Tales from the Dragon

[arsenal]

With the exception of Gorgeous Chinese Money Boy Chinese money boys rarely fail to disappoint.

A few recent incidents.

Ning (very cute boy) approached me as I was watching some boys play basketball, the most uninteresting sport ever with the possible exception of fencing but they leap about in shorts and sometimes play topless.

We swapped Wechat and he immediately started asking for money for a variety of reasons. All refused. This went on for a few days then I deleted him but a week later he sent a friend request so I reinstated him. More of the same and of course, refused every time.

I told him that if he wanted any money he'd have to provide certain services
He agreed. He came to my apartment, got undressed and then told me he was 17. I thought 'are you really!' because your body is not that of a 17 year old, nor is your face, you have tattoos, you don't go to school, you hang around hot baths looking for customers and you live the life of a mobile money boy.. I simply told him that the age of consent in China is lower than that and does not discriminate with regards to sexuality or gender. He performance was fascinating. Every now and then he forgot he was a '17 year old first timer'and showed his abilities. I paid him in full the agreed 400rmb and of course cue surprise that it wasn't as much as he'd been expecting. Bye bye Ning.

I knew something was coming but I didn't know what it was. Here it comes...The Ning Sting. Blackmail.

Wechat translate can be inconsistent so I'll paraphrase.
N. I took a picture of you.
Me. Oh!
N. Do you want me to delete the nude photo of you?
Me. Well I look pretty Ok for my age and I know a few hot bath staff have done that so it's ok.
N. I want to send the photo to my moments. That's funny isn't it?
Me. If you want to do that then it's up to you.

Some time later.
N. I'm joking. I dont have a nude photo of you. Haha.
Me. Ok.


Then the other day. I agreed to meet this boy on blued. He'd been pestering.me for weeks. Not really my type being too bouffanty and a little puffy if his photo was to be believed. Still, nothing lost from meeting hi at a neutral venue.

If his photo wasn't really my type then it was nothing compared to the frankinstinian gargoyle that showed up. Fatish, short, lamk hair and pallid scarred skin. I stayed just long enough to say I wasn't interested and left.

Shortly afterwards he messaged me to say that the photo he sent was of him to which I replied that he didn't look much like the photo. His reply. Get this.

"All cameras have beauty enhancement features. You need to lower your expectations."
Are you fucking serious? I don't think I will thank you.

The evening saw me at my favourite nightclub. At about 1.00am a boy I'd met before, Mingzhe (pronounced Ming Jay) said he wanted to spend the night with me. I agreed. He wanted 500rnb. I pointed out that we were both drunk and as such it was mainly sleeping. 300 was agreed. He's 19 and I felt a little guilty as we passed his college.
"My school" he told me. Chinese boys describe any education place as school. Due to the virus and the Chinese tendency to be Chinese even some colleges and universities are locked at night and adult students are not allowed either in or out. I did know this, that at 1.00am he needed somewhere to go because he was locked out for the night. Anyway it was a very pleasant encounter and we parted on friendly terms with both parties promising a return sinetine in the future.

[a447]

Do arsenal, can you speak Chinese??

[gerefan2]

return sinetine in the future.

A447....“ arsenal, can you speak Chinese??”

Looks like a “yes”!

[christianpfc]

Can you give some context? From posting in "Gay world", I assume that these events took place in China. From "Wechat translate can be inconsistent" I assume that you mainly communicate by translation program.

In Bangkok, I chatted with a few Chinese who turned out to be money boys. They did not speak English, the communication (blued translation) did not lead anywhere / was like pulling teeth, and when we finally got to the point, the wanted 2000 THB. And their pictures did not look genuine. If the chat had been positive, and if they had agreed to come to my place for 1000 THB, I would have asked for current pictures or better video chat before meeting.

[arsenal]

No I don't speak Chinese. Thank the gods.

Christian. Wechat translate is pretty good but sometimes it makes small but significant errors. But it's still a great app. Mobile phone numbers here are obsolete, everyone and I mean EVERYONE has Wechat. So you can flag down an electric pick up and 20 seconds later be communicating with the driver. Take a translator with you, they'll talk for 30 minutes and then say "they can't do it." Use Wechat and you can do anything at all.

For historical reasons the Chinese tend to take forever to come to the point and then just as you tbink you've got there they start all over again. Also they simply lie, blatant bare faced black is white complete untruths. A Chinese person can talk non stop for 10 minutes and it becomes like a drill hammer. What's more they can communicate with each other in conversation at 100 meters just by talking.

[arsenal]

While not the same as the pick 'n' mix availability of boys in Thailand a normal Chinese nightclub can yield most worthwhile and sometimes full on results.

They have host boys who's job it is too bring in the customers. If they don't get the sufficient number they get punished. Every visit will bring 4 or so new Wechat contacts. Then they send messages asking you to go to the club and "open a table." If you do so they drink with you and are amenable to dancing, cuddling and a little kissing. Their amenability increases in line with the alcohol consumption.

[arsenal]

Uber pretty blonde host boy is already messaging me today so it would be rude not to go and party with him tonight.

Well it did get a little confusing as it often can with Chinese boys. He didn't seem sure what I wanted and I wasn't sure what to say without scaring him off. He kept coming to me and cuddling me and using words like 'accompany' but it still wasn't clear so I left it. I will try again tonight.

Meanwhile I am persuing other avenues with several boys targeted and sone progress being made.

[Nirish guy]

Meanwhile I am persuing other avenues with several boys targeted and some progress being made.

And they wonder why we gays get the word "predatory" associated to our actions lol :-) ( I do know you don't mean it in THAT way - well, I think :-)

[a447]

Arsenal, I don't know how long you've been living in China, but don't you think it would be easier if you spoke a little Chinese? Or do some of the local guys speak English?

[arsenal]

For your piece on the Chinese KTV thread NIrish. Thank you.

Friends who've been at the club's with me do joke about what I 'do' to the boys. I merely point out that they come to me, I don't have to chase them around the club. But if that became necessary then obviously I would. Of course if I see a hot boy sitting on one of the sofas near the gents then I'll sit down and get better acquainted.

The very unnatractive guy I wrote about in the first post has now messaged me 46 times without reply on blued. What his best case scenario is I have no idea.

Hot blonde boy and I are meeting at the club tonight. Again I don't want to blow it so we'll see how it goes. Discussions with Chinese boys can be a slow and tortuous process.

Other less important matters include the weather being gorgeous with bright sunshine and clear skies. Warm enough to sit outside in a short sleeved shirt during the day. And the President of China, Xi Jinping is currently in town, here for 3 days I understand. We're not starstruck though cos Jiang Zemin comes here every year.

[arsenal]

Live update.

The club is heaving and cos they've just had a recruitment drive there are wall to wall fresh faced boys. Hot blonde boy is gorgeous, drinking with and cuddling me. However he dropped his phone and so communication is tricky as he's using his friend's one. So a home visit tonight is unlikely.

[arsenal]

No sign of Xi Jinping but we seem to be ok with that.

[Jellybean]

Thanks for your reports and photos, arsenal. I for one appreciate you posting about your experiences in China.

[Zebedee]

arsenal: Your mission ....should you decide to accept it....is Blonde on left in second last photo taken by one of our operatives recently. Approach with caution,using your vast training in LOS. Target is to be escorted to the privacy of secure hotel room,where he shall take it all, willing if possible,if not a "meat injection" should be administered as pressing the "anal button" is mandatory for this target. On satisfactory completion of "meat Injection" the target must be BLOWN, this is also mandatory! No deviation from these instructions is acceptable, the fate of the Board is dependant on this operation.
A full DETAILED report is required on completion. Good Luck.

As always, should you or any of your IM Force be caught or killed, the Secretary will disavow any knowledge of your actions. This poster will self-destruct in five/ten seconds if you fail to "press the anal button".

[GWMinUS]

arsenal,
I have to ask are those two guy with blond hair Babies, Boys, or Guys?
They certainly do not look like Men...
:air_kiss:

[arsenal]

They're 18 or they wouldn't be allowed to work in a nightclub.

Zebs. Blonde on.left is Noah. He's my current host and the one I've been writing about. The photos don't really capture his totally boy next door Mark Owen look and personality. He often wears these cotton loose fitting trousers and no underwear. He's very affectionate and tactile.

[arsenal]

Vignettes to last night.

Another guy, a younger and better looking than me though neither young nor good looking man was sniffing around Noah. While incidentally drinking my whiskey. He was definitely interested. When Noah went off to eat I told the guy he'd gone and he was crestfallen. However he stayed until Noah came back but when he got up to dance with him it was clear the interest was not reciprocated.

Another boy host from the recent past made an appearance. Myself and a gay friend of mine in England called him the Androgynous Boy God and we would have fought a duel to the death to have him. Last night he was puffy and overweight with dyed hair that didn't suit him and had he asked to sleep with me I would have made some excuse. Chinese boys can lose their majestic looks in weeks.

[goji]

Chinese boys can lose their majestic looks in weeks.

I suspect it's very much related to lifestyle, as some of them age very well, just like the Japanese and others.
Some Chinese to fry EVERY single meal in huge quantities of oil & eat nothing but junk, combined with zero exercise.

[arsenal]

Hard though it may be to believe but this is the bus President Xi has been travelling around the city in.

[Brad the Impala]

This may be the first time that President Xi has featured in a thread about Chinese rent boys. Not once, not twice, but three times!

Interesting thread anyway. However old we are we still have more to learn.

[arsenal]

Yea. It's morphed somewhat.

Mr Moderator. Please rename this thread Tale's from the Dragon. Thanks.

[arsenal]

I give them Western names because Chinese names are impossible to digest and remember.

Miles (boy wearing glasses in the photis) messaged me last night to say that Noah had told him i was going back to England. I told him I wasn't. During the conversation Noah messaged to me to ask if I was talking to Miles. I told him I was. The interaction between them at the time escapes me. However if two hot host boys are competing over my clientship then all to the good.

[arsenal]

Zebs wrote.
"arsenal: Your mission ....should you decide to accept it....is Blonde on left in second last photo taken by one of our operatives recently. Approach with caution,using your vast training in LOS. Target is to be escorted to the privacy of secure hotel room"

Well Once again I failed to get Noah off the premesis and into my bed. However. He and I did enjoy Nice Boys style fun in various parts of the club and not just with him but also with another boy called Joe.

I'd like to say that this is a regular happening but sadly it isn't and last night's circumstances are too complicated to explain and anyway, I don't fully understand the dynamic myself. For the first time ever I actually tipped boys in the club, 100rmb each such was the generosity of their giving.

Also once again I was very well lubricated at 4.00am but the genius who invented cheap whiskey with iced tea deserves a statue. It gets you in the mood but no hangover. Away from the club I'm virtually tea total, 5 weeks in Pattaya earlier this year and I drank maybe 8 to 10 beers in total.

With regards to Noah. If I can have fun with him there to that extent then getting him home becomes less of a do or die mission.

Straight Chinese boys can have an unusual perspective on matters pertaining to sex. A boy called Feng opened a bar and I would go there and drink with him. As long as I was buying drinks he was very amenable to me enjoying his assets. But when I offered him way more money to come to my apartment he refused telling me I'd got the wrong guy. Go figure.

[arsenal]

A few photographs take around the city.

[Nirish guy]

With regards to Noah. If I can have fun with him there to that extent then getting him home becomes less of a do or die mission. .

Dont you even THINK it !!! You OWE it to the rest of us to carry the torch of whoredom and make a POINT of getting Mr Noah back and nailing him good and proper ( for the report on that if nothing else in case he turned out to be a dude once back in the room!!??? Our collective honour depends on it !

