Subject: soc.culture.china FAQ(all)
Date: 2 Mar 1996 14:40:46 GMT
Summary: This posting contains some frequently-asked-questions
         (and their answers) about the newsgroup "soc.culture.china".
         The document is divided into fiv parts: TRAVEL, HOW TO READ
         ANA WRITE IN CHINESE ON COMPUTER, INTERNET IN CHINA, 
         NETIQUETTE and ACRONYMS.  A list of authors and contributors 
         is provided.at the end of this document.

Posting-Frequency: approximately biweekly
Last-modified: 1996/01/28

===================================================================
TRAVEL 
  written by Wuchun Wu <wuwu@phys.ksu.edu>
_________________________________________________________________
For comments and suggestions, please send your ideas to the 
author or to

   scc-faq@saavik.cem.msu.edu
________________________________________________________________

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.     For Chinese with PRC passport
1.1.   Going Home or Coming Here
1.1.1  US consulate generals in China: 
1.1.2  Travel agencies and tickets
1.1.3  Hong Kong transit
1.1.4  Bringing things home
1.2    Traveling around the world
1.2.1  Visas
1.2.2  Tourist information
2.     For non-PRC citizens going to China
2.1    Visas
2.1.1  Chinese consulate generals in the U.S.
2.2    General information
2.3    Tourist information
2.4    Electricity
2.5    Credit cards and traveler's cheques

------------------------------------------------------


1. For Chinese with PRC passport

1.1. Going Home or Coming Here

1.1.1 US consulate generals in China: 

                     Phone            Fax
    Beijing        10-532-3831      10-532-3178
    Guangzhou      20-88808911      20-886-2341
    Shanghai       21-433-6880      21-433-4122
    Shenyang       24-282-0000      24-282-0074
    Chengdu        28-558-9642      28-558-8352


1.1.2 Travel agencies and tickets
    
You'll probably be better off going to a travel agency specializing 
in Asia/China travel. Since most of these businesses come and go 
quickly, it is recommended that you check your local Chinese 
newspapers for phone numbers of these travel specialists.  If you 
know which airline you are going to take, you can get a list of 
phone numbers for "all" airlines through anonymous FTP.  It is at

        ftp.cc.umanitoba.ca  under directory /pub/rec-travel


1.1.3 Hong Kong transit

It is said that a PRC passport holder does not need an advanced
transit visa anymore if he/she has a valid ticket.  Call
312-346-1810 (British Consulate General in Chicago, fax:
312-346-7021) to be sure.  People from Taiwan can get a 48-hour 
transit visa through British consulates.

The Hong Kong tourism office in the US can be reached at: 
212-869-5008 (voice), or 212-730-2606 (fax).  For online information 
try the following www sites:

      http://www.hongkong.org   AND
      http://www.ceas.rochester.edu:8080/ee/users/yeung/hk.html

There are several ways to enter the Mainland from Hong Kong: by
plane, train, or by ferry.  Trains are available to
Shenzhen/Guangzhou.  The train ride from Kowloon to Lofo customs at 
Shenzhen costs about HK$36.  Ferries are available to Zhuhai (for 
about HK$40), Guangzhou, Xiamen and some other places.


1.1.4 Bringing things home

The regulations change quite often.  Please contact the Chinese
consulates for the latest details.


1.2 Traveling around the world

1.2.1  Visas

If you hold a PRC passport, you need a visa for almost all the 
countries you want to visit.  To visit European countries, 
information as recent as summer 1994 indicates that you will need 
visas for each individual country you plan to visit.  There are, 
however, some recent posts in SCC saying that one now can get the so 
called Schengen Visa which is valid for seven European countries 
(not all the EU countries).

Make sure you have a valid visa/travel document (e.g. multi-entry
visa, or green card) to go back to your residence country. 
Otherwise, you need to renew your visa to return there.  There has
been both good news and bad news about renewing visas in a third
country.  My limited experience has been all positive so far.  But
I remember one case in Turkey and another in Belgium.  In both
cases someone ran into trouble for re-entry to the US.  It is a good
idea to check with your international student office before leaving.

