China Unicom has justinked a deal that’ll grant it exclusive rights to sell Apple’s  smartphone in mainland China for three whole years. Unfortunately, most of the  details are absent. The “Wo” icon you see just below the speaker signifies that this here device is ready to rock on the carrier’s 3G network, though we still can’t say with any amount of certainty if said image is fully legitimate. We’re also waiting to hear whether it’ll be the iPhone 3G or 3GS (or both) that’s sold, and we’re particular curious as to whether or not these handsets will include WiFi modules.

In related news, it does sound as if China Unicom bent over backwards a bit to make this all come together, with the article stating that it signed on to move between one and two million units per year regardless of how many consumers actually show up to buy one.  At any rate, it’s noted that Unicom will be snapping up the devices from Apple at a cost of around 3,000 Chinese yuan a piece ($440), with end users being asked to pay an undisclosed lesser amount on contract. If all goes well, the units could hit Chinese stores as early as September, though only time will tell how everything shakes out.

Family, friends, fireworks, dumplings — That’s what we called Chinese New Year. As you can see, Chinese New Year Eve is like a battle zone. Fireworks everywhere.  You would never feel alone since everybody was sharing joys with you at that night.

The food is just like other day’s food but the quality time you spent with your family makes it the best day of the year. On the first day of the new year, people visit each other to say hi, give their greetings over the phone and sometimes you receive greetings oversea… and yeah, that’s why i like Chinese New Year.

Today is January 23th, 2009.  December 28th, 2008 on Chinese calendar. 3 Days away from Chinese New Year. What should you do now? Here is some suggestion.

• Buy some new clothes
• Do the haircut
• Learn to say “过年好” ( Guo Nian Hao )
• Buy some candy, fireworks.
• Get your “红包” ( Hong Bao ) ready

This is the place if you are looking for a large mount of currency exchange. The address is 解放路166号 ( Jie fang lu 166 )  Here is the coordinates

So how to spot those people who do the black market business? Most likely they sit on the couch, look around, look like they are expecting someone.  They usually carry a big bag with them.

Another concern is security issue. In my opinion, it won’t be a problem. They have CCTV in every corner. Some of them i knew have been doing this business for a long time. It’s a business based on reputation. So basically it’s a great way for currency exchange.  Just be careful with those bills. They might have fake bills mixed with other real bills.

Finnally i’m back to Yantai. It’s one week away from Chinese New Year. Did you buy any new clothes yet? If not, go buy some now because that’s what everybody does before Chinese New Year. So do you. At the meantime, get ready for the massive updates. I will shoot some nice pictures with great reviews. I’ll see you around.

Sexy Bejing: Hard Hats in Beijing

Wii Scream — Little kid goes crazy over christmas gift

Stunning Wood Car

The Forbidden City in the central part of Beijing is right next to Tiananmen Square. The emperors of the Ming and Qing dynasties lived there. The Great Hall of the People and Mao’s mausoleum are on the square as well. You can wind your way through some impressive imperial buildings and the grounds.

Start on the south side at the main entrance to get the best experience when entering the main gates and then snaking your way through the many courtyards. You can easily catch a taxi (except when it’s raining) when you exit from the north side of the Forbidden City.

Avoid the Forbidden City ( and other Chinese tourist attractions ) on Sundays. This centrally located tourist destination can be overrun with locals, out-of-town Chinese, visiting overseas Chinese tour groups, and foreign tourists from all corners of the world.

From “Doing Business in China for Dummies”

1. http://www.fsi-language-courses.com/

This site is dedicated to making these language courses freely available in an electronic format. it is an independent, non-profit effort to foster the learning of worldwide languages.

Courses here are made available through the private efforts of individuals who are donating their time and resources to provide quality materials for language learning.

2. http://education.jimmyr.com/Learn_Languages_on_iTunes_23_2008.php

You can download various of learning language materials from this site to your iTunes.

3. http://www.livemocha.com/

One of the newest and potentially the best language learning tool on the internet.

4. http://www.mangolanguages.com/

Mango is designed to equip you with conversational abilities from the very start. Whether you’re learning how to order a pizza or ask when the game starts, Mango immerses you in real, everyday conversations in 12 different language courses.

5. Wikibooks

To learn the language you want to learn, just do a search via goolge or yahoo or any search engine you like for wikibooks + language you want to learn.

If you don’t get what i said above, here is a video tutorial.

At nearly 4,000 miles long, the Great Wall is the longest humanmade structure in the world. It has a long history, too — the Chinese began building walls on their borders more than 2,000 years ago. In some sections, you can take a gondola, ride a “toboggan”, or even zip-line down from the Great Wall.

The wall is about 45 miles due north of Beijing. For busy business-people like you, hiring a private car or mini-van and heading out to the Great Wall on your own may make a good sense. Ask your local Chinese contacts or your travel agent back home to help you make the necessary arrangements.

The vendors who hang out at the Great wall can be very annoying, and they don’t have a very good reputation. They’ve been known for keeping the change, even when you ask them for it! Just try to avoid them if you can.

Some sections of the Great Wall can be dangerous, so be careful when you’re scrambling about the steep inclines. Bring a good pair of shoes the wear (and an extra layer of clothing from fall through spring). The last thing you need is a visit to a hospital before finding yourself in a first-class seat going home, with your propped-up broken leg as your souvenir! You wouldn’t be the first person – or the last – to go home that way.

From “Doing Business in China for Dummies”

Shandong province is the source of Chinese culture and it’s also the source of Chinese alcohol. Every city has its own alcohol brand. Yantai’s ahcohol brand is called Yantai Guniang. Yantai has its own beer brand too. Although the most famous alcohol brand of Yantai is Changyu. Anyway, Chinese like to do business in the restaurant. Knowing the manners on the table would lead you to the success of your business. So what are those manners?

1. Position

The people whose seat faces the door ( 门 on the pic) usually is the one who pays the bill. In another word, the host( 主陪 on the pic). The people who faces the host is the 2nd host ( 副陪 ). Usually 副陪 is the host’s friend whose major purpose is to help host, accompany guests. The people on host’s right ( 1 on the pic ) is the most important guest on the table.  And the people on host’s left (2 on the pic) is less important. 3 on the pic is less important than 2 and 4 is the least important people. The rest of the people sit between 1 and 4 , or 2 and 3.

2. making toasts

The host will make the first toast when the first dish is served.  The host might make more toasts when more dishes are served.  After that, the second host will make his/her toasts. Then  1–>2–>3–>4. The people between 1 and 4, 2 and 3 will make their toasts after all 4 important guests are done with their toasting. The final word belongs to the host. There are no specific rules on how many toasts you can make. Just don’t mass up with sequence.

If you didn’t ink the deal during the meal, then you might want to do a Karaoke after…