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In Beijing for a family reunion. In anticipation of upcoming family dinners, I'm thinking of typing out and printing a few copies of the following bullet points:
- How is work?
- How is the baby?
- How are our grandparents/your parents?
- My blood pressure/blood sugar count are all normal, and all my organs are functioning perfectly
- No, I do not have any chronic diseases
- No, the jet lag is okay
- I work for a PE fund
- We're like a body shop that borrows cash to buy old cars, fix them up, and sell them back out onto market
- Yes, my startup went down in flames
- Yes, it was a good experience
- No, I do not have a girlfriend
- No, I do not need you/your friend/your colleague to introduce me to anyone
- Yes, that girl is cute, I agree
- Sure, a movie with her would be fine
- Oh, such a pity, I will be leaving before May 1st so we won't have time to meet! But it's okay, a girl that knows how to support herself is really awesome, I'm sure she will find someone great in the future
- Yes, my phone sucks
- Yes, I would really enjoy going to Zhongguancun with you to get a new Android phone, to make sure I don't get gypped
- Yes, I have lost weight
- Yes, I should be fatter
- Yes, I will eat anything
- Thank you, this food is delicious
- We got this cheese from an organic farm in Wisconsin
- I know we really want to fight over the dinner bill but couldn't we just all split it and not cry/scream/yell at the dinner table
- That includes you, mom and dad
In other news, would any TLers in Beijing like to meet sometime between the 23rd and the 26th?
  
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OO what kind of cheese did you get?
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On April 19 2013 13:12 Chairman Ray wrote:
OO what kind of cheese did you get?
A whole bunch of different ones - there's a gruyere wheel in there, gouda, almond crusted brie, sharp cheddar
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rereading it it just comes off as some werid anti wisconsion rambling....
Have fun in Beijing.
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Instead of printing these out just pretend that you do not speak Mandarin. Works for me 
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If you want to avoid the usual chit chat just print out your "I hope" blog and circulate that instead. At least nobody will pester you about a blind date again. Well, maybe your grandma still will but thats because grandmas have special powers.
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Words cannot express how much I sympathize with this
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^ LOL nope, this usual Asian-style chit chat will always happen.
expect to get some funky fruits and other Chinese specialities too.
Anyways, I guess I hope you enjoy/get through it. I like my family reunions in China, although I know my cousins fairly well and are similar ages.
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sorry for the double post, but how is the beijing food? my family is from the south, around Hangzhou, Zhejiang, so I was wondering about Beijing and northern food. I've only gone into the tourist food traps. fucking 狗不理 worst restaurant experience ever
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I can't speak for shady here, but if you're talking about a restaurant last time I went to Beijing our family went to a very good fish soup restaurant (don't remember what it was called sorry!) Just have to have family who live there and know the place
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"Yes, I would really enjoy going to Zhongguancun with you to get a new Android phone, to make sure I don't get gypped"
The responsibilities of the new generation haha :D
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I live in Beijing. PM me if you'd like to hang out, I'll let you know my cell number.
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On April 19 2013 17:37 nobodywonder wrote:
sorry for the double post, but how is the beijing food? my family is from the south, around Hangzhou, Zhejiang, so I was wondering about Beijing and northern food. I've only gone into the tourist food traps. fucking 狗不理 worst restaurant experience ever
What didn't you like about it? I liked it when I had it. It's also from Tianjin, but you probably knew that.
Beijing's food scene is very eclectic, like any major metropolis, you can find food from anywhere.
Some local 'street' food is pretty good, like donkey meat shops, while others are just disgusting like this really weird congee that's black.
This like is pretty comprehensive:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beijing_cuisine#Restaurants_known_for_Beijing_cuisine
If you go higher class, you have peking duck (I like Da Dong), which is okay. Not spectacular, but decent. Then you have machu cuisine, which is interesting, and I really enjoyed.
My favourite restaurant in Beijing is called 'Na Jia Xiao Guan' (http://www.thebeijinger.com/directory/najia-xiaoguan), everything there is slightly on the sweet side, but very rich and well balanced. Highly recommended for anyone and everyone who goes!
And I was told there are these super high-end exclusive restaurants who do extremely meticulous dishes, but I've never been invited to one, so I wouldn't know.
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cheese is great (i love my washed rine cheeses, and good 4yo gouda, non-smoked, or an old cheddar), but why would you bring that to china? most chinese hate cheese lol.
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Papua New Guinea1059 Posts
That's pretty antisocial behaviour lol.
