Archive for the ‘China’ Category

Restaurant explodes in Beijing

Beijing, China | Posted by Terence
Sep 25 2009

News on this a bit thin at the moment, but speculation is rife on whether the restaurant that blew up in Beijing this morning was, in fact, due to gas leakage as officially stated – or a bomb blast. We shall soon find out.

The government line is that it was caused by gas canister. I don’t know much about police detection work, and presume it’s fairly quick to rule out foul play in normal circumstances, though in China and particularly with the pending National Day Celebrations I wouldn’t necessarily give the government the benefit of the doubt.

In any event, it was a good restaurant. That would be the biggest shame – not to mention of course those injured in the blast.

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China Unicom 3G price tariff plan

Beijing, China | Posted by Terence
Sep 24 2009

China Unicom (中国联通) announced new 3G tariff plans to coincide with its official 3G launch on 1st October. The new plans give additional, cheaper, post-paid monthly tariff options as well as increased data quotas. The previous add-on data plans will no longer be valid.

Existing 186RMB plan remains (510mins talk-time) but now with 650mb data allowance. The cheapest 96RMB plan includes 240mins talk-time and 300mb data. 126RMB will get you 320mins and 400mb data.

Those interested in downgrading to the new cheaper plans should contact China Unicom customer service at 10010.

Additionally, previous 2G customers on 13x numbers can now also switch to 3G service without changing number or SIM card.

Update: Plan details now available online, but in Chinese only. I include a brief overview in English below:

Monthly fee Talk time Data Video call Free SMS
66 RMB 50mins 300mb 10mins 240
96 RMB 240mins 300mb 10mins None
126 RMB 320mins 400mb 15mins None
156 RMB 420mins 500mb 20mins None
186 RMB 510mins 650mb 20mins None
226 RMB 700mins 750mb 25mins None
286 RMB 900mins 950mb 30mins None
386 RMB 1250mins 1.3 Gb 50mins None
586 RMB 1950mins 2 Gb 100mins None
886 RMB 3000mins 3 Gb 180mins None

All plans include free incoming calls nationwide. Domestic roaming & long distance dialing within China now inclusive in talk time with standardised nationwide pricing.

66RMB plan now available to all including non-students

Update 2010-11-11: The above 3G tariff plans still valid, but more options are now available. 3G plans are now split into ‘A’ and ‘B’ group – those listed above represent current ‘A’ group plans. ‘B’ group plans offer more talk time with less data, as below:

Monthly fee Talk time Data Video call Free SMS
66 RMB 200mins 60mb 10mins 0
96 RMB 450mins 80mb 10mins 0
126 RMB 680mins 100mb 15mins 0
156 RMB 920mins 120mb 20mins 0
186 RMB 1180mins 150mb 20mins 0

Additionally, SMS packages are now available for a small monthly surcharge:

Monthly fee SMS included
5 RMB 60
10 RMB 125
20 RMB 300

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Would you like chicken with that?

Beijing, China | Posted by Terence
Sep 23 2009

Spicy beef in brothI was bored over dinner the other day in Beijing so decided to take a photo. A specialty of the restaurant 眉洲东坡 (this particular one at ChunXiuLu 春秀路) – this dish of stewed beef slices served in a concoction of chilli’s and broth was actually quite tasty! And cheap too.

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Clio Coddle

Beijing, China | Posted by Terence
Sep 22 2009

ClioTianjin: Clio Coddle, a fashion brand i’ve never heard of but with a logo disturbingly similar to that of Singaporean chain Crocodile, which in turn itself has had a long dispute over logo infringements with well known manufacturer LaCoste. Apparently it’s not new – I just did a search online and found other references to it. Evidently they’re still alive. Just goes to show: there’s no shame at all with piracy in China, and it’s so easy to succeed.

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Cash nation – but no cash?!?

Beijing, China | Posted by Terence
Sep 07 2009

Getting small change in Beijing is a constant and irritating challenge. Restaurants, taxis, convenience stores – pay with a 100RMB note (not much in today’s cities) and you will often be met with cries for something smaller.

Cab drivers have always despised splitting your hundred – but more recently i’ve noticed several restaurants refusing to split a few notes to help distribute change amongst a group. The usual excuse (“we don’t have change”) is most likely a lie and if you persist you’ll be amazed that change is suddenly produced from ‘out of nowhere’.

