Category: China

Reading Time: < 1 minute The gas price is creeping up again. This weekend the regular unlead costs about $3.00 here in St. Louis. Last time it broke the $3 barrier is post Katrina. It seems siutation is not going to improve in the near future due to geopolitical reasons (Iran, North Korea), more importantly, the supply and demand trend.

stlplace
July 8, 2006

Reading Time: < 1 minute 前两天说到找Roommate, 有各种各样的人回应. 从种族上分, 有白人, 黑人, 印度人, 中国人. 其实找Roommate毕竟不是找老婆, 没必要那么认真. 我不是种族歧视, 但是我对美国的黑人还是有一些切身体会, 憋在心里不吐不快. 我有一个中国朋友特别不喜欢, 看不起黑人, 同时又有点害怕黑人. 我想大多数在美国的中国人也抱有类似的心理. 主要原因还是因为缺少了解. 说实话, 黑人多数是比较穷, 可能在有的方面素质差一些, 但是他们毕竟比华人早来新大陆一二百年, 在政治上的地位和自我的感觉比我们华人不知道要高(好)多少. 这听上去可能有点不可思忆, 却是不争的事实. 前不久在电视上看到这样一个的故事, 一个在美国出生的亚裔(成功女性), 人家这样问她: Where are you from? 从心底里面, 多数人还是认为我们这些黑眼睛黄皮肤的人”是从其它地方来的”. 这在我所在的美国中西部就很明显. 就我个人而言, 我碰到过很好的黑人(我的同事), 也碰到过极差的黑人. 我的黑人同事Programmer, 他是我们公司最好的Programmer之一, 曾经上过MIT, 人也极好(Nice). 反过来, 当我刚来St.Louis住在公司附近(黑人较多), 曾经接到过黑人的骚扰电话, 放在家门口的拖鞋无故不见, 出去散步回来发现房门是开的. 总之叫了两回警察. 最倒霉的一次, 过绿灯时车被一个黑人撞了(估计是急着去上班). 跟她说好大家把车都停到加油站, 结果她趁机跑掉. 第二天自己当了一回侦探把她抓到, 她又没有买保险. 说到这, 又想起一个一面之交的黑人. 有一回买了个27寸的电视, 从停车场吃力地往家搬, 有个黑人兄弟正好看到, 二话没说就过来帮忙. 说了这么多,

stlplace
June 25, 2006

Reading Time: 2 minutes Shortky after I wrote the web 2.0 article, I got comment from Andy and he mentioned his new site hnlhousing.com. I checked it out and it was cool. As I said when I first saw the housingmaps.com about a year ago, I thought it was a very useful tool. Basically it combines the listings on Craigslist

stlplace
June 21, 2006

Reading Time: < 1 minute I saw the following from Joel on Software . I had some hard time trying to understand it. Is he looking to be a distributor of foreign software company? Or he is interested in doing outsourcing work for foreign companies? I am thinking, this English problem (if typical among Chinese software industry), does present oppertunities.

stlplace
June 18, 2006

Reading Time: < 1 minute From mitbbs ================================================ 出租司机给我上的MBA课 我要从徐家汇赶去机场,于是匆匆结束了一个会议,在美罗大厦前搜索出租车。一辆 大众发现了我,非常专业的、径直的停在我的面前。这一停,于是有了后面的这个让 我深感震撼的故事,象上了一堂生动的MBA案例课。为了忠实于这名出租车司机的原 意,我凭记忆尽量重复他原来的话。 “去哪里……好的,机场。我在徐家汇就喜欢做美罗大厦的生意。这里我只做两个地 方。 美罗大厦,均瑶大厦。你知道吗?接到你之前,我在美罗大厦门口兜了两圈,终于 被 我看到你了!从写字楼里出来的,肯定去的不近~~~” “哦?你很有方法嘛!”我附和了一下。 “做出租车司机,也要用科学的方法。”他说。我一愣,顿时很有些兴趣“什么科学的 方法?” “要懂得统计。我做过精确的计算。我说给你听啊。我每天开17个小时的车,每小时成 本34.5元……” “怎么算出来的?”我追问。

