Blogs from Tianjin, China, Asia - page 23

Asia » China » Tianjin September 8th 2006

Our weekly update (with many too cute moments)... As of yesterday, we received word that we are officially expats for Freescale in China. Now we just need to get through the paperwork and decide where to live. Dave is a complex person and is now asking me if we should live in Tianjin or Suzhou. Both have equal advantages. We'll keep you all up to date. In the mean time, I am keeping myself busy. Last Friday I went with a couple of women (Liz and Linda A.) to a Chinese version of Sam's Warehouse. It had a decent selection of western goods. We went to a couple of shopping areas that I described in earlier blogs - Ancient Culture Street and Drum Tower Street. I bought some very nice presents for people. I will not ... read more

Life in Tianjin

Asia » China » Tianjin August 31st 2006

Diane and Dave Z

Each week seems to be just a prelude to the weekend. Dave is working hard and I guess you might say that I am hardly working. While Dave is working, I am managing to keep myself occupied. I have found a group of expat women in TEDA that have different things going on every day. I seem to be going to the Tuesday morning craft day (which also includes a lot of visiting and coffee). There is a Wednesday Mahjong but I have only been once. And then Friday morning coffee. Last Thursday, some of us went into Tianjin downtown to the fabric market. It is being moved so the vendors were giving some good deals. It looks like they took every fabric store in Austin and put them in an old warehouse. The great thing ... read more

Life in Tianjin

Asia » China » Tianjin August 31st 2006

Fabric Market

Diane and Dave Z

Pictures of Tianjin

Asia » China » Tianjin August 14th 2006

Drum Tower Street

Diane and Dave Z

Dave and I had a wonderful weekend in Tianjin. We took the light rail train from TEDA to Tianjin. It is about a 30 minute ride. A co-worker of Dave's and friend, Mario Garcia, loaned us his apartment for Saturday and Sunday. He went to Xian with his two sons. It was nice to be able to sit in on a couch for a change. We really did not do much for our anniversary. We stayed in apartment for a few hours and watched movies. We did go to the Upper Deck which is advertised as an ex-pat hangout. Sunday's are their big day so there were not many people there. That's okay. Dave got a chance to see it and meet "Louise" who I guess is a manager of sorts for the restaurant. Sunday morning ... read more

Apartment Hunting

Asia » China » Tianjin August 10th 2006

Diane and Dave Z

I have spent the week getting acquainted with Tianjin and TEDA (Tianjin Economic Development Area). Can you believe we have been here 4 weeks already! On Monday the guide took me to several apartments, some were incredible and some were not so good. I am guessing she took me to the two extremes so that I would want to choose the more expensive apartments. There were some "bachelor pads" and it looked as if the guys were not planning to really go anywhere. Would you all believe the price range is $3800USD to $1250USD. And these were just the ones I liked. I about fell out of my seat when I saw how expensive apartments can get. We have met a couple of expats (foreign workers) who complained about the price of apartments. They said because ... read more

A little soggy

Asia » China » Tianjin August 6th 2006

Waiting Taxis

Diane and Dave Z

We are doing well. We have dried off a bit. If we could have sent Papiroon to Texas we would have. I know Hong Kong did not need it. We ended up spending the night at the airport hotel in an overpriced room. We were lucky. During dinner we heard someone say the hotel was booked. The club lounge was nice. It is a special lounge area for certain rooms. That made it okay. The wind and the rain were fierce all night. By morning it had stopped raining but was still windy . Our 8:15am flight to Shanghai was cancelled so we went to the club lounge for breakfast. They were closed when we initally headed to the airport. We had checked out of the hotel. We gave them the sob story and they let ... read more

The Great Wall: Stairway to Heaven

Asia » China » Tianjin July 22nd 2006

a guard tower

Imagine All The People

We finally went to the great wall... and there were a lot of steps. ... read more

Chapter 2: the real travel begins

Asia » China » Tianjin July 1st 2006

Jesshasker

After too many hours spent yearning to travel without any obligations or responsibilities I replace: - an oversized apartment - celebrity status with hundreds of adoring fans - a personal driver, and - the most generous friends with: - a backpack - 3 sets of clothes - two pairs of shoes - a bag of toiletries, and - a lonely planet guide to china. Teaching in Tianjin for three months (in a nutshell) was an experience that taught me so much more than just the limited mandarin i can now speak today. I am thankful for the experience, however I have the most itchy feet and need to move on. There is so much I need to see that wouldn't be possible if I stayed. I have said my last "bye bye" and am catching a ... read more

A .05% Chance of Sunshine, Ali Babba's, a Moat, Street Food, Scarlet, Beijing Opera Karaoke Dragshow and Cilantro Mutton

Asia » China » Tianjin June 26th 2006

Nankai University

Imagine All The People

So I am finally getting around to writing about China even though I've been here for three weeks already and only have three weeks left. When I first got off of the plane, I made the stupid STUPID mistake of trusting the first "cab driver" that approached me. As it turns out, I could have taken a bus from the airport to Tianjin for about $5, but instead, I thought I should take a cab to the bus station. I, for some reason (I guess I had forgotten about Paraguay), decided that it was fine that this cab driver was leading me into a deserted underground parking strucuture, that the "cab" we were driving in was unmarked, and that the meter was hidden in the glove compartment. Okay, so I survived, but the drivers charged me ... read more

First timein tianjin

Asia » China » Tianjin September 1st 2005

Me and A

lilyshine9

This time i'm a companion of my hubby's younger brother to Tianjin.Since i can speak chinese quite well,and he's just a beginner so it might help him less or much if i could b there.so we made a trip there,b with him for a week,walking around tianjin,get everything done,like enroll,find a dorm,find a canteen,buy some groces,so when we come back,he could live his life there alone.and til now he's still studying in Tianjin and will b back here Thailand next year,i believe that from that day on ,he must be so much stronger.... read more

Brief history of China

For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the country was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. A...more history

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