Survived my first week in Suzhou....my initial thoughts

8POSTS

12 years ago

So after several weeks delay, I finally landed in China, specifically in Suzhou. Here's my initial thoughts:

1) Suzhhou, specifically SIP, is a sprawling place with wide roads and even a portion of the road allocated for bikers.

2) I noticed a lot of residential buildings, either apartment types, condominium units and even mansions all around. I also noticed commercial spaces around the area. The only thing was that they were all vacant.

3) I underestimated the lack of English-speaking people here. Only few people speak English and cab drivers, waitresses, store attendants, bank clerks are not one of them. Too bad since I find the Chinese people generally friendly.

4) Facebook ang Youtube are blocked.

5) Cable TV is limited only to Chinese channels. It would've helped if they had English sub-titles. But no such thing. The hotel I'm staying in only has 3 international channels.

I'm still adjusting to life in China and hoping to make the ost out of it.

See also

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power181 Member

14POSTS

12 years ago

4) you can using sort of tool to across GFW , msg me I'll show you how to visit Youtube and Facebook.

yunal Member

2POSTS

12 years ago

Hi Larry, just wondering if you are just visiting or are planning to work there. I'm headed that way in a week. I appreciate your post about your initial thoughts about SZ.

Larry Legend New member

8POSTS

12 years ago

yunal wrote:
Hi Larry, just wondering if you are just visiting or are planning to work there. I'm headed that way in a week. I appreciate your post about your initial thoughts about SZ.

I'm actually working here in Suzhou, SIP to be exact. Some updates about my Suzhou/China experience:

1) I've moved out of the hotel and to my apartment.
2) I'm now riding the bus instead of the taxi.
3) I haven't picked up much on the language. Mandarin is quite difficult to learn if you don't have the time.
4) I've been out of the loop in news and world events ever since I moved out of the hotel. All I get on my TV is local Suzhou news. I didn't bother to get cable TV since they're still in Chinese language.

Rich Moreton New member

2POSTS

12 years ago

Hi Larry,
I'm from the UK and have lived in Suzhou for 5 years.
There is a shop on Jinji Hu Rd called Summit. It sells western food at over inflated prices but there is a free magazine in there called 'Open'. It has a map and lists of shops, restaurants and bars in English and also in Chinese. It's good for showing your local friendly taxi driver.
You can easily get Satellite TV in english, I have 30 channels of the shite. Regarding facebook etc, you'll need to buy a VPN. A good one is about 1000rmb per year. There's plenty available on-line and cheaper.
Regarding the language, you'll pick it up in time! Good luck.

Rich Moreton New member

2POSTS

12 years ago

One more thought.....when you get on Facebook, connect to suzhouexpats. We're all on there, great if you want any questions answered plus there are a lot of events advertised, especially if you're into music and the like!
suzhoupengyou.com is also good.

1 member reacted to this post

Jing.z New member

6POSTS

12 years ago

thank you for the link.

Rich Moreton wrote:
One more thought.....when you get on Facebook, connect to suzhouexpats. We're all on there, great if you want any questions answered plus there are a lot of events advertised, especially if you're into music and the like!
suzhoupengyou.com is also good.

Jing.z New member

6POSTS

12 years ago

Larry, i麓m sure u麓ll survived:)

yinyungcat21 Member

10POSTS

12 years ago

I know that you can get Dish network here in Suzhou, it'll cost you around 2000RMB/year. They have plenty of foreign(English) channels, but the sad thing is they DON'T have English sub-title.

Leo wu New member

4POSTS

12 years ago

#10

hi larry.if you want to install the satellite,may be i can offer the help.you can contact me.
Skype: leowuxsh聽
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