I found I have readers from all around the world. Every new commentor on the blog bring my interest to his/her own country if they mentioned about the name of the country. The world is so big. People tend to think of several highlighted countries, like U.S. and Canada in American, China, and India in east Asia, and UK, Germany in Europe. Recent, I met more people from Denmark, so I start to read the history of Denmark, and meet with good people from Holland, so I started to know that in the year of 1630, a tulip cost more than 50 Holland dollars. There are so many examples. So if you don’t mind, where do you live? Do you want to share more about your country with me and the rest of the community members?
To have a personal connection makes such a big difference to one’s view to the world. For example, now if someone talks about Holland, instead of a symbolic scenery picture, now I get excited and say: “Hey! I know someone in Holland!”. That is my personal connection with a country linked by my friend.
P.S. Get back to Shanghai, spend the wonderful day with Michael, and wonderful dinner. Thanks Limin, and Duib.
Hey,
I am from Finland. A small, population a little bit above 5 million people, country in the Northern Europe. The neighbours in the map are Sweden, Russia, Norway and Estonia (Estonia doesn’t share any land with us in the borders).
Finland is part of the European Union and nowadays has Euro as the currency, we used to have our own currency, markka. Finland has been ruled by Sweden and Russia in the history but we have been independent since 1917.
They say that Finnish people are shy and quiet but if you get to know us then you will make a friend for a lifetime. I don’t know about that, I think the younger people are not so shy any longer but we still tend to appreciate friendship very much.
Finland is known to be a country of thousands lakes, it is actually true. According to some general definition for size of a lake, we actually have thousands of lakes, which are bigger than the definition. As we are small country by population, then there is still lots of land untouched and nature is one of the beautiful reasons for living or visiting here.
Winter time is a little bit depressing as sun will set very early and rise quite late. You get used to live in the darkness but it gets easier when it snows and everything turns white. During the summer time, people get really happy as sun practically doesn’t set so well. It is so nice to walk out from the nightclub at 4am and see that there is still lots of light available and temperature is such that you don’t feel chilly at all.
I live just outside Washington, D.C. It is a very international city. One out of every eight residents here were not born in the United States. You can meet people from just about very part of the world. I have roommates who are Indian and Bulgarian. I love it here!
Давид <– My name in Bulgarian
Hello! Mabuhay! Greetings from Manila,Philippines.we are located on the southeastern part
of Asia, between south china sea and Philippine sea. I am from an archipelago consisting of
more than 7000 islands. Aside from the year round warm and summer like weather, beautiful beaches and great hideaways, the filipino people are what really is the real deal.
From a long history of Western colonial rule, interspersed with the visits of merchants and traders, evolved a people of a unique blend of east and west, both in appearance and culture.
The Filipino is basically of Malay stock with a sprinkling of Chinese, American, Spanish, and Arab blood. It’s hard to distinguish, accurately. but who cares, we are unique, both in
appearance and character. You have to visit us, to see, feel, and get the vibe!!
BTW, Thank you Mr.Wang for giving us, your readers, a chance to be known and heard.
You are doing wonderful.
Hallo, my name is Andrea. I am a psychologist in a childrens hospital in Stuttgart (600 000 people), Germany. 30 Years before I have studied Chinese at the university of Tübingen, but I never had the opportunity to go to China… Now will my husband go to Hangzhou (and Shanghai) tomorrow. He will meet people of the BOSCH plant there, because he is the chairman of the workers council (Betriebsratsvorsitzender) in the German plant in Leinfelden/Stuttgart.
I am excited to hear about the China of today.
Today we had a big manifastation against the government in Germany, also in Stuttgart, Munich, Dortmund and Berlin!
Many greetings, Andrea
Hi,
I’m from Düsseldorf, Germany. Düsseldorf is the Capital of North- Rhine- Westfalia, the biggest Country of Germany (17 Mill. Residents, Germany: 80 Mill.). You may look at this Website for more information about Düsseldorf: http://www.duesseldorf.de/zh/index.shtml (in Chineese) and: http://www.duesseldorf.de/en/index.shtml (in english).
Düsseldorf is associated with Chonqing, so we have a lot of chineese People here – and also a lot of Chineese Restaurants, Supermarkets, Taiji- Chuan- Teacher (My taiji- chuan- master is from Shanghai), etc. There is also a direkt Flight Chonqing- Düsseldorf.
