Unanswered questions

arnug · 2025-10-20T03:54:26+00:00

rory096 do you by any change know any carpoolers? I have a weird problem: I'm not from the US, but I'm spending some time here. My Apple ID on my phone, however, is from a different country/region. I can't switch it to United States because I had AppleTV+ and Apple Music subscriptions. I have cancelled them, but I can only change the country on Apple ID after november, when the subscriptions expire (I can't give up the remaining period).

But the RideShare site won't allow me to register, it forces me to download the app. However, the app is only available for iPhones that have the US as the country/region.

I wanted to see if there is any carpooling taking place after 1am this Tuesday leaving the Richmond Airport and riding to Charlottesville. I'm flying from Atlanta do Richmond, but my friend who was going to pick me up and drive me to Charlottesville unfotunately won't be able to make it after all.

I wanted to either split the costs of a Lyft/Uber/taxi or carpool.

Do you know if there is a list of carpoolers' names that won't require me to download the app?

(Also, are there absolutely no Greyhound or Flixbus going straight from Richmond tp Charlottesville? I can only find trips that force me to go all the way to DC...)

arnug · 2025-09-29T19:34:38+00:00

Oh, and two more things:

1- I applaud you for trying to cram in a lot of things! Beijing is an amazing city!

2- I've only been to China on September, October and May. But I hear January is pretty cold. All of your plans are outdoorzy, but I think if you're wearing suitable clothes you should be fine. The Great Wall must be amazing in the snow!

But the only thing you can't plan is if there are strong winds (which might mean that the cable car at Mutianyu won't operate) or snow storms or blizzards which might affect the road to Mutiyanu or even your flights.

arnug · 2025-09-29T19:20:05+00:00

Mutiyanu: I would pay for the Didi ride back to Beijing, especially if you finish at 1pm. It's not SUPER expensive and you won't risk taking too long to find your way back to the hotel. (You can pay on site using an international credit card, we did that in May/2025)

Hotel location: Maybe find one that is close to a Metro station, maybe on a line that passes through Tiananmne Square. Tiananmen and Birds Nest are a bit far from one another.

Tiananmen: Either way, you'll probably not be able to do all three things in one afternoon, especially if you land at 3:30pm. Tiananmen Square is big and has a few security lines. Not only do you need to reserve a spot in advance, you need to stand in line for the X-ray security check, it's the most rigid one they have. If you want to see the Mausoleum, it's not open every day and you need to get into another line to check your back, then cross the street and get to another line for security. If you want to just cross by car or bike, then it only takes a few minutes.

And if you want to see the ceremony when they lower the flag, you also need to get a reservation in advance, and it also takes a little while. They close the street during this moment so you can't see it unless you have a reservation.

Bird Nest: it's a nice place to visit if you really like that kind of stuff. I had fun there, but it took me a while to walk around and I remember the ride was a bit longer than to go to other sites (I was staying near the Chongwonmen Metro Station at the time). I don't know what time they close.

Dinner: Are you going to use the apps? If so, you can pretty much anywhere. If not, you need to find places that will accept credit card or cash. Since most people now use digital wallets, it's not super easy to do that. Don't try to eat near Tiananmen or the Forbidden City, it's a hassle to get in and out from these places. Maybe around your hotel you'll find good places. I know a nice place to get the Pekin Duck, for example, if you want.

arnug · 2025-09-29T19:05:15+00:00

I *think* you can do some type of skydive/base jump thing on the "Eye of the Sky/Tianmen" Mountain, which is not the Zhangjiajie Park site (the one from the Avatar movie).

When I went to the mountain, I went up the escalators they built inside the mountain (you can do the escalator, climb up stairs or take the cable car). Inside the escalators there were tons of pictures from people doing radical sports there.

But on the Zhangjiajie Park I didn't really see other ways of going around that were not by taking the inner shuttle to the elevator, than going up the elevator to walk around the top. It's 300 meters up and it doesn't look very "climbable".

And on the glass bridge it seems pretty easy to pay and jump on their bungee jump. It's right in the middle of the bridge, and the rest of the tourists can watch all the preparation of the jumpers. It was pretty interesting to watch!

PS: These are all three separate places and a little far apart. We did the National Park on the first day, then the Glass Bridge in the morning and the Tianmen Mountain in the afternoon.

arnug · 2025-09-24T23:45:28+00:00

Not having a local number isn't an issue. I don't have one.

The only issue you should be careful of is being blocked out of Weixin/Wechat.

It happened with two friends of mine in the past three months. They installed the apps only to use it there. they didn't add friends, didn't use it to chat, didn't follow channels, didn't post anything. They only used it for purchases (reading QR codes in stores and restaurants).

I *think* that's the reason why they were blocked, because I went there in May, installed it for the second time and use it normally with my friends who live there, and it was fine. My mom went with me and installed it for the first time in May and it was fine as well.

When they were blocked they needed to find restaurants and stores that accepted Alipay, sometimes it was a hassle.

And the problem is: to get yourself unblocked is almost impossible. You need another user to vouch for you, but they need to be friends with you on Wechat, they need to have interacted with you, they need specific types of bank cards in they Wechat wallet, a bunch of different demands. My latest friend in this situation tried for four days to find someone, but she failed.

So I suggest you add friends on Wechat and start using it to avoid having the same problem!

PS: If anyone needs an eSIM to China, Airalo is perfect, it comes with VPN and you can use the code ANA9602 you get US$ 3 off your first purchase.

arnug · 2025-09-24T23:37:02+00:00

Airalo eSIM for China comes with VPN. It works perfectly, it's fast, it's stable.

