China again, September - October

[Willy The Londoner]

Tartan skirts are popular in China I think. I've seen 3 of our Chinese students wearing them this week.

I have established my lady likes wearing short skirts. This is much more important than the suit issue :blush:.

Tartan and kilt skirts may be popular in Colchester, UK where the temperature is quite low at the moment but in Guangdong where I live she will melt wearing a heavy or even medium weight skirt.

You know if you buy her one she will wear it straight away to please you no matter how hot it is where you will be.  But she will really want to take it off at the first opportunity.  (Hmm....On reflection that may be a very good buy!!!!!)

Wiily

[Irishman]

I read about getting these suits made in Shenzen, now this 120 micron stuff has me interested! How much are we talking about in HKD or RMB for a three piece suit ballpark?

[Sylvain D]

Well..
I could talk a bit about Gz, just to give my comment on it.
I do remember what you told me about Gz, Ronan, and how was the pollution...
Well.

I just would say that it was quite warm, more than in Shanghai, and less than in Chongqing.
Even when it rains, you don't feel the weather beeing fresh, as it could be in western countries.
Anyway, when man is out, don't think he would wear any suit... it's just like "no way, dude"...

The city is always full of people, I've never seen so much people everyday, eating at no time, carrying so many things to some shops, and looking at you when you are walking hand in hand with a beautiful chinese woman.

One thing I have noticed.
When a car, bus is coming next to you, don't stay behind it because its motor is so warm that you can smell it. And for sure, you can feel the difference once the car / bus is not so close to you.
I am also amazed to see there is no accident with vehicles when man is walking down the streets everyday. Horning, horning.. horning... that just lets me remember about Chongqing with taxis...

I didn't use any train there, so I can not say how it is in it (cumfortable or not)
I have tasted some chinese food (but not local ones) with Liyan, and there's nothing to say, except that it was very delicious (except the kind of "soup with some rice"... that I don't really like... :s

Some people tried to talk with me when I was with Liyan, but as they didn't really know if I could speak with them, they just were kidding me (Liyan also told me about it, and it was just with a smile, as "please don't think they blame you nor offend you" )
I tried to talk with some people, sometimes it was very hard because... I think the language in Gz is quite different from Chongqing and Shanghai (for sure, Shanghai has its own language). So, most of times I just could not understand anything.

Anyway,  as I had a besta translator (Super 5100), sometimes I could use it with Liyan when I was looking for a word or sentence. I'll talk about it later. Price : 1200 RMB's, I can also upload french/chinese dictionnary, and same with german ^^

I would have liked sometimes to see Abigbutt and Arnold because they were in Gz.. but I was very very busy with Liyan, that we didn't see the time going when we were together, everywhere in Gz. One day we've been walking more than 5 hours and at night, I just was K.O quite enough for her to tell me "please sleep" with a nice kiss to accompany. :blush:

About the shops, I'd say that it's always the same everywhere : clothes, drinks, shoes, clothes, drinks, shoes... I didn't buy anything but I would have liked if I would have had any more time...

I readed Ronan's post about Gz and all he could visited over there. I just didn't visit so much.
However, I visited a bit Gz and many streets, I found a church that I could not find back later...

Here are some pics about Gz, I don't remember the names of the places I've seen but I'll find it then release the titles of the pics.

Enjoy some of them

First and Second pictures: 2 buildings related to components for mobiles. Man can find anything he wants : displays, keyboards, cables...  it is impossible to not find what you would for your mobile(s) inside of those buildings

Third picture : A church, quite beautiful. But I found it one time. No way to find it back later with Liyan... (I didn't have any map to know where I was, at first ^^)

Fourth picture : A big "garden" with many places to visit inside.

Fifth picture : Gz center by night. Quite beautiful.

Sixth picture : I liked that picture because of "Carrefour".. I didn't know there could be one in China ^^

Seventh, eighth and ninth picture : a famous temple that I visited with Liyan. The last photo show the artwork with ivory. Just too beautiful to watch

[David E]

I read about getting these suits made in Shenzen, now this 120 micron stuff has me interested! How much are we talking about in HKD or RMB for a three piece suit ballpark?

Irish

In Perth, a top quality Zegna is AUS $ 4000 ish !!!!...dont know about HK prices, but they wont be chealp...but they are superb clothes....feel great to wear :icon_cheesygrin::icon_cheesygrin:

DavidE

[David5o]

My main time in Hong Kong was in the 80's, I've been back to work there since the handover back to China, but not for any length of time...