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China6330 Posts
Don't trust some kinda of big brand, find the ones that have their own flavor.
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United Kingdom3685 Posts
"How is the baby?" - At first I thought this meant you had a kid and was in shock. But now I guess it's for asking about other peoples' kids?
That's a pretty good list though, mind if I use it too?
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On April 19 2013 20:42 HornyHerring wrote:
That's pretty antisocial behaviour lol.
When the alternative is asking and/or answering the same twenty questions over and over again with different relatives, I don't care
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On April 19 2013 21:18 Shady Sands wrote:Show nested quote +On April 19 2013 20:42 HornyHerring wrote:
That's pretty antisocial behaviour lol. When the alternative is asking and/or answering the same twenty questions over and over again with different relatives, I don't care
Why not just not go? Seems like the obvious choice to me.
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Just stick close to the people that ask from genuine interest and ditch the rest.
You may find you have a cool uncle or two.
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Haha wow I'm a bit too young for a lot of these questions about health and girlfriends, but I should copy your bullet points as reference for future Chinese family reunions.
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ALLEYCAT BLUES50600 Posts
this is the best preparation to dodge meaningless interaction with family I've seen in a long time.
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God, the fighting over the bill is always sooo stupid.
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Aha this list would work perfectly at christmas for my white family too >.<
Family gatherings are ALWAYS so much easyer when your already in a relationship.
EDIT: untill recently now that its "time" to get married
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well, you missed the flooding & the april snow in chicago, so consider it a pretty good trade-off.
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"I know we really want to fight over the dinner bill but couldn't we just all split it and not cry/scream/yell at the dinner table"
gl hf haha
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Just take the most annoying ones and print it on a shirt and wear it to dinner
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28094 Posts
You should be somewhat appreciative that your family makes an effort to know about your life, whether they actually care or not. I go to family functions, and literally 9 out of every 10 family members ignore me, and make 0 effort. And the ones that do just go "so, how's school", and that's it.
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On April 20 2013 04:42 TheEmulator wrote:
You should be somewhat appreciative that your family makes an effort to know about your life, whether they actually care or not. I go to family functions, and literally 9 out of every 10 family members ignore me, and make 0 effort. And the ones that do just go "so, how's school", and that's it.
It's all fun until the 500th person asks when you will marry and proposes to marry her, her you never heard of, her whose name you recall but can't put a face to it, her whose unattractive face you recall, etc, etc.
I don't even want to imagine how it's like for a sheng nv. Man that gotta be hell on earth.
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On April 20 2013 04:42 TheEmulator wrote:
You should be somewhat appreciative that your family makes an effort to know about your life, whether they actually care or not. I go to family functions, and literally 9 out of every 10 family members ignore me, and make 0 effort. And the ones that do just go "so, how's school", and that's it.
Of course he should be more appreciative of his family, but it's kind of pointless to turn this into a competition about who has it worse; someone will always have it worse, and people will always say, "You should be more appreciative! At least you have parents!" or something of that sort.
I mean, really, he's not going to print out bullet points to give to all his relatives, because that would be extremely disrespectful, and if he's going to be that disrespectful, he might as well just absent himself from the meeting. (Less effort required + more free time to dick around.)
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Minus the part about the cheque (eating out on a family occasion? Are you insulting my mom's cooking?) and the being too skinny part ("well look at you, keeping in shape for the ladies then eh?") I can relate to those bullet points whenever I return to Canada. Some things about family are universal I guess.
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lol you should be fatter huh. just go in a sumo wrestler custome
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FREEAGLELAND26781 Posts
On April 19 2013 13:05 Shady Sands wrote:
In other news, would any TLers in Beijing like to meet sometime between the 23rd and the 26th?
I'll be around until the 23rd lol
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Is H7N9 flu bad in Beijing?
I know that the cases are kinda mounting in China...
Stay safe!
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On April 20 2013 04:56 zdfgucker wrote:Show nested quote +On April 20 2013 04:42 TheEmulator wrote:
You should be somewhat appreciative that your family makes an effort to know about your life, whether they actually care or not. I go to family functions, and literally 9 out of every 10 family members ignore me, and make 0 effort. And the ones that do just go "so, how's school", and that's it. It's all fun until the 500th person asks when you will marry and proposes to marry her, her you never heard of, her whose name you recall but can't put a face to it, her whose unattractive face you recall, etc, etc. I don't even want to imagine how it's like for a sheng nv. Man that gotta be hell on earth.