So, we'll have no more of this tardiness, general laziness and overall shirking of responsibilities ! Noah ( who looks as cute as a button btw ) best not think that he's getting off fooling US with a few quick fumbles and a blow job or two thrown in in the back room of some club when there's our whoring honour at stake ! Oh no, little does he know he's dealing with professionals now, where nothing short of outright victory and a full blown rogering will suffice ! England "expects" that every man will do his duty ! :)

[a447]

England "expects" that every man will do his duty !

Given the current situation I think England expects everyone to hold his own!

[Zebedee]

arsenal you are expected to show leadership on this mission, your reputation depends on it, nothing less than "pressing the anal button " will be considered a score! We simply must maintain standards old boy!

[GWMinUS]

They're 18 or they wouldn't be allowed to work in a nightclub.

Blonde on.left is Noah. He's my current host and the one I've been writing about. The photos don't really capture his totally boy next door Mark Owen look and personality. He often wears these cotton loose fitting trousers and no underwear. He's very affectionate and tactile.

Then Arsenal, we will have to give your 5 STARS!! Enjoy...

[Nirish guy]

Given the current situation I think England expects everyone to hold his own!

If thats the case then I'm due a medal as I'm the only one holding my bloody own this weather !! :-(

[arsenal]

The Noah saga is on Hiatus and is now rivalling the boat building guy in length. Lots of messages between us but nothing agreed. In the meantime Autumn continues to provide gorgeous weather and some pretty places to go. Here is our waterfall. See the blue hatted tour group gasping at our version of Niagra. Also note the 'security guard'. He's there all day every day, not to prevent theft but to stop any particularly stupid Chinese behaviour for example if someone decided to climb up the plastic resin concrety rocks that are literally glued in place.

[arsenal]

Another photo of the beautiful Noah. He's from Tibet and doesn't wear and underwear. The boy to the right in a white top is Christian (not that one) and standing next to him is Harry.

[dinagam]

I can see that Tibetan nose ; longish, narrow, and straight.
Quite erotic really.

[arsenal]

So the Noah saga has largely ended and sadly not in a glorious night of passion for your narrator. Last night he was rather mournful and bemoaning the fact that he couldn't find a woman to sleep with him..I told him that not every woman finds him.as pretty as I do. The fact is that few Chinese girls are going to be interested in a poor 20 year old from the backsticks of Yakville.

However a new and exciting cul-de-sac has opened with messages from Christian, the boy in the white top.
"Get a room
$500
Let's get a room"

TBC.

[a447]

.a new and exciting cul-de-sac

Especially if you get to see both his "cul" and his "sac"!

Bonne chance!

[Nirish guy]

So the Noah saga has largely ended.......he was rather mournful and bemoaning the fact that he couldn't find a woman to sleep with him..

I guess it all depends how you look at things as I personally would be taking that as a positive step and one which could open a whole new world for (you and) him in him perhaps trying something new on the QT that you'd be assuring him that his friends would never find out about etc etc :-) Oh if we'd all a pound for every time we'd had THAT ( bullshit) conversation over the years eh :-)

[arsenal]

He was back to his mecurial best last night. He's recruited a few boys to work there so it's a promotion. He was darting about whispering this and that to them, getting them up on the podiums to dance, sending them off to eat and generally making them feel at home. Nice.

We had some time together but to be honest there's a flock of lovely boys for me to play with. I feed them melon and snacks like a sort of inverted Roman emperor. As the drink flows off all gets rather loose and playful. A few photos below
The boy in red is Miles and he's an absolute beauty but doesn't have the personality or sex appeal of Noah.

[dinagam]

That Tibetan lad exudes eroticism...

[Jellybean]

Ain’t you the lucky one, arsenal! All that at your finger tips and no STV application and costs, Covid-19 tests and costs, COE, two week quarantine, hotel costs and all the other myriad and mind-boggling requirements that gerefan2 in his topic, My quest for a Visa (https://sawatdeenetwork.com/v4/showthread.php?21698-My-quest-for-a-Visa) has mentioned.

Keep your reports of your time in China coming, as I've said elsewhere, I can't see me getting out to Thailand before January 2022. :(

[arsenal]

A fun if ultimately unsuccessful evening's partying last night. Noah was there but 3 plus weeks of constant drinking and perhaps something else has dulled his palor as well as his mojo and he spent most of the time trying to get me to buy an electronic cigarette.

My attention thus turned to Xavier, the boy in the black top with white stripes down the sleeves.. Very pretty and a nice body. We'd reached an agreement but he insisted on payment up front. I would never agree to that so we parted, my carnal desires unsated. Oh well. The hunt is always fun even if the trophy often eludes me.

Joe kissed me in the gents and we have a memorandum of understanding and of course, Xavier remains on the table.

[Nirish guy]

........he insisted on payment up front. I would never agree to that so we parted.

Do these guys not know who they're dealing with !?? That they're not dealing with some fresh off the boat newbie fit to be taken for all their worth but no, in fact one of Pattaya's hardcore elite, who has heard it all before and seen boys of twice his stature and beauty come and go - and especially the CUM part - and all without "paying upfront" - how VERY dare he, I'm also offended on your behalf that the thinks so little of our world experience. Why I've almost a good mind to encourage you to do a Christian on him and shag him and then hand him the equivalent of 300 baht and tell him " yeah and THAT is how us cowboys roll KID ! :-) lol

[goji]

We'd reached an agreement but he insisted on payment up front. I would never agree to that

Agreed. NEVER pay up front.

[arsenal]

Nirish wrote.
"Do these guys not know who they're dealing with !?? That they're not dealing with some fresh off the boat newbie fit to be taken for all their worth but no, in fact one of Pattaya's hardcore elite, who has heard it all before"

I did actually tell him almost exactly that but to no avail. In truth any boy who insists on upfront payment is not to be trusted. One boy earlier this year wanted me to go to his hotel, pay him 400rmb via wechat and then he said he'd come down and get me. He too was politely declined.

Sometimes I wonder how they can think their plan can possibly work but then I remind myself that independent thought is educationalised out from a young age and their access to foreign influence very limited.

[goji]

Reminds me of contacting a lad in a town close to where I live, who had some rather nice pictures on one of those free ads sites.
Anyhow:
Warning sign #1: He was using one of those encrypted e-mail addresses from a Swiss provider.
Warning sign #2: He insisted we meet in a local hotel that he had an arrangement with, which only accepted up front payment by bank transfer. That failed all the common sense checks & this was not progressed.

With hindsight, warning sign #0 was that he looked too cute in the pictures.

[arsenal]

Noah is looking thin with sunken cheeks. Xavier is sending out mixed messages. Joe continues to disappear for long periods. Harry is as happy as he always is and Danny.left the stage in tears. And it's only 1.00am.

[Nirish guy]

Noah and his sunken cheeks just made me wonder and just out of interest are "drugs" a "thing" there ?? I.e are they as common and easily accessible and widely used as here in the West with the guys in clubs etc, or perhaps are they more severely frowned on, both by the authorities and society in general there perhaps ?

Just asking in terms of learning about different cultures and whats acceptable in different Countries etc ( I'm not intending to open up any supply lines or anything ! :)

[arsenal]

Honestly Nirish I don't know. They've never been my thing so I simply have no idea about availability. I think marajuana is readily available but I don't know about anything else.

But Noah is starting to resemble G from Nice Boys. He was the Thai spit of Mark Owen then he started taking drugs and well......

[Nirish guy]

Mark Owen then he started taking drugs and well......

Ahhh Mark owen, one of my younger day crushes, he was so cute when young, unfortunately I met him when he was attending an Awards event I was at a hotel in Belfast, it was when he was at fairly much rock bottom in his career and life in general, it was about 1am and he was sitting on his own right at the back of the event at a 10 person round table and looking totally dejected, I actually didn't realise who it was and asked him "are you ok mate" ( as he looked like he'd the weight of the world on his shoulders) and he just looked up and faked a smile and gave a totally non convincing "yeah I'm alright" - but a blind man could see he wasn't :-( so I left him to it as he clearly was in his own moment. I have to say that dejected or not it did cross my mind to take my shot lol but honestly looking at the state of him with his long messed up, greasy hair and generally unkempt appearance the days of him doing it for me where long gone........so, I just settled on blowing him in the end ! ( ha the last part is a joke of course, the rest is absolutely true unfortunately. Still on a lighter note I'd delighted to say that he seems to have pulled his life back together again and is back with his wife etc. Annoyingly I'd read that one of the reasons she'd left him for a while was that by his own admission he was a genuine sex addict and had shagged half the Country ! DAMN I KNEW I should have taken my chance when I had it ! :-)

[a447]

are "drugs" a "thing" there??

There are lots of gay Chinese videos showing guys involved in "chem sex". The "chem" involved is Ice.

It appears to be yet another gay genre.

[StevieWonders]

There are lots of gay Chinese videos showing guys involved in "chem sex". The "chem" involved is Ice.

It appears to be yet another gay genre.
Good god what parallel universe do you sad people live in? The Apps in Thailand and I assume elsewhere are peppered with profiles looking for “hi fun, “HF” or “CF”. It’s been going on for years.

[Nirish guy]

Good god what parallel universe do you sad people live in? The Apps in Thailand and I assume elsewhere are peppered with profiles looking for “hi fun, “HF” or “CF”. It’s been going on for years.

See there's the difference - you "assumed' whereas as we were talking about China here and Arsenal frequents a club in China I figured that rather than "assume" I'd actually ask a direct question from someone who is there in case they could give me any better first hand information rather than just assuming......as you know what they say about that I'm sure..... I was more casually interested as to wether the Chinese authorities clamp down a LOT harder on that out in the sticks in China or is it wide spread and tolerated ( which would have surprised me a little perhaps )

[arsenal]

Well Nirish in a recent naval gazing session Mark Owen came in at number 2 on my all time list of celebrity boy crushes sandwiched between Mark Hamill in 3rd and C Thomas Howell in first. But I digress and that's probably a subject deserving it's own thread.. A few from last night.

[StevieWonders]

See there's the difference - you "assumed' whereas as we were talking about China here and Arsenal frequents a club in China I figured that rather than "assume" I'd actually ask a direct question from someone who is there in case they could give me any better first hand information rather than just assuming......as you know what they say about that I'm sure..... I was more casually interested as to wether the Chinese authorities clamp down a LOT harder on that out in the sticks in China or is it wide spread and tolerated ( which would have surprised me a little perhaps )
As perhaps you observed (I’ll give you the benefit of the doubt as you’re from Northern Ireland) I was responding to a446.5 and not arsenal and the comment to which I was referring was “It appears to be yet another gay genre”. Ice could also be described as “the poor man’s cocaine” as the feeling of euphoria is, I’m told, similar. As for any Chinese crackdown ...

[arsenal]

As I've said, I know nothing of the drugs scene here or even if there is one to speak of. I'm sure there is but I've never come across it.

[a447]

Good god what parallel universe do you sad people live in? The Apps in Thailand and I assume elsewhere are peppered with profiles looking for “hi fun, “HF” or “CF”. It’s been going on for years.

You falsely assumed I use the apps.

As I've stated many times in the past, I do not use them (except for one time when I was in Prague) so how would I know whether or not chem fun was prevalent on the apps?

It appears to me to be another gay genre in Chinese videos.

[arsenal]

A few of the many waterways criss crossing the city.

[dinagam]

Nice placid waters, but where are the waterfowls?
Have the Chinese eaten them all?

[arsenal]

Pretty much yes. Like the squirrels. A city with thousands of trees and not one single squirrel have I ever seen.

But in the first photo about a third down on the left...it's not clear but that was either a goose or a big duck.

[Nirish guy]

A few from last night.

