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Weather of today:
- Day: 28 degrees, cloudy and raining
- Night 21 degrees
Sentence of today:
What time will we meet? 几点钟碰头?
Where will we meet? 在哪里碰头?
Today's - Good to know:
- There are four types of plugs- three-pronged angled pins, three-pronged round pins, two flat pins or two narrow round pins. Electricity is 220 volts, 50 cycles AC.
Today's tip: Drinking water:
Follow these tips to avoid becoming ill.
- Never drink tap water.
- Bottled water is generally safe - check the seal is intact at purchase.
- Avoid ice.
- Avoid fresh juices - they may have been watered down.
- Boiling water is the most efficient method of purifying it.
- The best chemical purifier is iodine. It should not be use by pregnant woman or those with thyroid problems.
- Water filters should also filter out viruses. Ensure your filter has a chemical barrier such as iodine and a pore size less than 4 microns.
Dish of today:
Rice, beef and soup.
Today's Historical fact:
The Inspiration for Avatar:
Ever wondered where James Cameron got the idea for the floating mountains on Pandora, the fictional planet in his record-breaking blockbuster Avatar? Well, according to Zhangjiajie's local government (Hunan province), it was Wulingyuan's karst peaks that inspired Pandora's Hallelujah Mountains. And with Avatar the most successful film ever released in China, Zhangjiajie officials decided in January 2010 to rename one of Wulingyuan's peaks the "Avatar Hallelujah Mountain", in an effort to boost tourism.
It was a move that provoked controversy, with some people wondering why a Chinese mountain should be given a Christian name. But there's no doubt that the area has benefited from the fact that Avatar was such a phenomenon in China. Manu local viewers saw plight of the Na'vi tribe in the movie, who face being thrown off their planet by an evil mining corporation, as a metaphor for the huge numbers of forced evictees in China.
As for whether the floating mountains were actually based on Wulingyuan, the jury is still out. Zhangjiajie officials point to the fact that the area was scouted by a team from Hollywood in 2008. However when Cameron came to China to promote Avatar he said the inspiration was actually Huangshan, the ethereal peak in Anhui province. Either way, there's no doubt that Wulingyuan is one of the few places on earth where you can imagine you're on Pandora.
My day:
Today I slept really long. I first had to meet with DaSheng around 3.30 pm, and then we would go meet Li Guannan at the train station. We planed to go to Discovery Kingdom, a theme park with Rollercoasters and stuff.
It was nothing really amazing, but quite fun anyway.
Even though DaSheng is 14, it was like having a 7 year old with you. He says lot of things that doesn't make sense, ask a lot of stupid question. Like, do you know what sexy means? Completely out of context. He was also a bit rude to Li Guannan, but in an ignorant way. He for example asked her, would you like to do some exercise with me so you can loose weight, said in another way, you are fat you should exercise. Hehe. He also expected Li Guannan to pay for his food somehow, and when she didn't, he kept asking her if she wasn't ashamed that she didn't pay, even though she paid for the entrance fee for him. I told him he should be nice several times, and say thank you instead. I think he is a bit spoiled, don't really have manners, and use to do what ever he likes. A general thing here in China, because of the one child policy, a lot of the kids get spoiled.
We tried several things, but don't try the Water coasters in China unless you want to get really wet. I was surprise how wet I could be even though I bought one of these tin rain jackets, which every one else also did. If I didn't wear it, I would have been soaking wet afterwards.
Li Guannan explained me a bit about the school system in China. Maximum point is 650. When you apply for a senior high school, which are in different levels, you put 3 on your list, a first level, second level, and third level, and you have to be sure you can get in on the first level, because if you don't have high enough marks for that first level school, you have to go to the second level school, even though you maybe could had entered a another first level school which required fever point.
Seatbelts are almost non-existing, although most front seats have seatbelts, but while driving a taxi, if you can take it on without the drive noticing, (because most times they get a bit angry and sais really loud, bu (no)! you have to expect your t-shirt being dirty afterwards, because you are probably the first using it in years. People in China drive relatively slow actually, so you don't feel so frightened with not having the belt on. Don't know if they drive slowly because the rules are very strict when it comes to speeding and the cameras on the road would pick it up, or they are just afraid of driving faster.
Li Guannan also told be that last week, her boyfriend and her were driving a cab and the drive felt asleep while driving. She told me that the drivers have to work really hard to get a prober payment. But she also said she was to shy to say anything to the drive, but Kristian, the boyfriend, was insisting on getting out quickly as possible. I would have done the same.
Also there is a "no-smoking" sign in the cab, but most drivers give a damn, so just point on the sign and then point to the the phone number often underneath saying, if you have complain, call this number. Then they normally turn it off right away.
Li Guannan's parents picked us up from the park, was really nice of them, much more pleasant than the train.
At home watching some Big Bang before going to bed.
Goodnight!
Ps: I miss you Vince!
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