The People's Republic of Love

[Marshall K]

I'm finally going back after four months.  That's way to long when you have the jungle fever like we do.  I arrive in Guangzhou 11 pm on the 18th where I will be met by my lovely bride.  We have 5 days to kill before her Consulate interview.  It's damn hot in Guangzhou, plus dirty, smoggy, and very crowded.  We will spend a lot of time in the hotel with AC and as much intimate recreation as our starved libidos can handle.
I've been super busy these four months working to support my foreign bride habit and I could use a few days in bed enjoying the fruits of my labor.
If we do get stir crazy there are some sites to see since it is an ancient city.
After the interview we'll take the bus home to Zhanjiang.  It is much nicer there.  It's cooler, since it's on the ocean and our apartment is a block from nice parks and waterfront.  I'm going to be in China for about 18 days and we plan on doing some traveling during the later part of my stay, but we will be enjoying Zhanjiang for at least a week.  There are relatives and friends to see and some beaches to go to.  I also want to get out on the water.
I'll also be getting a much needed break from watching my Seahawks lose. 
I still have a lot of crap to take care of so I'll sign off.  I'll write more when I come up for air.

[Marshall K]

PS  I filed an extension on my taxes and just received my stimulus check from the Feds.  Is it unpatriotic to spend it in China?

[Jeff S]

Have a great time Marshall! I'll probably be there in October for a week on business - Mostly up north, but should spend a few days in Taizhou along the Zhejiang province coast.

- Jeff

[Dave H]

Hi Marshall,

Have a great time! Good luck! Don't worry about spending your stimulus check in China. Jeff will figure out a way to get all the money back and then some!  I love capitalism...especially laissez-faire capitalism! 

Dave

[Ray]

Hi Marshall,

Have a safe trip!

Since you’re going back for some intimate stimulus, go ahead and spend your stimulus check. I won’t tell anyone.

Any chance the wife will be flying back with you this trip?

Ray

[leather neck]

Marshall,

Enjoyed talking to you...have a nice time in China!

Look forward to talking to you when you return.

Hope the interview goes well for Yali.


Leatherneck

[UKCaliumbo]

I sell Oriental Fashion for living - mostly Chinese Traditional clothing.  If you want to buy one, let me know LOL     !!!!  I hope you buy one for yourself in China.  It is very traditional that will never goes out of fashion.  Mandarin Jacket would look good for you to bring home even if you do not plan to wear it   It is a good souvenior. 

Anyway, I wish you the best of luck in China. 

[Bob_S]

PS  I filed an extension on my taxes and just received my stimulus check from the Feds.  Is it unpatriotic to spend it in China?

I think we're all spending it in China indirectly one way or another.
When you think about it, whose economy are we stimulating?  For my household, that would be:
Saudi Arabia & Venezuela for their oil;
China & S. Korea for their consumer electronics;
Japan & Pixar (U.S.) for their DVDs;
Germany because my wife wanted a cuckoo clock (5th anniversary material is "wood").

[Marshall K]

Bad news first.  The interview did not go well.  Yali had the unfortunate luck to get the unsmiling white woman who feels it's her patriotic duty to reject just about anyone.  She rejected 8 out of ten women that morning.  I have an appointment the day before I leave to find out exactly why.  It will be another 2-3 months before another interview.  We are both disappointed, but have made it a point to put it behind us and make sure it won't happen again.  One of the things we both have in common is to compartmentalize the crap so we can enjoy the good stuff.  So moving back to my departure:
My flight from Portland was fine.  There was a group of about 50 or so young Japanese women of college age and I was struck by something that I remembered from my student days there: Everybody looks the same!  In this case all but about two of them had their hair dyed blonde and they all wore some kind of Chuck Taylor knock offs on their feet.  During the flight I was sandwiched between an Indian couple and a sweet older Japanese lady.  The Indian lady was a Muslim and must have been fasting for Ramadan.  They wouldn't hold her food, so she sat for about five hours with dinner on the tray in front of her before eating it.  Since the sun never set, I guess she only had to wait until the end of the day somewhere to the east.  I was impressed by that discipline.  Meanwhile I was sipping Jack Daniels.
It had been so long since last seeing Yali in person that I was antsy as hell, but I had a good book, and enough entertaining movies that I didn't go completely nuts.  The four hour flight from Tokyo to Guangzhou seemed like four weeks although I managed to sleep a little.  There is a money exchange in the airport before you get to the greeting area and I manged to get into the dick line.  You know the one where there is a middle eastern d*head arguing about the exchange rate followed by the Belgian yelling about how the exchange rate wasn't posted.  I was ready to post him in the back of the head, but he finally took his RMB and hopefully went off to get mugged or the clap.
Finally got to Yali!  She was very un Chinese in her public displays of affection and I noticed some smiles from others in the crowd, so I guess she didn't offend anyone, especially me.  Off to the hotel which is a great Chinese secret that never gets foreign guests, but has clean large rooms, free shuttle, good AC and is in a wonderful 2 year old neighborhood near the airport.  I hate Guangzhou, but this area is as nice a place to be as you will find in that hot smoggy hellhole.  Much love happened in the four day wait for the interview from hell.  Use your dirty minds to fill in the details.
Leatherneck, I have been checking out booty for you and saw some that I think you would find more than adequate. 
More later.