So can we please start a crowdfunding go fund me page please for Arsenal - either to buy him a better camera that takes non blurry pics, OR to send him to a drying out clinic to stop the Dt's should they be the cause of said tremors OR just for a new pair of glasses in case he IS looking at his phone whilst taking the pics and thinking "yep, that looks fine I'll go at that - OR a quick crash course in using his phone camera in case he doesn't know if you press the screen while pointing it at your target it "should" autofocus !? ( mind you as the cause me be he's either trying to take sneaky shots as you're not meant to be doing that OR he may be getting blown at that / any particular moment there I guess we may just have to take what we are given ! OH so many ( probably) cute boys but it's so hard to tell ! :)

[gerefan2]

a quick crash course in using his phone camera in case he doesn't know if you press the screen while pointing it at your target it "should" autofocus !? )

Amazing that works...and also sorts exposure. Amazing what you learn here .

[arsenal]

My scorecard reads a 10/10 for effort but 0/10 for achievement. I hear that some of our dear BK based older residents get similar scores from the boys.

I'll try harder NI. Meanwhile enjoy the 'scenic' waterways photos. No multicoloured flashing lights and bouncing up and down boys or dance floors.

[Nirish guy]

I suggest on your next visit that you tell the boys that it's actually their reflective jackets etc that are causing blurry images and so would they please mind removing ALL of their clothes before you take anymore photos as being a perfectionist you'd rather ensure that you got the perfect shot ! :-)

[arsenal]

Well these from last night are a little clearer though sadly all are still fully clothed. I was just getting going when two new boys kidnapped me and took me off to a different club so still no action from there. Fortunately gorgeous Chinese money boy still knows how to keep me entertained.

[goji]

Customer are wearing thick coats, whilst whatever is on stage is keeping warm enough wearing much less. Guess it's cold outside now.

[arsenal]

Yes. About 2 degrees and will get much colder in the coming months. But usually clear and often dazzling sunshine.

[arsenal]

And now a tragic tale to melt even the hardest of hearts. Some fun with Joe on Monday night. He couldn't sleep with me for his girlfriend was expecting him home but we could have some fun in the club. For 100rmb I would get 5 trips to the gents for some heavy petting and mutual jolly feely upsy. I refuse to go into a cubicle so that only leaves the largish urinal section and a couple of time we had to abort as someone came in. No matter, all was eventually delivered and we agreed he'd sleep with me the next night.

So last night at about 10.00pm I was making the bed and just as I was pulling the sheet tight...ping...I pulled a muscle in my back. Not a bent over double unable to stand up tear but still an issue nonetheless. So I had to cancel Joe and the brevity of his replies told me he was a bit miffed. Makes you think that perhaps there is something in the Catholic God..

Anyway, project Joe is only temporarily suspended and will resume very shortly. As will project DJ, project Danny and project Xavier. Project Noah is still a dream but some distance off.

[Moses]

off-topic posts were moved to appropriate sub-forum

[arsenal]

Of course it's not all boys and Peking Duck. The screencaps below are stills from a couple of videos posted on wechat. The first shows a recently killed pig. Killed by being stabbed in.the stomach, presumably with the blade next to the twitching corpse. The second photo.is from a video of a woman drinking beer infused with the dead beasts penis.

[Nirish guy]

The question being of course re both pics just WHY !!!???

[siscu58]

project Joe is only temporarily suspended and will resume very shortly.

Recover soon and tell us how the nights with your Sons of Heaven have happened.

[arsenal]

Nirish wrote.
"The question being of course re both pics just WHY !!!???"

Ah!
I can report on that which crosses my path but the why's and wherefore's usually elude me. A rather brutal way to kill an animal but I suppose no worse than some of the things certain people do in Europe.
As for the penis consumption...who knows. Any questions get the reply 'for good health'.

[Nirish guy]

Any questions get the reply 'for good health'.

Ha not so good for the poor pigs health perhaps :-)

Oh the humiliation, firstly being stabbed to death and then having your dick cut off, it sounds more like something you'd read about some ladyboy getting involved in with her 60 year slutty farang husband before she turfed him off their 14th balcony ! :)

[arsenal]

Well Joe and I have an arrangement of 5 quickish heavy petting sessions for 100rmb. Well tonight after 2 he said he needed to talk to his boss. Another client more like, the scoundrel. So I negotiated a little felatio which took place in a cubicle. Not my first choice but there you go. A good deal.

[Jellybean]

Well Joe and I have an arrangement of 5 quickish heavy petting sessions for 100rmb. Well tonight after 2 he said he needed to talk to his boss. Another client more like, the scoundrel. So I negotiated a little felatio which took place in a cubicle. Not my first choice but there you go. A good deal.

At least you are getting some ‘action’ arsenal. And I was curious as to how much RMB100 equated to in other currencies, so I used the currency converter, xe, which showed the following results:

10546

Do you recognise these figures, arsenal or have I used the wrong conversion?

Although, I took your reference to ‘rmb’ to refer to China’s currency, I was not sure what RMB meant, so I turned to my old faithful, Wikipedia and thought it worth posting the results of my enquiry here:


The renminbi (abbreviated RMB; simplified Chinese: 人民币; traditional Chinese: 人民幣; pinyin: rénmínbì; lit. 'people's currency'; symbol: 元/¥; code: CNY) is the official currency of China and one of the world's reserve currencies . . .

Source: Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Renminbi)

[arsenal]

No JB that looks about right although like any self respecting Brit when doin' foreign funny money I round up or down so 100rmb becomes a tenner and 50 baht is a quid.

Another name for the RMB is the yuan. It's named after the Mongols who took China and replaced the Song dynasty. Therefore it's named after an invading force although the Chinese are taught the Khans were in fact Chinese. Pompous twats.

In other events last night. Noah was nowhere to be seen. He'd posted about going back to Tibet but anyway he's shorn his blonde hair and the Xanadu level of sex appeal went with the locks. Danny mixed his drinks (again) and passed out on the couch (again). Xavier, a precious and efete boy at the best of times was manhandled by two solid fuck bitches on the dance floor. His face as he tried to pretend to be enjoying it was a picture.

It's amazing how quickly the boys adopt their new English names and use them when.they refer to each other, at least when talking to me they do.

[goji]

No JB that looks about right although like any self respecting Brit when doin' foreign funny money I round up or down so 100rmb becomes a tenner and 50 baht is a quid
Those were the days. Now 40 baht is a very close approximation.

[arsenal]

That's true Goji. It's just for convenience and maths simplification.

JB wrote.
"At least you are getting some ‘action’ arsenal."

Indeed I am. Gorgeous Chinese money boy is coming this evening and Joe has unilaterally pencilled me in to sleep with on Sunday. Last night was quite funny. Joe was providing oral service in the cubicle while two shrunken cleaners were complaining to each other outside. Classy.

[StevieWonders]

Gorgeous Chinese money boy is coming this evening and Joe has unilaterally pencilled me in to sleep with on Sunday. Last night was quite funny. Joe was providing oral service in the cubicle while two shrunken cleaners were complaining to each other outside. Classy.Presumably the Chinese secret police are keeping tabs on your hanky panky?

[arsenal]

Well not just my hanky panky but with two million drones working in the Chinese security industry pretty much everything.

[Nirish guy]

Well not just my hanky panky but with two million drones working in the Chinese security industry pretty much everything.


One a serious note whilst i'm sure you're right but DO you think on a daily basis that IS the case there and that you are being formally watched or details of your movements / actions are recorded in any way or do you just mean IF you were to carry out some illegal action "someone" would probably report you either morally or to get their own brownie points built up with the powers that be - or is it more organised than that - just out of interest re how things like that work there ? PS I assume you're using a VPN to post here etc too ?

[Uranus]

Another name for the RMB is the yuan. It's named after the Mongols who took China and replaced the Song dynasty. Therefore it's named after an invading force although the Chinese are taught the Khans were in fact Chinese. Pompous twats..

In Standard (Mandarin) Chinese, yuán literally means a "round object" or "round coin". During the Qing Dynasty, the yuan was a round coin made of silver. The Japanese currency, the yen, derives from the Chinese word yuan.

[Moses]

One a serious note whilst i'm sure you're right but DO you think on a daily basis that IS the case there and that you are being formally watched or details of your movements / actions are recorded in any way or do you just mean IF you were to carry out some illegal action "someone" would probably report you either morally or to get their own brownie points built up with the powers that be - or is it more organised than that - just out of interest re how things like that work there ? PS I assume you're using a VPN to post here etc too ?

With face recognizing technology and small number of foreigners in China now it is easy for them just follow you by drone non-stop and record all your actions "for future analyse". They will know all your habits, places and routines very soon. After that they will leave watching of you to robots who will alarm human only if some your path will be out of typical routine. Nothing of too much complicated.

[StevieWonders]

In Standard (Mandarin) Chinese, yuán literally means a "round object" or "round coin". During the Qing Dynasty, the yuan was a round coin made of silver. The Japanese currency, the yen, derives from the Chinese word yuan.Mandarin is a spoken dialect as is Cantonese, Hakka etc. The written language is simply Chinese. Mandarin being the dialect of the capital city and its region has been determined to be “standard” spoken Chinese.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mandarin_Chinese

[StevieWonders]

One a serious note whilst i'm sure you're right but DO you think on a daily basis that IS the case there and that you are being formally watched or details of your movements / actions are recorded in any way or do you just mean IF you were to carry out some illegal action "someone" would probably report you either morally or to get their own brownie points built up with the powers that be - or is it more organised than that - just out of interest re how things like that work there ? PS I assume you're using a VPN to post here etc too ?Don’t fret NIrish - the Chinese government hackers will have followed arsenal’s every move as a Forum Moderator and have got all your details safely on file too.

[arsenal]

NIrish. I don't use a vpn to post here and no, I don't feel like I'm.being formally watched any more than anyone else in what is basically a police state.

steviewonders wrote
"whenever I think of you" (me)
All the time apparently..

[StevieWonders]

steviewonders wrote
"whenever I think of you" (me)
All the time apparently..
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JWTaaS7LdU&ab_channel=whitneyhoustonVEVO

[arsenal]

Moses wrote.
"With face recognizing technology and small number of foreigners in China now it is easy for them just follow you by drone non-stop and record all your actions "for future analyse". They will know all your habits, places and routines very soon. After that they will leave watching of you to robots who will alarm human only if some your path will be out of typical routine. Nothing of too much complicated."

Perhaps. A drone following me might be quite useful, carry the shopping etc. But, any threats to China come from within and the authorities know that.

Of course in Thailand you need your passport to get a SIM card and every hotel reports foreigner check ins to the police as well of course as the 90 day reporting for expats.

[Nirish guy]

With face recognizing technology and small number of foreigners in China now it is easy for them just follow you by drone non-stop


The crazy thing being that after watching a documentary about just that subject a few weeks ago it seems your suggestion is just about spot on ! I'm not even sure if you were joking or not but as I suspect you already know that IS ( or can) be whats happening now already on any given day in China it seems ( and probably in many other Countries too if only we plebs knew !) Scary stuff !

[StevieWonders]

I don't use a vpn to post here and no, I don't feel like I'm being formally watched any more than anyone else in what is basically a police state.There's a lengthy investigation in the New York Times about the efforts China made to suppress news of the coronavirus spreading earlier this year. To the point made by arsenal and Moses, the NYT states

"Though China makes no secret of its belief in rigid internet controls, the documents convey just how much behind-the-scenes effort is involved in maintaining a tight grip. It takes an enormous bureaucracy, armies of people, specialized technology made by private contractors, the constant monitoring of digital news outlets and social media platforms — and, presumably, lots of money."
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/19/technology/china-coronavirus-censorship.html

[Armando]

In Standard (Mandarin) Chinese, yuán literally means a "round object" or "round coin". During the Qing Dynasty, the yuan was a round coin made of silver. The Japanese currency, the yen, derives from the Chinese word yuan.
There was a programme on TV recently about silver. It related how China came to depend on silver originally coming mostly from traders based in the Philippines and was the richest country in the world early in the Manchu Dynasty. It was also to prove the downfall of the Dynasty. The silver coins all had holes in the centre and if I remember correctly they were often grouped in eight pieces - hence the phrase "pieces of eight". Do you have any idea if that is correct?

