My foreign name is too long for ICBC
Two weeks ago I wrote about the Chinese supermarket experience and I would say that going to a Chinese bank is an interesting event too. I have an account in ICBC (Industrial and Commercial Bank of China), but had some problems with it. When someone tried to transfer money to my account the bank said my name was written wrong. How could I not know my own name? I went to the bank yesterday to solve the problem. Luckily there was a bank clerk whose English was quite good and I didn’t have to rely on my weak “banking Chinese”. The answer to my problem was obvious. Chinese name usually…
Getting to know Guangzhou: Sun Yat-Sen University north gate (Day time)
During day time the area around the north gate of Sun Yat-Sen University is quiet and peaceful. City worker sweeping the ground. Family members taking photos of each other. Small girls running around. Boys practicing roller skating. Schoolkids resting after school day and wondering what to do.
Buying a camera in Hong Kong – Don’t! (Part 3)
Still smiling few hours before scam number 2. Trying to act like a real expat! Earlier this week I told you how I ended up buying my camera in Guangzhou because the prices were the same (or higher) in Hong Kong. Other reason to do that was that I got fooled really badly while trying to buy Canon 1000d. But that wasn’t the end for my camera hunt. I still needed one more scam to get me run back to mainland. Scam number 2 (Lory, this is also a true story!) This also happened in TST, but I don’t remember the street. So play it safe and avoid all the…
Buying a camera in Hong Kong – Don’t! (Part 2)
On Tuesday I compared the prices in Hong Kong and Guangzhou. The conclusion was that even though there are rumors that cameras are cheaper in Hong Kong, there’s no need to rush there to shop. In the comments Mike reminded us that there are cheap stores in Guangzhou too, but you just have to know what you’re buying and know about the different guarantees. Today I’m going to tell you the first story of the camera shop that tried to trick me into buying something I didn’t want. Scam number 1 It happened on the Peking road and you can see the shop in the picture above (from Google…