[Capstone]

Bad news first.  The interview did not go well.  Yali had the unfortunate luck to get the unsmiling white woman who feels it's her patriotic duty to reject just about anyone.  She rejected 8 out of ten women that morning.  I have an appointment the day before I leave to find out exactly why.  It will be another 2-3 months before another interview.  We are both disappointed, but have made it a point to put it behind us and make sure it won't happen again.  One of the things we both have in common is to compartmentalize the crap so we can enjoy the good stuff.

Marshall,
I am so sorry to hear that the interview did not go well for your Yali - the VO in GUZ who conducted Yali's interview is notorious for making up reasons not to approve visa applications. However it is good to hear that you guys are taking things in stride and are maintaining a positive attitude about things. Did Yali receive a white (rejection) or blue (request for more information) slip? Hopefully she just received a blue slip and you can quickly provide them with the additional information which the old hag in GUZ needlessly requested. 

Keep up the good spirits and just remember that it will definitely be worth all the trouble in the end!!

[Bear]

Tough luck dude.  Sorry to hear about that.  Back when I was trying to get Honey hear we always heard about the "dragon lady" who refused everyone.  Luckily we didn't get her.  I heard though that so many people complain about her she is no longer there or at least I've not heard anything since.  I know you say you're going to deal with it but I've learned the hard way that "the squeaky wheel gets the grease".

The Bear Family

[Marshall K]

Thanks for your support, guys.  Yali said that there were two smiling, nice black ladies and the one evil white woman.  I'm not sure the reasons, but the Chinese agency that is helping us indicated that a do over is necessary.  I'll know more on the sixth.  Anyway here's more fun:
In case anyone was paying attention, there was a big assed typhoon here.  Big winds, lots of rain, but nothing like a bunch of tall concrete buildings close together to make things a lot safer than living on a barrier island in a shotgun shack.  We had no electricity for about 18 hours.  Pretty fun, actually.  If you've never tried it, sex during a typhoon is way cool.
We got out of Guangzhou just ahead of the storm and got home in time for the action.  We rode on a sleeper bus which has three rows of bunks, two high the length of the bus.  Built for Chinese size, though, about 16 inches wide and 5 1/2 feet long, and I'm six feet and 190lbs.  Nice matress and blankie though so I just turned on my side, curled up and dozed.
Guangzhou sucks, unless you like incredibly crowded, heavily polluted, crime ridden, expensive Chinese cities.  Fortunately our four day wait for the interview was spent near the airport in a wonderful new neighborhood.  There is nice hotel, lots of good restaurants, and a great open market.  It's on the edge of town, so there was plenty of fresh fruit to be had.  We had breakfast the second morning at a little sidewalk place that had a very friendly, jovial lady and her quiet husband running it.  Since foreigners are non existent in that part of town we were a big novelty.  She wanted us to meet her eight year old daughter who was very bright, (already in fourth grade) very cute, and she and Yali became instant friends.  They invited us to come back for dinner, and we were treated to a feast at no charge!
She told us their story:  They are from Hunnan, and already have a son.  When she got pregnant with the daughter, she wanted to keep the baby which carries an impossibly huge fine, (only one kid allowed) so she hid away at different friends' homes during the pregnancy.  They fled to Guangzhou two years ago, and hit this neghborhood right when it was being finished.  They opened their cafe, and do a booming business.  The food is great, cheap, and Mom has a great smile and makes everyone feel welcome.  Of course her daughter is also very popular, and since this is such a safe neighborhood, kids run around all over and everyone knows each other.
It feels good to get to Zhanjiang.  The city is clean, pleasant, and the people are happy and friendly.  I'ts like home to me now. 
After the storm blew by, we got together with an American guy and his Chinese wife that we met last winter.  He lost patience with the whole process, quit his job, sold his house and stuff and moved here.  He is one happy guy.  It's something I've thought seriously about, but I want to give the process more time.  With our economy tanking like it is it's becoming even more attractive.  On the negative side there's stuff here like mellamine in the milk, and buildings that collapse in earthquakes and bird flu.  Like America, blind greed can screw things up for a lot of people.  Greed poisoned lots of kids here and is ruining our economy at home.  Time to smack a few heads together in both places. 

