Kesmit3's Blog

Lanes? We don't need no stinking LANES!!! One of the most difficult adjustments for Westerners in China is the beautiful chaos that is traffic. :) Here are two videos that give you a glimpse... (upload in progress) This first short video shows my taxi driver in Chengdu driving down the left side of a major road...in fact THE major road in Chengdu. The entire drive to the airport was some form of creative driving acrobatics, which you will get a taste of in this video... The second video is a typical Beijing moment in traffic...

WuShan is a little city located on the 3 Gorges Damn project. My guide and I walked around town in the evening and I was surprised to see so many....toys. Creepy toys, mind you. As a bonus this video captures my failed attempt at humor, which is probably why many foreigners end up talking aloud to themselves... but that's another story. ;) My comment: "What is That?" (Taken from the Princess Pride "What is THAT THING...") Serious response: "Pedestrian Walkway." Thinking to myself: I know this is a ****** walkway, what is that THING that just went by with a person on it????

Random things native English speakers are asked to do in China? How about being asked to give a Chinese company an English Name? Haha.

I met my friend Hana in Chengdu to go see the Pandas and check out the city. We also made it to Leshan to see the world's biggest Buddha statue/sculpture, which rests in the side of a mountain. Chengdu is a pleasant city located not too far from Tibet. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, but it surprised me to see such a commanding military presence there. The center of the city features a massive statue of Mao whose hand is slightly larger than normal proportions. It seems to be saying "In your FACE." but most people think it is a friendly wave... We stayed in a Hostel that cost something around 10 dollars for two evenings. The first day we walked around and looked at the city-center and The People's Park. We only had one full day in Chengdu and woke first-thing to see the Pandas. I was a bit critical of the setup at first...it seemed more of like a panda prison to me, but It's hard to know if they would even be alive if not for places like this. I...

Text of Clinton's speech: http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/01/21/internet_freedom?print=yes&hidecomments=yes&page=full Part1 Only a week after Google's announcement to the world that it would no longer censor in China, the timing of Clinton's speech likely makes the relationship between Google and the US Government seem closer than it actually is. Not to mention that..historically The Chinese have not taken all to well to direct confrontation or any challenge to their absolute authority and Goggle's move followed by Clinton's speech makes me, as an Emerging Media and Communications Graduate student, a bit uncomfortable. I'm currently living in Beijing and have had an opportunity to ask many locals what they think about the Google 'threat' (as it is now being called). For the the most part, people think Google's decision is entirely motivated by profit. And, quite frankly, those inside China do not have access to blogger.com, so h...

The temperatures in Harbin today were a high of 1 and a low of -22. If you're thinking about visiting to see the ice festival, you might want to find a better strategy for keeping your feet and hands warm than I had! Even with warm boots, thick wool socks and an under-layer of cotton socks my toes went numb in less than an hour! There are about 10 tourist hot spots outlined for Western eyes and I managed to see three of them today. I first ventured to Zhongyang Street during the daytime. There were a variety of shops, nothing special for most Western shoppers, but there were several ice sculptures along the street. Though, my favorite was a statue that displayed the frigid temperature! I headed back to the Shangri-La hotel where I was staying and had a Cappuccino to warm up. Here's a tip: when you're in China - drink tea. The coffee is terrible. After resting I ventured out to a smaller park called Zhaolin Park. My favorite part of this pa...

I visited Three Gorges University in Hubei Provence, Yichang - China to check out the campus and see the area. The countryside of Yichang is beautiful with every square meter of land being farmed - I love how they farm the hills! This is the 'low season' so we were one of very few people on the tour circuit that day! Luckily we were allowed to tour the caves with no one else around, what a treat! The next day I ventured to Fengjie and Wushan with my guide, Ginger. She was EXCELLENT! Ginger is a Yichang local and she and her husband provide tours for visitors. She is well versed in the area's history and was great company during the weekend. We took a 2 hour boat ride to Fengjie from YiChang on a Speed-boat, those things are FAST! The sit up out of the water and almost glide on top. Fengjie is a county with a dense history. Since the Xia Dynasty (21st - 16th BC), people have been living in this place. The county was named during the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907) in honor of...

