I arrived in China few hours ago and now I'm just waiting until I can check in to my room. Observations so far:
- The first thing you see when you leave customs is a Starbucks and a KFC. On the way downtown I saw a Baskin-Robbins, a Kodak Express, and a McDonalds. Fewer U.S. brands than I expected, actually.
- Landscaping. Lots of it. Most of the highway from the airport is lined with landscaped "forest". Traffic separators are covered in hedges. Fences are covered in flowers. I'm pretty sure this is a new thing, probably in preparation for the Olympics. When the Chinese government decides on a project they really go all out. I don't think I've every seen this much manicured greenspace.
- I can access blogger.com, so I can post this article, but I can't reach the blog itself. All the other *.blogspot.com domains I tried also failed. I assume I'm being blocked by the great firewall of China. I'll try using a proxy later and see if that works, but in the meantime I can't post comments on my own site. Your comments are e-mailed to me, however, so I am able to read them.
1 comment:
Ok. Like magic, redirecting through a proxy server allows me to connect to my blog.
Interestingly enough, the blogger interface is now in chinese. They've detected where I am and offered me a Chinese interface, even though the site appears to be blocked from China.
Or it could be that there were just technical difficulties earlier that prevented my connection, and I'm wrongly blaming the great firewall. Will keep experimenting.
The most important lesson I've learned today: if you want to survive outside the tourist spots in China, either learn some restaurant vocabulary or bring a phrasebook with you.
Once that was solved I was able to fill myself up on some very tasty food for 7 Yuan - about 0.70 Euro. Not bad.
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