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I've written a book

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Lord Percy
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PostPosted: 14:36 - 04 Sep 2016    Post subject: I've written a book Reply with quote
Made the most of my Peter Pan adult student life and went travelling in China over the summer break. Better than blowing my student loan on booze and drugs, I reckon.

To make it more worthwhile I went ultra-hipster and kept a travel journal which I've just spent the last two weeks typing up into a book.

https://scontent-nrt1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/14264215_10155151114668496_8061841884701572315_n.jpg?oh=cc208d7cfb66faac7735faa726aab3b2&oe=5852EF67

It covers almost three months of travel and includes Beijing, the northeast, a stop in Chengdu in the middle of the country, then the Tibetan autonomous region and onto Xinjiang in the far west.

Quick paint diagram to show where I went. Thick lines are where I actually travelled, thin lines are long haul train journeys:

https://i67.tinypic.com/cp4rk.gif

I know BCF can be an extremely critical place at times so I'll put my hands up and say straight away that I don't consider myself a particularly good writer. I prefer the pictures really. The whole thing is more of a weird, personal hobby if I'm honest, so I just thought I'd show you all. This is my second travel book.

200 odd pages in total, but only about a third of it is text.

Downloady link here for anyone who's interested: China 2016 - it's a super-compressed PDF so images are pretty poor quality. File size is 7mb, the best quality version is 90mb which I'm willing to upload if anyone wants.

EDIT: Full quality version - 93Mb

Last edited by Lord Percy on 07:00 - 06 Sep 2016; edited 2 times in total
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Andy_Pagin
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PostPosted: 15:09 - 04 Sep 2016    Post subject: Re: I've written a book Reply with quote
Lord Percy wrote:
200 odd pages in total

So, shorter than Teffs' average post.
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Ste
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PostPosted: 15:14 - 04 Sep 2016    Post subject: Reply with quote
tl;dr version?
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Lord Percy
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PostPosted: 15:17 - 04 Sep 2016    Post subject: Reply with quote
Ste wrote:
tl;dr version?


Went to China.

The End.
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Lord Percy
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PostPosted: 15:24 - 04 Sep 2016    Post subject: Reply with quote
Actually I'll expand a bit on the above...

Flew to Beijing, looked up the railway map for the country then picked a few random destinations heading northeast, some cities and some arse-end of nowhere towns. Went to places where plenty of people had barely seen a foreign face before, if ever, which was fun. Also stopped by the North Korean border because I was curious about what it's like on that side, as opposed to the more widely known DMZ with South Korea.

Then went back to Beijing, milled around there for a week or so and got the shits. Then headed to Chengdu and spent some time there.

Headed to the Tibetan autonomous region, saw Tibetans, mountains, massive green pastures at 4500m above sea level etc. Quite awesome.

Went to Xinjiang, which is all desert and has a hugely middle-eastern influence in parts. Learned a bit about the way China is controlling the ISIS bomby types (they outlawed the ISIS version of Islam and there's really tight security in places - armoured cars, machine gun equipped guards at train stations, that kind of thing).
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M.C
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PostPosted: 15:42 - 04 Sep 2016    Post subject: Reply with quote
Ste wrote:
tl;dr version?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKFjWR7X5dU
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Al
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PostPosted: 16:01 - 04 Sep 2016    Post subject: Reply with quote
Haven't read the book so maybe the information is in there but what visa did you travel on?
I visited China on a standard tourist visa but had to give them a full itinerary for my trip with all accommodation and flights pre booked. I'd like to visit again at some point but a longer more unplanned trip.
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P.
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PostPosted: 18:10 - 04 Sep 2016    Post subject: Reply with quote
Are you less pretentious and mildy less spasticated than before if so, it may be worth a read.
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blurredman
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PostPosted: 18:18 - 04 Sep 2016    Post subject: Reply with quote
Paddy. wrote:
Are you less pretentious and mildy less spasticated than before if so, it may be worth a read.



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thx1138
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PostPosted: 19:20 - 04 Sep 2016    Post subject: Reply with quote
I skim read a few pages, it looks good.

tiny room is tiny, you are a hobbit?

Swapping £1.20 of change for free stuff. Laughing

might read more later Thumbs Up
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Hong Kong Phooey
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PostPosted: 21:58 - 04 Sep 2016    Post subject: Reply with quote
https://cdn.meme.am/instances/500x/37119021.jpg
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CaNsA
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PostPosted: 22:03 - 04 Sep 2016    Post subject: Re: I've written a book Reply with quote
Lord Percy wrote:
File size is 7mb, the best quality version is 90mb which I'm willing to upload if anyone wants.


Mate, get it done ffs.
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Lord Percy
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PostPosted: 22:32 - 04 Sep 2016    Post subject: Reply with quote
Al wrote:
Haven't read the book so maybe the information is in there but what visa did you travel on?
I visited China on a standard tourist visa but had to give them a full itinerary for my trip with all accommodation and flights pre booked. I'd like to visit again at some point but a longer more unplanned trip.


Tourist visa, which has changed recently so the only type you can buy is two years, multi-entry.

How long ago did you visit?

I had to do an itinerary too but it was basically all made up apart from the first hotel booking, which can also be cancelled once the visa is granted so you can still essentially get off the plane and be free to go as you please.

On the itinerary I wrote something like:

Date 1 : Arrive in Beijing and stay at XXXX pre-booked place. (Attached a copy of booking details)
Date 2 (random, unspecific date): Travel to XXX location and do XXX thing - I kept it really vague, like "going to north-east for general travel".
Date 3 (random, unspecific date): Travel to XXX location and do XXX
Date 4 : Return home from Beijing
Also attached a copy of flight details.