For those with US green cards, it is possible to travel with a
"white paper" issued by the Immigration and Naturalization Service 
(INS), in place of your PRC passport.  Contact the international 
student office and INS for details.

For the addresses of the consulate generals of the country you are
planning to visit, inquire at your international student office. 
(Mine has never asked me if I am a student or not.)  I am not sure 
if the reference book they used is available in bookstore or not. 
Alternately, you may call the nearest immigration lawyer; s/he might 
help you out.


1.2.2  Tourist information

You can get most general travel information, including country and
city maps by calling that country's tourism office. You can get a
list of tourism offices for almost any country through anonymous
FTP to

  ftp.cc.umanitoba.ca    in  /pub/rec-travel    or   
  ftp-manager.mit.edu    in /pub/usenet/news.answers/travel

For information about cheap but nice hotels, exotic places and
other practical tricks, you may want to post your question in
one of the rec.travel groups, such as rec.travel.asia or 
rec.travel.europe. Check rec.travel.air for information about 
airline tickets.

Here is a list of tourism offices in the USA for countries most 
asked about in SCC.

                        Phone              Fax
    Australia        212-994-6880    212-730-4568
    Austria          312-644-8029
    Belgium          212-758-8130    212-355-7675
    Canada           212-757-3583
    France           212-757-1125    212-247-6468
    Germany          212-661-7200    
    Hong Kong        212-869-5008    212-730-2605
    Italy            312-644-0990    312-644-3019
    Japan            415-989-7140    415-398-5461
    Korea            201-585-0909    201-585-9041
    Holland          213-370-7367    212-379-9507
    Russia           212-757-3884    212-459-0031
    All Scandinavian Countries
                     212-757-3884    212-459-0031


2. For non-PRC citizens going to China

2.1 Visas

If you do not want to call a Chinese consulate first, 
rec.travel.asia is perhaps a better place to start.  You can get
visas either at a Chinese consulate in your country, or, as quite a
few people have done, go to Hong Kong first and get a visa there. It
is very easy and fast to get a tourist visa in Hong Kong. Some 
travel agencies also provide visa service (to get the visa for you).  
People from Taiwan may obtain entry permits from the New China News 
Agency in Hong Kong.


2.1.1  Chinese consulate generals in the U.S.

Embassy of the People's Republic of China 
2300 Connecticut Avenue NW 
Washington, DC 20008 
Tel. (202) 328-2500.

Consulate General of the People's Republic of China New York
520 - 12th Avenue      
New York, New York  10036
Tel. (212) 279-4275.

Consulate General of the People's Republic of China San Francisco
1450 Laguna Street   
San Francisco, California  94115
Tel. (415) 563-4885.     

Consulate General of the People's Republic of China Houston
3417 Montrose Blvd.  
Houston, Texas  77006
Tel. (713) 524-4311.

Consulate General of the People's Republic of China Chicago
100 W. Eire Street
Chicago, Illinois  60610
Tel. (3l2) 573-3070.    

Consulate General of the People's Republic of China Los Angeles
502 Shto Place, Suite 300       
Los Angeles, California  90020
Tel. (213) 380-2507.     


2.2 General information

The CIA World Factbook for China is available online through telnet
at:

      info.rutgers.edu  (128.6.26.25)

or by anonymous FTP at

 cnd.org   under directory /pub/InfoBase/China-Into/Basic-Data.TXT

or via WWW at 

        http://www.research.att.com/cgi-wald/dbaccess/411

Other online information, including high-resolution scenery
pictures, about China can be obtained at the following WWW sites:

      http://www.cnc.ac.cn/china/china.html
      http://unkvx1.utk.edu/~xurs/china.html
        (mirror of the above site)
      http://www.cernet.edu.cn
      http://www.cnd.org/Other/Chinese.html
      http://www.ihep.ac.cn/tour
      http://www.ceas.rochester.edu:8080/ee/users/yeung/china.html

or by anonymous FTP at: 

      cnd.org   under directory /pub/InfoBase/


2.3 Tourist information

For online information, check the WWW and FTP sites listed in the 
previous section. You may want to call the Chinese national tourism 
office in your country. In the US, the address is 

      China National Tourist Office(USA)  
      333 W. Broadway #201  
      Glendale, CA 91204 
      phone: 818-545-7505   FAX: 818-545-7506

Another place to check is rec.travel.asia. 


