I like shopping. And something happens when I go to China. Something in the air — either the around-the-clock manufacturing or the settling dust of a run-away economy – turns me into a rabid consumer.
Cute eyeglass frames for $15 USD each. Wooden buttons shaped like elephants. Ceramic buttons painted like porcelain. Tibetan prayer bowls. Cellphone covers for every day of the week.
Some may ask whether I actually needed the same linen balloon pants in three different earth-tone colors.
Honestly? I really did. Because I was on my China shopping spree.
China isn’t simply about the Great Wall or 5,000 years of history. With its economic development, China has become a major shopping destination with its own unique flair.
The Guomao district in Beijing, home of the China World Shopping Mall, features such storefronts as Louis Vuitton, Burberry, and Prada.
For me, however, these sterile fluorescent halls with their white mannequins have never held quite as much appeal as China’s other shopping venues.
Packed antique stalls, bustling night markets, and shopping centers divided into booths of different vendors with the same merchandise. That's what I'm here for.
For those inadequately prepared, however, shopping in China can be a complete nightmare. There are certain things you'll have to know to survive your first few shopping experiences.
1. Sometimes people will follow you
I was seven years old on my first trip to China when this happened to me. A salesperson trying to convince my mother that I needed a pair of khaki pants followed us for several hundred feet.
Depending on where you are, sales associates will be terrifyingly tenacious when dealing with weak-willed customers.
You'll need to be equally tenacious when you're bargaining to get a good deal.
3. It's easy to get exactly what you want
One of the best things about shopping in China is getting your purchases customized.
Jewelry stores often display strings of beads that can be bought and transformed into whatever shapes and patterns you please.
Fabrics of your choice can be brought to a tailor, along with a pattern, photo, or sample of what you want made.
Friends of mine have purchased silk-lined suits, cloth cargo shorts, and even a wedding dress custom-made this way.By the way ,you can get taobao chinese traditional jacket online,such as taobao and agreetao.
6. Vendors expect you to bargain
Modern shopping malls generally have set prices that can’t be negotiated, but vendors at night markets, antique stalls, or personal booths at other shopping centers usually expect customers to question their prices.
But bargaining and haggling isn’t just procedure. It’s an artform. You can see how real Chinese people bargain in a Yoyo Chinese premium video and learn a few phrases to get a good deal.
I've listed a few phrases below this video, too, so you'll have more to work with!
2015年12月27日 星期日
2015年12月15日 星期二
Trade with China
In the beginning of 2015, President Xi of China and President Obama announced an historic agreement committing our two countries to dramatic action in the fight against climate change.
This April, as a critical part of that commitment, leaders in government and business took an important step to realize that agreement: a trade mission to China, connecting America’s clean energy innovators with China’s vast energy markets. You can check china trade credit in CNbizsearch.
The opportunity is enormous. Under the joint climate agreement, China intends to peak its carbon emissions and generate one-fifth of its energy from clean sources within 15 years. The latter target alone amounts to building about a billion kilowatts of new, low-carbon capacity — a fleet of power plants roughly the size of the entire U.S. electrical grid.
China’s energy needs will require infrastructure. But even more so, they’ll require cutting-edge technology — advanced tools to harness new fuels, capture greenhouse gases, and manage energy demand on a massive scale.
By adopting some of the world’s most ambitious climate targets, the United States and China have opened up one of the world’s most expansive new marketplaces for low-carbon technology. And it’s a marketplace where American businesses are uniquely positioned to compete and win.
Over the past several years, American engineers and entrepreneurs have unleashed a wave of unprecedented growth in clean tech. American innovation has helped cut the price of high-tech batteries by more than 60 percent in six years. This week, they became cheap enough to power not just our cars, but our homes. Likewise, America’s solar electricity production has increased more than twentyfold since 2009. Our utilities have rolled out smart meters to nearly 40 million households, and their data is driving the world’s leading energy analytics companies.
All told, businesses that deliver advanced energy solutions are growing five times faster than the rest of U.S. economy. They’re creating thousands of good-paying jobs that can’t be shipped overseas. Early-stage investment from the private and public sectors is seeding a new generation of revolutionary ideas.
It’s worth noting that in many cases, smart policies have helped fuel that success. State-based energy regulations have stimulated demand for cleaner, more efficient technologies, and federal tax incentives have pushed their costs down. New standards under the Obama’s Clean Power Plan will do even more to drive innovation.
But credit belongs first and foremost to the businesses that have shouldered the risks — and today, America is reaping the rewards of a resurgent clean energy economy. Revenue soared to $200 billion last year, and U.S. companies claimed 15 percent of the global market for advanced energy in 2014.
