Hi, my name is Niel, otherwise known as Confused Laowai. I blog about my exciting, yet often confusing adventure learning Chinese.
Shanghai Impressions
Shanghai, the pearl of the East. I spent about 8 days in Shanghai in total on my recent trip, sightseeing like crazy and walking as much as I could to explore and take in the city. I have heard a lot about Shanghai. I mean who hasn’t? It is literally steamrolling its way into massive development. It will possibly become the city of the future and heck it does feel like it, but is this [...]
China Round 2: My Language Experience
I went to China with little expectations. Back in 2009 in Beijing, I got a pleasant surprise. I thought I’d be able to talk… at least a bit. Come on! But alas my use of Chinese was limited to spotting characters and using single words to communicate. A phrasebook could have had a better conversation than I did. So this time around I set myself with little expectations and a desire to use every opportunity [...]
Flights are booked for China
Yesterday I finally booked my tickets to China. I’ll be going to China from 21 June till 12 July. Three weeks. My plans have changed a bit since my previous post. Instead of entering the country from Hong Kong, I’ll be going in and out of China via Shanghai. This choice was made because of financial issues and some logical ones. When I land in Shanghai on 22 June, I’m taking a domestic flight (lots [...]