[arsenal]

All things peak and trough and Chinese clubs are no different. It's been boring there recently and while I wish it weren't so I know why.

Usually the party boys are straight. They go round chatting up girls, chatting up boys, drinking, collecting contacts, dancing and having fun. It's their job. Sadly recently many of the straight boys have left and been replaced by gay ones. They do none of the above. They congregate with each other in a huddle and don't bother to interract with anyone. As a result the party atmosphere has been totally diminished. Time to go to a different club, at least for a while to let the stocks of straight boys replenish.

As well as causing untold misery and death the virus has also made people fat, apparently. The reply below from a boy on blued when I said I don't like fat boys.

"Slim for the first two years, fat now after the outbreak"

[goji]

Excess weight is reversible with an assessment of what's wrong with the diet, followed by some discipline and self control.
I also don't like fat boys and prefer to live the dream, shagging models, rather than pigs.

[francois]

There was a programme on TV recently about silver. It related how China came to depend on silver originally coming mostly from traders based in the Philippines and was the richest country in the world early in the Manchu Dynasty. It was also to prove the downfall of the Dynasty. The silver coins all had holes in the centre and if I remember correctly they were often grouped in eight pieces - hence the phrase "pieces of eight". Do you have any idea if that is correct?

https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/united-states-and-canada/us-history/pieces-eight

PIECES OF EIGHT

Pieces of eight were Spanish silver coins (pesos) that circulated along with other hard currency in the American colonies. Since the settlements in the New World were all possessions of their mother countries (England, Spain, France, Portugal, and the Netherlands), they did not have monetary systems of their own. England forbade its American colonies to issue money. Colonists used whatever foreign currency they could get their hands on. Pieces of eight (from Spain), reals (from Spain and Portugal), and shillings (from England) were in circulation; the pieces of eight were most common. The Spanish silver coin was so named because it was worth eight reals and at one time had an eight stamped on it. To make change, the coin was cut up to resemble pieces of a pie. Two pieces, or "two bits," of the silver coin made up a quarter, which is why Americans still may refer to a quarter (of a dollar) as two bits.

[arsenal]

Supermarkets are back to requesting masks be worn after two Chinese cities were put into lockdown. For months the temp testers stationed at the entrances had barely bothered with their thermometers. No other changes.

[arsenal]

One of our lovely bridges. Look familiar?

[arsenal]

They've had a few cases here and a couple of cities have gone into lockdown. As a result a couple of the malls are checking everybody's health code.

The police are sometimes out and about dealing with traffic violations. This is usually riding without a helmet or more often riding the wrong way. The fine is 20rmb. However a simple refusal by me to understand anything they're trying to communicate results in my being let go unfined once any witnesses have moved on.

The checks for drunk drivers are a whole different ball game. Many officers and always one carrying a long pole with a neck restraint on one end.

[StevieWonders]

The checks for drunk drivers are a whole different ball game. Many officers and always one carrying a long pole with a neck restraint on one end.I guess you’re not in Xinjiang then:

https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/what-the-west-can-do-about-chinas-uyghur-labour-camps

[Brad the Impala]

"Please bend over so that I can check you for covid".

Allegedly the popular new chat up line in China, so this is for you Arsenal.


China starts using anal swabs to test 'high-risk' people for Covid

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/jan/27/china-starts-using-anal-swabs-test-covid-high-infection-areas

[Jellybean]

"Please bend over so that I can check you for covid".

Allegedly the popular new chat up line in China, so this is for you Arsenal.



China starts using anal swabs to test 'high-risk' people for Covid

I was under the impression we were already taking anal swabs here in the UK, Brad the Impala. ;)

10694

[arsenal]

Off to the club last night. Same old same old. FYI. The photo is not great but it's a guy of about 20, not bad looking actually. And he's wearing a stegosaurus costume, not because he's in fancy dress but because he thinks it's an ok thing to wear to a nightclub. I kept pretending to suck the end of his tail which he didn't like very much but my table did. Haha..

[arsenal]

Back to the club. The doorman wouldn't let me in. I called my contact and he contacted the manager so of course the doorman was told not to be an ignorant twat. But he was pissed at having to let a foreigner in. A few, a very few Chinese get terrified of foreignets when there's s new outbrea, even a small one a thousand miles away. This compares to the supermarket guy who waves me through without even checking my health code.

A nice vignette when one of the delicious host boys took to the dance floor with what can only be described as a rightf at old moo. I gave him a look of "you poor guy" which he accepted and acknowledged.

Currently a little the worse for wear, dancing.like your drunk uncle at a wedfing on the bouncy dance floor and on a bottom feeling quest. More news if it happens.

[Jellybean]

. . . Currently a little the worse for wear, dancing like your drunk uncle at a wedding on the bouncy dance floor and on a bottom feeling quest. More news if it happens.

Sounds like you’re having a rave, arsenal. Lucky you! :)

10722

[arsenal]

Well I'm up to about 11 firm and springy Sino bottoms nicely fondled so it's a good night's haul.

[arsenal]

As an addendum to last night. The door staff were dressed in full hazmat gear, slightly ott. I'd needed one of my contacts to get me in due to the simpleton doormans ignorance but a Lebanese guy I met inside had no such difficulty cos he wasn't white and so didn't register as foreign.

[arsenal]

A bit of streetlife. Shucking mussels or maybe oysters next to the river. They're huge. Rent a bikes piled up. Several wet markets complete with blood everywhere and dead turtles in the same water as live ones.

[arsenal]

A live post. I'm in a bar, the one pictured below. I just popped in for a beer. Now I've been butyonholed by a local. He's ordered a whole case of Budweiser and it's only him so he wants me to drink with him. He speaks English, sort of but it's incredibly loud and then only word I can understand is 'China' to which I reply 'absolutely' or some similar platitude. It could be a long night. Haha. The waiter is very handsome but typically Chinese already has the beginnings of a beer gut.

[a447]

Nice!

Let us know of he managed to finish the case of Budweiser. Could be a very messy night!

[arsenal]

Well it was a very messy night but not for the reasons you might think. It all got very Chinesy. Shortly after the picture post we had to vacate the table and I was ushered back to the bar, I don't know what was going on but the waiters very unhappy disposition and the failure to drink any more bottles suggested this guy didn't have the money to pay for them.

Then he went into full and total Chinese apology mode complete with much bowing, "So sorry" and so much arm round shoulder gripping that I had to move away and handsome waiter gently led him almost sobbing away. I went outside to finish my beer and one of the staff brought me some peanuts and apologised to which I assured her it wasn't the bars fault.

Oh well. As any foreigner in this nut house country can tell you. I'm used to people acting strange around me.

[Brad the Impala]

I'm used to people acting strange around me.

They might say the same about you given you seem to measure the success of an evening out in how many unsuspecting bottoms you succeed in fondling!

[arsenal]

None last night thank you for asking.

[arsenal]

Out and about. Man performing Tai Chi to traditional Chinese music, beautiful. Odd pickled vegetable hanging with menace, an acrid smell and looking like a prop from Alien. Men playing cards. Very odd fish with legs for sale. Exquisite spoons, look at the animal heads, I suspect powder use. A table of mixed things. The sun sets over the lake.

[christianpfc]

Very odd fish with legs for sale.
These aren't fish with leg (although such thing exist in the form of mudskipper), but amphibians (newt).
With the Chinese you never know: pet or lifestock?

[StevieWonders]

With the Chinese you never know: pet or lifestock?Occasionally I’ll answer an online survey but I was confused by a recent one about household pets. There was no option for “Thai boyfriend” as an answer.

[arsenal]

Christian wrote.
"These aren't fish with leg (although such thing exist in the form of mudskipper), but amphibians (newt).
With the Chinese you never know: pet or lifestock?"

The pet shops and their live supermarket sections are strikingly similar. They have tiny tiny rabbits that only live for a few months as if they're genetically bred to die young.

[arsenal]

A few of the huge barges travelling up/down The Grand Canal. A very busy waterway.

[neddy3]

Are those 'fish with legs' axolotls?

[arsenal]

Yes, I think that's what they are. Quite beautiful.

[arsenal]

A gloriously warm and sunny day today. A stroll along one of our 'ancient' waterways. The buildings are probably post Mao but the street has steps going down the the water so it's likely older. A scene from a bygone era when goods were bought, sold and transported by boat. In full flow it must have been quite a sight. The stone bridge could be a century old. I don't know how the hanging tree doesn't fall into the water.

[arsenal]

Another day of very warm sunshine. So much so that this chap has gone fishing, though for what I'm not sure. Not for him standing on Loch McFloogie or somesuch pitting his wits against the leaping salmon. No, he wades through the water in his full body wetsuit feeling for whatever with his feet.

And it's strawberry season here. Look how red they are and they taste better than any strawberry I've eaten in the UK. Some are the size of a duck egg so who knows what they're feeding them.

[a447]

Look how red they are and they taste better than any strawberry I've eaten in the UK. Some are the size of a duck egg so who knows what they're feeding them.

Probably best not to ask!

[arsenal]

You might be right. They're all sold right outside the farms that grow them and they offer PYO if you choose to. Not cheap though. That plateful cost 45 rmb. But so good they don't even need cream and sugar although I will of course add them anyway.

[a447]

We used to go strawberry picking in Japan.

You pay a set fee and they give you a basket and a can of condensed milk, and off you go. It might be an Asian thing.

That town looks really charming. And it's great to see photos of another side of China which don't just show endless forests of apartments and skyscrapers, along with Louis Vuitton and Gucci!

[arsenal]

The rural farm with little machinery that I saw takes payment from a scanned phone app. He was surprised when I paid with cash.

Coming soon. A beautiful monastry/fortress and some abysmal but funny communist style leisure facilities. Plus parklife.

[christianpfc]

And it's strawberry season here. Look how red they are and they taste better than any strawberry I've eaten in the UK.
Whereas all strawberries I had in Thailand were unripe, and I quickly gave up eating strawberries in Thailand. Those sold in Cambodia look unripe so I didn't even try. The problem is that ripe strawberries are soft and deteriorate quickly. That's why they pick them unripe, but then don't ripen once detached from the plant (not climacteric (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Climacteric_(botany))) and don't taste unripe.

[arsenal]

Out and about. I came across this family of early bird black swans taking advantage of the mild winter. 7 fluffy little cygnets. All a little discombobulated because the lake is being drained, dredged and cleaned. Ironically the egrets think it's Christmas as they wade through the mud picking off the fish.

On the way home time to stop and watch a ding ding between a couple and one of the bicycle street pedalo operators. Most unusually he had a bloody nose and they didn't like being photographed but nothing gets in the way of a good story.

Day or night, always something interesting to see in this city.

[arsenal]

One of our beautiful temple/fortresses. Not original but certainly built in the style. Note the steep angled rampart. Just walking up it was knackering but trying to run with arrows being fired at you would be impossible and the stones are so polished that even a humid day makes them slippery. Sadly closed at the moment but I can tell you that inside it is labyrinthine with multiple staircases going off in different directions, a common trait in Chinese defensive buildings.

[arsenal]

Park Life. Love the guys fishing in crash helmets. Strictly speaking the fish woman wasn't in a park but next to the river. Out of shot there was a policeman to my right who'd just arrived. I don't know if he was going to buy something for dinner, move her on or collect his dues.

[latintopxxx]

yuck...wouldnt eat that fish...rivers/lakes/fish farms in most of Chia are soooo polluted

[StevieWonders]

yuck...wouldnt eat that fish...rivers/lakes/fish farms in most of Chia are soooo pollutedIs this your official opinion as, if I recall correctly, a food quality auditor?

