Un français en Asie
Traveler Tips
GungHo! Pizza, online gourmet pizza delivery
023/04/2013
You can find numerous home-delivery websites in Beijing. Couple of months ago, I discovered sendmetickets.com, the website that can deliver to your office any concert and events tickets.
I am bit hungry today so I focus on one my favorite food delivery site, Gungho! Pizza.
I highly recommend trying their pizzas anytime any days. If you live in Beijing, you may see the delivery guys wearing pink clothes and riding pink motorcycles.
The orders are done directly on their nice and cool website (that avoid long talks with the central that can’t find your address; McDonald’s style). Delivery guys are always on time, with some changes and really kind. (more…)
Travel in China – Ctrip.com
008/07/2012
Travel in China can be sometimes really complicated. I got several misfortunes during train trips or incredible delays during air trips.
That’s why I want to highlight today a useful website to enjoy this immense country, Ctrip.com.
This website, available in English, Korean or even Japanese, provides booking support for flights, hotels or complete packages from all major Chinese cities.
An other useful website for Beijingers – Sendmetickets.com
029/06/2012
I already presented in a previous post several websites which need to be known by expatriates who live in Beijing. I want today to add one site to this list for music fan that are not be able to speak Chinese, Sendmetickets.com.
It is always complicated to get one ticket for a concert or a festival in town. Dates are always published late as the schedule is often updated (change on the place, cancellation…). Tickets are available in some bars only few days before the date.
Some people got an interesting idea to help us, expatriates in Beijing: deliver these tickets to our door.
Indeed, it is possible in China to get delivery for anything that you can purchase online or by telephone: pizza, hamburgers, electronic stuff, vegetables… (more…)
Daily life in an apartment: usage of several smart cards for utilities
001/03/2012
New expatriates, welcome to China!
Find a free and nice flat in Beijing can be complicated. I searched during several weeks before moving in to a nice 1 bedroom flat in Phoenix City (凤凰城 – Feng Huang Cheng) Sanyuanqiao, Est side of Beijing. I have been in this apartment since 3 months then I get used to the daily life problems.
Indeed, the day I moved in, I discovered new strange thing about life in China and new incoming problems: usage of meters and smartcards. I expected to get one card to open the front door of my building and the key of my apartment. Surprise, the owner gave me the key and 5 different smartcards.
Useful websites to enjoy life in Beijing
023/02/2012
The expatriate community who lives in Beijing is becoming bigger and bigger with the opening of China to other countries in the world. The official figures said that 110 000 expatriates lives in Beijing (interns or student are not included in this survey as they stay for a limited period of time).
Including them, the number should be approximately 150 000 foreigners in town. This is still nothing in comparison to the actual Beijing population, 19 billions.
It often happens that I am the only foreigner when I go to work at my subway station or in the subway (North West of the city).
By definition, these people in community gather together in some areas in the East of the city (Sanlitun, Sanyuanqiao, Guomao…). To be able to share our common interests and needs, some people got the good idea to use Internet. Several websites for foreigners in Beijing have been opened.
(more…)
Train travel around China – some tips and hits to experience an incredible adventure…
008/09/2011
China is incredibly vast and distance between 2 cities is most likely hundreds of kilometers rather than kilometers. It is easy to travel via air to reduce time travel but it can become rapidly expensive. That’s why several travelers prefer train travel. It gives the opportunity to enjoy sightseeing and also to discuss and share experiences with locals or other travelers.
Railway is highly developed in China and the government puts lot of money to continue this fast development (with potential troubles sometimes like the recent fast train crash in July). (more…)
Working in China: How to transform F-Visa into Z-Visa?
020/05/2011
My relation with the Chinese administration has just started in France when I got my F-Visa couple of weeks ago to land in China and start a new activity. I need now to convert it to be allowed to stay more than one month. I request a new level of accreditation, the Z-Visa, to stay and work permanently in this country.
My company prevented me before my departure and asked me to prepare administrative paperwork.
To help my readers who are potentially the next expats, I give you below the full list of documents that Chinese government requests:
- Passport with one year validity period (more…)
Learning some Chinese key phrases…
008/04/2011
A small part of Chinese population can speak English today. The % evolves quickly with the new generations but you need to know that it is really complicated to live in Shanghai or Beijing without speaking Chinese Mandarin.
To break the language ‘Great Wall’, I have started couple of weeks ago to look at the Chinese language with different teaching aids (podcasts, learning online lessons, some books for ‘dummies’…). Learning a new language is not easy as you may know. This is also true and confirmed for Chinese. (more…)
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