具有两千多年的伟大历史、让人们震惊的美好文化，中国目前是一个什么样的国家。这里是，一个生活在中国的老外博客的中国。欢迎你们！
четверг, 27 октября 2016
The global network contains lots of stereotypical and even pretentious photos and images about every country in our world. However, sometimes such the photos could represent real values of a country.
China is a very "extra-ordinary" country, it's really so. Sometimes, you can ask yourself "what's going on?", and the answer is "Relax. It's China!". So, let's start:
1. "Fresh" Meat in Downtown
It's an ordinary phenomenon in China. Chinese don't go to any Walmart or Carrefour to purchase fresh meat, but they go markets or street's stores where they are guaranteed to buy truly fresh pork, beef or chicken. Chicken is usually sold alive. It's a common practice in China. If you want fresh meat, you need to search for such the stores.
2. Let's Feed the Fish
Actually, I was shocked when I saw how Chinese children fed fish in a pond in one of the parks of Chengdu. They used a baby bottle! And even adults did so. In bottles there must have been a special liquid with vitamins or something nutritious for fish. It has became a new entertainment option for children in Chinese parks: lots of children with their parents or grandparents go there, and Chinese really like to breed golden carps (it's lucky fish in the Chinese culture) for park's decoration now.
3. More Water!
Chinese like to save money, water, electricity, more than any other nations. However, their actions totally contradict their ideas. They save electricity at home, but decorate thousand of high buildings in a city with decorative illumination. They try to save water (in WC you can find a lot of signs with a phrase "save water", in Chinese of course and for Chinese), but turn on the fountain while it's raining outside.
4. KTV for One
KTV is a well-known Chinese karaoke bar, there are millions of KTV on the Chinese streets. Aaaaand... Chinese invented KTV for one person. On the photo there are several KTV-boxes in downtown of Chengdu - Tianfu square. If you feel really lonely, and you do not have a company to go with, KTV for one is "the best choice". Sounds crazy, doesn't it?
5. A Road to Nowhere
Riding bikes from Sanxingdui museum (48,5 km from Chengdu city center), me and my friend found several road signs with turn to nowhere. It must be like the Chinese ghost-towns that are built only to show the economic development of modern China.
You can smile, you can laugh, or even feel angry, but this is the real China.
суббота, 22 октября 2016
This Thursday, October 20, GoChengdu website team organized the ceremony of the 2nd anniversary on the revised GoChengdu website.
The ceremony was hold in the Temple House (博舍酒店
which was establish by the British. The whole event lasted approximately one hour, and even included two Chinese-styled musical performances with some European features, like background music and style of performing.
which was establish by the British. The whole event lasted approximately one hour, and even included two Chinese-styled musical performances with some European features, like background music and style of performing.
Still, this website is a really great idea. Surfing it, you can learn lots of useful information, f.e. traveling in Chengdu, upcoming events, how to start your business in Chengdu or how to settle down here. In other words - everything. Here is the web-site: www.gochengdu.cn
Chengdu is not only a panda, it's a city with truly ancient culture and spirit which will hug you and give you only positive emotions.
суббота, 24 сентября 2016
What do you think of when you hear a word "China"? Ordinary people associate it mainly with silk and tea. The Chinese tea differs a lot from the Indian one, and its taste is even much better. But, I'm not supposed to argue this point with Sri-Lanka's or India's Ceylon tea connoisseurs, since it just doesn't worth it.
We know that there lots of sorts of tea in China, and all of them can be divided into following groups: Green tea (绿茶, Black tea (红茶, the character 红 in Chinese means red, this kind of tea resembles Ceylon black tea which we get used to drink, that's why it is translated like "black tea"), Dark green tea (黑茶, the character 黑 in Chinese means black; it is darker than black tea, and has dark green tints; for example, Pu-erh tea), White tea (白茶, Yellow tea (黄茶, and Oolong tea (乌龙茶. We will speak about sorts of tea in China next time.
You can buy various sorts of tea in every big supermarket, like Wal-Mart or Carefore. The problem you can face will be "What tea should I choose? Cheap or expensive?". My advice is "None", as you don't know what its taste is, or when it was collected. Thus, if you have enough time, you should find special tea markets.
We know that there lots of sorts of tea in China, and all of them can be divided into following groups: Green tea (绿茶
, Black tea (红茶, the character 红 in Chinese means red, this kind of tea resembles Ceylon black tea which we get used to drink, that's why it is translated like "black tea"), Dark green tea (黑茶, the character 黑 in Chinese means black; it is darker than black tea, and has dark green tints; for example, Pu-erh tea), White tea (白茶, Yellow tea (黄茶, and Oolong tea (乌龙茶. We will speak about sorts of tea in China next time.You can buy various sorts of tea in every big supermarket, like Wal-Mart or Carefore. The problem you can face will be "What tea should I choose? Cheap or expensive?". My advice is "None", as you don't know what its taste is, or when it was collected. Thus, if you have enough time, you should find special tea markets.