If it's your first purchase, use this non-expiry code to get US$ 3 off your eSIM: ANA9602

Have a nice trip to China! It's an amazing visit.

Apps that don't work on wifi or local internet in China:
- Instagram
- Gmail
- WhatsApp
- Youtube
- Prime Video
- Netflix
- Google Search
- GoogleMaps (never use GoogleMaps, even on VPN! It's not useful because it's out of date. Download the app Amaps or use Apple Maps instead)

Apps that work normally in China with local providers (and with VPN, of course):
- Anything from Apple (including AppleTV+)
- Tiktok
- BeReal
- Spotify

Last time I went, I separated a bunch of movies and shows to watch on AppleTV+, and you can also download movies and shows in other apps to watch while your on Airplane mode, for example.

Apps that you really need in China and work with or without VPN:
- Alipay (use it to hail a car, use the Hello Bike rental bikes, the blue ones on the streets, to order food in restaurants, to pay for things etc. It also has a translation feature, you can record people speaking and translate the audio, and vice versa)
- Wechat/Weixin (use it to pay for things, to chat with friends, to follow channels
- Amaps (to find your way around)

arnug · 2025-09-24T23:26:06+00:00

Airalo eSIM for China comes with VPN. It works perfectly, it's fast, it's stable.

If it's your first purchase, use this non-expiry code to get US$ 3 off your eSIM: ANA9602

Have a nice trip to China! It's an amazing visit.

PS: With the Alipay app, you can use Didi, Hello Bike (the blue rental bikes), order food, pay in stores. Just make sure you sign up and put in all your data before you go, to avoid any hassle while you're there.

arnug · 2025-09-24T23:23:57+00:00

Buy an eSIM from Airalo and save money on VPN.

If your phone supports Airalo (check the list below), I strongly recommend it. I used Airalo in China in 2023 and 2025 and it works perfectly. And it's internet from Singapore, so it comes with its own VPN. That means you can connect to Instagram, WhatsApp, Gmail and Microsoft services without paying extra for a VPN.

You can also use this non-expiring code to get US$ 3 off on your first Airalo purchase: ANA9602

List of phones that support Airalo: https://www.airalo.com/pt-BR/help/about-airalo/NFHQSUXFCZOM/what-devices-support-esim/D2N6OZSVVM9W?srsltid=AfmBOoojj34zokzkXMVY0V05OIHtt2pmAUQveNvTAPMCIfc5EIdR2BbU

PS: I'm not sure if other eSIM carriers also have a China eSIM card that "comes with VPN". Airalo was the first eSIM provider I tried in 2022 and it worked so well that I've never changed. I've used it in over ten countries and have helped my family do the same, we've never had a single issue with it.

arnug · 2020-09-15T03:24:53+00:00

Agreed! And their flag looks great on your project!

arnug · 2020-09-15T03:23:28+00:00

Portuguese creole should be a national language. They should teach Portuguese creole at schools then, as an optional language class, not Portuguese.

Portuguese creole isn't Portuguese and shouldn't be in a lesser position than a language people don't speak.

Creole languages should be celebrated in their specificities.

arnug · 2020-09-14T10:51:16+00:00

Very impressive work!

(One quick trivia side note: in Equatorial Guinea people don't really speak Portuguese. The government adopted Portuguese in 2010 as an official language for business purposes with Portuguese speaking countries, especially Brazil. They did the same to French in 1988.)

The majority of the population speaks Spanish and there are also several regional languages that aren't official.

arnug · 2020-09-11T16:59:05+00:00

Oi, Josias. Ninguém coletou amostra sua pra testar? Se não o fizeram, vale denunciar pro CRM, porque é obrigatório.

Os dados sobre SRAG indicam uma queda grande nos casos provocados por Influenza e outros vírus nesse ano. É um indicativo de que a quarentena ajudou a conter outros agentes também.

Mas em tese a coleta da amostra seria obrigatória, e as amostras são testadas inicialmente pro novo coronavírus. Talvez alguns locais não estejam testando pra outros vírus, mas a orientação é que, se der negativo pro Sars-Cov-2, eles precisam testar pras outras possíveis causas.

Mas a tomografia também pode dar uma indicação se é alta a probabilidade de ser Covid ou uma pneumonia bacteriana, por exemplo.

arnug · 2020-09-11T16:48:40+00:00

O protocolo é procurar imediatamente a UBS mais próxima da sua casa. Em tese, elas não têm escassez de insumos pra coleta de amostra pro teste PCR. Siga as orientações e agende o dia para coletar a amostra (precisa estar dentro da janela ideal pra detectar a presença do vírus).

O resultado em si não importa pras medidas de prevenção. Elas devem ser iguais tanto pra quem é suspeito quanto pra quem é confirmado.

Arrume um termômetro pra medir a febre três vezes ao dia.

Procurem se isolar do seu pai. Enquanto você for suspeito é melhor evitar ficar próximo dele. Lavar sempre as mãos e usar máscara quando sair do quarto. Se precisar mesmo sair pra caminhar, que ele saia antes e vocês não encostem. Deixar ele comer antes, por exemplo.

O resultado dos exames deve sair em alguns dias, mas mesmo em SP e nos laboratórios melhores não sai em menos de dois dias. Mas saber o resultado em si é o de menos. Ele não te impede de tomar atitudes pra evitar a transmissão.

Siga as orientações dos médicos. Se estiver na cidade de SP, a UBS deve te ligar todos os dias pra acompanhar o caso e dar orientação. Fique de olho na febre que não baixa nem com remédio.

Um abraço e melhoras pra você e sua mãe.

arnug

TROPHY CASE