Sweet & Sour

SWEET

What is the biggest advantage of importing a vehicle into China? Saving money. Here's how.

Buy a second-hand 06 ML350 in the US, 27,000 miles, excellent condition, vehicle price about $30,000, and ship it to Shanghai. The total cost is less than 500,000 yuan ($73,206) (excluding license plate). Buy a similar one in China and you have to pay about 650,000 yuan (excluding license plate). Note, in China, there is no standard for a used vehicle's quality, but in the US you could have a CARFAX check its history and accident report.

Buy a new Porsche Cayenne 3.6 in the US with more options for about $46,000 and ship it to Shanghai. The total cost is 730,000 yuan (excluding license plate). Buy a similar one in China but base model, you have to pay about 880,000 yuan (excluding acquisition tax and license plate).

Sourced from http://www.lostlaowai.com

SOUR

As the weather warms up and the humidity rises in Shanghai, mosquitoes are again becoming a nuisance. It's my blood after all, not theirs. In my annual battles with the nefarious little bastards, I have tried all manner of tactics to defeat them, or at least keep them at bay.

The first thing I always do, of course, is to try sealing every possible entrance into my den of evil, but naturally they have some Kitty Pryde mutant ability to go through walls.

I've tried maxing out my air conditioner, hoping that the cold ambient temperature will make them go look for warmer prey, but I just end up freezing myself.

I've tried over-the-counter anti-mosquito products like those plug-in mosquito-repellant thingamajiggers, you know, the ones where you insert some kind of chemical laced disc into an emitter you plug into the electrical socket. Yeah, I bought a pack with something like 72 discs, and I still have something like 66 discs left because the damn thing doesn't work.

By Kai Pan, posted in Living in China

(China Daily 06/29/2009 page10)