance > to look around a day or so either side of this period. I'd > be interested in any (polite & sensible :-) ) suggestions of > sites or sights to see while I'm there. Either Qingdao, > Shanghai or China related or anything from industries, > scenery, food, notable customs or whatever. I will have a > camera or 3* with me, but will quite probably get to take > far fewer than my usual complement of photos). I've been to > Taiwan several times but never to mainland China, so I have > a general experience of Chinese culture. My vocab is about 2 > words (Nihau, XieXie). Maybe I could add a very few more > words to that. > I've never been in anywhere north of Shanghai even though I was born in China. In fact, the number of provinces (5: Fujian, Guangdong, Zhejiang, Shanghai and Jiangxi) in China I've been to is equal to the countries I've been to (5: China, Singapore, USA, Malaysia and Indonesia). I know it is a shame... Qinagdao is north of Shanghai so I have not been there. Qingdao beer is the No 1 beer in China and even the Germans say it is good (but I do not like to drink beer myself). The sea food is supposedly quite good from TV shows. It is also said that they have pretty girls and nice beaches. ;-) Qingdao is a very nice place as far as I know from my colleague who came from Qingdao. A lot connections with German culture. There are not much things to see in Shanghai in terms of scenery spots, pretty much a cosmopolitan city. I do not quite like the sweet-ish native Shanghainese food but there are many other choices. You can perhaps go along well with English even though they will prefer you to have a American accent than a NZ one. ;-) My first Oral English teacher is from New Zealand after he was laid off by NZ Telecom in the early 1990s. He is a very nice guy. But apparently he was not as popular as those from US or UK so he had to move to other universities in China. But in generals, westerners are quite welcome in Qingdao and China and I think English should get you along with the help of a bit of sign language. Be warned that things are not cheap in big shopping malls. And be careful of cheap things in terms of quality. Xiaofan

Thanks for the input. > ... You can perhaps go along well with > English It's worked well enough so far. 27 countries / republics / ... and counting ... :-) Most of them had English as the or a major language though. Or versions of it, as in eg the US :-) > My first Oral English teacher is > from New Zealand after he was laid off by NZ Telecom in > the early 1990s. What was his name. There's a reasonable chance of my knowing him. > Be warned that things are not cheap in big shopping malls. I'll have to wait until I get back to NZ to buy cheap Chinese goods in shopping malls then :-). > And be careful of cheap things in terms of quality. I know that lesson :-) - be it Chinese or other cheap goods. Russell

>The monorail from Shanghai airport to the city looked worth the ride Is that the maglev? When we were in China we had no problem communicating, without knowing any Chinese. Stall holders in market places generally have calculators with large numerals on them and will enter the price to show it to you. You can then enter your bid, and so on until you reach an agreeable price. Shanghai was nice - the little we saw of it. I do remember standing on one side of the river in the area that was the English quarter when they were there, and looking across the river at the Shanghai Tower - which one could only just make out in the smog.

Quoting SME <apptechKILLspamparadise.net.nz>: Do you like Kipling? (I don't know, I've never kippled..) > What about Beijing? > Any thoughts on what to see or do in a short time? The standard things are the Great Wall, Forbidden City (called the Palace Museum), the Summer Palace etc. You can see them all in a couple of days if you hire a car and driver. Shopping on Wangfujing Street. Have a walk through the hutongs, and don't fall for the "student art show" scams. If it's open (probably not on weekends) check out the tiny pickled chairman in his resting place in Tian an men square. {Quote hidden}> Cheap but good (or good but cheap) place to stay? > May catch train from Qingdao north to Beijing and thence fly > out via Hong Kong. > Probably leave Qingdao on Friday or maybe Saturday so arrive > Beijing in weekend. > > I'd have liked to visit a friend in Urumchi, but the > distances are larger than eg San Diego to Florida :-) > Maybe not quite as far as Maine to Tacoma, but close. You can fly. It's not too expensive in China; maybe $350 USD return, which is practically pocket change with the (lack of) value of the USD these days. Get your ticket from a local travel agent rather than online and you may pay a fair bit less (typically 2/3-1/2, unless you hit a heavy season or an unusual route). Best regards, Spehro Pefhany -- "it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward" .....s...KILLspam.....interlog.com Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com