There's also Father Ted who's Irish Catholic. His English is not perfect and he's a numismatic. Offer him a pint and he's up for anything.

Easy access to movies, TV shows and music one might suspect is part of China's panem et circenses approach to keeping the population docile. As long as they are in front of their computers and TVs gawking they're not doing other, more threatening things. Apart from that, I've never heard of anyone ending up in trouble for being the end user of media copyright infringements in China. It's probably slowly going to change but for now it shouldn't be a source of worry.

@Ocean: Yeah, I'm pretty sure the marriage GC doesn't allow you to work, which is pretty stupid since there's no real difference between that and going to renew your family visa every year. I guess you save 3 hours and 600 yuan, but apart from those the benefits are laughable. Now, I can understand why most countries would like to protect themselves from mass immigration from questionable individuals, but I've always wondered why it should be such a damned hassle for people who are married to a national, can support themselves and don't cause any problems.

Ideally it should be something like this: You've got a wife and a kid in China and you hold/have found a decent job. Your local work bureau and the PSB approve and you get a 1 year work visa. On renewal you show them tax receipts and letter of employment or proof of self-employment and the z-visa is renewed automatically as long as you're married and are employed. Personally I'd like to see a real marriage visa implemented in the Chinese system because they just don't have it currently. I'm not going to need it since I'm setting up a WFOE right now but all the red tape, headaches and resentment I've built up over the past 2 years is not something I'd wish on my worst enemy.

I bought a mid-range Midea in metal/black 4 years ago. It's still working perfectly and I've never had any issues with it. Nah, it can't grill (or broil or whatever you yanks call it) but as a standard, no-fuzz microwave I really have nothing to complain about at that price. Brother recommends.

My nose is bigger than the average one, so I guess I can charge extra. I KNEW it'd come in handy some day.