# Do you have an interest in visiting China? ask any questions :)



## Menshommes (Sep 6, 2015)

i like the one made about Japan, how about one for China.


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## A-TOWN BOY (Jan 6, 2009)

i wouldn't say it's my dream but yea, i am interested in visiting china. it has a long history, rich culture and cuisine, and has experienced a recent technological and skyscraper boom. definitely worth visiting.


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## Inconfidente (Oct 5, 2006)

Why are Chinese users jealous about Japan? :troll:

Just kidding... 

For sure I have interest. Why have China allowed Macau and HK being under foreign control?


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## FREKI (Sep 27, 2005)

Just came back from Shanghai a few weeks ago and while I had a good time the traffic was absolutely terrible with cars and moped drivers who had no regards for human life, traffic signals or lanes ( heck even seen buses drive in the wrong side of the wrong to overtake a car that was doing what looked like to be the speed limit )

Is police/government doing anything about it - the deathtoll and accident rates must be huge :runaway:


Also what's with the street shops hanging raw meat up or putting it in uncooled boxes right there on the street with no cooling or protection from flies or people's breath? ( why do people buy from such stores when the meat is spoiled - especially keeping fish like that seems absolutely crazy..

Final question, saw a lot of dairy products ( we even had them served on the flight ) I was under the understanding that most East Asians were lactose intollorent ( the Chinese I know here in Denmark sure say they are ) so that made me wonder how there is such a seemingly large market for dairy products that isn't labelled lactose free :dunno:


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## mw123 (Oct 23, 2009)

FREKI said:


> Final question, saw a lot of dairy products ( we even had them served on the flight ) I was under the understanding that most East Asians were lactose intollorent ( the Chinese I know here in Denmark sure say they are ) so that made me wonder how there is such a seemingly large market for dairy products that isn't labelled lactose free :dunno:


I wouldn't say most, but a higher percentage yes. From what I know, dairy consumption is on the rise and being encouraged with milk in schools programs.


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## feverwin (Feb 25, 2006)

^^ Traffic is bad in China. I guess there just too many cars and too many people. I think it's common in all large cities around world where full of cars and people. I experienced the same in New York. However the drivers in the countryside US is very nice. 

This is how people selling meat in old times. :lol: Since the demand is huge, the meat will be sold out before it went bad. It's easy to tell whether meat is fresh or not, so..

I'm fit, no demand for lactose free, so no idea.  I believe the ones you know in Denmark are girls.


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## feverwin (Feb 25, 2006)

Inconfidente said:


> For sure I have interest. Why have China allowed Macau and HK being under foreign control?


We are forced, so the moment we have the ability, we got them back.


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## RyukyuRhymer (Sep 23, 2007)

feverwin said:


> ^^ Traffic is bad in China. I guess there just too many cars and too many people. I think it's common in all large cities around world where full of cars and people. I experienced the same in New York. However the drivers in the countryside US is very nice.
> 
> This is how people selling meat in old times. :lol: Since the demand is huge, the meat will be sold out before it went bad. It's easy to tell whether meat is fresh or not, so..
> 
> I'm fit, no demand for lactose free, so no idea.  I believe the ones you know in Denmark are girls.


I think it's a great thing China is so aggressive in pushing rail transit. They really need it. Some parts of the world are stubbornly anti rail


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## LtBk (Jul 27, 2004)

feverwin said:


> ^^ Traffic is bad in China. I guess there just too many cars and too many people. I think it's common in all large cities around world where full of cars and people. I experienced the same in New York. However the drivers in the countryside US is very nice.
> 
> This is how people selling meat in old times. :lol: Since the demand is huge, the meat will be sold out before it went bad. It's easy to tell whether meat is fresh or not, so..
> 
> I'm fit, no demand for lactose free, so no idea.  I believe the ones you know in Denmark are girls.


FREKI is referring to how terrible Chinese drivers are.


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## feverwin (Feb 25, 2006)

I suggest that you can go to the west China instead of large cities if you have interests in China. Sichuan, Tibet, Qinghai, Xinjiang, Yunnan, Guizhou, Inner Mongolia are all good options. I will not post any pictures here. You can check by google urselves.