So, if you want to visit Germany, I would be happy to welcome you…
Xiong Shui
Hi,
my name’s Gabyu, I’m from Paris, France, used to travel back and forth from Shanghai to Paris since 10 years by now. Well, The world is much more smaller than we think, especially using the internet and jets …
Paris is full of many different foreigners, from northern African people to Southern asian people, and also Chinese people for sure. 2 chinatowns in Paris, essentially made from Wenzhounese. The city is very quiet compared to Shanghai… Less pollution, less CO2 et definitely less hot.
Here, people’s concern is to avoid polluting, to feel as quiet as they can, to hear silence, to avoid wastes, and to go to cafés after office time :)
Gabyu
你好,
My name is Ben. I am originally from Shanghai, and now in Austin, the state capital of Texas. It’s a beautiful city with many mountains and lakes with blue water, though there are few Chinese people or restaurants. Life here revolves around live music performances (check out austinist.com) and enjoying nature. :)
Thanks for writing this awesome blog, it makes me want to return to Shanghai and do something big, bigger than myself. There are definitely more professional opportunities there.
~Ben
I am in New Zealand, the South Island. Air New Zealand has just started (or will very soon start) direct flights to Shanghai so next time to Shanghai it will be much faster and less tiring :-). I live in Christchurch and frequently eat at Chinese eateries without any other Europeans around. There are also lots of Chinese shops and the Mayor of Dunedin is Chinese.
Since my first visit to Shanghai I check your blog daily, there is always something interesting and relevant. Since my second visit I feel I “know” Shanghai a little (!) and feel very comfortable there.
Hi
I am from Chicago Illinois USA and visit China on Furniture business often. I really enjoy your blog
Lee Rosenberg
I very much like to create a English blog for myself. And of course I am very impressed with yours. You have done a hell of job. I am wondering if you care to enlighten me on how to apply the Movable Type Blog Software, right from the setup stage. Thanks a lot in advance.
Hi,
I am from Singapore. I came to know your blog through a friend working in Suzhou in 2003, just a day before I left for Shanghai. I had stayed there for a month. Since then on my second trip to Shanghai, I moved around very comfortable like a local. Thanks all these to your blog. The next thing I want to do is to learn Shanghainese and plan for my next trip to Shanghai..
Jian Shuo, if you have chance to come to Singapore, please email me. I wish to give you a treat.
With Best wishes
Joyce
hv been reading your blog and really enjoy it.it’s so informative.btw,i’m from singapore :)
hi~
i’ m marfa,from xi’an ,the eternal city, china. Xian is one of the birthplaces of the ancient civilization in the Yellow River Basin area of the country.The cultural and historical significance of the area, as well as the abundant relics and sites, help Xian enjoy the laudatory title of ‘Natural History Museum’. The Museum of Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses is praised as ‘the eighth major miracle of the world’.
i’m a senior of xi’an university of techonology. I wanna go to shanghai to find a job next year. I triped to shanghai at month..I took some cool pictures from there and i post them on my blog:)
http://marfa0928.bokee.com
welcome to my blog!
hi~
i’ m marfa,from xi’an ,the eternal city, china. Xian is one of the birthplaces of the ancient civilization in the Yellow River Basin area of the country.The cultural and historical significance of the area, as well as the abundant relics and sites, help Xian enjoy the laudatory title of ‘Natural History Museum’. The Museum of Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses is praised as ‘the eighth major miracle of the world’.
i’m a senior of xi’an university of techonology. I wanna go to shanghai to find a job next year. I triped to shanghai at month..I took some cool pictures from there and i post them on my blog:)
http://marfa0928.bokee.com
welcome to my blog!
hi~
i’ m marfa,from xi’an ,the eternal city, china. Xian is one of the birthplaces of the ancient civilization in the Yellow River Basin area of the country.The cultural and historical significance of the area, as well as the abundant relics and sites, help Xian enjoy the laudatory title of ‘Natural History Museum’. The Museum of Terra Cotta Warriors and Horses is praised as ‘the eighth major miracle of the world’.
i’m a senior of xi’an university of techonology. I wanna go to shanghai to find a job next year. I triped to shanghai at month..I took some cool pictures from there and i post them on my blog:)
http://marfa0928.bokee.com
welcome to my blog!
Hi to all!
I’m also from Singapore, typically described as a ‘tiny red dot’ (on the world map). We are just 1/10 the size of Shanghai with a population of 4 million hence it is little wonder that many people don’t know our existence!
Like any other places on earth, there are good and bad comments about Singapore, the most common one being it a very clean country. Negative one would be that our government is too strict (think of the chewing gum ban, caning and death sentences) though I personally don’t think it is necessarily bad.