I should have said, Safari suit, and not suit's i owned just the one..haha!! and yes it was basically just for work. My work in those days required me to walk the underground tunnels, and ALL you dared wear down there was a pair of shorts, light vest, a hard hat, and a pair of heavy work boots. It was a very hot, extremely humid environment, believe me you needed a shower and an easy change of clothes when you got back up to the surface.... A Safari suit fitted the bill perfectly!! Oh and mine was with long pants....lol!! I'm not sure they went out of fashion in the 60's, well not in HK anyway, they were seen everywhere in the 80's in HK...

In those day's i used to have all my shirts made to measure, because it was so cheap to do so, as i remember it cost about 60HK$ (at the time it was about HK$12 to a sterling pound). A good made to measure suit, made from Swiss cotton cost around 80 sterling pounds. There are good tailors all over HK, but i found the most reasonable in price were to be found on Kowloon side.
What they would cost now, i have no idea, but they would still be cheaper than anywhere in Europe that's for sure!! ...lol!! Shoes too can be made to measure at reasonable cost, and will be the most comfortable you have ever worn.

Arnold, your experience of the Chinese wearing suits is exactly the same as mine.... they basically DON'T!! haha!! Only the silly westerners that go out on business, will you see wearing them, and then not for long!!
I'm pretty sure your case has been full a few times, heading back to the States, with the clothes you bought in China. I Always buy clothes there and bring them back, it always made more sense to me, than to take a suitcase full there....

Sorry Chong, no Union Jack undies for me, and no i wasn't chasing the skirts either, Married to my late wife at that time... but it was always tempting!! ...hahaha!!  As for jackets for the Fall weather, much better off bringing or buying a casual jacket, than that of a suit styled jacket, and more practical too...

David....

[Scottish_Rob]

Safari suit...Didn't James Bond wear one of those in one of the films...

'Shaken not stirred'...lol:angel:

[Sylvain D]

Next time I go in China, I'll call it ": Sly in Safari Suit ! Go for Donkey Kong... "

[Scottish_Rob]

Next time I go in China, I'll call it ": Sly in Safari Suit ! Go for Donkey Kong... "

ROFLMAO:icon_cheesygrin::icon_cheesygrin::icon_cheesygrin:

[Chong]

As an Australian Wool expert, I must tell you that 120 super merino extra fine refers to the wool diameter. This is 120 micron. Only about 1% of the Australian Merino wool is clipped at 120 microns. Thus only the finest cloth is made from this wool...Zegna, Versace, and of course Saville Row

I stand corrected and was given misleading info. Thanks !

What exactly is a 'micron' and 'clipped'  Is there a huge difference between 100 and 120

I thought that 120 refers to the measures that it's twisted ... thus determinig the wool diameter

[David E]

As an Australian Wool expert, I must tell you that 120 super merino extra fine refers to the wool diameter. This is 120 micron. Only about 1% of the Australian Merino wool is clipped at 120 microns. Thus only the finest cloth is made from this wool...Zegna, Versace, and of course Saville Row

I stand corrected and was given misleading info. Thanks !

What exactly is a 'micron' and 'clipped'  Is there a huge difference between 100 and 120

I thought that 120 refers to the measures that it's twisted ... thus determinig the wool diameter

Chong

We produce about 60% of the World Merino Wool here in Aus. Before the Merino sheep was developed (bred ??) wool was a somewhat coarse material and the wool diameter was about 250 microns. This not fine enough to make soft, silky touch, lightweight clothing.

The standard Merino sheep produces about 1.5 kilogrammes of wool per sheep per year, with a diameter of about  180/200 microns.

A very few sheep produce much finer wool....mostly due to the extraordinary care and attention needed to get such results. It is too expensive to do for the bulk of the Merino flock.

Thus the "superfine " grade of 120 microns is only shorn from a very, very few sheep.. Last year they cut/clipped (sheared) 1 bale of wool (25 kilogrammes) that measured 88 microns. This was sold to a Japanese weaving Company for $140,000 !!!!! It will make about 9 or 10 suits after processing into cloth. I cant imagine what you could pay for such a suit...probably only be bought by Billionaires in Russia !!!!