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## feverwin (Feb 25, 2006)

LtBk said:


> FREKI is referring to how terrible Chinese drivers are.


I'm fully aware. :lol:


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## feverwin (Feb 25, 2006)

RyukyuRhymer said:


> I think it's a great thing China is so aggressive in pushing rail transit. They really need it. Some parts of the world are stubbornly anti rail


In less than 10 years, high-speed rail becomes the most important travel mode for Chinese. Much popular than fly. People even design the HSR subway map to show how travel around China by HSR.










This maybe need to update every year.


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## jbombero (Jul 22, 2013)

Well I want visit China In the future, But that`s not exactly my dream.


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## diz (Nov 1, 2005)

I'm going to Hangzhou next month. *Excited*


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## yin_yang (May 29, 2006)

would be nice but don't have a strong pull to go there.


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## Pals_RGB (Apr 1, 2013)

Would love to explore this country.

My question: what's the general view/opinion of the average Chinese towards India and Indians? Most of the Chinese posters here seem to dislike India.


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## RyukyuRhymer (Sep 23, 2007)

Pals_RGB said:


> Would love to explore this country.
> 
> My question: what's the general view/opinion of the average Chinese towards India and Indians? Most of the Chinese posters here seem to dislike India.


just say you're Pakistani.
if they're like the Japanese, they probably won't know the difference :lol:


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## Menshommes (Sep 6, 2015)

RyukyuRhymer said:


> just say you're Pakistani.
> if they're like the Japanese, they probably won't know the difference :lol:


pakistanis consider china as their best friend
but many chinese find their two big allies, north korea and pakistan to be a bit annoying or uninteresting.
even in the mainland china subsection, there are chinese who say if they had the chance, they would prefer to be friends with india even with huge territory disputes, bigger than the ones with japan or vietnam


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## RyukyuRhymer (Sep 23, 2007)

feverwin said:


> In less than 10 years, high-speed rail becomes the most important travel mode for Chinese. Much popular than fly. People even design the HSR subway map to show how travel around China by HSR.
> 
> This maybe need to update every year.


well they actually had no choice. Between the 90s until now, there were a ton of small regional airports opening up, but the problem was most of them went into the red because 1. they had no good business models on how to financially make the airport sustainable, 2. the transportation infrastructure for modal shift was not quite developed, 3. issues with airline regulation back then. The first one takes time to solve, if at all because its a common problem in many airports around the world. 3 also takes time to solve because its a social-policy issue. 2 however is biased towards trains because most airports tend to be far from the city center, and since Chinese governments have a strong political will to push development (sometimes at the cost of deliberation with local communities over fair land use), they can get that rail line straight to the city center reducing the need for a modal shift to get between the airport and the city.

Secondly, I was also referring to inner city rail, not commuter or intercity rail. There are different types that attract different types of customers and purposes.


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## feverwin (Feb 25, 2006)

Menshommes said:


> pakistanis consider china as their best friend
> but many chinese find their two big allies, north korea and pakistan to be a bit annoying or uninteresting.
> even in the mainland china subsection, *there are chinese who say if they had the chance, they would prefer to be friends with india even with huge territory disputes, bigger than the ones with japan or vietnam*


:lol: The most funny thing I ever heard.


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## oliver999 (Aug 4, 2006)

welcome to china. i suggest you take a train.


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## SkYsCrApEr2013 (May 11, 2013)

I've already been to China in April 2013 to visit my relatives who were living in Suzhou, Jiangsu province. We also visited Shanghai too. I feel like going there again!


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## Inconfidente (Oct 5, 2006)

feverwin said:


> We are forced, so the moment we have the ability, we got them back.


Chinas has always been an empire sized country. How could foreign powers made it?


