Posted on 12/13/2013 7:42:48 PM PST by chinaboy
Anyone want to chat?
Hang on here...do we have variations in spelling/pronunciation or are we talking about two different cities? I've been to "Canton" twice.It's now referred to almost universally as "Guangzhou" and it's a major city located an hour or two (by train) north of Hong Kong (can't recall the exact traveling time).It's also the home of the "Cantonese" dialect spoken widely in southeastern China as well as Hong Kong and Macau.
Hello,Chinaboy....I'm going to be in Hong Kong for about 5 days in March of next year.How easy is it for you to enter Hong Kong? If it's not difficult maybe we can get together for lunch.I know that the Hong Kong Metro goes right up to the border...I visited Shenzhen a few years ago using the MTR.
A funny story about that.In the early 80's I made my first trip to China and Hong Kong.We stayed in "Canton" for a night,having taken a boat *from* HK to Canton and a train back.At the train station heading home each one of us was "befriended" by a policeman/border guard.The one that befriended me spoke English surprisingly well.I asked him how he learned English and he said the members of his "commune" were being encouraged to learn it and listening to shortwave radio was one way they did it (I sure found *that* surprising).He then went on to observe...and I remember his exact words...that "Voice of America I can understand...Radio Australia I can understand...BBC I can't understand".One of the funniest things I ever heard.
Basically,the better educated and more prosperous you are while living in,or within a few hundred miles of,Hong Kong the more likely you are to speak at least *some* English.If not speak it well.
lol, u can take a visit to hk, and drop over and see me sometime. :)
Chinaboy is a regular here. Well, as regular as one can get when he stops by every other year or so to chat.
His threads are epic.
r u still do doodling now?
Do you mean that in a positive...or negative...way? If negative we must remember the language and cultural differences plus,perhaps,government censorship,difficulties with internet access and other factors as well.I've traveled in that part of the world and am at least a bit familiar with how things work there.
“Guangzhou” and “Kwangchow” are the same city. “Kwangchow” is the name of the city using the Wade-Giles romanization scheme that was most used by English-speakers until late in the twentieth century. It is still used in Taiwan and a variant is used in Hong Kong.
“Guangzhou” is the the city’s name using the Pinyin romanizaton scheme that was devised by the Chinese Communists in the 1970’s. Although it’s more computer-friendly than Wade-Giles, I don’t think it’s all that much more accurate. However, since I grew up using Wade-Giles when reading or writing about China, and because Pinyin comes from the Communists, I continue to use Wade-Giles.
How did you find FR? If I were the Chicom government, I wouldn't let this "subversive" web site to be accessed.
You probably have a proxy server you use in HK, right?
5.56mm
OK,fair enough.But I'm sure that you understand that doing so puts you at risk of being misunderstood in certain situations.But from the sound of it that wouldn't bother you much....which is also cool.
it is so easy for me to enter hk, but maybe u can came by and drop in on me. :)
Epic - positive. I gave him a shout-out in April.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/chat/3013625/posts?page=60#60
He just pinged me back.
not a bad life i think, lol, how about u?
Truer than most people realize!
I remember our guides freaking out when I opened and began to drink a diet Pepsi in the checkout line at the Guangzhou Walmart.
They acted like I was shoplifting!
I never got to explain the implied promise to purchase such an action means to us, because another in our travel group got in line behind me and did exactly the same thing with her drink: to which they equally freaked!
hi kehoe, i been here so many years, and do not have any any proxy server...
thank you
i live in shenzhen
Doing pretty well, out here in the Arizona desert. Can’t complain. Work has been busy and fruitful. I wish I could say the same for my many friends on FR, but some have been going through some pretty tough times.
It’s about time for me to ask my Beijing friends about their 2014 holidays. I keep a special calendar handy with their holidays marked, because I do work for them and I like to know when they are off.....
Are you going to post any more of your pictures?
I see you work as an architect. I worked as a Draftsman( yes, the old T-Square and pencil type). Probably should have kept up with it, but Music called me.
nope, but i have done more design. :)
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