China vs Philippines...

[Capstone]

Moose,

I won't even try to give you a comparison between Chinese & Filipinas since the point would be moot because each person (no matter which country they are from) is different and because I have no experience with Filipinas. The best that I can do is give three general characteristics which are shared by most Chinese who I have personally met. 

1. Chinese are extremely devoted to family - the family unit is above all else. If you have a problem with your future wife maintaining close ties with her family after marriage or with her sending back money to her parents during major holidays then don't marry a Chinese girl. If you don't mind maintaining close ties with your in laws (you will become part of their family) then a Chinese girl may be right for you.

2. Chinese women for the most part are very outspoken, independent, stubborn at times and not in the least bit submissive. If you want a meek wife who is totally dependent upon you for most things then you probably don't want to marry a Chinese. If you don't mind your wife having opinions of her own and her voicing those opinions then a Chinese may be right for you. Chinese are very upfront and tend to not throw too many punches - they will tell you exactly how they feel about something and aren't afraid to voice their opinion.

3. Security is important to Chinese. A perspective husband is not expected to be wealthy but they are expected to have the means to support their family and save money. If you are the kind of person who would rather go out and plunk down a couple of thousand dollars on a big screen TV instead of putting that money in savings or investing it then you probably don't want to marry a Chinese. Having a nice nest egg in savings seems to be very important to most Chinese   - it gives them a sense of security knowing that they have something to fall back on in an emergency.

From the things that you have listed about what you are looking for in a girl, if you are interested in China then I would suggest that you focus your search on the Eastern coast of China or on the bigger cities in the interior. You will find a huge pool of women in these areas who are educated, intelligent and middle class. Finding a woman who owns a car and drives would not be an issue, my wife owned her own car and drove for many years in China before we got married and had no trouble at all driving in the US - she started driving the day after she got here.

[thekfc]

I have no idea why anyone would be paying $2 a minute for a phone call to the Philippines these days! Believe me, almost ALL Filipinas (even from the bundok) know more about cellphones and telephones than most of us on this board combined (excluding thekfc)!   My wife didn't like paying 14 cents a minute, so she would only use Skype for free on the computer if she wanted to speak with someone in the Philippines. It sounds like those Filipinas just didn't give a damn, since the soon to be ex hubby was paying the cell phone bill!

Dave

I bought a MagicJack, activated it here in NYC & gave it to my wife. All calls that she made to me here in the USA & vice versa (me to her in Phil) are free. For the amount of times that we have talked on the phone, if I was to use phone cards / cell phone - the cost would be in the $1000s. Some people hare having problems with the MagicJack but not us, the only times we had problems are when there are blackouts.

[Ethan14]

If you are more attracted to Chinese girls and not really attracted to most Filipinas then I think China might be a good place to start. There are great girls in both places, so before you decide on a country decide which culture you like more and which girls you are more attracted to.

I came across this article on Chinese women when I was researching working as a foreign teacher in China. I would recommend giving it a read if you are seriously considering Chinese women.

http://middlekingdomlife.com/guide/dating-sex-relationships-china.htm

[Ray]

Based on my own personal experiences, I totally agree with Dave H and Capstone.

Why don't you just take a couple of weeks and visit both countries? Then you will have actual personal experiences to base your decision on?

Ray

[FlyingMoose]

I came across this article on Chinese women when I was researching working as a foreign teacher in China. I would recommend giving it a read if you are seriously considering Chinese women.

http://middlekingdomlife.com/guide/dating-sex-relationships-china.htm

That looks familiar, I think I have read it before, and I'll do so again.

Based on my own personal experiences, I totally agree with Dave H and Capstone.

Why don't you just take a couple of weeks and visit both countries? Then you will have actual personal experiences to base your decision on?

Ray

I'm planning on doing exactly that.

[z_k_g]

Based on my own personal experiences, I totally agree with Dave H and Capstone.
Why don't you just take a couple of weeks and visit both countries? Then you will have actual personal experiences to base your decision on?
Ray

He needs to narrow down "visit both countries".

I would suggest an area with a high ethnic Chinese population in RP, since he finds that physical look attractive.

In China I would suggest southern, maybe Shanghai or even Hong Kong because he will meet a higher percentage of English speakers.

HK is very close, 4 hour round trip plane ride, to RP and he could combine his trips for a nice vacation package!  

Zulu

[thekfc]

HK is very close, 4 hour plane ride, to RP and he could combine his trips for a nice vacation package! 