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## Menshommes (Sep 6, 2015)

Inconfidente said:


> Chinas has always been an empire sized country. How could foreign powers made it?


 all empires rise and fall. no big deal

lots of foreign powers conquered china or parts of it. turks, mongols, manchoos, japanese, british, germans, russians, etc.

the only difference is, if the british, japanese or russians held on to it longer, they would be considered to have the mandate of heaven and history would've regarded them as a chinese dynasty lol.

the reasons why they could do that is because some chinese allowed them to. chinas biggest enemy has always been itself. those other foreign groups succeeded because they could get the cooperation of some other chinese group unhappy with the government.

even today one of its enemies is chinese living on an island.


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## feverwin (Feb 25, 2006)

Menshommes said:


> all empires rise and fall. no big deal
> 
> lots of foreign powers conquered china or parts of it. turks, mongols, manchoos, japanese, british, germans, russians, etc.
> 
> ...


Very pertinent! China is a history of Chinese fighting each other. It's really a miracle she still survives. :lol:


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## binhai (Dec 22, 2006)

China is without a doubt in its most peaceful and prosperous period ever. Take a high speed train and fly through the country on nice elevated tracks. Witness the rise of China outside your window and look at the forests of skyscrapers being built everywhere. It's like nothing before seen on Earth in all of history. The speed has been unprecedented, too. Once a country where time seemed to stand still, nowadays every aspect of life, society, and the built environment gets totally transformed every few years. More has been achieved in the last 20 years than in the last millenium. I'm proud of China's long history, but honestly, China has accomplished something massive and unprecedented in modern human history, and is bringing a new golden age for humanity.


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## RyukyuRhymer (Sep 23, 2007)

BarbaricManchurian said:


> China is without a doubt in its most peaceful and prosperous period ever. Once a country where time seemed to stand still, nowadays every aspect of life, society, and the built environment gets totally transformed every few years. More has been achieved in the last 20 years than in the last millenium. I'm proud of China's long history, but honestly, China has accomplished something massive and unprecedented in modern human history, and is bringing a new golden age for humanity.


Maybe in the modern era, but ever? I think many would disagree. China right now is playing catch-up. While its rapid rise from a stagnant society under Mao is remarkable, it's not the only success story in Asia. S.Korea which was one of the poorest countries in Asia, Japan which had to rebuild from constant bombardments, Singapore which was just a swamp, Taiwan which was a backwater rural area, they all transformed rapidly within 2-3 decades. About the same time span when Deng began his reforms in China and opened it up.

The most remarkable era in Chinese history was and still is the Tang. It wasn't playing catch up. It was THE center of the world. It was revolutionizing culture, not imitating it. Nearly all of the non-Chinese speaking nations around it wanted to be like them. While war is unavoidable, this period had the least wars compared to others. There was a major revolution in religion and education at that time that still influences many countries today. It was also multiethnic and had meritocratic features, allowing minorities to move up and even lead. And they were able to do this for nearly 3 centuries. In contrast modern China, you still have people alive that lived through some very chaotic periods such as the brutal civil war, Japanese invasion, and Mao's backwards domestic policies that were not that long ago. If the current China can sustain what its doing now, then maybe one day it can surpass the Tang in terms of achievements.


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## binhai (Dec 22, 2006)

I think it's a new unprecedented era for China, and by extension, the world. But obviously many new dynasties were as well. Thanks for giving some background on the Tang. I am really just referring to the period since around 1990. Hu Jintao in particular should be remembered in the history books as one of China's greatest leaders ever. Of course, Xi Jinping might mess up the track China has been on, but I am hopeful he will not.


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## RyukyuRhymer (Sep 23, 2007)

BarbaricManchurian said:


> I am really just referring to the period since around 1990. Hu Jintao in particular should be remembered in the history books as one of China's greatest leaders ever. Of course, Xi Jinping might mess up the track China has been on, but I am hopeful he will not.


just curious, what do you like about Hu Jintao over Jiang zemin or Xi Jinping (so far)?


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## rayvs99 (Jan 3, 2014)

sure


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## oliver999 (Aug 4, 2006)

Train Autumn view in china
copyright 铁路小亨


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## godgame (Jun 17, 2015)

How about toilet paper?


