ATS field agent in China, open to investigation requests.

Originally posted by antar
Do you have plans to leave soon? Will you be staying in touch during your trip or will we have to wait for your return? Are you sincere about going or are you pulling our legs?

I am indeed going to China in October as stated. I obtained my Visa today in fact. My hope is to be able to make regular postings while in China, reports from the field as it were, but if that proves too difficult, I will make a series of posts when I get back. Internet availability will depend on how remote I get and where I happen to be at the time. I have all ready set up a base of operations in Fuzhou, where Internet is available. I have a number of contacts in China and will be traveling with a Chinese national whom I know quite well. This will smooth out things considerably. I do have other reasons than ATS for going to China and that agenda takes precedent. I will be visiting a number of remote areas as well as major cities. My main destination is in Southern China and thus I will be unable to get to Northern areas on this trip. I will attempt to cover a number of topics mentioned in this thread. Photos and video will be taken throughout my travels.

Before I leave, I will post in this thread a recap of the major areas of interest that people have posted, that I will have any likelihood of being able to investigate. Thus far I am impressed with the good responses I have received and the solid interest people have expressed. Curiosity is a good attribute. I cannot promise that I will be able to report on every topic brought up in this thread, but I will endeavor to add something new to ATS.

reply to post by Terapin


If you`re in the south, I Highly recommend you slide over to Guangxi - I`ve spent a fair amount of time in Guilin, and I always look forward to returning there. Probably my favorite city in China. The countryside is especially beautiful - some of the most famous in China. You`ll see it represented on the currency (can`t remember which denomination), and on paintings and so forth everywhere you go in China.

I also recommend it within the stated aims of your trip: Guangxi is an autonomous region, home to the Zhuang ethnic minority. A trip there will give you a bit of a feel for the "other" China. I probably could phrase that better, but hopefully you`ll take my point.

It`s also in the midst of economic development - it`s one of the places where the riches of the big cities are starting to make an impact. It`s especially noticeable in the countryside - new houses and new cars and new tractors alongside the old houses, oxcarts and.. oxcarts again.

Finally, a word of advice: Taiwan is a sensitive issue, because we in the west seem to have forgotten the majority of that story. Taiwan wants to control China. That`s how it all started. They see themselves as the rightful rulers of Mainland China and then some. It gets served up to us as just a breakaway province that wants democracy and so forth... but their constitution lays out quite clearly how Mongolia will be governed, for example. Food for thought, anyway - there`s two sides to every story, especially with regard to international politics.

If you have the chance, before you go, watch a bit of CNN international. It tends to run on a bit of a loop, so if you`re flying in via Japan or Korea, you`ll be able to catch the same programming when you get to your hotel room in China. That`ll give you a bit of a feel for what tends to get blacked out in the Chinese media. In my experience, it tends to be limited to stories talking about Taiwan independence and the free Tibet movement.

Oh, and drink the beer, because it tends to be quite good. If you fly domestic it`s usually free, while a bottle of coke will cost you. If you smoke, bring a supply with you. Local smokes are cheap, but harsh.

And finally, avoid the backpacker scene like the plague. Backpacker hotels are cheap, have lousy food, and are full of whining tourists whose idea of experiencing the local culture is to go bungee jumping with other tourists, or whatever the Lonely Planet guidebook suggests.

Business hotels, on the other hand, are plentiful, cheap, have decent food, and are full of normal Chinese people - hit the hotel bar and strike up a conversation. You`ll get a much better picture of life over beers with Chen the salesman at the hotel bar than you will with Chad from Arizona at the foreigner bar in the tourist zone.

I agree. I have no intention of "hanging out" with the backpacker crowd. I am not headed to China to meet tourists who falsely imagine themselves to be great explorers. Initially, I will not be staying in hotels, but in the homes of Chinese nationals. The best way to know any country is through the eyes of it's citizens.

As for Taiwan, I have contacts who have family members living both in China and in Taiwan. I am well aware of the local situation and conditions. As you know Fuzhou, where I begin my travels, is the main city just across from Taiwan.

I think I would also like to know their average joes tke on 9/11 as well as their take on us.

Of course you must question them about the "Dropa." The stones, the people then and now, area, legends, the whole smear + the works! Everything! How do they feel about EBE's/ETs & the potential relationship to their Dragons?

Also the story of "Peking Man." Watch out as this may very well be a sore subject with them, considering US military were said to have been in charge of the fossiles before they disappeared. (I sometimes wonder if they are in Ft. Knox or a forgotten bunker in Toyko). Great conspiracy story.

reply to post by Terapin


I have a keen interest in Fuzhou.

Am curiouis how many foreigners are there now.

Also, if you run across any teaching at Fuzhou Da Xue, I'd be interested in their contact info WHEN YOU GET BACK.

