I went to Beijing for about 6 weeks this year and I don't think I've ever seen any home delivery for Chinese restaurants. Pizza hut claim to home deliver though, but I've never got their web page working.

Interestingly, the menu in the Chinese pizza hut has an awesome selection compare to the Aussie ones. You can get stakes, ribs, chicken wings and even alcohol: Chinese pizza hut menu.

>> ^Peroxide:

Anywhere else in the world? What about in China?

Two of the red character panels in the background say "Beijing" 北京。

>> ^Drachen_Jager:

@dannym3141 You disagree, that's fine, you had a visit to China and you know all about it. I guess a lot of Americans 'know all about' Mexico from all the time spent in resorts there.
I'm not kidding, Chinese people who have lived here for over 30 years hate the new immigrants more than anyone. That's not because they're 'Chinese' it's because of what's become of the culture. I have lots of Chinese friends, but all of them have been here quite some time. It's not because I don't care to get to know more recent immigrants, but rather that they shun anyone who doesn't look and talk like they do, and my Mandarin is quite rusty, my skin too pale.


This would have been very cutting if i had stayed in a resort; i'll spare the details but i was in a beijing student accomodation or in xian staying with a family of the chinese students from beijing. I'm not a scholar of their culture, i'm just a guy who's been there and had to rely on a lot of good will from people who had no reason to give it.

On the subject of what modern china is like and whether it is populated with "horrible people" i think my moderate knowledge trumps your lack of knowledge? Please feel free to make some more wild assumptions about my life if it helps your monologues flow.

>> ^Drachen_Jager:

I'm sorry, but Chinese (the modern culture, not the race) are horrible people. Flame me all you want. I know first generation Chinese who came over 30-40 years ago who are kind, decent, hardworking people, but the more recent immigrants, who were really brainwashed under communism are mostly self-centred assholes, who would honestly keep eating shark-fin soup if it meant some random person in the third world would be executed for every bowl, because it's a good way to show everyone how rich they are. The Chinese people I know who have been here for over 30 years hate the new generation of Chinese more than anyone else. They represent a perversion of the culture by Mao, who admitted hating Chinese culture and did his best to destroy it.
Obviously this does not apply to all individuals, but the culture as a whole is sick.


Ok, speaking as someone who has very recently been to china for an extendad stay, and i've met and had extensive experience with young and middle aged chinese;

How did you get the impression they were horrible people? Every single person i met in china was generous and selfless and went a long way out of their way to make sure i had a good time and to make sure i was completely taken care of. Their culture almost DEMANDS them to be respectful and polite to strangers. Self centred is a word which i could not apply to a single one of the several hundred chinese people that i've met.

Show off their wealth? Do you realise that the chinese people are extremely poor? The government may be fucking rich but the people certainly aren't. They work their fucking arse off in a shit job they get given and they get paid pennies, PENNIES, and they work fucking hard at it and fucking long hours because guess what they'd get if they didn't? Fuck all. I have never met a more humble and polite people, the chinese people seem to me like the british were 60 years ago (of which i am proud and sad we're not like that anymore).

I must remind you, with my limited knowledge, of the Cultural Revolution and other periods in chinese history where the people were so poor and desperate that they would eat more or less anything to survive. I was told that diverse foods were more common in the south (i was in beijing and xian) and that they are also very poor there.

I don't know what modern china is a representation of, but i suspect you know less than you claim to about modern china.

I do not promote the eating of endangered species, and i do not know the ins and outs of the shark fin stuff, but i don't need to for the point i am making, because i address solely your retarded opinion that modern chinese are "horrible people".

If anything, i would probably rate the chinese people as being the nicest i've met. Least proportion of assholes to nice guys; i didn't meet a single asshole in china. No one even rudely bumped into me or in front of me, literally not a single chinese person gave me cause to be offended or upset in any way in the entire time i was having dealings with them. The chinese are amazing, the government isn't, and i hope the chinese will soon notice that.

You're an ass and i think you're quoting some shite that you've heard on some government-funded war-mongering tv show.

Beautiful. I'd love to go spend a day or two taking photos there.

Since asia is biggish, for those wondering: this is apparently near Beijing. More infos.

Viral marketing for the Stephen King book signing in Beijing for "Under the Dome"

over beijing? Smog.

>> ^steroidg:

One of the public toilettes where I grew up (in Beijing) is pretty much a few planks (to squat) over a gentle slope made of concrete... I don't want to spoil your day so I'll spare the details, but most things didn't end up at the lower end if you know what I mean.
I still refuse to go into public toilettes in China 20 years on.


Yea I've spent a few months in Guangzhou, it's quite important to go to the toilet before you visit the markets - if you have to go at the markets it's exactly like you describe, just a gentle slope that runs underneath the entire line of toilets, with pretty much no water to speak of to keep everything 'moving'.

How politically correct we are.

One of the public toilettes where I grew up (in Beijing) is pretty much a few planks (to squat) over a gentle slope made of concrete... I don't want to spoil your day so I'll spare the details, but most things didn't end up at the lower end if you know what I mean.