stlplace
March 17, 2006

Reading Time: 4 minutes I saw this article in ShanghaiExpat, and I think it’s very informative. ================================================ Understanding Shanghai’s Rental Market Shanghai’s downtown housing supply grows each year with more and more buildings popping up around town. For the newcomer it must seem overwhelming and many can’t work out why the differing asking prices for what seem to be

stlplace
March 5, 2006

Reading Time: < 1 minute From mitbbs: =========================================== 看到前面东航的事情,我也来说说前些日子回国的遭遇。 我是坐UA由别处到chicago再回上海的,在我这个地方check-in 的时候,不知怎么搞的就没有给我chicago到上海这一段的正式机票, 只是一张confirmation,工作人员说,到时候一定会有位子的,我也 没多想。到了chicago,被告知票子卖得太多了,现在没有位子,要我 等20分钟看看,当时距离飞机起飞还有40分钟。我当时挺着急,但是 这样的事情听过不少,倒还没到出离愤怒的地步。就站在柜台边等 叫我的名字。过了15分钟,形势开始不对,这时候来的人,航空公司 都是一句话,没位子了,今天走不了了,等明天吧。可是很可气的是 他们不一视同仁,老外来了(这里指看上去肯定不是亚裔的那种), 绝对是有位子的,机票立马给你。中国人来了,先说没有位子,然后 问是不是绿卡,如果是,位子又有了,而像我们这种F1,或者探亲 旅游访友的,就绝对绝对地没有票子。看着这些人的嘴脸,我心里 那个气呀,尤其这些UA的工作人员都是黄皮肤,黑眼睛,说中国话 的中国人呀! 回到国内,唯一不开心的经历就是在大使馆,那些中国保安的 嘴脸,想必大家也见识过了,尤其是他们对一些拿探亲签证的老人 家,人家年纪大,不懂英文,也许连普通话都说不好,就更应该 多帮帮忙的,但是那些人那个凶,那个不耐烦,呼呼赫赫的,让人 看了心寒。我去拿签证的时候,发现签证上有些错误,去找保安, 本来只想问问有什么电话或者人我可以去找找问问的,却招来了 一顿骂。我很委屈,老爸说,只有白痴才跟这些人理论讲道理的, 我为此还跟老爸争了起来,可是现在想想,我是不是有点白痴啊? 我爱自己的国家和同胞,只是对这些人,实在无话可说了,只 是不明白,也许这些人不工作的时候,也是挺正常的,但是为什么 一工作就换成了那样的嘴脸,sigh… ========================================= Comments: I think it’s an extreme case. For international travel it’s a good idea to confirm the ticket before heading to airport. This applies to

stlplace
February 23, 2006

Reading Time: < 1 minute American Airline (AA) is starting this direct flight from Chicago (ORD) to Shanghai (PVG), using Boeing 777, on April 2. This is in addition to current United Airline’s (UA) direct flight for the same route. UA is also using 777. I checked it on the AA web site. AA is offering special prices for the

stlplace
February 20, 2006

Reading Time: 2 minutes St. Louis, flurries, high 18 F, low 7 F, that’s -7 C to -13 C. Shanghai, snow, high 41°F (5°C), low 38°F (3°C). Shanghai also had its first round of snow today. When I was talking to the taxi driver this morning, he told me his daughter was really excited about the snow because she

stlplace
February 18, 2006

Reading Time: < 1 minute I was a bit tired of big meals these days. I think I should blame myself for lack of self control. But there are just so many good food in Shanghai I can not resist. The buffet in “Home Inn (Ru Jia)” was good, especially the Ru Jia near Xu Jia Hui. So I ate

stlplace
February 16, 2006
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