[Dave H]

Hey Marshall,

I'm sorry to hear about the setback! There always has to be one evil one to screw things up! I'm sure things will go better next time!

Dave

[Ray]

...the Chinese agency that is helping us indicated that a do over is necessary.

A do over? Like in start the whole petition thing all over again??

Sometimes just having an agency "helping" out can cause all kinds of problems with the interview process. Maybe you should dump them...

Your wife should have been given a detailed explanation of why the visa was denied, along with a written form stating what needs to be corrected or which additional evidence she needs to submit. Outright refusals are rare but they will sometimes give her one of those 221(g) denial papers with vague reasons for denial.

Hopefully they are just delaying the visa approval for additional investigation or for more evidence to support her application. When you go in for that interview, find out EXACTLY what she needs to do.

Better bring along all of your relationship evidence including pics, letters, phone records, financial docs, the whole thing... Maybe you will be able to clear everything up at your interview if they just have some doubts about the relationship or your financial status. Just your being there may be enough to convince them.

Good luck with the interview!

And I agree 100% about smacking some greedy heads together. At least we have the power of the ballot here. Is there anything the average Chinese can do over there about their corrupt government leaders? Probably not much...   

Ray

[Marshall K]

Yeah, Ray.  I have an appointment on the sixth to talk to the consulate about why.  We had a buttload of documents, pictures, emails, etc. but Yali didn't remember my middle name, which I never use and when asked if she met my family said "no".  There was a picture of her with my son and that was all she wrote.  The woman also was suspicious of my income vs the ability to go to China four times.  Give me a break!  Unlike her, I work for a living and people LIKE the work I do.
Anyway, we are not going to let one petty bureaucrat whose salary I help pay ruin the life we will have together.  I have a lot of resources back in the states, and ultimately we will prevail.

[Ray]

That's the spirit Marshall!

Did she recieve a 221(g) denial form? What did it say?

[Marshall K]

Ray, the 221(g) form is back in Guangzhou at the agency.  I have my lawyer in the states all over it.  The agency we are using in China is actually very good, and has a tremendous success rate.   My biggest weakness is dealing with government agencies, which get me all Libertarian and Seccessionist angry, so I seek professional help in dealing with them.

[Marshall K]

Enough visa talk. 
We've gotten into a nice home life here after the typhoon, practicing for our future together in America.  I just watched the presidential debates on CNN online.  Without getting political, I thought both men spoke well and I think we have a clear choice.  Jim Lehr did an outstanding job moderating, and really showed what hacks so many tv news people are.  It also makes me appreciate our democracy a lot.  The mellamine in the milk here is outrageous and just another example of how a corrupt one party system does not work.  They are even finding it in candy and now Tsing Tao beer!  (careful what you drink, Matt!)
Here is an excellent article on the whole damn mess:
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/27/world/asia/27milk.html?hp
Last night we went to dinner with Yali's sister and had great shrimp and my favorite gross food, sea worms.  Kind of like clam flavored slimy noodles.  Afterwords I finally gave into their urgings for getting a massage.  This was no normal massage, but an acupressure treatment from a doctor.  I have a bad sacral joint, but have dealt with it for years with stretching, trying to stay fit, and avoiding hard seats.  I told the doc that and he went to work.  He would find the pressure points and started to poke.  Hard.  Really hard.  And for very long periods of time.  I think he may have thought my dad shot his grandfather in Korea or something.  He found many spots to abuse but I was manly, though and didn't divulge any state secrets.  After an hour or so he then got some glass cups which he heated from the inside with an alcohol soaked burning cotton ball which created suction and he applied to various traumatized spots.  He eventually removed those and I awaited the waterboarding, or whatever it was he wanted to do next.  He surprised me with some standard osteopathic adjustments and was done.  When I got up I felt great, and incredibly sleepy.  We went home and I slept very long and deep and woke up feeling great, but pretty tender, and with several big octopus type hickies on my back.  Supposedly when the soreness goes away in a couple of days it will be much better.  We'll see.
Dinner tonight with my American buddy and his wife at their place, and I think we are going to learn to play Mah Jongg.
Yali really is a special woman and I have never love another woman as much.  Our personalities are so well suited and our love grows deeper every day.  I know it's been expensive to come here rather than just staying home waiting for the "process" to finish, but it has strengthened the bond we have and makes us one happy couple.