It is only 2 hours (well to Manila).
I too am looking at packages for me and Ahya for sometime down the road ( I like to plan early)  . I am looking at Japan & Singapore (these are the top Asian countries she would someday like to visit - Japan have been on my list for years). I can combine any of these with one of my trip to Phil.

[Capstone]

In China I would suggest southern, maybe Shanghai or even Hong Kong because he will meet a higher percentage of English speakers.

HK is very close, 4 hour round trip plane ride, to RP and he could combine his trips for a nice vacation package!  

Hong Kong & Shanghai are nice places to visit but are probably the last two Chinese cities that I would recommend trying to find a potential wife in. Don't get me wrong, both cities are great and I love visiting both of them and will continue to do so in the future but they, along with Macau, are also the most "Un-Chinese" cities in the country. Both cities have a high concentration of foreigners, most especially HK, and a single Western guy is nothing unique at all. This is much less true in Shanghai, than in HK, where you can avoid the areas frequented by most foreigners but that is pretty much impossible to do in HK. Fishing in a pond that reminds you most of home does not always produce the best results. I am not saying that there aren't quality women in both cities because obviously there are many but the advantage of being a western novelty so to speak is also very much diminished in those two places. Can a guy be successful in HK or Shanghai? Heck yea, but I also think that a guy would probably have better odds in other cities.

Visiting Hong Kong in an attempt to experience China is really not something that I would recommend either, as HK is nothing like the Mainland and you would really not get an idea of what China is actually like. Even though HK is now technically part of China it is really still a separate country - different language, different form of government, different customs, different lifestyle, different currency, etc, etc. I love HK and visit there every chance that I get but like I always say "Hong Kong ain't China".

I am very partial to Xiamen and would highly recommend it. Instead of Shanghai I would probably recommend Hangzhou which is near by. I would also recommend Beijing - even though it is the capital city, outside of the tourist area around the Forbidden City you really do not see too many foreigners. I also think that Fuzhou would be a potential area to focus on (there are a lot of universities located there) and Chengdu in the interior is a nice place as well.

[z_k_g]

Hong Kong & Shanghai are nice places to visit but are probably the last two Chinese cities that I would recommend trying to find a potential wife in.

I am very partial to Xiamen and would highly recommend it. Instead of Shanghai I would probably recommend Hangzhou which is near by. I would also recommend Beijing - even though it is the capital city, outside of the tourist area around the Forbidden City you really do not see too many foreigners. I also think that Fuzhou would be a potential area to focus on (there are a lot of universities located there) and Chengdu in the interior is a nice place as well.

A Vacation package with a trip to Hangzhou outside of Shanghai and then down to Manila or Cebu sounds like a plan.

Zulu

[Jeff S]

I agree Cap. Visiting Hong Kong to experience China is a little like visiting Tijuana to experience Mexico. Close but no cigar. Shanghai, on the other hand is real China but (and a BIG but) Shanghai is and has always been Shanghai - a very Chinese, but a very unique subset of China. It was that way when my father-in-law was working there in the early 40s, that way in the Absinthe, Opium & Magic days of the 20s and that way in the flowers of Shanghai days of the 1880s - and of course, it's still that way today - something not to be missed.

[Dave H]

Hey thekfc,

We have been using MagicJack for a few years and it has been great! I sure wish they would have had that when I first met my wife!

Dave

[Dave H]

Hey Jeff,
A neighbor in the US used to spend a lot of time in Shanghai in the 20's. He told me that he used to love to "bang the gong" there. I was thinking that he was banging ladies...but told me it meant doing opium. But, he did say that he also loved the ladies! 

Dave

[thekfc]

. I also think that Fuzhou would be a potential area to focus on (there are a lot of universities located there) and Chengdu in the interior is a nice place as well.

On my trip back to NYC (last July), there were a lot of High School teens from Chengdu, I chatted with them for a while on the plane. They told me all the food places to visit in Chengdu.
I do want to visit the mainland in the future & that area is an option.

[michaelb]

Hey Jeff,
A neighbor in the US used to spend a lot of time in Shanghai in the 20's. He told me that he used to love to "bang the gong" there. I was thinking that he was banging ladies...but told me it meant doing opium. But, he did say that he also loved the ladies! 

