Articles by napatra

Living inside the Great Firewall

As an online geek, one of the most inconvenient aspects of living in China is being trapped inside the infamous Great Firewall. Stuck inside the wall, technically I am unable to access YouTube, Facebook, all blogging platforms (WordPress, Blogspot, Tumblr, etc. including my own blog), Twitter, FourSquare, Google Documents & Google Calendar at times, and the list continues. You can imagine sheer frustration of those unfortunate ones, confined to an unnatural limited cyber space. World Wide Web in China doesn’t read exactly World Wide Web, but more like Webs Within the Wall.

From my experience, Internet users in China split into three camps – the Rebels, the Don’t Cares, and the Completely Unawares.

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All I want is your fifty cents

If you are traveling to China and are looking for some advice, I’ve got one for you. Leave your credit card at home. Instead, bring small change – lots of it.

The reason for this advice is not because China is dirt cheap – forget about the days when lunch is 2 kuai (USD0.30) and a nice top is 20 (USD3). The underlying reason to this advice is much simpler than that – it’s just because salespeople in China are obsessed with small change.

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KTV Extravaganza: Everyone can be a superstar

KTV, the Chinese abbreviation for karaoke, is a heavenly place where Chinese people hit up and let loose. Unlike small Karaoke bars in America tucked away in quiet corners, Chinese KTV joints are a lot more serious. They are grand, three-story buildings broken into rooms that come with their own karaoke setup and ten thousand Chinese and international songs for you and your friends to sing until your lungs give out.

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