What's a "sheng nv" ?
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What's a "sheng nv" ?
I think its means leftover women. As in women past 30 who have not found a husband. Yes I know, retarded. But then China never really had a women's rights movement like in the west.
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On April 20 2013 08:44 c0ldfusion wrote:Show nested quote +On April 20 2013 04:56 zdfgucker wrote:On April 20 2013 04:42 TheEmulator wrote:
You should be somewhat appreciative that your family makes an effort to know about your life, whether they actually care or not. I go to family functions, and literally 9 out of every 10 family members ignore me, and make 0 effort. And the ones that do just go "so, how's school", and that's it. It's all fun until the 500th person asks when you will marry and proposes to marry her, her you never heard of, her whose name you recall but can't put a face to it, her whose unattractive face you recall, etc, etc. I don't even want to imagine how it's like for a sheng nv. Man that gotta be hell on earth. What's a "sheng nv" ?
I feel really bad for girls like that, then again sometimes I feel like the fam asking you why you don't date susy when you are sure they understand why susy isn't/never has been taken EVER gets annoying. For my family its more like, "So honey, when is she converting?" LOL.
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Okay, met up with Gaius at 798 - thanks to his idea to go and check out the Gao Brothers art studio, ended up with a three hour two-on-one chat with one of the Gao brothers, fairly famous Chinese artists with relatively hardcore political views.
I've got a slew of stuff lined up the afternoon of the 25th, but my evening that day is free. Would that day work out for everyone who's PM'd me and/or posted in this thread? Feel free to suggest a place
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On April 19 2013 21:31 c0ldfusion wrote:Show nested quote +On April 19 2013 21:18 Shady Sands wrote:On April 19 2013 20:42 HornyHerring wrote:
That's pretty antisocial behaviour lol. When the alternative is asking and/or answering the same twenty questions over and over again with different relatives, I don't care Why not just not go? Seems like the obvious choice to me.
It's a Chinese family reunion, and from the looks of it a massive one at that. If he's not going to attend he'd better have a damn good reason, as in "sorry but i just got married but then my wife died" good reason.
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Man I really want to visit China one day, but I'm not sure whether to go to Beijing or Shanghai. Anyway...this blog makes me wonder what the criteria is to get featured. Anyone know?
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Pretty awesome, Shady. Where do you live in the states?
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Hmm did you ever write about your startup besides mentioning that it ended up badly (from the blogs that I remember)? I might learn a thing or 2.
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On April 23 2013 01:54 GettingIt wrote:
Man I really want to visit China one day, but I'm not sure whether to go to Beijing or Shanghai. Anyway...this blog makes me wonder what the criteria is to get featured. Anyone know?
Just write some really cool stuff consistently or do some nice stuff for the community and you will eventually get featured.
Keep in mind Shady Sands usually posts high-quality stuff (at least imo).
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I've been in Beijing for about a month, would be down to chill
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Great seeing you in BJ, Shady. Keep in touch.
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China6330 Posts
On April 22 2013 10:07 Shady Sands wrote:
Okay, met up with Gaius at 798 - thanks to his idea to go and check out the Gao Brothers art studio, ended up with a three hour two-on-one chat with one of the Gao brothers, fairly famous Chinese artists with relatively hardcore political views.
I've got a slew of stuff lined up the afternoon of the 25th, but my evening that day is free. Would that day work out for everyone who's PM'd me and/or posted in this thread? Feel free to suggest a place
Gaius we actually should go out for a drink some time, haven't met you for like half a year!
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Come along on Friday. Shady's concocting something.
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On April 24 2013 23:55 Gaius Baltar wrote:
Come along on Friday. Shady's concocting something.
Yep... probably going to invite a couple of TLers, and maybe see if we can schedule something with Mike Pettis or another such illustrious expat. No guarantees though
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Wow if you manage to talk with Pettis can you post what he says on here? It'll be a TL exclusive.
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should add a few bullet points
- I have no idea why Americans have this tendency to shoot each other/make things blow up
- No, I do not want to buy a gun
- Yes, I have fired a gun before
- Yes, it was pretty fun
- Sure, a day trip to the Bayi People's Liberation Army tourist shooting range would be fun
- You get to shoot a Dragunov there? Sign me up lol
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On April 24 2013 17:06 Random_0 wrote:
Great seeing you in BJ, Shady. Keep in touch.
You too Random!
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EPT
