Comments on: East meets West…not in Fuzhou

By: Heilong

Heilong — Sat, 26 May 2007 19:32:59 +0000

Strange I didnt know westerners are so in to north east west south, I dont know any of these usually unless its really important to know, I always say its next to such and such, always figured NEWS was a chinese thing. After reading the comment about Boston im thinking maybe its an Irish thing.

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Tue, 08 May 2007 14:32:16 +0000

well, thats probably true, man. but there are always exceptions, such as me. i know the directions very well. my home is in the northeast part of the city,near the mt golden rooster. my company is in the midwest part of town,near the westlake…bla bla bla i think people who dont use directions here r mostly from outta town.
ps females tend not to be good at pointing directions.

By: ray

ray — Sun, 06 May 2007 04:47:34 +0000

i don’t know china. however in japan, the historical concept of location is deliberately opaque. if you don’t know where you are, you probably don’t belong there.

By: Ken Erickson

Ken Erickson — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 05:32:08 +0000

Try asking someone in Boston for directions in cardinal (NSEW) terms. You’ll get a blank stare. East coast cities are not (generally) planned cities–they follow old cow-paths and rivers and coastlines and people who live there can’t see the sun for the trees, most of the time.

Which reminds me: the outskirts of Beijing and most of Northern China always feels like the western United States to me. Open country, not so many trees, and towns laid out mostly on a grid. But better food and cheaper beer, of course.

By: Liang

Liang — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 12:51:32 +0000

I tend to agree with Danielle, women and men are different in terms of directions.

By the way, if you are new in a place, and you can not see the sun (either due to clouds, or in the night), NEWS do not help you at all.

By: Allie

Allie — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 22:28:32 +0000

Please since being in Kansas from New York I noticed people cannot give me correct directions to places, they say it next to McDonalds on so and so street. Then there are 3 MCD’s on that street! LOL Topeka Kansas is the same as KC because its a midwestern map planner LOL

Allie

By: Benjamin Ross

Benjamin Ross — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 05:32:04 +0000

Josh-
That sounds like a really nice, organized, street plan. I’ve found the confusing thing about Fuzhou (and most Chinese cities for that matter) is that streets change names. So in Fuzhou, you can be driving on Yang Qiao Lu, and suddenly your are on Dong Jie. In my home town of Kansas City, all the streets running east and west are numbered, so you always know exactly how far north and south you are. Then you just memorize the order of the main streets going north and south, and you can always know your location, even if you’ve never been there before.

By: Josh

Josh — Mon, 23 Apr 2007 05:08:40 +0000

In Jinzhou (in the northeast), Jie run north/south and Lu run east/west. Qingdao (also north) doesn’t have a plan like that.

By: Danielle

Danielle — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 15:47:11 +0000

Eh, i used to consider it as a difference between women and men. Most women can’t take directions while most men can…

By: t

Sun, 22 Apr 2007 05:23:54 +0000

Amigo,

Zhende!!!!!! How has the logic of directions escaped an entire populous south of Shanghai? I haven’t a clue as to why this is such a convoluted idea. I live in a rabbit warren and I inevitably have to walk down to shi da because the idea of guiding someone here is absurd and I know that none of my chinese friends can grasp the idea that is sosososososo simple; north,. south, east, west. Go East at the milk store (see I am incorporating the logic) and then at the little store front go west. What?// I am sooooo confused.