#i think i stopped because of the weird free/paid currency split

[watatsumiis]

I ACTUALLY REALLY LIKE RHYTHM GAMES!! the issue is,, nightbringer isn't a ver good rhythm game TT or maybe i just have high standards bc i play games lie enstars and project sekai!! BUT PLS I WANNA HEAR U MONOILOGUING

it definitely feels a little barebones and clunky when compared to other rhythm games ive played, i just like the fact that it's like... relatively easy. it makes me feel like im good at rhythm games (i am not)

i played project sekai for a while!!!! ogh it was very fun

[adhd-wifi]

MDZS Modern AU Fic Tips (Living in China)

So I asked a while back if anyone was interested in some fic tips for writing Chinese modern AUs, and y’all seemed enthusiastic. But…when I tried putting it all in a single post it got…really…really long…

So I split them into a bunch of posts (Yes I copy-pasted this intro on all of them because I’m lazy)! Here are the links:

Names & Stuff

Modern Chinese Cultural Stuff

Superstitions & Beliefs

Festivals 

Living in China (You are here)

Anyways, these are based off my experiences living in Singapore and China, and I hope these posts are helpful. On to it.

Living in China

Disclaimer: I mostly lived in Singapore during my existence, and thus I can’t give you extremely detailed info of what it’s like exactly, but I do visit my Chinese relatives fairly frequently, so these are general tips. Also, please keep in mind that the info here is biased towards life in Dalian & Harbin. I’ve been to Beijing but only twice so I don’t remember a lot. 

The currency in China is RMB, or “yuan”. 100 RMB is about $14 USD, and not considered a lot of money

Side Note: The above tip is also another reason why you shouldn’t ever write A-Yuan’s name as just “Yuan”. It makes him look like the local currency djsasldkj

Coin values are (with comparison to US currency): 

1 yuan (like a dollar) 

5 jiao (Half-yuan - 50 cents)

1 jiao (1/10 yuan - 10 cents)

5 fen (0.05 yuan - 5 cents)

1 fen (0.01 -  basically a penny)

Also related to money, in more urban areas, people don’t really carry cash or even cards around anymore. Practically everything is paid electronically, through WeChat Pay and other cash/bank apps, typically using QR codes on phones. You’ll have a hard time as a foreigner if you don’t have any of those apps in these areas (AKA me when I forget to re-download them before heading to China)

The exceptions to this would be places where tourists and foreigners are very frequent, such as hotels, airports, tourist buildings, universities (though my cousin’s old uni recently went full electronic payment I think???) etc, and more rural areas

Some Chinese social media and stuff:

BaiDu 百度 - Basically Chinese Google. We also use it the way we use “google” as a verb, saying 百度一下 (bǎi dù yī xià) - “Let me BaiDu it”

WeChat - Very similar to Whatsapp in general, also used for money purposes with WeChat Pay

QQ Mail - The most frequently used email platform in China. QQ Mail also has an Instant Messenger last time I checked. Also, I think QQ still uses number-based IDs, so the address would look something like: (12345678@qq.com). Hotmail is fairly common in China too, particularly with those who need have to send international emails

YouKu 优酷 - The most popular video hosting site (most similar to YouTube out of the many video sites)

bilibili 哔哩哔哩 (yes, small caps) - Another video site well-known for animations, games, and comics especially

TaoBao 淘宝 - Cosplayers would probably know this. Something like a Chinese Amazon or Lazada.

WeiBo 微博 - Main Chinese social media platform. Feels like a FaceBook + Twitter fusion

LOFTER - Feels like a Chinese Tumblr

Even in urban areas, it’s easy to find entire streets of literally nothing but restaurants by the main roads (+ maybe a stationary shop, salon, or something in a corner, and you can often drive right up to the front door and park right there (in more populated areas and/or near malls/attractions, there will likely be extra open parking space nearby such restaurant streets)

Some larger restaurants, especially those with seafood specialties, don’t have actual booklet menus. Instead they have a wide selection of fresh ingredients (wrapped up safely in layers saran wrap) such as vegetables, cuts of meat, and tanks of living fish/shellfish/crustaceans near the entrance. They tend to have a list of dishes you can order by the corresponding ingredients, or a server nearby to tell you and take your orders. Apparently this is more common in the North.

You don’t tip in restaurants in China. You COULD slip a particular server or two some cash if you wanted to, but as an overall system tipping does not exist and also it’s not “one server one table”. It’s “whoever’s available to serve you IN THAT MOMENT will serve you” so you’ll likely see at least three different servers throughout your meal. Please. Stop with the “Hi I’ll be your server today” in China-set fics. It’s SOOOOO WEIRD.

I’ve never studied in China, but I checked this guide with my Chinese cousin and it’s pretty accurate about the educational system there

Speaking of schools, you wear uniforms up to Upper Secondary (some to Post-Secondary). As typical gender-conformity strikes again, girls will wear skirts and boys will wear pants. The exception is during the colder months, in which everyone will basically just wear full body tracksuits (school-issued) to school and it’s their uniform for the whole day. This is particularly common in schools with low or no heating systems, especially in more rural areas

Drivers sit on the left side of their vehicle in China. Typically, any foreign cars (such as from Hong Kong - which would have the driver on the right) will need a mainland license plate. (This might be changing in recent times though.) 

I don’t know much about the healthcare systems in China anymore, I was hospitalized once at 3 or 4 and don’t remember much, but in general basic healthcare from public hospitals is low-cost to free (depending on the region) for Chinese citizens with their basic insurance plans (individual and employee provided). You get charged (more) for hospitalization and more serious treatments like surgeries, physical/mental therapy, vaccinations (this is a pro-vax blog btw, just saying), and maybe dental. Most of these can be covered by insurance too though. If you go to a private hospital, it’s considerably more expensive of course. 

Okay that’s all the info I can think of to be potentially useful in fics lol.