[arsenal]

"yuck...wouldnt eat that fish...rivers/lakes/fish farms in most of Chia are soooo polluted"

I'm sure this catch comes from the sparkling crystal clear waters of the Yangtze. Anyway every river fish I've seen seems to be made up of bones and little else. As for turtle, I've been to banquets where it's been served and....no one eats it, it just sits there as a sort of uninvited culinary centre piece. I did try and taste some but again, there didn't appear to be anything to actually eat. Perhaps you're supposed to just sip the broth. The Empress Dowager Longyu does that in The Last Emperor. A truly stunning film and shot almost entirely within The Forbidden City.

In an act of gross cultural vandalism The Forbidden City is now called The Palace Museum.

[arsenal]

Out and about. The old women doing their street dancing 'exercise'. One old woman didn't want nt to pay the dues so she danced off to the side. The turtle was for sale at 100rmb. The guy in rhe restaurant ordered a burger and the mixed grill, both of which are huge, a very Chinese thing to do. The street cleaners on parade, I often see them at 4.00am as I travel home from a club. The guy going for a swim is hardier than me. And not shown, the money boy who promised he wasn't fat only for a chubby chipmunk to show up. He lasted 2 seconds. "You're fat, goodbye."

[arsenal]

Another money boy. I've posted his picture below. I think it's ok to do so because it's his photo and is on his blued profile so it's already in the public arena. He wants 800rmb. Declined. The thing is he won't look like that when he arrives, none of them do.
Fuck I miss Pattaya.

[goji]

He wants 800rmb. Declined. The thing is he won't look like that when he arrives, none of them do.

800rmb is equivalent to about 3800 baht

China nominal GDP per capita = $10839
Thailand nominal GDP per capita = $7299
IMF data

So I'm prepared to make a +48% adjustment for GDP, but this still seems expensive. Even in Bangkok there are plenty of lads prepared to show up for 1500 or less.
What's the going rate in China ?

As for appearance, in Thailand, all of the lads I met on the recent trip looked like their photos. Admittedly I filter out a few who I recognize as using old photos or photo shop.
The 0% who look like their photo in China is much much worse.

I understand there are people leaving China, so if you're prepared to do 15 nights porridge in Thailand, perhaps a long trip is possible?

[a447]

So I'm prepared to make a +48% adjustment for GDP, but this still seems expensive.


I think he's a real bargain.

He's absolutely gorgeous!!

[goji]

He's absolutely gorgeous!!
Is he ?

The thing is he won't look like that when he arrives, none of them do.

[arsenal]

The going rate is about 400rmb although chubby chops yesterday only wanted 300rmb. A new boy contacted me yesterday and he wants 500rmb but he IS gorgeous. He gave me his Wechat so I can see recent videos and photos.

[StevieWonders]

The going rate is about 400rmb although chubby chops yesterday only wanted 300rmb. A new boy contacted me yesterday and he wants 500rmb but he IS gorgeous. He gave me his Wechat so I can see recent videos and photos. ...
If living well within one's means and having a lot of fun doing it, one would be a fool not to part with the money.

[dinagam]

The current trend is to follow the YOLO and FOMO crowds. Pluck and enjoy the juiciest fruits while you still can and reminisce when the time finally comes during which your anatomy will be out of sync with your physiological functions.

[goji]

The going rate is about 400rmb
That's fair.

400 RMB = Approx 1900 baht. Chinese GDP per capita is about 48% higher than in Thailand.
Dividing by 1.48, we get to 1283 baht, so the tip:gdp ratio remains about the same.

[arsenal]

So i 'splashed out' the 500 and sure enough he didn't look anything like as good in real life as he did in his 'serving suggestion' videos. Dunno what software they use to alter whole videos. He was OK. I'm glad I did it though cos it reminds me I'm fortunate to have a few guys on call who I know are beautiful.

[arsenal]

Look at this lovely island in the middle if the lake complete with trees in blossom and even an egret seems to have made itself comfy. The thing is, it wasn't there a week ago. I had to do a double take. They've built it in a few days. I'll let you know if it starts to sink.

[goji]

Look at this lovely island in the middle if the lake complete with trees in blossom and even an egret seems to have made itself comfy. The thing is, it wasn't there a week ago. I had to do a double take. They've built it in a few days. I'll let you know if it starts to sink.

Just want to make sure I understand this correctly.
They built the island ?
Built from scratch and installed all those trees without staking (dodgy), but with the weeds ?

[arsenal]

Well I don't know about staking but yes, the last time I passed by there was no island there. There were some strange articles. Quite large cylindrical shaped objects made of semi shaved wood. I wondered what they were for, now I know. And all done in a few days. Remarkable.

Of course there might be some structure under the water that I couldn't see before. The Chinese have a habit of draining lakes and then filling them in again. In another part of the lake there is a long crescent shaped wall that goes right out from the bank so who knows what that was at one time.

[francois]

Just want to make sure I understand this correctly.
They built the island ?
Built from scratch and installed all those trees without staking (dodgy), but with the weeds ?

Maybe just more satire by Arsenal?

[arsenal]

Dancing. Drunk. Happy. The guy in white is my host.

[latintopxxx]

the chinese can do amazing but disorientating things...like tearing down a couple of buildings in a high density part of shanghai and building a park complete with mature 5 meter high tress within a monthg...one wanders down a road and suddenly ones fav noodle shop(hole in the wall) is gone, replaced by a park....like an alternate universe

[arsenal]

Wise words. It reads...
'The meaning of waking up every day is to embrace work.'

[StevieWonders]

Wise words. It reads...
'The meaning of waking up every day is to embrace work.'If I thought that was true I’d slash my wrists.

[arsenal]

frequent/argosy/steviewonders/mrgiggles wrote.

"If I thought that was true I’d slash my wrists."
All of them!

[StevieWonders]

frequent/argosy/steviewonders/mrgiggles wrote.

"If I thought that was true I’d slash my wrists."
All of them!
The limp ones anyway

[latintopxxx]

bit like...work sets you free...slogans that hide the brutal reality

[dinagam]

bit like...work sets you free...slogans that hide the brutal reality

Not unlike the ponies of Pattaya in your stable...

[latintopxxx]

dinagam...why so bitter...

[arsenal]

A nightclub special. Anyone wanna guess how many people work here?

[arsenal]

And a little gentle balloon play.

[arsenal]

An addition to the parklife series with a particularly odd Chinese pastime. The idea is to whip the chain and rope at the ground and make as big a noise as you can. In skilled hands the crack sounds like a gun and reverberates around bouncing off the buildings. Most odd indeed but strangely transfixing to watch.

[arsenal]

China is moving towards being a cashless society. Almost every transaction is now done by phone. Except by me. See the horror on the cashiers (new title needed surely) face as I present her with a crisp red portrait of the Chairman. Watch the chaos unfold as the frantic search for change begins and handbags are searched. Assuming they have actual money in the till my transaction takes approximately 9 seconds. This compares favourably to a Chinese app based person who can clog up the checkout for minutes on end trying different apps to pay. KFC is so terrible for this that if there are more than two in the queue when I walk in then I leave because I can't watch someone take 4/5 minutes to buy an ice cream. I kid you not.

[goji]

Assuming they have actual money in the till my transaction takes approximately 9 seconds. This compares favourably to a Chinese app based person who can clog up the checkout for minutes on end trying different apps to pay. KFC is so terrible for this that if there are more than two in the queue when I walk in then I leave because I can't watch someone take 4/5 minutes to buy an ice cream. I kid you not.

This afflicts not only China.
In Thailand paying by phone and/or redeeming some electronic vouchers is becoming more popular. So instead of the few seconds to handle the cash, we can be waiting much longer for people to work their phones.

In the UK, the main form of electronic payment is contactless cards, which are superior. Swipe the card and as long as it's below £45, the amount is debited from your account. Thankfully in 2021, one can have a banking app on the phone, so there's an instant notification for any purchases and the card can be switched off.
The contactless cards are usually faster than cash. However, a minority in the UK pay with their phones, which is slower.

Incidentally, I believe these QR pay systems in Asia typically bypass Mastercard, Visa, Union Pay etc, so are not paying fees to them.

I also believe the move to a cashless society should be resisted:

1 Governments could impost negative interest rates or transaction taxes in a cashless society
2 How does one pay prostitutes if there is no cash ?

Of course, in many parts of Asia, small bribes would also be traceable if cash disappeared. Expect some resistance.

[a447]

I only carry can when I'm in Asia. I need it to tip the guys in the bars and massage places, etc.

But in Australia I never carry cash - in fact, I can't even remember when I last withdrew cash from an atm. It's 100% credit card. Tap and Pay only takes a few seconds and if the amount is over $100 I just put in my pin number.

Not having to wait for change from the cashier is a bonus and so is not having to carry coins around in my pocket.

Asians are generally tech-savvy so I can't see a future for cash there.

[christianpfc]

I like cash, and fortunately all places I have been to accept cash as universal form as payment.
I think having no coins (Myanmar, Cambodia) is advantageous over coins and banknotes.

In Cambodia (where I am now) and often in Thailand as well there is another problem: change. Pay an article that costs 3 USD with a 5 USD note, an the vendor has either to rummage through his bags and pockets, or even ask his neighbor, for change.

In Taiwan, I used the Easy card, and in Hongkong the Octopus card, which serve as payment for public transport (unified, everywhere uses the same card, unlike Thailand!) and small sums like in 7-11 or restaurants, and this is far superior to cash and change. However I wouldn't use any system that needs an app on my phone, or goes via internet banking or credit cards.



I also believe the move to a cashless society should be resisted:
1 Governments could impost negative interest rates or transaction taxes in a cashless society
2 How does one pay prostitutes if there is no cash ?
1 Some banks in Germany charge negative interest already.
2 Where prostitution is legal, there should be no problem to pay prostitutes via digital payment systems, traceable to both prostitute and john. But there are other issues like privacy, and how to hide such activities from your family. For illegal activities, a parallel payment system, probably based on precious metals (or bitcoin? but I like precious metals better), would emerge.

[arsenal]

Off to one of the many hot baths that proliferate everywhere. Always a good few hot boys to ogle as they walk around naked. The staff too, get in the altogether when they Need to do a bit of cleaning or hosing down. Pictured below is the after lounge and for any lovers of that sort of thing, my feet.

[dinagam]

Nice calf and knee.

[a447]

Nice calf and knee.

If you look closer, you'll see something else!

[arsenal]

Had me checking a447. I didn't notice her as she blends in with the soft furnishings. Haha.

[arsenal]

On the way hone I came across this gentleman selling his product. Looks disgusting doesn't it. I don't know what it is but it appears to be made from semolina, play-dough and gelatine. He's stopped near a bar at what is chucking out time. The alcohol induced incoherent are obviously his target market. Eyeing up his prey he's trying to work out if his potential customers are hungry and drunk enough to not care/notice what they're eating.

[a447]

It's a kind of chestnut cake, judging by the Chinese characters.

[arsenal]

Impossible to legislate for the mindset that thinks it's a good idea to keep this secret. A broken cup, three leopards escape or a global pandemic.

https://news.sky.com/story/chinese-safari-park-sincerely-sorry-for-not-telling-public-escaped-leopards-on-the-loose-12302417

[arsenal]

Chinese couples have their wedding album done months before the big day. They get dressed up in costumes, head off to local beauty spots and spend hours posing romantically. Initially I thought this odd but compared to the uninteresting 'OK, I need one with all the aunties and uncle's' boredom of western wedding photographs this look far more fun. These were captured by me just passing by. Note the last photo, there are actually two couples in the same spot.

[a447]

Apart from China, I have also observed similar scenes in Vietnam and Myanmar.

The couple turn up with a full film crew and equipment and go through all the set poses. They only ever pretend to kiss - their lips never actually touch.

I love the couple in picture 2!

[Armando]

Apart from China, I have also observed similar scenes in Vietnam and Myanmar.