The trade delegation that traveled to China, alongside many others in our industry, have an opportunity to capture an even larger share of that market. As China pushes hard to curb its emissions, it will need the kind of advanced, scalable clean energy technology that American businesses are ready to export.
That’s why leaders from the Department of Commerce, the Department of Energy, and 24 American firms, including mine, traveled from Beijing to Guangzhou this month to offer a host of next-generation climate solutions, spanning green buildings and data centers to smart grid software.
In the months ahead, our two countries will accelerate bilateral trade in low-carbon products and services. Our businesses will continue to grow and add jobs, and the cost of clean energy will fall. Earth’s two largest economies and two largest carbon emitters — which together account for half of all greenhouse gas pollution — will signal by the power of our example that we’re willing to lead in a new clean energy era.
In turn, concrete steps toward our shared climate commitments will continue to spur progress beyond our borders. Scaling the global clean energy economy is already driving down the cost of low-carbon technologies worldwide. More countries are getting the chance to invest.
They’re also looking ahead to the next United Nations Climate Conference. When the U.S. and China approach the negotiating table in November, the world will finally see the two most critical climate actors champion an ambitious, inclusive deal to drive down global carbon pollution.
If an agreement can be reached in Paris — and there is great optimism that it can — American businesses will turn the text of a treaty into tech that’s ready to ship all over the world. That’s good news for our economy, but even more so for our children, for whom climate solutions mean the difference between a livable planet and one that’s beyond fixing.
This April, as a critical part of that commitment, leaders in government and business took an important step to realize that agreement: a trade mission to China, connecting America’s clean energy innovators with China’s vast energy markets. You can check china trade credit in CNbizsearch.
The opportunity is enormous. Under the joint climate agreement, China intends to peak its carbon emissions and generate one-fifth of its energy from clean sources within 15 years. The latter target alone amounts to building about a billion kilowatts of new, low-carbon capacity — a fleet of power plants roughly the size of the entire U.S. electrical grid.
China’s energy needs will require infrastructure. But even more so, they’ll require cutting-edge technology — advanced tools to harness new fuels, capture greenhouse gases, and manage energy demand on a massive scale.
By adopting some of the world’s most ambitious climate targets, the United States and China have opened up one of the world’s most expansive new marketplaces for low-carbon technology. And it’s a marketplace where American businesses are uniquely positioned to compete and win.
Over the past several years, American engineers and entrepreneurs have unleashed a wave of unprecedented growth in clean tech. American innovation has helped cut the price of high-tech batteries by more than 60 percent in six years. This week, they became cheap enough to power not just our cars, but our homes. Likewise, America’s solar electricity production has increased more than twentyfold since 2009. Our utilities have rolled out smart meters to nearly 40 million households, and their data is driving the world’s leading energy analytics companies.
All told, businesses that deliver advanced energy solutions are growing five times faster than the rest of U.S. economy. They’re creating thousands of good-paying jobs that can’t be shipped overseas. Early-stage investment from the private and public sectors is seeding a new generation of revolutionary ideas.
It’s worth noting that in many cases, smart policies have helped fuel that success. State-based energy regulations have stimulated demand for cleaner, more efficient technologies, and federal tax incentives have pushed their costs down. New standards under the Obama’s Clean Power Plan will do even more to drive innovation.
But credit belongs first and foremost to the businesses that have shouldered the risks — and today, America is reaping the rewards of a resurgent clean energy economy. Revenue soared to $200 billion last year, and U.S. companies claimed 15 percent of the global market for advanced energy in 2014.
The trade delegation that traveled to China, alongside many others in our industry, have an opportunity to capture an even larger share of that market. As China pushes hard to curb its emissions, it will need the kind of advanced, scalable clean energy technology that American businesses are ready to export.
That’s why leaders from the Department of Commerce, the Department of Energy, and 24 American firms, including mine, traveled from Beijing to Guangzhou this month to offer a host of next-generation climate solutions, spanning green buildings and data centers to smart grid software.
In the months ahead, our two countries will accelerate bilateral trade in low-carbon products and services. Our businesses will continue to grow and add jobs, and the cost of clean energy will fall. Earth’s two largest economies and two largest carbon emitters — which together account for half of all greenhouse gas pollution — will signal by the power of our example that we’re willing to lead in a new clean energy era.
In turn, concrete steps toward our shared climate commitments will continue to spur progress beyond our borders. Scaling the global clean energy economy is already driving down the cost of low-carbon technologies worldwide. More countries are getting the chance to invest.