Dave

She messed around with a bloke named Smokey
She loved him though he was cokey
He took her down to China Town
And he showed her how to kick the gong around

Hi De Hi De Hi De Hi
Ho De Ho De Ho De Ho

[Dave H]

She messed around with a bloke named Smokey
She loved him though he was cokey
He took her down to China Town
And he showed her how to kick the gong around

Hi De Hi De Hi De Hi
Ho De Ho De Ho De Ho

 

Momma was an opium smoker

Momma was an opium smoker
She light it with a red-hot poker
She would never take a bath
We would ask her, she'd just laugh
because our momma was an opium smoker

She made it with this gentleman, Lincoln
They met on a boat, it was sinkin'
When she shoulda gone overboard, mom say "No way, oh my Lord
only of opium smoking am I thinkin'."

Oh, help us, Lord
we can't afford
her destructive ways
You oughta' hear what she says!

She would just sit on her fat ass
yell at us, "Fill up my wine glass!"
She would tell us, "How sad,
you won't never know your dad."
Oh yeah, my momma was an opium smoker

Go, mommy, go
Uh huh, uh huh, uh huh, uh huh

She had the money and the drugs in the mattress
I wonder how long she's been at this
And I say, "Mom, bang the gong,
can't you see it's gone all wrong?"
My momma was an opium smoker

[Bob_S]

I love HK and visit there every chance that I get but like I always say "Hong Kong ain't China".

You hear that a lot about certain mega cities that have become centers of power (political, economic, or modern-cultural) because they have become so internationalized and cosmopolitan.  You have to look carefully to find anything truly traditional that isn't heavily commercialized.
Hong Kong is not China;
Tokyo is not Japan;
Los Angeles is not America;
Moscow is not Russia;
etc.
When you go there, you haven't seen how most people in that country truly live, but in some cases that's a good thing!

[Capstone]

You hear that a lot about certain mega cities that have become centers of power (political, economic, or modern-cultural) because they have become so internationalized and cosmopolitan.  You have to look carefully to find anything truly traditional that isn't heavily commercialized.
Hong Kong is not China;
Tokyo is not Japan;
Los Angeles is not America;
Moscow is not Russia;
etc.
When you go there, you haven't seen how most people in that country truly live, but in some cases that's a good thing!

Very true but in Hong Kong's case it really is.  It's only been 13 years since it reverted back to Chinese control and its SAR status pretty much means that it still is another country for all practical purposes. A PRC citizen just can't go visit Hong Kong - they must first apply for a HK travel permit/visa to do so and are only allowed to stay in HK for 7 days. At least we don't need a visa to go visit Los Angeles and also don't have to change our money once we get there - although maybe we should

[Dave H]

At least we don't need a visa to go visit Los Angeles and also don't have to change our money once we get there - although maybe we should

Hey Capstone,

Illegal Mexicans don't need a Visa either. Can they use Mexican pesos in Los Angeles? 

Dave

[Ray]

Illegal Mexicans don't need a Visa either. Can they use Mexican pesos in Los Angeles?

Yes Dave, they can do whatever they wish in LA, including voting.

[Dave H]

Yes Dave, they can do whatever they wish in LA, including voting.

Hey Ray,

That sounds like the Miami - South Florida area. Illegals and former illegals are even allowed to vote more than once during the same election! They just go to different cities or precincts. If they have more than one name, they can vote multiple times at the same precinct. Also dead people are allowed to vote and usually have 100% voting participation!  

After elections, we used to have to lock many of the Latino police officers out of our fire stations so they wouldn't steal the ballot boxes and take them to the Latino mayor's office to be stuffed!

Dave

[Bob_S]

Can they use Mexican pesos in Los Angeles? 

At Pizza Patrón, yes! 

[Dave H]

Heu Bob,

Gracias for the link esse! I am thinking about getting dat gansta Pizza Patrón Beanie!

I see that they even have a Pizza Patrón in my old Florida town now. I wonder if they also take Castro or Colombian Pesos? The next time I'm in town,  maybe I will get into the "Latin Life" and order La Mexicana and see if they take Philippine Pisos (pesos).  

On second thought...I don't know about Mexicans, but Cubans can't make a decent pizza to save their own culo! A Hell Pizza looks much better!
http://hellpizza.co.nz/

Dave

[michaelb]

Yeah, they have Pizza Patron here in Dallas too. According to their advertising they will accept Mexican pesos (but I think not any other country's pesos). I don't know if their food's any good, never tried it.

[Dave H]

Pizza Patrón was founded in 1986 by Antonio Swad, of Lebanese and Italian (but not Hispanic descent.)  

What? Well at least he is part Italian...the pizza must be OK. Since he has Italian blood, I guess the cabron is allowed to get into the "Latin Life" ...but not the "Latino Life"

What's next?...the Taco Bell dog and Speedy Gonzalez are not really Mexican!  

Dave