2.4 Electricity

The electric power in China is 220V, 50Hz as in most European
countries.  Please pay attention to the plug pattern.  Although it
supposedly has been standardized now, there are still quite a few 
places where old, non-standard outlets are still used.


2.5 Credit cards and traveler's cheques

You can use credit cards or traveler's cheques in China.  Most
starred hotels, restaurants and big departments stores accept
credit cards, although they are not as widely accepted as in
European countries, and certainly not as in North America.  Also,
China has abolished the so called "Foreign Exchange Certificate", 
and the exchange rates the government posts are close to the real 
market values (the proof is that there is now no black market for 
foreign exchange).

You can also purchase international money orders or traveler's
cheques at the Bank of China and other Chinese banks.  The minimum
value per purchase is US$10.  Most financial institutions in the
world accept the traveler's cheques issued by these banks.  Since 
several foreign banks already operate in China, you can also 
purchase traveler's cheques from them if you do not trust the 
Chinese banks :)  (This item is adapted from a post by Xiaogning 
Deng [72946@brahms.udel.edu] in alt.chinese.text)

------------------------------------------------------
written by:     Wuchun Wu <wuwuphys.ksu.edu>
with editorial assistance from:
                Mark Swofford <mswofford@aardvark.ucs.uoknor.edu>

===================================================================
HOW TO READ AND WRITE IN CHINESE ON COMPUTER
  written by Jihong Cole-Dai <jidai@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>
_________________________________________________________________ 
For comments and suggestions, please send your ideas to the 
author or to

   scc-faq@saavik.cem.msu.edu
______________________________________________________

TABLE OF CONTENTS

(1)   Can I use my computer to write and read in Chinese?
(2)   How come you guys don't use Chinese here?  Is there a place
      where I can read and post in Chinese?
(3)   How does the Chinese language come alive in an American, or
      European, or whatever computer?
(4)   What kind of things can be done in Chinese on computers?
(5)   What special software and hardware do I need to do Chinese
      computing?  Where can I find these things and how expensive are
      they?
(6)   Can I communicate in Chinese with friends and others, like
      using email and reading and posting in Chinese in newsgroups? 
(7)   List of anonymous ftp and WWW sites

______________________________________________________

How to Read and Write in Chinese on a Computer

This part of the FAQ assumes that you have some basic knowledge of 
the computer, and are familiar with terms such as software, hardware, 
WINDOWS, on-line, input, applications, and the alike.  It is not 
intended for the advanced practitioners of Chinese computing.  

(1)   Can I use my computer to write and read in Chinese?

Yes.  Your computer can do that for you.  In fact, if you have seen 
some postings and signatures in this group that look like messed-up 
sequences of letters, numbers, and symbols, chances are that they 
are encoded Chinese words.  If you have the right tools in your 
hands, you will be able to read them and even write in Chinese 
yourself.

To use Chinese in your computer applications (called "Chinese 
computing"), you need some specialized knowledge and perhaps 
some help from experienced users.  If you need more help than 
can be found here, you may request help from other netters.  You 
may be surprised how many people are willing to offer advice and 
step-by-step help on things related to Chinese computing.  Here 
in this FAQ, a brief introduction is given to Chinese computing.  
The purpose is to give you a taste of some of Chinese computing's 
basic ideas.  If you want to read and post in Chinese, and/or seek 
answers to specific questions, you should check out the following 
newsgroups: chinese.comp.software, alt.chinese.computing, 
alt.chinese.text and alt.chinese.text.big5.  The FAQs there will 
tell you what they are and exactly how to do the things you want 
to do.