Alpaca, Cashmere, as wools from different animals come in at below 100 microns (just)...hence Alpaca, and cashmere clothes are also very pricey. These are rare cloths, because the Alpaca and cashmere require so much cost to maintain and keep in good condition, compared to a sheep !!!

The difference between 180, 120 and 100 microns is HUGE...both in feel, flexibility and of course in the weight and drape of the resulting cloth. A micron is 1 Millionth of a metre, or 1 Thousandths of a millimetre. In the Imperial measure, 100 microns would be about 4 thousandths of an inch.

When the individual animal hairs are spun and twisted to make the Yarn, there is a minimum number of hairs needed in the twist before a yarn can be made that is viable to weave. As you can see, the finer the hair, with a minumim number in the twisted yarn, then the finer the yarn will be.

When the yarn is woven into cloth, the tightness of the weave is measured by the "Threads per inch"(TPI) .Very tight weaves go up to 350 + Threads per inch. But only the finest yarns can be processes this tight. Most wool cloth is woven at about 200 TPI.

So the superfine Merino, not only has the thinnest yarn diameter because of the superfine hair diameter in microns, but it can also be processe and woven into very tight "dense" cloth, without getting thick and bulky...perfect for superb suits !!!


Cheers

DavidE

[Chong]

Thanks for the reply.

Now I will look at 'sheeps' differently ... "Will that one make a nice suit " ... :huh: :icon_cool:

Speaking of sheeps, this cartoon character and his other sheep friends and the bad wolves ARE A HUGE HIT AMONG CHINESE KIDS. Amazing that one can build an entire multi-million dollar industry around a cartoon character ... i.e. the Ninja Fighting Turtles, Emily Strange etc etc etc ...

[Paul Todd]

I love this cartoon ! There's even a movie, but so far no t-shirts in my size!

"Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf "

Description :

In 3131, the goats lived in Qingqing Field happily, and the Big Big Wolf lived in the castle with his wife, named Big Red Wolf beyond the Qingqing Field. Every time when Big Big Wolf appeared on the Qingqing Field, and was going to catch the goats, all the goats would work together and chucked the wolf out.

Characters :

Pleasant Goat()
The ringleader of the young goats, he usually wears a small bell on his neck. He was the best assistant of Slow Goat. In almost every episode he was the first one who broke the plot of Big Big Wolf.
Lazy Goat()
A small talented goat. He always spends his most time on sleeping.
Beautiful Goat()
A female goat. She is good at cooking. She always likes to dress herself up. All the goats love her very much.
Ebullient Goat()
He is the strongest goat on Qingqing Field. He is feisty. He thinks he is the best goat. Always underestimates others.
Slow Goat()
The eldership of the goats. He is very intelligent. Good at inventing.
Big Big Wolf()
One of the main characters, appears in all episodes. He was always plotting to catch goats. But failed all times. Outraged by Big Red Wolf. He is very smart but his ideas always get foiled by Pleasant Goat. His most used phrase is 'I will take revenge, you goat!?
Big Red Wolf()
She is the wife of Big Big Wolf. She always blames her husband, and thinks he is a loser. Longs for mutton. Hits Big Big Wolf with a frying pan in basically every episode.

Now, which one do you think is "Scotish goat"! :icon_cheesygrin:

[Chong]

Man ... I stand corrected AGAIN on this thread ... I thought they were 'sheeps' ... LOL :huh:

Paul,

Do us proud and write their Chinese names ...

Big Big Wolf = Fu lon lon

Beautiful Goat = Mei Ya Ya

[Scottish_Rob]

Hahahahah....HOI PAUL....hahaha:icon_cheesygrin::icon_cheesygrin:

[Paul Todd]

Sorry Chong, I've been told its yang yang and not ya ya

How sad is this:-

Pleasant Goat()  xi yang yang
Lazy Goat()  lan yang yang
Beautiful Goat() mai yang yang
Ebullient Goat() fei yang yang
Slow Goat() man yang yang
Big Big Wolf() hvi tai lang
Big Red Wolf() hong tai lang

I thought I was keeping my love of this cartoon secret but Ming Zhi has told me all the names in mandarin and can sing the main song! I knew there was a reson I love this woman!

Oh, she said Scotish goat would be, da shen yang yang. Not sure what this means but she thinks its very funny!:icon_cheesygrin: