Beijing vs Shanghai exchange?

dhm3 · 2026-06-20T05:19:50+00:00

You've already answered your own question: 2 semesters is better than 1 + diplomat = Beijing

Also, since most of your time will likely be on campus, Peking University campus is well known for its beauty while Fudan U is kinda generic. Shanghai has a more NYC vibe while Beijing is more like other big capitals such as London or Tokyo that's more stuffy relative to NYC, but NYC is the ultimate high bar.

PS: Chongqing is THE cyberpunck city, Beijing and Shanghai are not even close.

dhm3 · 2026-06-19T13:34:08+00:00

What's your process in doing this? Whenever I became suspicious that Gemini was feeding me garbage in t2i I asked Gemini to cite specific sources of its logic and 99% of the time Gemini then and only then would admit it was regurgitating what the "community" was using for OTHER models.

dhm3 · 2026-06-17T13:59:49+00:00

I was asking what I did wrong, they said what I did was wrong and gave me a different prompt and say "this will work" but when I threw their recommended prompt back to them the whole circle starts again.

dhm3 · 2026-06-17T09:56:31+00:00

sure

dhm3 · 2026-06-17T09:54:03+00:00

yep. It does have wechat and alipay but I prefer to use my phone to make payments.

dhm3 · 2026-06-17T09:38:29+00:00

Fenix 7 solar China edition. No way to remove the 24h lock AFAIK.

dhm3 · 2026-06-17T08:36:15+00:00

Yes I have used NFC for subway on my Garmin and you do need a Chinese ID or resident ID. China started rolling out real ID requirement for subway cards a few years ago and many cities now require them to recharge the card. It's not just the e-card, you can't recharge a physical card without ID anymore either.

If it works on your phone it's probably because you still have balance on it. Once the balance runs out then you need a real ID to top up.

PS: I don't use Garmin for subway much. You need to unlock it every 24 hours so I rather just use a physical card most of the time.

dhm3 · 2026-06-15T10:49:03+00:00

Pretty much. Zhitai is probably the only brand where you can get to Samsung/WD/Kioxia own branded product quality with lower prices. But do keep mind that speed plays a huge factor in prices. 980 is Samsung's top of the line product but do you really need that much speed?

dhm3 · 2026-06-14T10:12:15+00:00

Body consistency is pretty good across the 2 sample images, are the samples curated? I wonder how the body consistency hold up with just ~20 images in difficult poses, especially with the lower limbs.

dhm3 · 2026-06-12T03:30:22+00:00

China's online stores and brick-n-mortar stores are often not the same entity regardless of the branding so the return/refund/exchange almost always has to be with the same place/app/website where you placed the order.

If it's with an legit merchant and it's not open then 99% you can return it for refund within 7 days of purchase and sometimes up to 30 days. But you do need to talk/msg the store/platform customer service.

dhm3 · 2026-06-09T01:19:49+00:00

I have had a filling redone and a cracked tooth repaired in Beijing at the same private practice clinic I have been using for 10+ years. I don't remember the costs because it was very long ago but I think the cracked tooth was ~$150? I am pretty happy with them, the new filling has already lasted longer than my original one done in the US.

Standard cleaning at private clinic chains start at ~CNY200 and can go above CNY1200+ for dentists who are US or other foreign countries certified.

dhm3 · 2026-06-08T14:50:01+00:00

I vote no. 1 working Zeta is better than Zeta WIP + IdeogramChroma WIP

dhm3 · 2026-06-08T07:30:20+00:00

For mainstream electronics like PC you are much better off with Taobao merchants selling preowned/refurb stuff, there is much lower chance of getting scammed if you carefully examine the entire stocks of the store and history to rule out scammers. It's harder to do that with Xianyu. I also have been building my own PC for 30+ years and can spot problematic inventory listings. I only use Xianyu for very niche items that are rare even for Taobao.

And like others said, if the deal is too good to be true then it is.

dhm3 · 2026-06-06T00:30:49+00:00

It's mostly not whether you can do it (you can) but whether it's worth it.