[Marshall K]

Looks like I can't leave the country for a couple of weeks without it going to hell in a bucket.  The markets here didn't do too hot today, either.  I guess you can only deal in bogus air for so long until it finally comes back to bite you.  It looks like enough people thought that Wall Street should be left to eat the mess they made, so no bailout.  We'll see if that was wise or not pretty quickly.  Like it or not we are all attached at the wallet, and though it may be satisfying to see the bigwigs go down, it won't be so satisfying when nobody can afford to buy what you provide and your job goes away.
So what does an American in China do?  Get a foot massage!  Down to our favorite place for more torture/therapy.  Done on a regular basis this is a most satisfying treatment--a nice hot soak followed by great work on specific pressure points to relieve stress in different places in the body.  It's been four months since the last time I came here, so I had more than a few tender places, but compared to the extreme renditioning from the other night this was great.
We decided to go across the bay today to see the little temple there.  The ferry is a funky open air contraption with enough room for half a dozen cars and is a fairly short hop over.  The bay is full of fishing boats right now since there is a typhoon bouncing around off the coast, so we got a good look at the fleet.  The southern Chinese navy is also based over there as well as a small army base.  I'm careful with my camera around there since I don't want to get arrested as a spy.  We bought some incense at a little store on our way to the temple, so we could make our proper prayers, but the guys at the gate wouldn't let us in until we bought their incense.  Just another way to pass the collection plate.  Some religious themes are universal.  It's more of package deal you get, incense, special candles, and firecrackers!  I hadn't seen the firecracker deal before.  You say your prayer, light the string and toss it into an old brick alcove, kind of like taking out a machine gun nest in a Normandy village.  This must be so that if Buddha is napping, you really get his attention.  The temple is pretty seedy and small and there is trash everywhere from all the fireworks, incense, and plastic bags that the stuff came in.  The air quality inside there is a lot like Guangzhou, but we said our prayers and left with wallet mostly intact.
Watching the news tonight Yali got real upset because the Chinese chocolate she eats pretty regularly has been pulled from the shelves for mellamine contamination.  Great!  It makes her a lot more eager to get to the US.  In spite of occasional ecoli and salmonella, we really have a good food inspection system.  And if you want you can get organic.
I think that we could do a lot to even the trade imbalance by selling natural foods and cosmetics.  Yali likes the shampoo and lotion I bring her, and you KNOW that they will buy up any baby formula not made here.  The bozos in the government here are hurting business far more than they help it by letting this kind of crap happen.  Right now, I can't imagine anyone wanting to buy Chinese food products right now, including a lot of Chinese.
Try to keep the economy afloat until I get back!

[Bob_S]

Last night we went to dinner with Yali's sister and had great shrimp and my favorite gross food, sea worms.  Kind of like clam flavored slimy noodles.

That's one of the more interesting parts of dealing with a Far East culture that the LA and FSU-focused guys don't have to deal with: gross foods you have to be brave to try and determination to develop a taste for.  Mine is sazae, a boiled conch sea slug.   

[Dave H]

Hey Bob,

Boiled conch sea slug again!

I get invited often to my Argentinian friend's house for barbecues...I'm not sure if you are supposed to be eating all of those animal body parts!

I'm sure happy my wife isn't into too many gross Filipino foods! 

Dave

[Jeff S]

Conch is way different than sea slug and I like them both. Every time I'm in Florida I eat all the conch chowder I can find - drizzled with a little sherry... WOW.

Scungilli - especially good as cevechi - Moto bene!

[leather neck]

Hey Marshall,

I sent you a PM a couple of days ago, so sorry to hear about the outcome of Yali's interview. Good to know you have a lawyer on the case.

Don't know if you are familiar with the site candleforlove.com, this is a site devoted to people that have a Chinese spouse or fiance and inching their way thru the visa process.

Look for an area known as "the kitchen sink", You can ask questions and read stories from people at all stages of the visa process with a Chinese fiance or spouse. There are many success stories there and seems like a very high number of denials. But these guys are traveling the same road as you and have a lot of information to share.

Continue to enjoy your stay and I look forward to talking to you at some point upon your return, besides, you have a report to share about the "apple bottoms" you saw while there.

Take care,

Leatherneck

[Dave H]

Conch is way different than sea slug and I like them both. Every time I'm in Florida I eat all the conch chowder I can find - drizzled with a little sherry... WOW.

Scungilli - especially good as cevechi - Moto bene!

Hey Jeff,

I'm sure glad 'sea slug' is 'sea slug' and not related to conch! I thought maybe it was a hybrid.

If you get down to Ft Lauderdale give me a call! I will take you to Ernie's Bar-b-que for conch. I've been going there for about 30 years. Just don't order ribs!  I don't know why people do and be-itch...it's a friggin' conch joint! http://miami.citysearch.com/review/2576376

Dave

[Jeff S]

Hilarious reviews. Everyone who gave it a 1 star had the ribs and everyone who gave it a 5 star had the conch. Hmmmm - what do you think I should order ribs or conch??