I came across this on Twitter and thought it was an interesting thing to share with Western eyes. It's nearly impossible to get a straight answer on what is and is not allowed here in China regarding the Internet. We generally just know whether it works or not... The original document is in Chinese and here's basically what it says: 公安部第82号令: 互联网安全保护技术措施规定 Ministry of Public Security Decree No. 82: "Internet security protection technology measures required" (December 13, 2005 Ministry of Public Security published) Order to strengthen and standardize the first Internet security technology, prevention, protection of the Internet network security and information security, the promotion of the Internet healthy and orderly development, and safeguarding national security, social order and public interests, under the "Computer Information Network and the Internet Security Protection and Management Measures" , the enactment of this provision. Article II The term I...

Our professor asked us to compose a short essay describing our experience here in Beijing, which could be selected for a school wide competition! The following is the essay that I wrote, which was selected for the competition: 我很高兴我可以得到奖学金来北京学习汉语。我一到北京就认识了很多很好的人，有的是中国人，有的是从世界各国来的。我们互相学习，互相帮助。 在北京，我最喜欢的练习时间是打车的时候跟司机师傅聊天儿。他们常常问我：“你是哪国人？”现在我问他们：“你是中国人吗？”他们喜欢这个问题，每次听到都哈哈大笑！我喜欢他们笑，因为从他们的笑声里我可以听到他们的内心。这让我不再觉得我是一个外国人。 在北京两个多月，我去了很多地方：长城、天安门、故宫、孔庙、天坛、北海、奥运公园……可是我最好的经历是跟我的美国大学院长和两位中国教授一起去人民大会堂参加宴会。人民大会堂很大、很漂亮。我的美国朋友都喜欢我在那儿照的相片。我最喜欢的照片是跟我的院长在中国画“江山如此多娇”前边照的。不但因为那幅画儿非常漂亮，还因为我的院长是我的良师益友。吃饭的时候我的院长对全桌人说：“你们知道吗，我已经来过这儿五次了。”两位教授中的一位说：“按汉语的习惯你应该说，这是我第一百零一次来这儿了！”我的院长很高兴，因为他学会了用汉语表达他的幽默。我也很高兴，因为我体会到了两种文化不一样的幽默方式。 我在北京遇到了很多让我难忘的人，也经历了很多有意思的事，可是我觉得还有很多东西应该学习和体验，还有很多东西需要我用心去思考和感受。因为中国太大了，要想了解中国，得花很长时间。我的一位中国好朋友的爱人告诉我，我应该去一些小镇看看。我觉得他说得很对，我也对旅行很有兴趣。有很多地方是我想去的：宜昌，哈尔滨，三峡大坝，西安，杭州，青岛，曲阜……我不知道我能不能完全理解我看见的中国文化，可是我要试一试。 I start by describing my enthusiasm for being awarded a scholarship to study Chine...

During the holiday my cousin and I visited Xi'an to check out the famous Terracotta Warriors. Our Tour-guide, Helen showed us around: The Army is housed in three separate buildings, the oldest one likens to an old military hanger and houses the most impressive display of the army. There is even a warrior triage section in the back where they are being painstakingly cleaned and pieced back together. The Farmer that found them was there, but he wouldn't let his picture be taken...something about being old and it would steal his Spirit. No Kidding. The second building is a bit newer and houses a smaller number of warriors, which are shattered...yet, it gives a good idea of how the warriors were placed in their final resting spot via ramp. There's one more spot, but FIRST! There's a shop where you too can buy a Terracotta warrior with authentic dirt from the same ground that surrounded their 2k year resting place. My cousin purchased two miniatures. Then off to the th...

The only thing worse than food poisoning or the stomach flu is being in a foreign country while experiencing it. Fortunately I had all of my International SOS information handy in my iPhone and was able to speak to an English speaking doctor on the phone, who arranged our visit to a hospital and coordinated with the hotel staff to make sure we got there safely. High praise to everyone who helped out! My cousin and I had just watched Tarantino's classic film - Four Rooms. How could we help but chuckle at the irony. We were in the hands of the Bell Boy. It gets even better...his name is Clark. ;) He's our Super Man, for sure. This photo shows Clark, the Bell-Man, from the Radisson hotel that escorted my cousin and I to the hospital. What a relief! He stayed with us all night and got us back to our hotel safely. Dr. Chen and Dr. Garcia discuss His case, Cousin get's an IV... Shanghai from the window... Yeah! Fever broke, so we could fly back to Beijing. Healthy and ...