Pic-1. Tea street in Chengdu
Everything, I really mean everything... is sold on separate streets or markets. Just imagine, you wanna buy a mobile phone, and you cannot find it in very very big digital centers or anywhere else. So, you need to baidu yixia (Baidu is the Chinese search service which is used instead of google) where you can buy a mobile phone in your city in China or ask your Chinese friends "where there is a street I can buy a mobile phone".
I used the example above to explain you that if you want to buy a specific product, look for a specific street. Thus, if you want to buy a really good tea, look for a tea street or a tea market.
I live in Chengdu, south-western part of China, and we have a tea street in Wukuaishi district (northern part of the city). And it's not only one street, it's a quarter with lots of small and big tea shops. The advantage of such stores is that you can try tea which you want to buy.
I used the example above to explain you that if you want to buy a specific product, look for a specific street. Thus, if you want to buy a really good tea, look for a tea street or a tea market.
I live in Chengdu, south-western part of China, and we have a tea street in Wukuaishi district (northern part of the city). And it's not only one street, it's a quarter with lots of small and big tea shops. The advantage of such stores is that you can try tea which you want to buy.
Pic-2. Inside a tea shop in Wukuaishi district
In Chengdu, I've found a very nice tea shop, where you can drink tea, talk with its owners (Mr. Huang and Mrs. Yang) about tea, tea culture and tea business, about everything, what actually I do every time I go there. The owners sell different sorts of tea, tea ceremony tools and etc. The unique atmosphere of that tea shop is created with all of those small and big kettles and teapots, sculptures of the Chinese deities on shelves and wooden furniture, which you can see on the picture above.
Pic-3. Drinking Lao bai cha (one of the sorts of Chinese white tea) with the owner of the tea shop
Once, I had a very interesting talk with the owner of this tea shop. We spoke about tea business, exactly - should you bargain at the tea shop and why do some Chinese do it. Since I'm studying now enterprise management, it was really useful to listen to a Chinese businessmen, even if this tea business is a family business. I won't retell the whole conversation, but try to enumerate its most important points:
1) We should respect the labour of people who grow tea bushes, collect and process tea leaves.
2) We should understand the real value of tea. A good tea is an expensive tea. If you'd like to take a good care of your health, you should remember it. Bad tea can even worsen your health condition.
3) We should correctly estimate our finances. Sometimes, people just cannot afford very expensive sorts of tea, and they actually do not need to buy such tea. You need to find the right price category for yourself, and a good tea shop owner should know how to help you.
4) Conversation. We should correctly estimate our time. If you want to go to buy some tea, you need to remember that it will take quite a long time, minimum 2-3 hours, since you should try the tea you want to buy (sometimes you will try the same tea sort, but of different price categories) and establish a dialogue with an owner.
5) Trust. If you've found a good tea shop, do not change it, it simply doesn't worth it.
Tea is an essential part of the Chinese culture, and we, foreigners, should remember it. The attitude of Chinese to the tea culture can show us their true nature. You can learn a lot about China and the Chinese people while entering such the tea shops and drinking tea with the owners. You also should remember that tea can become an excellent gift for your relatives, friends and colleges, and even your bosses from China.
1) We should respect the labour of people who grow tea bushes, collect and process tea leaves.
2) We should understand the real value of tea. A good tea is an expensive tea. If you'd like to take a good care of your health, you should remember it. Bad tea can even worsen your health condition.
3) We should correctly estimate our finances. Sometimes, people just cannot afford very expensive sorts of tea, and they actually do not need to buy such tea. You need to find the right price category for yourself, and a good tea shop owner should know how to help you.
4) Conversation. We should correctly estimate our time. If you want to go to buy some tea, you need to remember that it will take quite a long time, minimum 2-3 hours, since you should try the tea you want to buy (sometimes you will try the same tea sort, but of different price categories) and establish a dialogue with an owner.
5) Trust. If you've found a good tea shop, do not change it, it simply doesn't worth it.
Tea is an essential part of the Chinese culture, and we, foreigners, should remember it. The attitude of Chinese to the tea culture can show us their true nature. You can learn a lot about China and the Chinese people while entering such the tea shops and drinking tea with the owners. You also should remember that tea can become an excellent gift for your relatives, friends and colleges, and even your bosses from China.
четверг, 22 сентября 2016
Hi, I'm Natalie. I've been living in China for more than three years, and I got into funny and even dodgy situations while being in Tianxia, or China. Thus, I decided to write a diary about the real China, since there are lots of stereotypes about it. I love, admire the ancient Chinese culture and history, it's awesome. Digging deeper into its dark secrets, you can understand why this nation was one of the most respectful in the world. However, we still have to face the real world with its both positive and ugly sides. So, here I will try to describe the real Chinese character and the Chinese soul, its past and present.