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## oliver999 (Aug 4, 2006)

all copyright 罗春晓 铁路小亨


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## Huti (Nov 13, 2008)

^^

even too copyright, I'd say


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## oliver999 (Aug 4, 2006)

copyright by 罗春晓 铁路小亨


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## SpiderBHZ (Feb 11, 2015)

Nope. And its not because of money.


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## godgame (Jun 17, 2015)

Lol China ip law


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## LEAFS FANATIC (Dec 13, 2004)

No.

No interest whatsoever.

Japan, on the other hand, is on my list of most desired places I yet have to visit.


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## Menshommes (Sep 6, 2015)

godgame said:


> How about toilet paper?


depends, some people use it but some areas are not developed and dont use it.


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## oliver999 (Aug 4, 2006)

LEAFS FANATIC said:


> No.
> 
> No interest whatsoever.
> 
> Japan, on the other hand, is on my list of most desired places I yet have to visit.


Japan is perfect,that good .but china has his own beauty.


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## feverwin (Feb 25, 2006)

Menshommes said:


> depends, some people use it but some areas are not developed and dont use it.


Who don't use toilet paper? Do you mean some areas doesn't have toilet paper in its toilets?

Right now China begins toilet revolution. I'm sure it will be much nicer next time you be here.


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## oliver999 (Aug 4, 2006)

copyright @铁路小亨


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## Menshommes (Sep 6, 2015)

wow 5 people voted no, no-money.
go get a job, then you can visit china!


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## oliver999 (Aug 4, 2006)

Menshommes said:


> wow 5 people voted no, no-money.
> go get a job, then you can visit china!


china's reputation is so bad, only air pollution makes people give up visiting china.


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## CNGL (Jun 10, 2010)

I'd like to visit China only to travel in their metro networks... but not while the Great Firewall is in place. Since they have blocked certain social network there, I've set up a counter-block, and now I refer to China as 'Terra orientalis non cognita' in that social network (and only there).


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## Yellow Fever (Jan 3, 2008)

Menshommes said:


> wow 5 people voted no, no-money.
> go get a job, then you can visit china!


No money not necessarily mean they don't have works, not everyone has decent pay job.


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## Fabricio JF (Dec 28, 2011)

Over the medium term. I need to learn some Mandarin (Vocalize at least). It's another country that requires me visa for temporary stay, such as Canada. And meanwhile several Chinese cities that are changing rapidly now will be very different in the future. I see this as an opportunity to find out which city will be the most interesting ahead.


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## Yellow Fever (Jan 3, 2008)

moved to UT.


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## oliver999 (Aug 4, 2006)

Fabricio JF said:


> Over the medium term. I need to learn some Mandarin (Vocalize at least). It's another country that requires me visa for temporary stay, such as Canada. And meanwhile several Chinese cities that are changing rapidly now will be very different in the future. I see this as an opportunity to find out which city will be the most interesting ahead.


welcome


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## Tom_Green (Sep 4, 2004)

The thing that prevends me right now to visit China again is the visa issue. They raised the costs by 50%. I paid 150€ for 2 China visa this year 

Are there any plans to skip that? I don`t think it`s good for the tourist industry. And China isn`t cheap anymore. I don`t need a visa for Japan, South Korea Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia,....

It`s also some work to get one. If they skip that i might visit Xian and Wuhan. But not so fast if i have to pay 90€ for a visa. That are 2 nights in a hotel in Seoul or Taipeh.


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## dodge321 (Sep 5, 2007)

Dang I never knew Chinese visa is so expensive for Europeans. It's a lot cheaper for foreigners to get China visa in Hong Kong.

Here is a list of fees:
http://www.fmcoprc.gov.hk/eng/zgqz/blsjfy/t279937.htm

I myself have a family reunion visa that allows multiple entry over two years


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## Yellow Fever (Jan 3, 2008)

do I need a visa to go to china? I'm Canadian citizen but I was born in HK.


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## Svartmetall (Aug 5, 2007)

If you don't have a HK residence card/passport, I think you do.


