This is the sort of shit that keeps network security people awake at night. I bet they enabled third-party app downloads on their Android phones and uninstalled some unknown .apk
The future business leaders of America... fuck...
China Mobile have the largest network on the mainland and I've used it a number of times without issue.
This also has the benefit of allowing you to access any site that is accessible from HK (all) while in China.
Edit:
URL: https://www.hk.chinamobile.com/en/corporate_information/Prep...
The cards are hard or impossible to find within the HKIA transit area, so you will want to either pick it from a street retailer in HK, or order from their English webstore - http://www.cugstore.com/hk_en/. Street prices are usually cheaper.
(No affiliation, just a happy customer from a few months back. I got their "Greater China 30 Days Data SIM" because I was spending time in Macau and Hong Kong as well.)
* Didn't know they need a visa to China.
* Paid $730 for 3 visas.
* Didn't know there's a border between HK and China.
* Didn't know there's a public transport in HK and didn't need to take cabs for 200 USD.
* Didn't know menus in China are in Chinese.
* Had to eat McD on their 4th day in Asia.
* Had McD again on day 5.
Hilarious story :)
It's hard for them to know exactly how good the Hong Kong public transit system is without being explicitly told, taking cabs is a natural choice for most foreigners in a new city. They also stated they knew there was probably a better way for the boarder crossing, but chose not to look since it was convenient and they didn't mind spending the money.
I'm pretty sure they knew the menus in China would be in Chinese, they were just stating the fact so the reader could understand that doing a simple task such as eating was actually a challenge to a foreigner.
It's not crazy to want to eat something familiar and safe. It's good to try new things which they did, but some times you just want to order something to fill you up that you know will taste decent. It takes awhile to figure out which local cuisines are delicious and which are a bit too foreign for westerners.
I do think that they should have been a bit more prepared, but they certainly did a lot better than most people who travel to China. The entire experience is quite a culture shock no matter how much you prepare.
"All we had to do was download a program and we got free Internet" seems similar, and the dialer-scam was used widely throughout the US.
"We tried to buy 3, and we were told they were free."
Welcome to not-America. I think the free data reloads are a sign of how cheap mobile bandwidth could be.
Maybe they can bring back that practice.
I'm sure the app was tracking everything about you and selling your personal data. Apps do this in the US too, but just saying -- there are no free lunches.
For frequent international travellers, Google Fi and T-mobile both give free international data roaming at 2G/3G speeds, by the way.
Financing a public wifi hotspot by running advertisement is common thru-out the world.
Hong Kong has some of the cheapest and fastest internet/mobile network on the planet. Using the same business model with mobile data is a logical evolution.
they should probably hire some[0] to run these kiosks.
[0] http://www.cnn.com/2010/BUSINESS/06/29/china.rent.white.peop...
6000USD/Month for 600sqft is ridiculous, even by HK standards. It's probably a 5-star serviced apartment, i.e. long-stay hotel.
Paying 200 to drive across the border is a rip-off though. There are trains and buses that take you right across for less than $20, in the same amount of time.
Agreed. For anyone planning a similar trip, the train to the border at Lok Ma Chau costs less than US$5 and you can then just walk through immigration. Taxis and the Shenzhen subway are right on the other side.
https://medium.com/slackjaw/template-for-tech-product-announ...
As for their story... Well, it's great that they wrote up a summary of their adventures, but I'm appalled at the fact that these three 25-something year old Americans are amazed that in China, people speak Chinese and nothing is written in English... Welcome to the World, I guess!
It says that they departed from St. Louis, but I don't think that they're American. For one, their English isn't at a native level. Also, at one point in the article they referred to what the vast majority of Americans would call a "soccer ball" a "football." There are many other terms and phrases that I wouldn't expect an American to use, like "China border." Assuming you are American, think about it, do you hear anyone calling it the "Canada border?" No, we say "Canadian border." Maybe Western or Northern European.
> Marshall Haas, CEO & Co-Founder: A Texas native…
> David Myers, Design & Co-Founder: From New York…
> Jason Cox, Head of Operations: Jason was a fashion model in NYC…
The only one who's not from the US is
> Jon Wheatley, Product & Co-Founder: Born and raised on the south coast of the UK…
Are you telling me in addition of not knowing that people in China speak Chinese, they don't know how to write in their own language?
They didn't mention whether that price included the PRC processing fee, but if it did that's not a terrible deal for having expedited it in the States. Honestly, given some of the crap I've had to go through with PRC immigration, I don't blame anyone for paying extra to make sure everything's in line before they fly 18 hours across the world.
I especially love it when people come to Hong Kong for the first time. I still view that city with the same wonder I had when I arrived 20 years ago, probably why I never left.
The account of their visit in China is spot on. It's messy, impossible to fully grasp, completely alien and yet things get done, fast. You better be there during early production if you value your product though. They did well to make the trip.
I was all about it until I saw the price. Elevated for no reason. They sell it a premium price point to just give the illusion of extreme quality. It's made just like any other linen bed sheets you can buy with a few buttons to connect the top sheet to the duvet.
Someone could make a duvet with some buttons and sell it at 1/10th the price.
Once you factor in the fact that linen lasts up to 10x as long as cotton the price becomes much more stomachable.
Maybe slackstation has an incorrect view on achievable base material costs but your retort doesn't answer this.
they always said talk was cheap, but you've handily put an exact figure on it - 90% off!
That said, from a food perspective I could have done with a bit more detail on interesting things they ate and a bit less on the differences between American and foreign McDonald's.
http://needwant.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/17.jpeg
http://www.35mm.com.ph/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Hong_Kong_...