I'd be interested in pics of the Dong Jie Ko intersection/area . . . particularly the Shanghai (westerner styled) Restaurant there . . . particularly changes since the road widening from Fuzhou Da Xue.

This is a very low priority . . . but in case you come across it in your normal activities . . . Nixon gave the arboretum there a Sequoia or Redwood seedling which had grown quite large. I'm curious if it's still alive and how it's doing.

BTW, I hope all the Jaodze that you eat are reasonably safe! LOL.

Blessings,

Originally posted by Terapin
First off I would like to clear up that Field Agent is NOT an officially sanctioned ATS position.

I suspected it wasn't .

The wording you used in your thread title and post seemed to imply you were specifically appointed that position by the powers that be here, but I couldn't help but notice your actual title only said "Member".

Thanks for clearing it up, have fun in China .

Originally posted by fweshcawfee
The wording you used in your thread title and post seemed to imply you were specifically appointed that position by the powers that be here, but I couldn't help but notice your actual title only said "Member".

As I have indicated, 'Field Agent' is not yet an official ATS title. That being said, I have received the blessings of no less than seven ATS moderators, who seem to consider the concept worth pursuing. For myself, titles mean little. I simply am offering an opportunity. I will be in China for reasons other than ATS, and thought that perhaps there would be members with a desire to learn more about another culture and ATS related material.

I thank you for your interest, and hope to be able to add something new to the forum in the near future.

Originally posted by BO XIAN
BTW, I hope all the Jaodze that you eat are reasonably safe! LOL.

I make Jiaozi at home from time to time, as well as Mandoo, the Korean version. My guess is that you are referring to the news item in which it was reported that cardboard was used in place of pork. This has since been shown to be a fabrication by an over zealous reporter and was not a truthful news item. I do realize that not every street vendor can be trusted to use the best ingredients and health standards, but in my travels around the globe I have never had any serious problems.

As Fuzhou will be my main base of operations while I am in China, the areas of interest you mentioned will probably be within my schedule.

Government offing people like that Toy exporter.
Also government manipulation to the Chinese stock market.
hmmm what else? I am sure there are some wild things I wouldn't even think to ask, as that society keeps its skeletons locked to outsiders. Hell they limit Google china in it's search results, don't they? Will you even be able to get on this site from there???

Hi all, i havn't read the whole thread yet but i can tell you that i am born chinese and lived most of my life in china. Right now i am in the US but i frequently go back to china to visit my family and visit places with my parents.

Terapin, if you have any questions i may be able to assist you because china is rather messed up in transportation and health nowadays. Lies are everywhere, so try and think really hard before you do something. Avoid going to Henan' rural areas due to insanitary practices. I couldn't go on a week without traveler's diarrhea.

All i can say is that there still are falun gong practioners in china, I never seen them but once i saw falundafa "practice of the wheel of law" written on a house. falungong sprung out pretty fast and caused a lot of trouble. Poor people in china sometimes are unable to afford medicine, and even if they did it could be fake. Going to the doctor is usually the last thing you would even think about because in china you pay first before they treat you, and it's usually a lot. Due to this problem, many poverished dwellers of the rural areas started to believe in falungong because it states that you wont need any medical treatment if you believe in falungong and do its practices. I lived in china when this practice sprung out of nowhere, and many MANY practicioners commited suicide due to the fact that their family members wanted them to stop the practice and get actual treatments. The most memorable scene i remembered from the chinese news network was when the founder (Li HongZhi) went to visit an old woman to treat her problems. What Li did was he slapped the 85 yearold lady's face 2 times, the old lady just said "I feel better now". I was in kindergarden when i saw it and i just thought wtf... Right now im still thinking wtf.

RECAP

Here is a Generalized recap of the interests expressed by ATS members thus far:
1.) Chinese pyramids
2.) Man on the street views on tainted food, toothpaste, toys, (toxic manufacturing) and the internal results (see number 25)
3.) Man on the street views of the US. Are we seen as a greedy, corrupt, immoral nation or are they too busy trying to put food on the table to even think about it? What do they think about the 9/11 events.
4.) Falun Gong. Right abuses
5.) Dropa and Dropa Stones.
6.) Man on the street views on Russia, Cuba, South America, and East Africa. Also, what is their average Media exposure to the outside world.
7.) Health Phenomena and oddities. Tainted Goji Berries and mutant health abnormalities?
8.) Internet Censorship
9.) Human Rights and free speech. (See number 4)
10.) UFO's and knowledge of Roswell NM incident.
11.) Views on Taiwan and Iran (*Iraq) * added by myself
12.) AI, and connection to Google, Al Gore and the US govt.
13.) Secret Chinese society that is planning to overthrow the Illumnati.
14.) Qi Gong and Tai Chi feats of 'magic'
15.) Organlegging and Gulags.
16.) Child labor
17.) From one curious member: I received a great deal of questions regarding general life in China, its social customs, and personal lifestyles.
18.) Chinese Organized crime and the NWO connection.
19.) Future of the US debt holdings by China.
20.) Chinese Moon Race (exploration schedule and it's reasons)
21.) How much has American/Western Culture influenced Chinese Culture
22.) One Child per Family and the Social/Moral costs.
23.) Peking Man. Evolution and mystery.
24.) Life in Fuzhou and the Nixon Sequoia.
25.) The Death penalty and Market manipulation.