I still refuse to go into public toilettes in China 20 years on.

@mentality

It is really hard to say exactly where the figures come from. The 64.5 million 'empty' figure is the supposed number of apartments which registered zero power consumption according to a leaked report. China's power company denies that, but then of course they would, whether it's true or not.

Just one city with 9 million vacant homes! There's another that's built for 2.5 million which is empty except for construction workers and a few shopkeepers and such to support them in Tibet. I've seen a slideshow of the empty cities in China, it's pretty scary. You don't have to add too many empty apartments in cities with actual populations, like Beijing, to get up to 64 million.

I am not certain that any of those numbers are true. Who can be with China's tight grip on such information. But I believe it. I have seen enough evidence that I have little doubt. 64 million is probably a lowball estimate.

>> ^Drachen_Jager:

>> The scale is relative to the economy, not the population. Considering I have seen estimates that there are 96 million of those 'investment' condos sitting empty in China right now I'd say the fallout will put them back to the stone age. That guy living with one faucet among ten households will consider himself lucky compared to his neighbours.

I'd really like to see how the analysts are getting their numbers. The analyst in the video going "It is said that there are 64 million empty apartments" doesn't sound very convincing. Also, I wonder just who is investing in these properties, and who's going to be hurt the worst when the bubble pops. In any case, that guy with one faucet is living in Beijing, and he's not going to be able to afford housing on his salary even if there were no bubble. That's like trying to buy a place in Manhattan on your minimum wage from McD's.

http://www.truthandpolitics.org/top-rates.php

Of course we have taxed ourselves to prosperity.

If you guys had your way during the 20th century, america would have the stature of Canada - not that Canada isn't a nice place. Our military, our space program, our infrastructure, our technological advantage took taxes.

Now you shortsighted fools want to end that. Well, living in Beijing, I see every day how they are throwing money into all the above categories and getting results. Then, 10-15 years from now, you guys will be lamenting how and why US has seen better days.

@xxovercastxx
It certainly happens that traffic jams and car accidents cause major inconvenience, but that's not the same as going out with the intent of clogging the roads. It's no accident that the event was originally named the "Commute Clot".
I don't think CMers much like or identify with the old name, which I think was just some arguably witty consonance. I wouldn't join a ride with that name because I don't necessarily want to disturb people. The new name comes from a line in a documentary film, where bicycle traffic in Beijing was stopped indefinitely at certain intersections, never allowed to proceed until "a critical mass of (waiting) cyclists" formed, spilled out in front of the cars, blocking their way, and finally allowed the cyclists to move, which they all did together, in the protection of numbers. Today's CM rides are the planning of that "critical mass of cyclists" so that once a month, at most, we can experience the freedom to ride our own roads.

I actually do love riding my bike, or at least I did before a neck injury made it agonizing to do so.
Really, really sorry to hear this.

I have no problem sharing the road with anyone who is willing. Breaking traffic laws most certainly is, or at least was when this thing got started.
Well, it's not the point anymore. Traffic laws aren't the problem. In Toronto (my city) for this reason, we started following traffic lights, but this caused its own problems with breaking up the ride, and creating dangerous situations with a few cyclists going through anyway, and confusing the cross traffic, so we mostly now just go on through. It's safe.

And if all you want to do is have a bunch of cyclists go for a ride together, obeying stop signs, red lights, right-of-way, etc, that's awesome and no, you don't need permission or special paperwork or anything like that.
When that's all I want, I stay off the roads, and use bicycle paths and nature trails. I actually don't much like riding with other people, to be honest.

I most certainly do not acknowledge this as a protest. Protests are against something: a war, discrimination, etc. What is CM protesting; traffic laws? Equal access to the road? No, this is just a troll festival. However, if that's what your local city does then you have strayed from the intent of CM, that being to block off roads with massive quantities of traffic-law-ignoring cyclists so as to disrupt anyone else's commute. If that's the goal, then that's what parade paperwork is for. Just don't expect to be allowed to fuck up the city every month. You keep referring to it as a protest, so why don't you tell me what you're protesting?
As there is no leader, there are maybe as many ideas about what CM is as there are cyclists in the ride. Most, however, will agree with what you said, that we're protesting for equal access to the roads, as well as improved cycling infrastructure, increased cycling budget, and so on. And if that defies what you perceive as the original intent of CM, that's none of my business. I am not against anybody. I just want to enjoy my slice of the pie as comfortably and unmindfully (is that a word? you know what I mean) as car drivers get to do every day.

Living in Beijing, the spring festival is like the 4th of July on steroids. Every night for at least a week, people buy the most powerful explosives they can (which are well past any potency limits we set in the US) and blow them up well into the night. In the first nights of the festival, from 7PM to 3AM, I heard nothing but powerful "BOOM"'s and car alarms going off.

On the other hand, the view is impressive, with stunning showers of light seen all over the cityscape.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'cabrio, parking, top down, small space' to 'cabrio, parking, top down, small space, beijing, china' - edited by longde