The couple turn up with a full film crew and equipment and go through all the set poses. They only ever pretend to kiss - their lips never actually touch.
Asian countries ae far from the only markets for wedding photos for well-heeled Chinese. For years, the Sydney Opera House has been a huge draw. Paris attracts many. Cliveden Estate just outside London is another favourite venue, often with all the rooms being booked by the Chinese couple and their family and friends.

[Armando]

Off to one of the many hot baths that proliferate everywhere. Always a good few hot boys to ogle as they walk around naked. The staff too, get in the altogether when they Need to do a bit of cleaning or hosing down. Pictured below is the after lounge and for any lovers of that sort of thing, my feet.
Have you ever been to one of the KTV bars filled with young naked guys? There are several in many major cities but I believe they are hidden away in the suburbs rather than the city centres. They certainly put Thailand's gogo bars to shame!

[vnman]

I told him that if he wanted any money he'd have to provide certain services
He agreed. He came to my apartment, got undressed and then told me he was 17. I thought 'are you really!' because your body is not that of a 17 year old, nor is your face, you have tattoos, you don't go to school, you hang around hot baths looking for customers and you live the life of a mobile money boy.. I simply told him that the age of consent in China is lower than that and does not discriminate with regards to sexuality or gender.

You forgot to tell him that the age of consent does discriminate when it comes to paid sex and that the latter is illegal China, regardless. :))

Love the thread! Many things there remind me of Vietnam.

[arsenal]

Thanks vnman. A quiet night at one of our nightclubs.

[arsenal]

I have invented invisibility. That was obvious this afternoon. The policeman was quite comically dodging in and out of the e-bikes to apprehend some guy riding without a helmet. Shouting and pointing he was. But me! somehow he and his two colleagues failed to even see me. This is the usual way of things with police checks here. I love it.

[vnman]

But me! somehow he and his two colleagues failed to even see me. This is the usual way of things with police checks here. I love it.

A great example of why I had to think about Vietnam. In almost ten years time, I have been stopped many times and only gotten a ticket once. As soon as they saw I was a foreigner they would wave me through. I was used to Thailand where one or two hundred baht coffee money was no exception. I think it was in the last weeks of my stay in Vietnam when I got a fine for making an illegal U-turn with my motorbike. I guess I showed them by leaving the country immediately hehe.


BTW Those pictures are great and making me really restless. I need to get out soon.

[snotface]

Have only just discovered this thread. Very enjoyable read. Always more interesting when someone actually lives in a place rather than passes through as a tourist. Thanks, arsenal, for all the time and effort you must have put into it.

[arsenal]

Two things, one of which is comme ci comme ca and one makes my blood boil.

The only demographic still wearing masks outside are young guys. This means their beautiful faces are obscured. And a new phrase seems to be doing the rounds, as if it's being promoted. 'The Chinese Province of Taiwan' is a new favourite. It's replaced 'Taiwan is China' which was the previous way to describe the place.

[Armando]

And a new phrase seems to be doing the rounds, as if it's being promoted. 'The Chinese Province of Taiwan' is a new favourite. It's replaced 'Taiwan is China' which was the previous way to describe the place.
Under the present dictator Xi, China will do its utmost to get Taiwan back into the arms of the motherland - short of war, I expect. War would end up involving a host of other nations but if China was to go that far, would actions by any other group of nations be in a position to reverse the situation? I suspect that's highly unlikely. Besides, China surely is not going to go to the lengths of outright war if it then must retreat with its tail between its legs. That just will not happen.

So a continuing stalemate surely remains the most likely future, unless the Taiwanese people themselves decide to link up with Beijing. Massively unlikely. But what is Taiwan's position in international law? Forget Beijing'a sabre rattling for a moment. The facts seem to be that the Cairo Declaration in 1943, the Potsdam Declaration in 1945 and the Japanese Instrument of Surrender all dictated that all Japanese occupied lands in Asia be returned to those from whom Japan stole them. Bejing had ruled Taiwan for 212 years prior to the Japanese invasion. Interestingly, I think, that is longer than the British had occupied The Falkland Islands before it went to war twith Argentina to reclaim them. Could therefore the UK an any way object to China forcibly reclaiming Taiwan? Following World War 2, the main western powers all agreed to Chiang Kai-shek's government in China retaking Taiwan as part of the mainland.

Then Mao upset the cosy applecart by beating Chiang in China's civil war and resulting in him and about 2 million of his Kuomintang forces fleeing to Taiwan. Chiang's intention was always to retake the mainland which of course never happened. Mao's taking over the mainland was anathema to much of the world, but especially to the USA. With the Cold War beginning and a second communist colossus in the world, the USA needed all the allies it could get in Asia. So it assembled the San Francisco Conference of 1951, partly to force the Japanese to sign a new document agreeing to the surrender of Taiwan to the KMT party that Chiang had led until 1949. Mao's China was not invited to that Conference and had no part in the overturning of the three previously agreed documents. Even that 1951 agreement has holes in it, though. So Taiwan's status was and remains well and truly fucked.

Until Nixon's visit to China, the phrase "Who lost China?" was to be heard regularly in Washington. The Washington power brokers were more than furious. None had believed Mao would win the war and all were horrified at the result. With diplomatic relations re-established between China and the USA, though, the USA swung away from its two China policy and agreed internationally that Taiwan is part of mainland China. As is often the case, the agreement establishing this reads slightly differently in Chinese and English. Yet more obfuscation. Yet more stalemate.

I have little idea of the precise legal position of Taiwan today. It seems another massively stupid mess was carved out by people who made equally massive assumptions without taking onto account the variety of circumstances that might thereafter follow. The US might have had the upper hand many decades ago. Now China holds the best cards and has shown through its actions in the South China Sea and in Hong Kong that it is quite prepared to break international agreements to get its way. As anyone who has been to Taiwan knows, it is essentially a country in its own right. Will it remain so? Who knows?

I wonder what is arsenal's view as one on the ground, so to speak.

[goji]

Bejing had ruled Taiwan for 212 years prior to the Japanese invasion. Interestingly, I think, that is longer than the British had occupied The Falkland Islands before it went to war twith Argentina to reclaim them. Could therefore the UK an any way object to China forcibly reclaiming Taiwan?

The Falklands are inhabited by people who want to remain British.
Taiwan is occupied by people who, as far as we know, want to remain as Taiwan and independent from the dictatorship in Beijing.
A big difference.
Taiwan exists as an independent state since they didn't want to be under a communist dictatorship. That has turned out to be a good decision, since they escaped the mass starvation under Mao and other disasters.

[arsenal]

Chinese occasionally want me to agree that 'Taiwan is China' and can start tub thumping when I won't.

A less Chinese China might have been able to coax Taiwan back to a sort of more robust 'one country, two system's' but their behaviour in Hong Kong has ended that possibility.

Xi is likely to use military force only when it becomes expedient to shore up his position in the way Mao launched the cultural revolution. Even then it would probably depend on who was sitting in the oval office. History shows that in war, China likes a 10 to one troop advantage....and still manages to lose every time with huge losses.

So they claim victories that are not theirs to claim. 'China beat Japan' in WW II and Genghis Khan was in fact, Chinese.

[Armando]

The Falklands are inhabited by people who want to remain British.
Taiwan is occupied by people who, as far as we know, want to remain as Taiwan and independent from the dictatorship in Beijing.
A big difference.
Taiwan exists as an independent state since they didn't want to be under a communist dictatorship. That has turned out to be a good decision, since they escaped the mass starvation under Mao and other disasters.
You misread my comment re The Falklands. I was referring not to population but to legal status. The French actually founded the first settlement there in 1764. Soon Britain and Spain had settlements. But for a long time thereafter the Islands were uninhabited until 1833 when Britain claimed sovereignty. Successive Argentine governments have objected.

Similarly with Taiwan, although there the native Taiwanese had inhabited the Island for millennia. The Dutch colonised Taiwan in the 16th century. Spain tried to carve out a section for itself but was beaten off by the Dutch. The recently installed Qing Dynasty defeated some Chinese rebels from the mainland in 1683 and soon ruled most of the Island integrating it into the mainland. It remained in control until defeat at the hands of the Japanese in 1895. Thus, like The Falklands relationship with Britain, Taiwan had been part of the Chinese Empire. As a result of the Conventions and Treaties I listed earlier, Taiwan was handed back to China after the Japanese defeat in 1945.

As far as I can see, nothing in international law proclaims that Taiwan is anything other than part of present day China. The Taiwanese don't like it, most nations no doubt don't like it, goji and I certainly don't like it. But international law is international law. How Taiwan could proclaim independence without China making an enormous fuss about it - diplomatically and maybe also militarily - I haven't the faintest idea. My Taiwan friends would also prefer independence but have zero idea how that could be accomplished.


A less Chinese China might have been able to coax Taiwan back to a sort of more robust 'one country, two system's' but their behaviour in Hong Kong has ended that possibility. .
I could not agree more. Had China made a success of taking back Hong Kong and permitted free elections in 2018 as promised and basically left it to its own devices, the thinking in Taiwan might have swayed more to a "one country two systems" formula for the future. Now that idea is dead and buried. The hardliners backing Xi won out over Hong Kong but have shot themselves in the foot over Taiwan - at least for the immediate future.

[goji]

If I could go to Phuket for 10-12 days without quarantine in November I'd go. Not as many boys but great motorbike rides and some lovely restaurants I'm sure. The problem for me is likely to be China.They were the first or one of them to close their borders and I suspect they'll be one of the last to reopen. Even if one has been vaccinated with their own vaccine.

With strict quarantine on return to China and all the FIMP references, I trust China has some advantages to keep you there ? (e.g. Fiscal, quality of life, hot boys).

[Quote from Phuket Sandbox thread, but I'm posting here to save the moderators the work]

[arsenal]

Someone tested positive in a city about 90kms away and so measures have been enacted here.

The two nightclubs have scanning showing your alipay health code and your wechat something check. The guys doing the checking are wearing hazmat suits although only at one club were they wearing the hoods, goggles and masks the other one being much less attractive to the virus perhaps.

It could be years before normal travel in and out of China resumes.

People are openly saying the Chinese vaccine doesn't work.

Wal Mart have reintroduced their mask policy which is you MUST wear a mask to enter the store...before half the people immediately take it off. I didn't have one on me and I barged past the furious woman guard while pointing to all the unmasked staff as I did so.

Zik, my favourite nightclub host boy has left and taken his beautiful arse with him. As long as they work at the club they'll dance and drink with you and cuddle you but once they've left they have no interest and I can't blame them for that one bit. Still, this was Zik so I'm entitled to a period of mourning.

[goji]

People are openly saying the Chinese vaccine doesn't work.
They have some sense then.
I shall have to do a poll of students here to see what they think. I know one who got his NHS AZN as fast as he could. Another declined on account of having received a vaccine in China.



Wal Mart have reintroduced their mask policy which is you MUST wear a mask to enter the store...before half the people immediately take it off.
Utterly bonkers & even worse than the policy which has been in place in British pubs for much of the last year, when allowed to open.
You have to wear a mask when entering and leaving the pub, but can sit drinking for hours with no mask. A least there is a reason why you have to take the mask off in a pub, so it's slightly better than Wal Mart China, although putting one on just to walk through the door remains stupid in either case.

[vnman]

Someone tested positive in a city about 90kms away and so measures have been enacted here.


Is it public knowledge in which city you are?

[arsenal]

Someome tested posotive for the Delta variant. All bars and clubs currently closed. Mass testing. A few old people see a foreigner and immediately check their mask. What can you do, all they know is what the govt tells them.

[Moses]

Chinese acting very fast if they feel danger. I got report from first hands few weeks ago: QR-code of student in one of South university in China became red after computer found what he was in a flight where one passenger late was tested positive. In 10 min after that campus was totally locked by security (first) and arrived in 30 minutes police. At next 3 hours 10 medical buses with staff arrived to campus. All 5000+ students, about 1000+ teachers and administrative personel and all 2000+ workers were tested in 8 hours. Campus remained locked till all negative results next 24 hours.

