July 2008 - Ben's Blog - Chinglishfriend.com

Welcome to Wenzhou, Watch out for Speeding BMW’s!

The other day as I was attempting cross the street in front of my friend’s Wenzhou apartment, I was almost run down by a white BMW 750. I scurried over to the median in the middle of the road, and was looking to cross to the other side, when I heard the...

Published Mon, Jul 07 2008 8:52 PM by Ben's Blog.....小本的博客

Filed under: economics

Back Down South…and Thinkin ’bout the North

For the past four days, I’ve been doing something I have honestly never done before in China—take a trip for completely social reasons, with little desire to sightsee, explore, or do anything remotely Chinese. I have been staying in Wenzhou, a coastal...

Published Sat, Jul 07 2008 2:33 AM by Ben's Blog.....小本的博客

Filed under: society, travel

Welcome to Dog Meat Street 狗肉街欢迎您！！！

“So tell me, do they really eat dog in China?” I probably get asked this question at least once a week when I am back in the United States. To shed some light on this inquiry, here’s a short anecdote from my recent trip to the town of Yanji (延吉) in Northeastern...

Published Thu, Jul 07 2008 1:56 AM by Ben's Blog.....小本的博客

Filed under: food, culture difference, travel

Beijing’s New Airport Shuttle; A Look Inside

In anticipation for that particular event which will be coming upon in Beijing on 8/8/08, the new transit line connecting Beijing Capital Airport with the city subway system was opened on Saturday. On Monday I had to catch a flight to Wenzhou and decided...

Published Tue, Jul 07 2008 8:48 PM by Ben's Blog.....小本的博客

Filed under: travel, Beijing

Beijing Today, Beijing One Week Ago; The Olympification of the Capital City

Three weeks ago I wrote a post about the changes Beijing has witnessed between 2006 and 2008. Just yesterday I returned from a brief trip to Dongbei to find the Beijing of today vastly different from the one I left only one week ago. China’s capital city...

Published Mon, Jul 07 2008 2:29 PM by Ben's Blog.....小本的博客

Filed under: Beijing, Olympics

Party’s over, camera’s gone, back in Beijing

I knew it couldn’t last forever. What was five days of spot-on seamless travel, turned into virtual disaster. Maybe disaster is too harsh a word, since I’m back in Beijing in one piece, but nonetheless, the final three days on my Dongbei trip have to...

Published Sun, Jul 07 2008 11:28 PM by Ben's Blog.....小本的博客

Filed under: personal anecdotes, travel

Yanji -> Dalian (via Changchun)

After several days in Yanji, I am now on my way to Dalian. In Yanji I met two students who were on “torch tour,” traveling the country, following the Olympic torch, and selling T-shirts. They invited me to come along with them to Dalian and...

Published Fri, Jul 07 2008 6:09 PM by Ben's Blog.....小本的博客

Filed under: travel

Arrival in Yanxi…and Pursuit by the Olympic Torch

I arrived in Yanxi at 6 am this morning, and am now roughly a mere 15 miles from the North Korean border. All signs and storefronts here are written in both Chinese and Korean, and there are a fair amount of Korean restaurants as well. So far, all I’ve...

Published Tue, Jul 07 2008 7:59 PM by Ben's Blog.....小本的博客

Filed under: travel

Harbin Wrapup…On to the North Korean Border

It’s been two and a half days in Harbin, and I have decided rather than putting several hours of travel time into a well-formatted and substantial write up (not to mention pics) I’m going to instead continue giving these small incremental...

Published Tue, Jul 07 2008 5:34 AM by Ben's Blog.....小本的博客

Filed under: food, travel

Harbin Wrapup…On to the North Korean Border

It’s been two and a half days in Harbin, and I have decided rather than putting several hours of travel time into a well-formatted and substantial write up (not to mention pics) I’m going to instead continue giving these small incremental...

Published Tue, Jul 07 2008 5:34 AM by Ben's Blog.....小本的博客

Filed under: food, travel

Harbin, initial thoughts and observations

I’ve been in Harbin about 24 hours now, and here are some quick first impressions and thoughts. -Everything here is extremely cheap, even for China. Last night I stayed in a small hotel for 20 RMB (about $3 USD). I had a tidy single room, with TV...

Published Mon, Jul 07 2008 2:34 AM by Ben's Blog.....小本的博客

Filed under: personal anecdotes, travel

On to the EastNorth

Well, it’s been a rather hectic last two days due to work-related reasons I have no need to bore you with on this blog. But the good news is early tomorrow morning (very early tomorrow morning) I am finally going to get out of Beijing for my first...

Published Sat, Jul 07 2008 10:22 AM by Ben's Blog.....小本的博客

Filed under: travel, announcements

To Bag or Not to Bag, That is the Olympic Question

I distinctly remember the first time I ever went shopping China. It was my second day in the country, and my students took me to the “Not Second Market” grocery store located near the university where I was teaching. I had only bought around...

Published Thu, Jul 07 2008 4:22 AM by Ben's Blog.....小本的博客

Filed under: society, Beijing, Olympics

All Clear - Maintenance Finished

I have been spending the past 24 hours on some maintenance which will hopefully alleviate the problems people have been having in accessing this site in the past few months. Everything should be running nice and smoothly now…I hope. If anybody has...

Published Wed, Jul 07 2008 11:15 AM by Ben's Blog.....小本的博客

Filed under: announcements

Maintenance going on…come back in half an hour

I am currently doing some maintenance to this site to fix some of the problems accessing the site which have been occurring lately. So things might be running a little weird now. Also, if you are going to leave a comment, please wait until I put the “all...

Published Tue, Jul 07 2008 10:25 PM by Ben's Blog.....小本的博客

Filed under: Uncategorized

July 2008 - Ben's Blog

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Welcome to Wenzhou, Watch out for Speeding BMW’s!

Back Down South…and Thinkin ’bout the North

Welcome to Dog Meat Street 狗肉街欢迎您！！！

Beijing’s New Airport Shuttle; A Look Inside

Beijing Today, Beijing One Week Ago; The Olympification of the Capital City

Party’s over, camera’s gone, back in Beijing

Yanji -> Dalian (via Changchun)

Arrival in Yanxi…and Pursuit by the Olympic Torch

Harbin Wrapup…On to the North Korean Border

Harbin Wrapup…On to the North Korean Border

Harbin, initial thoughts and observations

On to the EastNorth

To Bag or Not to Bag, That is the Olympic Question

All Clear - Maintenance Finished

Maintenance going on…come back in half an hour