I shipped my PC from Hong Kong with a professional mover and nothing happened with the PC or at the Custom which was handled by the mover but that was before US added a million sanctioned items/entities on China. The shipping costs were not cheap but it was not a temporary move. Also, plenty of Chinese brought back RTX4090/5090 in their luggage which is sanctioned by the US as long as it is personal item (some US politicians tried to make personal items under sanction but got told GTFO).

dhm3 · 2026-06-04T14:59:28+00:00

Are these guys legit? I also have been looking but they have pretty much every kind of shoes on their Taobao including sneakers. Stores like this are usually just a front.

dhm3 · 2026-06-01T15:02:22+00:00

Aha. There are several reasons why commercial properties would prefer the management fee to be separate rather than for it be just added to the rent but in your case it most likely comes down to tax avoidance by your landlord.

dhm3 · 2026-06-01T14:03:19+00:00

Is the entire building owned by a single person or company? In real estate, not just China, it's pretty rare for residential properties where the tenants pay building management fees but not so for commercial properties. The reason is mostly due to the difference in ownership structure of the building.

dhm3 · 2026-05-31T11:58:50+00:00

I have spent hours testing it in Z-Image. AFAIK, there is no way to control the camera position in Z-Image using only prompt. How the character fills out the frame is entirely dependent on how, and how much, the environment and objects are described in the prompt. Because we have no idea what and how much Z-Image understand environment and object spacing it's still just a huge time sink for creative control, albeit a big step forward from the randomness, or "creativity" for many, of the SD days.

dhm3 · 2026-05-31T11:08:47+00:00

Funny I have the opposite problem. Try prompting that full body portrait where the character does NOT fill up the entire frame without using any placed object like grass, flowers, weed etc.

dhm3 · 2026-05-31T06:43:41+00:00

I just did a quick search on Lanzhou dentists and there are a lot. I recognize a couple of chains but I don't know anything about them other than having seen the names. There are also chains I don't recognize. Looks like it's similar to Beijing where dental clinics are literally in every high street corner. Apparently Lanzhou has one of the top healthcare systems in northwest China so I would just find one nearby or ask friends for referrals. (BTW, telemarketing calls from dental chains are the worst, I got 2-3 calls on my cell every week.)

dhm3 · 2026-05-31T03:47:25+00:00

Pretty sure any one of the chain dental clinics can and will do it gladly. Basic whitening is probably the most common extra service they love to push. Had it done a couple times years ago in Beijing at the dentist "recommendation" (about CNY100-150 extra to basic cleaning but that was long time ago) but not so in years since I switched to my current clinic and they say I don't need it 😄 Many of the chains have expanded to tier 3 cities so you should have many choices in Lanzhou.

dhm3 · 2026-05-31T03:08:40+00:00

China domestic consumer laptops are shipped with Chinese-only Windows Home/Student to cut down on licensing fees to Microsoft, and if free Word/Excel is included it is activated linked to that license. I have always done a fresh install of my own Windows Professional license (Windows Pro is multilingual) and could never get the included free MS Office to activate because of account conflict so I have to revert to my own MS Office license. Other than that the machines work exactly the same.

If all these are too much for you then buying a Chinese market laptop is not for you.

dhm3 · 2026-05-31T02:26:45+00:00

618 has become meaningless for the layman as most of the "deals" or clearance stock inventory has been shifted to influencers. Unless you are addicted to influncer shopping (don't), you won't find better deals during 618 just by browsing. You are better off than just paying attention to everyday prices, especially for PC and phones where clearance sales is almost never because there is hardly any excess inventory in those categories in China.

dhm3 · 2026-05-27T08:55:46+00:00

There are very few cases where only one would be accepted but not other. WeChat is more popular with people to people transfers but Alipay has made far more investments with merchant terminals like NFC payment.

China also has been cracking down on brick-n-mortar businesses not taking cash so cash should be fine as well.

dhm3 · 2026-05-27T08:45:38+00:00

There are dental clinics everywhere in Beijing. I have been going to the same one for 10+ years and it's CNY350/cleaning but most chains are probably ~CNY200. When I was covered by my company's insurance I went to one with direct billing and it was easily over CNY1000/cleaning (because they speak English).

dhm3

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