By the way: for mass-testing like this Chinese use quite fast, effective and cheap approach - they use one probe stick for 1 person but collecting them into one glass (?) by ten. By this they speeding mass-testing 10 times. If they will found positive result then they will retest these 10 persons only.

[arsenal]

Most people are wearing masks even when riding e-bikes although I'm currently watching some young guys play basketball (close contact and heavy breathing) and no one is. Go figure.

[a447]

As you are probably the one getting up close and breathing heavily, I hope you are wearing a mask!

Any photos to cheer us up?

[vnman]

A few old people see a foreigner and immediately check their mask. .

In January 2020 I was staying at the Base, Pattaya for a few days. Going down in the elevator with a friend from Europe, we encountered an African American. We engaged in some pleasantries on the way down. A few floors before the ground floor, the elevator stopped and a (Probably Chinees) Asian entered the elevator. The American immediately put on his mask.

[christianpfc]

By the way: for mass-testing like this Chinese use quite fast, effective and cheap approach - they use one probe stick for 1 person but collecting them into one glass (?) by ten. By this they speeding mass-testing 10 times. If they will found positive result then they will retest these 10 persons only.
That's an excellent approach, why haven't I thought of that? I had this in university, this method is named after the person who invented it, but I forgot the name. You can even modify the procedure and use mathematics to calculate which one tested positive (without testing those 10 individually), but under the given circumstances the way you describes is more economical.

[goji]

You can even modify the procedure and use mathematics to calculate which one tested positive (without testing those 10 individually), but under the given circumstances the way you describes is more economical.

I presume to calculate which one was positive, they need to take more than one swab per person, then feed these to different test batches ?

Combining tests was discussed in the UK last year, when there was a shortage of test capacity. I have no idea if they actually tried it for a while.

[vnman]

That's an excellent approach, why haven't I thought of that?

I'm hoping that the sarcasm is lost on me.

[arsenal]

a447 requested.
"Any photos to cheer us up?"

I tried to post some photos of hot semi naked boys frolicking in their skimpy swimming costumed in the lake but it kept saying I had exceeded my limit.

[goji]

I tried to post some photos of hot semi naked boys frolicking in their skimpy swimming costumed in the lake but it kept saying I had exceeded my limit.

That's what we want. I hope Moses can adjust your limit upwards ?
If you want someone else to post them on your behalf, send a PM (offer only open for mainly semi naked type photos....)

[christianpfc]

I presume to calculate which one was positive, they need to take more than one swab per person, then feed these to different test batches ?
Mistake on my side. The procedure is to take the same measurement (pooled) multiple times, to lower the error. Not applicable here because the result is binary.

[arsenal]

Pretty much full lockdown here now. The city is deserted. We're allowed out once a day but its not clear if a negative nucleic acid test is required. Many things are often not clear here in China.

So with masks and temperature reading and social distancing and most people vaccinated with Sinovac the authorities still don't trust their own product.

Whole streets and apartment complexes are sealed off although the barriers often look like they were built by collecting old gates, fences and metal bars from scrap yards.

I'm fortunate in that I have a nice place to live with a 14th floor view of the city, great internet access and websites with it seems, most films and tv shows ever made.

Personally I think they could have ridden this one out and waited a bit to see what happened because at this rate they'll never be free of the virus or the fear.

If I start to feel a bit mopey then I'll watch The Pacific or Band of Brothers or The Grapes of Wrath or The Color Purple or any one of hundreds that show people living in considerably worse conditions than me.

[Nirish guy]

Personally I think they could have ridden this one out and waited a bit to see what happened.

Their fear being perhaps that they too know that their Sinovac vaccine may not be up to the job against the Delta strain and that it uncontrolled it could take off at a vast rate of knots there again perhaps !?

[Moses]

Pretty much full lockdown here now. The city is deserted. We're allowed out once a day but its not clear if a negative nucleic acid test is required. Many things are often not clear here in China.

So with masks and temperature reading and social distancing and most people vaccinated with Sinovac the authorities still don't trust their own product.



Authorities trust. But There are only around 16% of vaccinated in your province now.

[arsenal]

Moses. As I wrote earlier, I am having trouble posting photos...something about over the limit. What's to be done about this?

[Moses]

Moses. As I wrote earlier, I am having trouble posting photos...something about over the limit. What's to be done about this?

It is not possible to increase limit personally. I have to increase limits to all "veterans" instead. But hard drive of our server has limited volume and for to increase it I should switch to more expensive tariff.

Ok, made some free space by deleting oversized images. Veterans now have +50% disk space.

[arsenal]

As promised. Some boys frolicking in the summer sun swimming lake.

[goji]

Thank you Arsenal. Those photos look so interesting that a larger images would be nice. :)

[Brad the Impala]

Thank you Arsenal. Those photos look so interesting that a larger images would be nice. :)

Indeed!

[arsenal]

As an appendage. The boy sat on the left was elfin skinny but had a beautiful.fsce. When it came time for them to leave he got into a full length fleece stegasaurus outfit. Silly to western eyes for sure but he did look adorable and so snug. Shortly afterwards I was leaving too and we followed the same route for a while Unfortunately for him it started to rain, big heavy drops so by the time he got home he would have looked like a drowned rat. Hahaha.

[arsenal]

The city is sealed off and we're im lockdown although I'm still allowed out once a day for now. Saw a police checkpoint last night which I strategically avoided. Some communities/whole roads are totally sealed off. There are prefabricated erections outside with bars on the windows and doors. I've got plenty of food but I'm very low on HP Sauce and Branston Pickle with no chance of an emergency delivery. Right now, the resumption of Easy Rider seems a long long way away.

[Nirish guy]

I'm very low on HP Sauce and Branston Pickle

You know COVID is reaching new highs when you read disturbing comments such as the above. I wonder do the W.H.O realise things are getting this bad on the ground and that stricter measures may be required before we all start succumbing to such hardships !!

Well, dont say we weren't warned, we delayed too long the first time on hearing disturbing stories coming out fo China ( or C H I N...A as I now can only hear it thanks to Mr Trump) so we should perhaps be faster to act this time to ensure such avoidable unnatural disasters dont befall us again here in the West !

[goji]

I've got plenty of food but I'm very low on HP Sauce and Branston Pickle with no chance of an emergency delivery. Right now, the resumption of Easy Rider seems a long long way away.

You don't eat the local stuff ?

[Nirish guy]

I'm guessing as things are running low he's having to stick to the simpler things in life and just go with what he knows best .....
11378
11377

[a447]

Or see if you can find this. It makes a great substitute for anything!

[arsenal]

Well gentlemen, your solutions did little to help my condiment crisis but they did make me laugh.

[arsenal]

Went out for a while. To one of the bridges over the Grand Canal to drink a milk tea and wish things were as they were rather than as they are. Got back and some men were doing something with what looked like barricades so I might be about to take the But, won't know until tomorrow. The pickle crisis worsens following a cheese sandwich.

I'm watching Jungle Cruise with Wayne Johnson. It's OK and is clearly Disney's replacement for Pirates of the Caribbean which had run it's course even before Johnny Depps fall from grace. Lots of stunts, an evil German, fantasy ghosts and a sparkly script with light hearted moments provided by Jack Whitehall and this is a bit of a thing. The character has openly admitted he's gay...Go Disney Go. Nods to Indiana Jones and King Solomans Mine's complete the package. An enjoyable romp.

[Moses]

By the way: SinaVac's second shot brings 3-5 days "viagra-effect"...

[goji]

By the way: SinaVac's second shot brings 3-5 days "viagra-effect"...

If so, expect to see vendors pushing fake SinoVac Dongtan beach.
Then even with pricing at about twice the going rate from reputable sources & doubtful provenance, certain farang will be desperate to buy.

It never fails to amaze me.

[Nirish guy]

Based on how generally crap my own 2nd shot of Pifzer made my feel after I'd had it the Sinovac it would need to be guaranteeing me one hell of a hard on before I'd be rushing back for any more unless I REALLY have to. :-(

[arsenal]

Whole bus loads of people being taken away. Heartbreaking to see. Little sympathy from the outside world. Perfectly understadable. However the authorities here have acted decisively and yes, brutally unlike Thailand where people have basically been abandoned.

[Nirish guy]

For clarity are they being taken away ( to where btw, hospitals, isolation centres etc perhaps ??) BECUASE they tested positive for covid or is it just to clear areas to ensure their safety in some way or perhaps for some other reason ??

[goji]

the authorities here have acted decisively and yes, brutally unlike Thailand where people have basically been abandoned.

Whether or not the hard crackdown policies work as well with the Delta variant as previous ones remains to be seen. I suspect the policy which worked in 2020 will no longer work.
The way to deal with Delta is probably to vaccinate and then get on with it. For that, you need effective vaccines.
Perhaps it's difficult to buy effective vaccines when a country wants to maintain the pretence that it's own vaccine is effective ?

Incidentally, have you received a vaccine ?

[arsenal]

Honestly NIrish, no one is quite sure, China is not big on clarity at the best of times. Those photos were quickly removed and the govt has warned about 'scaremongering'.

I agree with you Goji, that seems to be the only policy that works.

[arsenal]

Lying in bed at 2 in the afternoon a little bored due to lock down. 'Avin a think. One of the most expected and yet still misery inducing aspects of all this is the endless Maoesq platitudes I have to read posted on wechat.


"Strong today is stronger tomorrow."
Fuck off.
:We suffer together so we don't suffer alone."
Fuck off.
"Hardship brings eventual joy."
Fuck off.

So I have time to think about all the really gorgeous boys who wanted to come with me but I turned down.
A few.

Tom. Offed many times and Pattaya's cheekiest boy. I've got a photo of him that if you saw it with the headline Thailand's Top Male Model would have you drooling. I turned him down in Royal House Karaoke. It was 4.00am and he was very drunk as he draped himself over me.

Em. Offed a few times from X-boys and A-bomb he'd joined the army and was working in Jomtien but had muscled up a bit too much for my taste.

Lo. A Cambodian floppy haired boy band member type in Q? Bar I think. Only a one time off to my eternal disappointment.
It was 5.30ish and I was thinking about dinner. One of my biggest regrets....boy wise.

A Vietnamese waiter who had bern working in some bbq restaurant until it was raided by immigration police. He wanted to come with me at 7.00pm but I wanted to collect him at 11.00pm. Scared of being caught he never showed up.

Chop. The most smiley and affable boy who always wants to come with me whenever I see him in Forest House but I usually decline in favour of tea and biscuits. Hahaha.

[Jellybean]

"Strong today is stronger tomorrow."
Fuck off.

"We suffer together so we don't suffer alone."
Fuck off.

"Hardship brings eventual joy."
Fuck off.

Strangely enough, arsenal, the above quotes reminded me of these famous slogans from Ingsoc:

11405

11406

11407

[arsenal]

The Freedom is Slavery one is interesting Jellybean and something I've thought about a lot here in China.

Through circumstances I won't go into at about midnight the night before total lockdown I had 20000rmb on me and was unable to get to the atm to deposit it.

I went to a park next to the canal to drink a milk tea and enjoy my last night of freedom for a while. Of all the things I was concerned about that night, being robbed of my money didn't enter my head. In the 'free' West you'd have to be totally insane to even go into a park at midnight let alone with over £2000 in your pocket.

Freedom comes in different shapes.

[christianpfc]

So I have time to think about all the really gorgeous boys who wanted to come with me but I turned down.
A few.

No such regrets (boys in Pattaya) from my side. If I met boy B instead of boy A, there must have been a reason (and even if the decision was wrong in hindsight, I had good reason to decide that way).

