are you really training in china????
wouldve loved to have lived in the country and run there while i was working in china, but i needed the creature comforts of the city too.
is there a sizable expat community of serious runners there in china?
are you really training in china????
wouldve loved to have lived in the country and run there while i was working in china, but i needed the creature comforts of the city too.
is there a sizable expat community of serious runners there in china?
Ok, I am quite ignorant about China, but how are the laws there. What can't you do in China that you take for granted in the US?
You had mentioned New Zealand in the original thread. Although I am not from there, I have been a visitor. Awesome country. Its about the size of California but with only 3.5 million people. The landscape in the north is a mixture of Colorado and Hawaii. People there are very friendly and it is a sports mad country. Unlimited hills to train on. Great middle and long distance tradition. Costs aren't too bad (cheaper than the US), but job opportunities are limited.
there's really no law to prevent you from doing anything you normally do in the US. people think of china in "big brother" communist terms--that's the furthest thing from the truth. so long as you dont join the falun gong or start protesting in the street (do you do this in the US where you live? if not, why would anyone want to in china?), then you can do whatever you want. the country's got 3 stock exchanges, a Manhattan-skyline in Shanghai, and Internet cafes and starbucks are popping up everywhere--does this sound like a red commie country?
back to your original question--the only thing you cant do in china that you take for granted in the US is plan to topple the government--but even in the US that's getting harder.
only downside is that china's still very unbalanced economically, so while you can live comfortably in one part of the country, 100 miles away may be dirt poor. but if youre there just to train, then the miserable conditions would just build character.
BUT......i lived in the cities in China and foreigners often go unnoticed. However, if youre a single white male living in the countryside and running 120 MPW, this is likely to raise some kind of suspicions. If youre gonna live and train in China, you'd also need a special visa and get sponsorship from someone or some agency. Tourist visa probably wouldnt cut it.
Hong Kong, however, is different--visas last 3 months (no fee) and all you have to do is step across the China border and come back and your visa automatically get's another 3 months. Lots of beatiful trails to run in the outlying islands, away from the city and congestion. And they dont care about foreigners there, so you can do as you please--even plot some terrible scheme to overthrow Jiang Zemin.