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There are several services that I very seldom use in China, but I use it frequently in the bay area.
1. Google Map and Driving Direction
I don't use map as frequently as here. I need to check Google Map once or twice every single day to get driving directions. In Shanghai or even in other cities in China, to check an online map is just for fun - to checkout something I am so familiar and see what the map says.
2. Local sites
It is the same meals. I need to check out a restaurant first before I go out. In Shanghai, I only need to set an area, and there are so many restaurants there. Here, you have to get a restaurant first so you know your driving direction.
3. Voice Message
I start to leave voice messages when the person I call didn't answer the phone immeidately. I am still not used to this kind of "non-instant" communication, but it seems to be the common way to do it. In Shanghai, people seldom uses voice message - we just try to dial again.
P.S. Route CA-17
Route CA-17 from Los Gatos to Santa Cruz is still scary for me. I can drive at daytime, but at night, it is so scary for me - nothing just two lines of dots winding around before you, and you have to be fast - 55 - 60 miles/hour seems much more faster than it actually is.
by Jian Shuo Wang on November 13, 2006 under San Jose
The absence of #2 is something I lament when calling people in mainland China. Voice mail is a great invention!
Posted by: dezza on November 13, 2006 4:13 PMI don't like voice mail because I feel like I am talking to a robot.
Posted by: Shrek7 on November 13, 2006 9:03 PMShrek7: When you listen to the radio, do you feel like a robot is talking to you?
Voice mail may be a cultural thing. My friend Mina, who is Bulgarian, called me 7 times one morning and never left a voice mail.
Posted by: Dave G. on November 13, 2006 11:30 PMVoice mail bloody stinks; it's like having to give a speech, yet you must sound like you're conversing.
Posted by: Ben on November 14, 2006 2:38 AMYes,it's really strange to say something to a machine.
Posted by: telecom.freelance on November 14, 2006 2:49 PMIs there such a thing as voice messaging in China Mobile and China Unicom ?
If so, I would like to hear more details.
And - are there any way that people can send SMS to a
chinese mobile phone from outside of China ?
(I can send SMS to my country, but they can't send to me in China.)
Hey, I used to live in Santa Cruz (UCSC), drove 80-90 on hw17 all the time. Now days, I regret that carelessness (as well as 3 speeding tickets).. Nonetheless, Beijing traffic at times seems much scarrier.
Posted by: Serge on November 18, 2006 9:05 PMI've always hated leaving voice message on either voice mail or (and maybe I'm dating myself by saying this??) on answering machines. My Thai mother has always felt the same.
Posted by: Jon Silpayamanant on November 26, 2006 9:52 PMcarsten
with China Mobile, you can apply for "call divert" plus "voice mail box" service, which cost about 10RMB(?) per month... when you set your phone to divert your calls to the voice mail box, people can leave messages.
and you meant if they try to send sms to +86139xxxxxxxx, it does not work? I have received sms from Nordic colleagues, never had any problem?
Posted by: mcgjcn on December 5, 2006 4:42 PM
I just sent a SMS to Wendy using +86139xxxxxxxx. My carrier now is Cingular in San Jose.
Posted by: Jian Shuo Wang on December 5, 2006 5:00 PM"And - are there any way that people can send SMS to a
chinese mobile phone from outside of China ?
(I can send SMS to my country, but they can't send to me in China.)"
SMS via Skype works great. Just +86 and then the number and away it goes.