Although I stay in Shanghai for my work now, hopefully there will be an opportunity in future to show you or any readers on this blog around in Singapore!
I come from Melbourne, Australia. U visited here a couples of week before. Do u like it? U really good in observe things.
I would definitely want to come to shanghai try the maglev.
Hi, I’m Ying.
I was born in Shanghai, then moved to the UK. I lived roughly half my life in China and half in the UK. Currently I live in Manchester.
I’m really facinated by the difference between cultures and also discovering how much similarity there are. I enjoy travelling. The last time I visited China was in 2005.
Hello I am writing this from Surabaya (the second largest city in Indonesia after Jakarta). The city is in East Java around 60 minutes flight from Jakarta and 30 minutes flight from Bali Island (which most people known the island) and around 2 hours flight from Singapore to the east.
I would be happy to share some relevant information needed by whom who plan to travel to Surabaya in particular or some other cities in Indonesia (including Jakarta the capital city where I was working quite for some years). Population of the city is around 2.5 million.
Indonesia itself has more than 200 million people. Below are three paragraphs that I copied from wikipedia about Indonesia:
——–Copy from wikipedia ——
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia (Indonesian: Republik Indonesia), is a nation of islands consisting of 18,110 islands in the South East Asian Archipelago making it the world’s largest archipelagic state. Its capital is Jakarta. Indonesia is bordered by the nations of Papua New Guinea, East Timor, and Malaysia. With a population of over 200 million, it is the world’s fourth most populous country and the most populous Muslim-majority nation.
The Indonesian Archipelago, home of the Spice Islands, has been an important trade destination since ancient times, when early Chinese sailors began to find profit in the spice trade. Much of Indonesia’s history has been influenced by the many foreign powers that have been drawn to the archipelago and by its wealth of natural resources. These have included Classical Hindus and Buddhists from India, Muslim traders in medieval times, and Europeans during the Age of Exploration who fought for monopolization of the spice trade. Indonesia was colonized by the Dutch for over three centuries but declared its independence in 1945, which was internationally recognized four years later. Since then, Indonesia has had a turbulent history, including political instability and corruption, periods of rapid economic growth and decline, environmental catastrophe, and a recent democratization process.
Indonesia is a unitary state, consisting of numerous distinct ethnic, linguistic, and religious groups spread across its many islands. The modern-day borders of Indonesia are based upon those of the Dutch East Indies colony, rather than on any preconceived notion of unity; however, a shared history of colonialism and rebellion against it, a national Indonesian language, and a majority religion (Islam) help to define Indonesia as a state. Indonesia’s national motto, Bhinneka tunggal ika (derived from Old Javanese for unity in diversity), reflects the coming together of the country’s myriad cultures, languages, and ethnic groups. However, sectarian tensions have threatened political stability in some regions, leading to violent confrontations and the secession of East Timor.
——————End of copy
More information about Surabaya: http://www.surabayatourism.com/about_sby.php
I have just started visiting this blog for some days when I was looking a Chinese language schools in China. A friend of mine from Surabaya just decided to learn mandarin in Beijing Normal University (It cost him around US$8,000 for a year tuition and accommodation in the university, which I found quite expensive since tuition fee only for one year on average I find on the net is around US$ 2,500). Here are some universities in Beijing that I found which probably useful for others who interested learning Chinese in Beijing.
1. Beijing Normal University http://www.bnulxsh.com/newapplication/Tuition-en.htm
2. Tsinghua University http://www.tsinghua.edu.cn/docsn/wb/lxs/clcffe.htm
3. BLCU http://www.blcu.edu.cn/lzb/lx/english/fees.htm
I would be glad if there are some similar schools / university in Shanghai or other cities in China.
Is it considerably enough for people learning Chinese in one year with no Chinese background at all (reading newspaper, listening to the radio and communicate with Chinese people).
Thakns to Miikka, Dave G., mariz, Andrea, Xiong Shui, gabyu, Ben, kiwiuncle, lee rosenberg, Joyce, zee, Ying Zhang
From your post, I got to know more about Finland, Washington D.C (I have been there), Manila, Stuttgart (I heard abuot the name but never dig into details of the city yet), Düsseldorf (I still have problem to input the two dots above u), Paris (my dream travel destination), Austin, South Island of New Zealand (we almost decided to visit the beautiful country during our trip to Australia), Chicago (I have been there, and still remember the wind of Chicago in December), Singapore (nice place) and Manchester!
Thanks for sharing. To have my readers tell me more about the countries is so different than reading it from book. Well done!