I’ve found this a lot at up market restaurants – and it’s amazing the lack of desire they even have to maintain a good image with good service. After spending 1000RMB on a meal, the least they could do is help your group with some small change.

If you ever find yourself with the same problem – insist to look at their till. I’d guess that 95% of the time they do have change to give you.

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China Unicom 3G GPRS Settings

China, Tech | Posted by Terence
Aug 26 2009

Having got my new China Unicom WCDMA 3G number, I was somewhat confused that (a) data service worked through my China Mobile settings (b) it didn’t work using the settings Unicom customer service provided, and (c) I found yet another set of settings that can be used.

Whilst I still don’t know why the above is true, I found the following:

1) Use China Mobile settings (APN: CMNET) for GPRS / 3G Data with no proxy works fine. MMS should be received using WAP profile (APN: CMWAP , MMSC: http://mmsc.monternet.com , Gateway or Proxy: 10.0.0.172. Port 80 for HTTP, port 9201 for WAP)

I don’t know if this is just compatibility, or a problem with China Mobile’s network.

2) The settings Unicom customer service now provide will only work through a proxy.
GPRS APN: 3gwap
WAP APN: 3gnet
- for both must set proxy through 10.0.0.172 . These settings provide support for web (HTTP) traffic only.

3) Older data suggests to use:
GPRS APN: uninet
WAP APN: uniwap
MMSC: mmsc.myuni.com.cn
- I use this and it works. No proxy needed for GPRS ; but use 10.0.0.172 (as above) for MMS. Works across all protocols (MSN, FTP etc…) unlike 3G settings.

Therefore if you have a China Unicom 3G card and have been given the new settings, don’t bother. It’s just more complicated, and using 3gwap non-HTTP based services will not work.

Note: I’ve subsequently discovered this site claiming that for certain applications like Mobile Television you must use the 3G settings. I haven’t tested.

Update: iPhone users will find that they can no longer change APN settings for China Unicom. Carrier settings are now auto detected upon insertion of SIM card and cannot be modified. Data therefore should just work.

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Visa free access to Russia!

Hong Kong, Travel | Posted by Terence
Aug 01 2009

Those Hong Kong passport holders out there may be interested to know that as of July 1st 2009, a mutual visa free arrangement between Hong Kong and Russia will allow visa-free access between both regions for a period of 14 days.

Russia isn’t high on my list of places to visit, but this is certainly welcoming news. Being so close, it even sounds mildly tempting…

Edit – Noting that many people get here searching ‘visa free access China’ in Google, note the following:

1) Only passport holders from Singapore, Brunei, and Japan can visit China visa-free for up to 15 days. Visitors from Hong Kong, Macau, or Taiwan should use a separate document issued by mainland authorities for travel.

2) Visa-free access to Russia granted to the following countries as of 28/08/2009 : Azerbaijan, Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Kyrgyzstan, Cuba, Moldova, Tajikistan, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Ukraine, Israel, Macedonia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Serbia, Turkey, Montenegro, Venezuela, Argentina – and Hong Kong.

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China’s blacklisted city?

Beijing, China | Posted by Terence
Jun 17 2009

I’ve never heard of it, but BBC news reported on Shizuishan (石嘴山), apparently China’s most polluted city, now blacklisted by the government.

What struck me about this report is not so much the content but yet more attempts by the Chinese government to cover up foreign media reporting. The BBC crew were subsequently questioned by police and denounced by local communist officials for reporting this ‘sensitive topic’ – albeit simply a matter of pollution, and that much of the top polluters in the city are still operating (despite supposedly being shut down). Yet again the Chinese government fail to see that despite censorship, the western media will get the news they want: only with interference it makes the Chinese look pathetic, and the censorship itself draws attention amongst foreign viewers. It’s simply counter productive on both counts: it does not allow the media to seek genuine change and improvement in China where issues count, and it does nothing to improve the image of China externally.

Again, the west will see the news regardless, only with the added pathetic-ness of the attempted censorship.

The widely reported wielding of umbrellas in Tiananmen square during the 20th anniversary of was equally amusing – if not plainly embarrassing.

When will they learn.

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