Curiosity may have killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back. I'll keep these topics in mind while I am in China and report back my findings. Keep your ideas coming!

Originally posted by Terapin

Originally posted by BO XIAN
BTW, I hope all the Jaodze that you eat are reasonably safe! LOL.

As Fuzhou will be my main base of operations while I am in China, the areas of interest you mentioned will probably be within my schedule.

Glad to read of it!

No. That was not my source of concern about Jaodze. Students tended to be so eager to eat . . . they wouldn't boil them sufficiently wrong to be safe. Lots of Lao Dudze from time to time. Kind of left me with an aversion . . . perhaps from a behavior mod stand point vis a vis the Lao Dudze! LOL.

Safe and pleasant eating to you. I miss a number of the things at the Shanghai Restaurant in Fuzhou.

Thanks tons for your reports and any pics you are able to share later.

Blessings,

reply to post by Terapin


BTW, if you can find a cheap source of Chinese chess pieces--the flat plastic disc kind . . . I'd be very interested.

I play the half game . . . and end up with lots of friends who'd like a set.

Which reminds me . . . I left $75 in my bank account in Fuzhou!

Anyway--Do enjoy yourself. I greatly miss the place.

UPDATE: I leave for China next Wednesday. Due to the various requirements of my travels, I will start out in Fuzhou city, head towards Jiu Zao Gou,(A UN World Bioshpere Reserve,) and then to Wu Yi Shan, (The Taoist Sacred Yellow Mountain), both of which are sister parks to Yosemite in the US.

As the World is watching, my first area of query, will be on the current situation in Myanmar. China is the major player in the former Burma, and I hope to find out what the average Chinese citizen understands about current events there, and what their thoughts are about it. Shades of Tieneman Square.`

This will be your last chance to add any areas of interest before I leave. I am currently in Washington DC, working on a project for the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.

-Regards, Terapin

As mentioned previously, the "Peking Man" fossils are a fascinating topic. Be very cautious about this subject, but don't overextend your time on it. The Leaders that be are probably still p...ed about it.

At the beginning of WWII, the US Marines were in charge of guarding the fossils. When the Japanese military rolled in, the fossils & Marines were not to be found, only some blood spilled. It is a very sore subject for the Chinese & the Americans. Great Conspiracy however. I wonder if the ancient fossils landed in Ft. Knox, Tokyo, Berlin, Buenos Aries, or in a cave outside of Beijing. But who knows, old Chairman Mao may have had them destroyed during the "60's Revolution."

Take some advise from an old timer. I've been to 5 continents, 29 countries, 2 wars & a host of near death experiences. Never, Never, take anything for granted. Always be prepared for Anything & carry your toothbrush in your pocket. Be very careful. Come home alive. May the peace of the Lord always be with you.

Yay the time has come! Best of journeys to you Terrapin and I will look forward to your posts as you make them, will you be posting here on this yarn or will you be starting a new thread? GeT ViDeO!
Come Home safe and well.

If you find time on what should be an exciting trip,

Could you ask some citizens their opinion on

Since 1999, some 250 billion tons of rain have been created and 470,000 sq km of land have been protected from hail. By 2010, the volume of artificial rain is expected to reach 50 billion tons a year.

Weather modification is even being used to help Beijing prevent a downpour forecast for the opening day of the 2008 Olympics
Xinhua-English

Have fun!!!

I have just arrived back from China and as soon as my luggage catches up with me I will return to ATS with Field Reports on a variety of subjects, from magic Tibetan beads to a random sampling of the thoughts of Chinese citizens, China's move on clean transportation for the metropolitan masses, and the sad state of pollution they currently face.

Three weeks went by all to fast, but I did manage to get to some interesting areas. I visited Tibetan monks in exile in Sechuan provence, saw the amazingly blue waters of Jiu Zai Go, and climbed to the top of Yellow mountain. Along the way I spoke with a number of average citizens and discussed their thoughts on a number of subjects that might be of interest to ATS members. As soon as my luggage arrives, I will attempt to learn the process involved and up load some photos, linking to them here. As I was on the move in remote areas most of the time, I did not manage to get online while I was there other than a brief moment in the Hong Kong airport.

More to come soon.
-Regards, Terapin

Hey welcome back! Hope you had fun! Sounds exhilarating , the travels you made! Take your time, and be sure to be back on when you can make the time!

Interested in what you have found out!