They’re also looking ahead to the next United Nations Climate Conference. When the U.S. and China approach the negotiating table in November, the world will finally see the two most critical climate actors champion an ambitious, inclusive deal to drive down global carbon pollution.
If an agreement can be reached in Paris — and there is great optimism that it can — American businesses will turn the text of a treaty into tech that’s ready to ship all over the world. That’s good news for our economy, but even more so for our children, for whom climate solutions mean the difference between a livable planet and one that’s beyond fixing.
2015年12月7日 星期一
Advantages of using an electric scooter
This article provides information about mobility scooters, and the health benefits they can provide. By getting an electric scooter, you can open many doors that have been previously closed, perhaps because of a disability or illness - such as going shopping, going out for the day, going for a "walk" with the children or grandchildren. Anyone who struggles to walk or gets tired after walking a short distance could benefit from using a mobility scooter. Using an electric scooter is not an admission of defeat and can make a great deal of difference to your quality of life, and can even provide a new lease of life and a new found independence.
If you are thinking about getting a mobility scooter, it is probably past time to do it. However, the sooner you start using an electric scooter, the longer you might retain the ability to walk.
A disabled scooter can give you more energy because you won't be using all your energy in trying to walk, or push a traditional wheelchair. Using an electric scooter will help to relieve the strain on shoulder muscles and wrist and elbow joints that are used when pushing yourself in a self propelled wheelchair or someone else in a traditional transit wheelchair. An electric scooter can help to provide you with the freedom to go where ever you want, whenever you want. Some models are capable of travelling up to 35 miles between charges, so the distance you can cover is much greater than in a traditional wheelchair.
A large number of supermarkets and DIY stores as well as other shops offer customers the use of a mobility scooter whilst shopping. If you are not sure if you would benefit from one, why not try one and see if it makes shopping any easier. Some places such as large shopping centres or town centres offer Shopmobility, which is a scheme that lends or hires mobility equipment based on the user's requirements, and then provides brief training on using the equipment. If you go on holiday why not arrange to hire a mobility scooter instead of taking your wheelchair, and see if it makes a difference.
By getting an electric scooter, you can open many doors that have been previously closed, perhaps because of a disability or illness - such as going shopping, going out for the day, going for a "walk" with the children or grandchildren. You can go up and down steep hills in comfort and without fear of rolling down the hill, and without being worn out for days afterwards. You can visit friends and relatives at your convenience, without needing to rely on public transport. Most mobility scooters have a key to start them, and so if the key is removed the scooter cannot be driven. This means that the scooter can be left outside a shop, for example, and it can be "locked" like a car.
If you think that you, a friend or relative could benefit from a mobility scooter or a powerchair, why not try some and find one that you like. If you know somebody with a mobility scooter, ask them about it, and what improvements it has brought them. Mobility scooters can mean the difference between managing to live at home independently, and having to rely on others.
If you are thinking about getting a mobility scooter, it is probably past time to do it. However, the sooner you start using an electric scooter, the longer you might retain the ability to walk.
A disabled scooter can give you more energy because you won't be using all your energy in trying to walk, or push a traditional wheelchair. Using an electric scooter will help to relieve the strain on shoulder muscles and wrist and elbow joints that are used when pushing yourself in a self propelled wheelchair or someone else in a traditional transit wheelchair. An electric scooter can help to provide you with the freedom to go where ever you want, whenever you want. Some models are capable of travelling up to 35 miles between charges, so the distance you can cover is much greater than in a traditional wheelchair.
A large number of supermarkets and DIY stores as well as other shops offer customers the use of a mobility scooter whilst shopping. If you are not sure if you would benefit from one, why not try one and see if it makes shopping any easier. Some places such as large shopping centres or town centres offer Shopmobility, which is a scheme that lends or hires mobility equipment based on the user's requirements, and then provides brief training on using the equipment. If you go on holiday why not arrange to hire a mobility scooter instead of taking your wheelchair, and see if it makes a difference.
By getting an electric scooter, you can open many doors that have been previously closed, perhaps because of a disability or illness - such as going shopping, going out for the day, going for a "walk" with the children or grandchildren. You can go up and down steep hills in comfort and without fear of rolling down the hill, and without being worn out for days afterwards. You can visit friends and relatives at your convenience, without needing to rely on public transport. Most mobility scooters have a key to start them, and so if the key is removed the scooter cannot be driven. This means that the scooter can be left outside a shop, for example, and it can be "locked" like a car.
If you think that you, a friend or relative could benefit from a mobility scooter or a powerchair, why not try some and find one that you like. If you know somebody with a mobility scooter, ask them about it, and what improvements it has brought them. Mobility scooters can mean the difference between managing to live at home independently, and having to rely on others.
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