Hi, I’m from Italy…seems like I’m the only one here :-) I studied Chinese and like to keep updated on all kind of things about China, that’s how I stumbled into your blog…months ago, can’t stop reading it now! keep up the good job please.
Ciao!
Hi, I am from Kentucky in the USA. I live in a very small town, less than 1000 people. I have visited Shanghai twice, the most recent time being in July of 2006. My husband and I have three daughters adopted in China. We hope someday to live in China for a while.
I enjoy reading your blog and learning more about China.
Hello, I am from San Francisco. I really enjoy your blog and learned many things about Shanghai. The first time I was in Shanghai was in 1980, just when China opened up. The 1980 version of the city clouded my vision of Shanghai for many years. I returned in late 2003 on a business trip, and on arriving at the airport I was amazed. I could not believe the change. Taking the highway into town and checking in to the Grand Hyatt was a fantastic eye opener.
I took my family to Shanghai just to let them experience the transformation. Have returned a few times and Shanghai is now one of my favorite cities. I love your blog, thank you for your time and you effort.
Hi, I’m from the Portuguese Island of Madeira!
It lies about 360 miles from the coast of Africa, 535 miles from Lisbon, 230 from Gran Canaria. More info (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madeira_Islands).
Nowadays my HQ’s is Barcelona but I had a chance to spend 6 days in shanghai last week.
Hi, I am a Chinese originally from Malaysia, and now in Busan, South Korea.
Malaysia is a federation of 13 states in Southeast Asia.Although politically dominated by the Malays, modern Malaysian society is heterogeneous, with substantial Chinese and Indian minorities. Nonetheless, Malaysia is considered to be a model of racial harmony.
I enjoy traveling a lot and my last trip was to Shanghai in April 2006.
Thanks for writing this blog and it make me understand more about China especially Shanghai. Keep up the good job.
Hi,
I’m French, living between Beijing and Shanghai for 4 years. Reading your blog for 3 years now. After starting to aggregate your RSS through the Google Reader feature (which I highly recommend to everybody), I’m able to read your posts everyday for few months and so, starting to write my first comments on your blog.
Hi there,
I am amazed at your blog. How do you find the time to post all those replies and details on so many different topics? First time I stumbled upon your blog was when I was searching for a place to stay for a visit to Shanghai, in 2004. I now live in Shanghai with my family. Your blogs have been helpful in providing information about Shanghai, information that comes from real people, regular people. Keep it up!
Добрый день,
I’m an half-Polish, half-Russian guy who lives in Montréal, Canada but grew up in several cities of France (including Versailles, Cherbourg and Paris). I used to live in Luxembourg and Russia during some months.
I used to «really appreciate» a girl from Shanghai (she was/is half-Chinese,half-French), who was coming in France sometimes, that’s why I’ve bumped into your blog with interest. Nowadays, even if the girl is left, I’m still willing to go to China, so I keep reading it ;)
Vassili.
Jianshuo – great that you learn about Denmark now !
Which book do you read ? Please tell me.
If you like, I have a good one for you.
It is Xiuying’s, but I’m sure that she will lend it to you.
Send me an SMS
hi,
i´m sarah. i live in berlin/germany. i just found your blog serving through
the net trying to find out something about the way people construct their
reality besides using “traditional” media like newspapers, television and so on. so i clicked that link to your page found on this german blog http://riesenmaschine.de/index.html?nr=20061016162418&kommentare=anzeigen#1
i find it very interesting that even if the internet is enabeling you to get
diverse information about the world you asked people to tell you something about there countries.it seems that you like so many more prefere information in a more human voice rather than unpersonal offered information.
so what can i tell you about berlin.
I do love that place. I lived in different cities in almost every region of Germany which at least is not such a big country having more or less only 8o mio.inhabitants. people here don´t care too much about showing how much money they do have and besides that berlin is not a place where the majority of people is rich.
berlin is a pretty multicultural place and especially many turkish people do live here.
turkish fast food called doener is more popular than mcDonalds.
i don´t know if these are important facts about berlin but it´s an information :)
i travelled to almost every european country, to the states and to india.
everytime and evrywhere things were absoultely different from what i expected them to be.
finally i think we are (that´s how the use to say in India) “same same but different.
Hi! Well i live in Canada! You are a nice helper though! I would love to read all the things you wrote! Thanx for being a good helper!
hi what up to
Hi, my name is rolly.I am a chinese girl.I really enjoy you blog.People there share their fellings about their countries.I would like to take part in the blog. I like the whole world,especially bali island.Can you send me some pictures about bali island.
my E-mail is zww3721256@163.com