Nowadays I value a good sleep higher than sex, that's why I have a rule "no sex after midnight", i.e. after 11 pm I do not go on online dating or chat with the intention to meet. Only exception is disco, once per month when I was in Thailand before Corona.

I should have met the one or other boy in Pattaya more often instead of chasing new boys. But I have all their contact information, and will catch up once I'm back!

[arsenal]

Lockdown is coming to an end here. Just as I was happy to post that life here was great when seemingly the rest of the world was fucked I'm ready to admit it's been truly horrible for so many reasons.

For a start is was an actual locked in with becapped Communist Party gnomes guarding locked gates. 7.00am loudspeakers along every corridor calling everyone down to have a huge swab rammed down your throat. At night an endless tooing and froing of flashing lighted ambulances and police cars everywhere. The city management desperately trying to save themselves from the wrath of the party for their incompetence in the first place.

Food was never an issue, in fact I ate rather well, much better than the two weeks I spent in quarantine in March 2020 when I lived on nothing else but instant noodles and biscuits because someone was bringing it to me and I didn't want to put her to any trouble. But coffee got very low and at one point I thought I might run out of cigarettes when I was down to just one carton.

Plus ask any foreigner and they'll confirm 'the Chinese collective.' This is where the Chinese get together and collectively decide it's the foreigner's fault. Myself and my fellow wide eyes had real worries about bring arbitrarily taken away just so the authorities can tell their ruthless bosses they're dealing with the problem.

This last 21 days has however totally confirmed something I've often wondered about. My sentence involved staying in.my apartment with its view of the city, delicious food whenever I wanted it, cigarettes, coffee, unlimited internet access with an almost unlimited selection of tv shows and movies, hot power showers at will and all the comforts of a well appointed home. And I still found it difficult. So for me it's confirmed my opinion...These people like Harvey Weinstein, Phil Spector, Ghislaine Maxwell etc who are facing insurmountable evidence and odds and with it very very long sentences. I can't understand why they don't simply go into a locked room with a gun and end it because I think that is definitely preferable to incarceration.

[a447]

Posts unrelated to this thread have been moved here :

https://sawatdeenetwork.com/v4/showthread.php?22363-Spillover-from-Tales-of-the-Dragon

A447
Moderator

[arsenal]

Out and about as the city comes out of locked in. The guys playing basketball. The canal at night and two boys who came to talk to me, one of whom gave me an Evel Knievel style ride past. Lovely to get out on the bike again and still nice and warm at midnight.

[Nirish guy]

Either ( or both !) of your motorcycle friends would do very nicely - so when they're coming to chat is that a "oh look a white guy lets go chat to him" or more the Pattaya style "I lie you, where you / we go ?" type conversation perhaps ?! :-) I guess if you play your cards right one conversation could well lead on to the other - or would they be horrified at the mere suggestion and run a mile at the merest hint of hopeful impropriety on your part maybe ?

[arsenal]

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly..
1. A collection of photos.of the city at night. I didn't take them, a friend of mine did with a much better camera than mine. However I can say they are not enhanced in any way, it really does look like that.
2. One of the prison holding rooms still there around the city. I'm not sure how they were used and a few areas are still being held in isolation.
3. A few fisherman hoping to catch something from the rather polute canal. I don't know how they survive but there are fish a foot or more long in there.

[gerefan2]

God, I can see why you miss Pattaya...

[francois]

Oh, so that is where you are, Arsenal.

[arsenal]

Like any city there are lovely bits and less lovely bits including London and Pattaya. This is a particularly dark time for obvious reasons gerefan2 but yes, mini prison hospitals on the streets do not a pleasant sight make. However it's worth remembering that it's this disregard for niceties that has kept China running pretty much as normal while the rest of the world was at breaking point..

[Nirish guy]

so when they're coming to chat is that a "oh look a white guy lets go chat to him" or more the Pattaya style "I lie you, where you / we go ?" type conversation perhaps ?!

That was a genuine question actually i.e are the gay / interested guys there openly gay and "up for it" if and when they come up and talk to you ( not you presonally there by the way, I mean to white guys in general), or does that almost never happen as they're shy / it's not culturally the norm etc and so do YOU have to do all the leg work in getting the conversation round to such topics in the hope of convincing them / letting THEM know you're up for it if they are etc pr do you too have to be very careful in instigating such conversations perhaps in case it gets back to the wrong people perhaps ? Genuinely interested to know as always enjoy hearing how other Countries deal with such issues.

[arsenal]

NIrish.
It's mainly the novelty factor, very few are interested sexually, even for my readily offered money. Chinese boys are controlled by their parents and part of that control includes giving them money. They are often financially dependent up to the age of 26 or 27. The incentive isn't there. Even with most boys who've asked, sometimes begged me for money. When I tell them that I can 'give' them the often quite large amount if they'll sleep with me most decline. Sadly.

I don't understand these people apart from the fact that a foreigner causes a large number of then to act in a stranger way.

I don't understand why young guys want to come up and chat with.me and take a photo, but I like it. I equally don't understand why someone can know that the virus outbreak was brought here by an.old Chinese crone and spread throughout the city by other Chinese crones and yet see a foreigner and immediately adjust their mask.

Important to remember that anyone over 45 was horn under Mao and this is the equivalent of you and I being born.under Cromwell

A couple of years ago I had a little turtle and he seemed quite happy by himself. Then I put some little fish in his tank. He'd poke his head out now and then but never got used to the fish, they were simply too different and so he retreated to his island to be by himself. And that's where I feel China is headed. The giant turtle has poked his head out for 30 years but found all the others simply too different and is in.the process of retreating to his island.

[francois]

The Good, The Bad and The Ugly..
1. A collection of photos.of the city at night. I didn't take them, a friend of mine did with a much better camera than mine. However I can say they are not enhanced in any way, it really does look like that.


Judging from the photos,looks like Yangzhou City, China.

[Nirish guy]

. The giant turtle has poked his head out for 30 years but found all the others simply too different and is in.the process of retreating to his island.

Or in the case of the Spratly Islands building MORE islands so they can eventually take over yet MORE islands after that perhaps.....and then the WORLD ! :)

That must be so frustrating, surrounded by cute guys, who want to come up and chat and then through no fault of your own ( as I assume you bathe every day in a rose petal infused bath like the rest of us) get no where for your efforts !

How very rude of the Chinese to look so cute and yet not shag us instantly at our request, someone should explain to them how unacceptable that is ( to us :-)

[arsenal]

"That must be so frustrating,"

Yes and no. The appeal.of a Chinese boy, however beautiful he might be is going to be short lived. He'll spit and hack as a matter of course and his eating is likely to repulse you. Plus they get horrible looking very young. Anyone older than 26 on blued doesn't even get a reply from me.

Having said that, within the confines of my apt they can be lovely and are wonderful sleeping companions.

[arsenal]

The flower crew are out in force leaving no.patch unfloraled. This city is pretty much the world's biggest landscaped garden.

Many of these lifesize and very lifelike statues adorn the city. Situated in many of the parks and gardens, when viewed at night in a hazy mist can give you the willies.

[christianpfc]

But it's autumn/fall. Who plants flowers (the plant) in autumn? I can indeed see flowers (in the sense of colorful petals) in your pictures.

[francois]

The man on the bench looks like Mark Twain or his Chinese clone?

[Moses]

But it's autumn/fall. Who plants flowers (the plant) in autumn? I can indeed see flowers (in the sense of colorful petals) in your pictures.

If coldest time in January is about+15C, why anybody should care about planting time?

[goji]

If coldest time in January is about+15C, why anybody should care about planting time?

Arsenal is in China. We don't know precisely where, but making an educated guess that he's somewhere inland of Shanghai, it is likely to be below freezing.
Unless you know more about his location

[Moses]

Arsenal is in China. We don't know precisely where, but making an educated guess that he's somewhere inland of Shanghai, it is likely to be below freezing.
Unless you know more about his location

+15C in January is also China - Shenzhen for example. I was there at the end of December and it was +21 - +23C at day time. 9 months of swimming season. And there are even more southern cities.

[goji]

+15C in January is also China - Shenzhen for example. I was there at the end of December and it was +21 - +23C at day time. 9 months of swimming season. And there are even more southern cities.
It does rather depend on where in China Arsenal lives. If it's Harbin to the north, it might just get a bit colder (see graph).

Those paying attention will note he experiences low temperatures in winter & suspect it's a more central location. Therefore some plants might not survive the winter.

11489

[francois]

Arsenal is in China. We don't know precisely where, but making an educated guess that he's somewhere inland of Shanghai, it is likely to be below freezing.
Unless you know more about his location

One photo Arsenal posted appears to be from Yangzhou City, China about 275 km inland from Shanghai.

[arsenal]

Francois needs to put on both his glasses and his thinking cap. Mark Twain is a humorist, a subversive and an anti-establishment writer so not the sort the Chinese would have statues of.

Moses. 9 months of swimming weather means 9 months of Chinese mosquitos. The winter here is fucking freezing but usually dry and with dazzling bright sunshine. I really enjoy it..Of course it's normally served with plenty of Thailand to break it up.

Goji. They breed these plants specially with genetic modifications. Winter here is strawberry season as they're grown in huge poly tunnels. Most trees don't really lose their leaves until some time in the new year.

[arsenal]

Met these three young guys last night. They were playing guitar and singing on the boardwalk along the lake. Quite lovely. Then the one on the right performed a high scissor flip for my entertainment. I filmed it but with little success. They're there again tonight so I'll try again.

[Moses]

Moses. 9 months of swimming weather means 9 months of Chinese mosquitos.

No mosquitos, if you are living in the coastal city.

[arsenal]

Not true. Pattaya's a coastal city and that has mosquitos. These myths about mosquitos need to be nailed. They also get into apts on any floor.

[Moses]

Not true. Pattaya's a coastal city and that has mosquitos. These myths about mosquitos need to be nailed. They also get into apts on any floor.

Pattaya is in tropical zone. All China is laying more to North. There are some mosquitos in Shenzhen, but they are living in parks around ponds. Whole city is free of mosquitos - at least as per my impressions at time of few visits in different seasons: wind from ocean blows them.

By the way: in Pattaya I never met mosquitos at time when I had stay in hotels at first line near sea like Bondy, Rooms Club, Tui's, B&B - also wind blows them.

[arsenal]

The mosquitos you meet are much better behaved than the ones I come across. Maybe they don't think you taste good.

[arsenal]

Some tips from your man in the know.

You want a haircut. The salon looks lovely and is populated by young rather attractive guys and gals. In you go. Within seconds you are surrounded by six or seven, all of them shouting and laughing and giggling and you try to pretend this is OK but it doesn't stop and at some point you feel really quite abused and wish to be anywhere else and then when it gets too much you just leave and their behaviour stays with you all day and you feel you've experienced a new form of assault. And you have.
So. Trundle around until you find a small barber with one oldish guy, preferably asleep and absolutely no one else there. Go in. He will give you a haircut with no nonsense. Trust me.

You have a toothache. You go into the dentist and you can use your wechat to communicate. You have a choice of two dentists. One is a big bloke with huge eyebrows who looks a bit like Leonard Brezhnev and has fat sausage fingers. The other is a pretty youngish woman with a ponytail. For the love of God choose Leonard. He will be deft and calm and do a good job on your teeth. The woman will be harsh and uncaring and in dental terms really quite brutal. Trust me.

You wish to deposit a large amount of money in your account. In you go, take your ticket and when your turn comes sit down in front of the cashier. Within a minute she'll xall for help and then there's two discussing your account. Then another comes to 'help' and then another and another. There are now five tellers talking about your account and what not. Eventually you get the deposit paid in and you leave the bank but your head is all over the place and you're struggling to comprehend what just happened. Use the ATM, even at midnight depositing large amounts is no risk although in the depth of winter there might be a street cleaner in there but he's there to keep warm, not to Rob you. Trust me.