General Info

[Big Ass Eater]

Relying on a taxi driver can be risky, but in this case don't blame the taxi driver.

Your Chinese-speaking friend accompanied you to a KTV, where:

O he had not been before,

O he did not determine and agree the pricing beforehand, and

O he allowed unordered drinks and snacks to be placed in the room.

This type of rip-off of unwary and naive visitors could have happened in many countries, not just China!

And "Guangdong province seems to be the worst in terms of criminality"? Hmmmm!

Cheers.

Wrong. Surely the taxi driver knew what he was doing and where he was taking us. He was simply part of the scam. I assume you are Chinese, judging by your reaction, and thus ought to know that in China people who are not locals are considered to be strangers. In this case my Chinese friend wasn't from Guangdong and therefore easily misled. And I've been around in the world and never have I experienced that things you never ordered are brought to you in a bar or restaurant. And I've also been around in China and got the impression that Guangdong is the most unsafe place.

Cheers to you too.

[FreebieFan]

Hi everyone,

A short comment about China. I used to go there and it was easy to find action. . Last time I was there a cab driver took me to a secret brothel in a backyard situated in the outskirts of the city. There were very few girls to choose from. The whole experience was a turn-off. Otherwise one can try out the Sanlitun bar area where the expats hang out in the weekends and the open-minded Chinese girls meet their foreign friends.

In my opinion China today has not much to offer. If you're not working or doing business there, avoid it.

I have a fabulous life here in BJ. The more who avoid it, the better times I will have.

I aslo agree that before the Olympics, there were 100's of barbershops all over China and there was unrestricted happiness. These days, have to work for it.

[Ikksman]

One has to be careful indeed. {S N I P} The whole experience was a nightmare and since then I've avoided Guangzhou. The Guangdong province seems to be the worst in terms of criminality.

So, yes, asking a cab driver can be very risky indeed.

Relying on a taxi driver can be risky, but in this case don't blame the taxi driver.

Your Chinese-speaking friend accompanied you to a KTV, where:

O he had not been before,

O he did not determine and agree the pricing beforehand, and

O he allowed unordered drinks and snacks to be placed in the room.

This type of rip-off of unwary and naive visitors could have happened in many countries, not just China!

And "Guangdong province seems to be the worst in terms of criminality"? Hmmmm!

Cheers.

[Big Ass Eater]

If you got driven by a taxi driver to an outer suburban place you were taking a great risk for your safety.

One has to be careful indeed. Even though I personally never witnessed serious crimes while in China, it is clear that organized crime and scams are common and widespread. I remember once when I was in Guangzhou with a Chinese friend. Since neither of us were acquainted with the city we just decided to ask a cab driver to take us to a place with girls. Surely the whole thing would turn out extremely bad for us. He took us to a tall building with a KTV at the very top. We were placed in a room with a few girls. The staff started bringing in beverage and snacks we never ordered. Some lady, who seemed to be in charge, started singing karaoke. The other girls were just sitting there persuading us with friendly smiles to drink beer.

After a while I insisted that we pick a girl because KTV wasn't really what I had had in mind. When we asked to pick a girl and leave we were confronted with a tab totally out of proportion. They were asking us to pay thousands of Yuan. Their claim was ridiculous and I just said we wouldn't pay and if they didn't agree we should call the police. The answer I got was that the police wouldn't help at all. Soon a few hostile guys entered the room where we were. One of them was a fat guy and started shouting at us. I didn't allow myself to get scared, however, and still refused to pay anything. Since I don't speak Chinese my friend spend most of the time negotiating with them. He reached a deal to pay half of the sum even though I insisted not to pay anything. The whole experience was a nightmare and since then I've avoided Guangzhou. The Guangdong province seems to be the worst in terms of criminality.

So, yes, asking a cab driver can be very risky indeed.

[Teltel]

Hi everyone,

A short comment about China. I used to go there and it was easy to find action. That was before the Olympic games in 2008. After the games, however, the authorities have been closing down massage parlors and brothels. In Beijing it's very hard to find a good place. Last time I was there a cab driver took me to a secret brothel in a backyard situated in the outskirts of the city. There were very few girls to choose from. The whole experience was a turn-off. Otherwise one can try out the Sanlitun bar area where the expats hang out in the weekends and the open-minded Chinese girls meet their foreign friends.

In my opinion China today has not much to offer. If you're not working or doing business there, avoid it.

Having been in China since 2001, apart from a few short trips back to Oz, the scene in Beijing prior to the Olympics had a great variety of service providers from street girls to BBS, massage places, KTV, spas and lots of other choices.

Some of these types of places are still available but more low key in this day and age but it seems more escort services are popping up.

If you got driven by a taxi driver to an outer suburban place you were taking a great risk for your safety. As for SanLiTun, yes it is a place where one can pick up Chinese girls, pro and amateur but there have been recent reports of robberies, including armed robberies and stabbing of foreigners so best to be acutely aware of surroundings there.

