{"id":2054,"date":"2009-03-20T06:42:19","date_gmt":"2009-03-19T22:42:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.asianramblings.com\/?p=2054"},"modified":"2009-03-20T06:42:19","modified_gmt":"2009-03-19T22:42:19","slug":"virtual-china-friends","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stevepeer.com\/blog\/virtual-china-friends\/","title":{"rendered":"New (virtual) China friends"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Riverbank<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019ve made some great friends on these old intertubes. A lot of people use the internet as means of distraction or entertainment. I use it to connect to a life I\u2019ve nearly forgotten. Lately, instead of looking westward I’ve turned my attention closer to home.<\/p>\n

I recently met (virtually) some cool new China bloggers. Like me, they are \u201cteaching the English.\u201d Living in China is not easy for a temporary resident. It\u2019s not especially easy for a seasoned expat. I generally steer clear of the pissing and moaning common to China\u2019s expat blogging community. My blood pressure is high enough without angry rants.<\/p>\n

I digress, as I often do. I\u2019ll get off my soapbox.<\/p>\n

Expatriate Games <\/a>(a wicked name for a blog, I might add, being a fan of the book the name is taken from) is a fantastic photo blog. EG, as I kindly call him, shoots fantastic portraits and scenes from life in China. I wish I was so skilled. Check out his flickr stream<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A China newb, Graham Woodring, blogs at An American in the Far East<\/a>. He hasn\u2019t been in the Middle Kingdom for long, and I look forward to his thoughts as he experiences a different culture and life. I hope his search for milk <\/a>is successful.<\/p>\n

Go west, it was once said. Josh at Far West China<\/a>, blogs from The Middle Kingdom’s western frontier, Xinjiang Province. Josh mixes news and photographs from western China and recently won the 2008 Best China Blog award.<\/p>\n

Most foreign residents in China love shopping: Haggling in the market, searching for the ultimate (and often campy) bargain. There are many global devotees of online auction house ebay. Few know about China’s own ebay-like site: Taobao<\/a>. Yes, it’s all in Chinese, which makes navigation difficult, but Taobao kicks proverbial butt.<\/p>\n

One enterprising soul has created the Tao Bao Field Guide<\/a>, featuring interesting (and wacky<\/a>) products for sale on the Chinese auction house. More importantly, The Tao Bao Field Guide offers step-by-step instructions on registering an account, searching for items, and starting your online shopping spree — All in English. I no longer have to bother my coworkers.<\/p>\n

The good things about new friends, regardless of real-life or vitual status,\u00a0 is they soon become\u00a0 old friends.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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