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## soremi (Apr 24, 2016)

Oliver999 I have friends who move in China and they are happy there. Apparently air pollution is no problem for people from Cracow


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## Yellow Fever (Jan 3, 2008)

welcome back!


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## Ivan the Immigrant (May 20, 2014)

SkYsCrApEr2013 said:


> I've already been to China in April 2013 to visit my relatives who were living in Suzhou, Jiangsu province. We also visited Shanghai too. I feel like going there again!


Can you tell more, how did you arrive there? What was procedure? I guess first you take plane from Rome to where? You cannot go directly to China in one flight?


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## Ivan the Immigrant (May 20, 2014)

FREKI said:


> Just came back from Shanghai a few weeks ago and while I had a good time the traffic was absolutely terrible with cars and moped drivers who had no regards for human life, traffic signals or lanes ( heck even seen buses drive in the wrong side of the wrong to overtake a car that was doing what looked like to be the speed limit )
> 
> Is police/government doing anything about it - the deathtoll and accident rates must be huge :runaway:
> 
> ...


Tell more. How did you arrive there? You took flight from Copenhagen and than ... did you need to change the plane somewhere in between ... what have you done when you landed in Shanghai ... how did you find hotel room, which hotel ... how much money whole trip costed you ? ...Tell more..


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## FREKI (Sep 27, 2005)

Ivan the Immigrant said:


> Tell more. How did you arrive there? You took flight from Copenhagen and than ... did you need to change the plane somewhere in between ... what have you done when you landed in Shanghai ... how did you find hotel room, which hotel ... how much money whole trip costed you ? ...Tell more..


We flew diirect from Copenhagen ( SAS ) took the Maglev train as far as it went towards Shanghai Downtown ( hint doesn't go the whole way and it actually makes more sense to use the regular metro that you will have to use anyways ) 

Found hotel on Hotels.dk ( a subsite of Hotels.com ) - we chose a deluxe room at "Grand Central Hotel" - a nice 4 star hotel close to ( and with a nice view of ) Nanjing Road..

Total price for plane and hotel and transport was about $3000 for 2 people.. and we spend another $1000 on food and experiences while there..


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## The Polwoman (Feb 21, 2016)

I would like to visit Mainland China once, but for now, the state of freedom in China is so depressing that I won't until there is slight relaxation of the rules, in which I could at least text via Whatsapp and search things via a western search engine (not to search for sensitive things but just for things about infrastructure e.g), I refrain.. is this forum even available in (Mainland) China? 

And I also want objective news about the country where I stay in (I follow the news much, now I'm in a muslim country and I'm very concerned about raids being conducted at food stalls during Ramadhan as I lunch as well, to name a thing), well, that's something you cannot find in Beijing or Shanghai without VPN and even these are being blocked.


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## Nightsky (Sep 16, 2002)

I have visited China 2015: Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Macau.

It is true that internet is blocked, at least facebook and skyscrapercity couldn't be reached from the mainland cities.  No problem from HK though.
It is hard to stand that the skies are always grey and so hazy that its even hard to see the structures because of pollution. Toilets are a disaster with no soap and just a whole in the floor, even at western fastfood restaurants! Also annoying that people are very rude and stare at you all the time! Also extremely complicated to get a visa. Otherwise really interesting, beautiful cities.

Infrastructure, roads and trains are way more modern then in American and parts of Europe. Trains were always on schedule. A large variety of restaurants, both good and bad, but with cuisines from all over the world and most of them very modern (there is no such thing as chinese food in China), amazing skyscrapers and other structures that we could only dream of in Europe and also some friendly people (mostly young students). A mix of organisation (Subways for example) and chaos (mopeds driving wrong direction at intersection for example). Would like to go back to visit Shanghai, Great Wall and Beijing, that I think are among the most amazing cities in the world, but what deters me to revisit is not the complicated visa forms that takes two days to fill in, but the grey skies, haze and pollution that I haven't experienced anywhere else. Not a good opportunity for photography and very frustrating.


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