To be honest I doubt they even verified the truth in any of what I'd written. Just don't put anything dodgy like Tibet or Xinjiang because they're relatively unstable areas and a fair few foreigners go on 'free Tibet' crusades and the likes.

I think the fact that the visas are all two-year one means the itinerary thing is more of a leftover from China's tougher days of governance anyway. It's multi-entry so once the visa is granted you can come and go as you please until it expires, and that just requires an entry/exit stamp as you go through customs. The need for an itinerary on the first application is completely illogical.
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Lord Percy
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PostPosted: 22:34 - 04 Sep 2016    Post subject: Re: I've written a book Reply with quote
CaNsA wrote:
Lord Percy wrote:
File size is 7mb, the best quality version is 90mb which I'm willing to upload if anyone wants.


Mate, get it done ffs.


No time! I fly home in about 4 hours and all my internetting is through a VPN so big stuff takes too long.

I'll do it when I'm back.
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Lord Percy
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PostPosted: 22:35 - 04 Sep 2016    Post subject: Reply with quote
Hong Kong Phooey wrote:
https://cdn.meme.am/instances/500x/37119021.jpg


Do you know Kong Phooey?
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Al
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PostPosted: 19:29 - 05 Sep 2016    Post subject: Reply with quote
Lord Percy wrote:


Tourist visa, which has changed recently so the only type you can buy is two years, multi-entry.

How long ago did you visit?

I had to do an itinerary too but it was basically all made up apart from the first hotel booking, which can also be cancelled once the visa is granted so you can still essentially get off the plane and be free to go as you please.


I went in June 2015. My visa was just a single entry 30 day one so it sounds like things may have changed. The form that I filled out requested that I enclose booking confirmation of my accommodation for the duration of my stay and flight bookings.

I'm not sure if they would have been that bothered if I'd have just put the proof of the first few nights like you did. I read on a couple of travel forums that people were having the visas refused for stupid reasons so didn't really want to chance it as I'd left it late to arrange.
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Lord Percy
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PostPosted: 06:48 - 06 Sep 2016    Post subject: Reply with quote
Al wrote:


I went in June 2015. My visa was just a single entry 30 day one so it sounds like things may have changed. The form that I filled out requested that I enclose booking confirmation of my accommodation for the duration of my stay and flight bookings.

I'm not sure if they would have been that bothered if I'd have just put the proof of the first few nights like you did. I read on a couple of travel forums that people were having the visas refused for stupid reasons so didn't really want to chance it as I'd left it late to arrange.


I think the rules changed very recently when I applied for my visa. I remember ticking the '3 month' box then being told on arrival at the visa centre that they only do 2 year visas now. Might be part of this 'golden era of relations' economic whatnot between China and the UK.
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Lord Percy
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PostPosted: 06:58 - 06 Sep 2016    Post subject: Re: I've written a book Reply with quote
CaNsA wrote:
Lord Percy wrote:
File size is 7mb, the best quality version is 90mb which I'm willing to upload if anyone wants.


Mate, get it done ffs.


Here you go: Full quality version - 93Mb
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Lord Percy
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PostPosted: 06:59 - 06 Sep 2016    Post subject: Reply with quote
Paddy. wrote:
Are you less pretentious and mildy less spasticated than before


Remind me to not add anything of value in the next 'woe is me, my girlfriend left me' bawww thread you make.

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hellkat
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PostPosted: 10:06 - 06 Sep 2016    Post subject: Reply with quote
Is there a need for a full stop in the title?

Or perhaps that is a modern book-cover design affectation that I have overlooked?
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P.
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PostPosted: 10:09 - 06 Sep 2016    Post subject: Reply with quote
Lord Percy wrote:
Paddy. wrote:
Are you less pretentious and mildy less spasticated than before


Remind me to not add anything of value in the next 'woe is me, my girlfriend left me' bawww thread you make.

Thumbs Up


Laughing Such bitterness from a fine fellow as yourself.

FWIW, I enjoyed both the content of my thread and your download so Karma

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Lord Percy
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PostPosted: 10:58 - 06 Sep 2016    Post subject: Reply with quote
hellkat wrote:
Is there a need for a full stop in the title?

Or perhaps that is a modern book-cover design affectation that I have overlooked?


Well I'm certainly not a modern book cover designer so consider it nothing more than my own ultra-below-average attempt at amateur graphic design Very Happy
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Hong Kong Phooey
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PostPosted: 20:41 - 06 Sep 2016    Post subject: Reply with quote
Downloaded, looks good but can't be bothered reading it on my phone.
Judging by the photos air quality is a big issue.
Must be selling plenty of VAG motors there then.
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Lord Percy
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PostPosted: 20:51 - 06 Sep 2016    Post subject: Reply with quote
Hong Kong Phooey wrote:
Downloaded, looks good but can't be bothered reading it on my phone.
Judging by the photos air quality is a big issue.


Yeah I noticed the first half of the book is all quite muggy photos. Dunno if it was smog or just dense/humid air in the thick summer heat. Second half in the high altitude reasons is all crystal clear. Felt like my camera was brand new again.
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kawashima
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PostPosted: 14:05 - 07 Sep 2016    Post subject: Reply with quote
I've read till page40. I think many people talked you is because you look friendly! Your sentences are easy to read for me too. It's interesting to know various peoples actual livings in China. I don't know why cheap hotels didn't accept foreigners and they took you to expensive big hotel.
Air BnB experience looks interesting. They look kind people but made you pay taxi and restaurant foods. (Confusing). Thank you for 90MB version. Picture quality is very different. Thumbs Up
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