With the current crackdown some places are here today, gone tomorrow, here again the next. Street girls are still available but watch out for the scams and setups for the pimp to rob you or for that expensive cup of tea.

Definitely service is available but need to look more and be more careful.
Teltel.

[Fuzimiao]

In my opinion China today has not much to offer.

Wow!, quite an expert!

[Big Ass Eater]

Hi everyone,

A short comment about China. I used to go there and it was easy to find action. That was before the Olympic games in 2008. After the games, however, the authorities have been closing down massage parlors and brothels. In Beijing it's very hard to find a good place. Last time I was there a cab driver took me to a secret brothel in a backyard situated in the outskirts of the city. There were very few girls to choose from. The whole experience was a turn-off. Otherwise one can try out the Sanlitun bar area where the expats hang out in the weekends and the open-minded Chinese girls meet their foreign friends.

In my opinion China today has not much to offer. If you're not working or doing business there, avoid it.

[Teltel]

I do not like the outcall service provider people in Guangzhou, so if if I find a good provider, can I just get her personal number? Pros, cons.

If you can would be good, cut out the pimp and maybe better service and maybe someone to hang out with occassionally.

Teltel.

[Midwestern]

I do not like the outcall service provider people in Guangzhou, so if if I find a good provider, can I just get her personal number? Pros, cons.

[Ikksman]

Maybe it is possible to post Chinese characters on ISG.

{ 我 很 开 心 }.

This seems to work for me.

Cheers.

[DoItUnderwater]

I am out of the USA now, visiting So America. I have a problem. I bought a Motorola cell, I was told it was unlocked, well, it won't work out of the US. Anyone know how to have it unlocked? Thanks...

I have a Motorola phone that I bought in the states. I google'd for unlocking service and found a company on-line that sent me the unlocking code for about US $12. I don't recall the company name. I have used it with local SIM cards in China, Vietnam and some European countries so far, the only place I have not been able to use it is in Japan because of the different frequencies.

[Ikksman]

I am out of the USA now, visiting So America. I have a problem. I bought a Motorola cell, I was told it was unlocked, well, it won't work out of the US. Anyone know how to have it unlocked? Thanks...

Nobody else has answered your request, so I will have a go. Unfortunately I am not very familiar with the USA Cellular market, and this is not my technical specialty. Thus some of the points below may be incorrect. I will try and keep it simple.

Normally, phones are locked by the telco to that company's network. In most countries, telcos are required by law to unlock phones if requested (a small fee may be charged). In any case, if you Google unlock instructions / software / services for your brand of phone, you will be sure to find many solutions.

If your phone is unlocked, but does not work for voice services, then you need to check that the country's GSM frequencies are supported by your phone. The USA uses, I believe, 850 MHz and 1,900 MHz. Other countries may use other frequencies, most commonly 900 and 1800. This type of problem is increasingly uncommon as handset manufacturers release multiband phones.

If your phone works for voice, but does not work for internet and other data services, then there may be other incompatibilities.

I assume you are going to visit China, so I will limit my remarks to China telcos.

Long complex story, but there are three different 3 G networks in China. China Mobile uses TD-SCDMA, which nobody else uses. China Unicom uses WCDMA which is used in many countries and China Telecom uses CDMA2000 which the USA Calls simply CDMA.

Therefore if you want internet services, ensure that your cell phone is compatible with the services being provided. For example, I am from Australia and was a Vodafone customer, which uses WCDMA. Therefore I had to sign with China Unicom to use my existing phone (with the China Unicom SIM). Conversely, if I buy a phone in China which I wanted to use in Australia on Vodafone, then I must buy a China Unicom phone.

There are also Wi-Fi incompatibilities in China (with the rest of the world). For example, Apple had to modify the iPhone to connect to Wi-Fi in China!

With regard to 4 G network services, China is currently deploying the LTE-TDD technology. Some other countries are deploying the LTE-FDD variant of this technology. If you are buying a 4 G phone, check the required variant, or that it handles both TDD and FDD variations of the LTE standard.

[Waldeck2]

Always worked for me in China. I advise the bankcard holder that I am traveling and destinations. Do not need a passport. I have had best luck with ICBC.

Would I be able to use my bank card to withdraw RMB from the airport ATMs?

[Fuzimiao]

would i be able to use my bank card to withdraw rmb from the airport atms?

if you are in doubt, then i strongly suggest you use an atm inside a bank during opening hours. twice i had my card confirep001ed, once i keyed in the wrong pincode (once only) another time my (new) card had not been authorised. in both cases i was able to call the security guard, and they handed back the card. all banks have an atm area, and there is definitely no shortage of banks in china, there seems to be a branch of each of the main banks in every street in the larger towns.

fz.

[Teltel]

Would I be able to use my bank card to withdraw RMB from the airport ATMs?

Not all ATMs in China take foreign cards, usually the ATM will have the decals for the cards on it.

Teltel.