(2)   How come you guys don't use Chinese here?  Is there a place
where I can read and post in Chinese?

Well, this group, soc.culture.china, is used by people who read and
write in ENGLISH.  Maybe English is their preferred way to
communicate with each other.  Or maybe some of them don't have the
right computer tools to read and write in Chinese.  In any case,
everyone here posts in English, even though for many of them
Chinese may be the native language.  Occasionally, someone posts 
something in encoded Chinese--but that probably is more by accident 
or mistake than by design.


(3)   How does the Chinese language come alive in an American, or
European, or whatever computer?

Roughly speaking, this is done by encoding and decoding the Chinese
words in those ASCII symbols that are on your keyboard.  Of course, 
you need some software tools to do the encoding and decoding.  
However, once you have them installed on your computer, the process 
of encoding and decoding will be (almost) invisible to you, so that 
you can use Chinese just as you use English on your computer.

There are two popular schemes or systems to ecnode Chinese.  The 
National Standard ("GuoBiao", or "GB" for short) system is used in 
mainland China.  The GB system is also widely used in Singapore.  
The other system is called Big5;  it is used in other places where 
the Chinese language is used frequently, such as Taiwan and Hong Kong.  
There are also slight variations of these two systems to make them 
suitable to certain computer applications.  You might have heard of 
the "HZ" or HanZi system, which is a version of GB that is modified 
for use with the MS-DOS operating system.

Recently, a new coding system called UNICODE has been created and
is supposed to cover all kinds of languages and scripts.  Some new
Chinese groups have come to exist under UNICODE.  These groups are 
under the chinese.*.unicode umbrella (for example: 
chinese.text.unicode).


(4)   What kind of things can be done in Chinese on computers?

Well, first, because you are reading this part of the FAQ, you want
to know if you can read and write in Chinese on your computer.  And
you already have the answer:  YES.  If you are familiar with 
Microsoft WINDOWS, you may be happy to know that there is a Chinese 
WINDOWS that runs just like the regular WINDOWS, except that all 
words on screen appear in Chinese.

What about other things: programming? communications?  Indeed,
anything that is possible in English should also be possible in
Chinese, since they are both just languages or tools.  And because 
the Chinese words are encoded in the inner world of the computer, 
they are treated by the computer just like anything else--they can 
be manipulated, transmitted, etc.  What is different is how they 
appear to you, the user who looks at the screen, and how you input 
(communicate) your commands to the computer.


(5)   What special software and hardware do I need to do Chinese
computing?  Where can I find these things and how expensive are
they?

As we said a little earlier, you need "tools" in order to
do Chinese computing on your computer.  When you got your
computer, you probably didn't think about that and didn't try to
get the right equipment, so the computer you are using is probably
not equipped to do these things.  But don't run out and buy a bunch
of stuff, or give up on this because it may cost you megabucks. You 
probably don't need any new hardware and may only need to install 
certain software that can be very inexpensive.

Again, we refer you the FAQs of Chinese text newsgroups for
detailed description and instructions.  The FAQs may be found at
the following ftp sites.

  For alt.chinese.text:
      ftp.ifcss.org:pub/act/chinese-text-faq
      rtfm.mit.edu:pub/usenet/news.answers/chinese-text/faq
      ftp.uu.net:usenet/news.answers/chinese-text/faq.Z

  [Here is the Table of Contents for alt.chinese.text:
      (1)   What are those ~~{BRF_0KTc5D6+Nw~~}'s posted to
            alt.chinese.text? 
      (2)   Where can I find the software to read Chinese articles?
      (3)   Are these software packages pretty easy to use?
      (4)   How do I post Chinese text articles to usenet? 
      (5)   What is 'HZ'?
      (6)   What is FTP and how do I use it?
      (7)   How do I convert HZ Chinese text to/from GB or Big5
            systems?
      (8)   What else do I need to know about alt.chinese.text?
      (9)   Why isn't it a good idea to cross-post articles to
            alt.chinese.text?
      (10)  How many people read alt.chinese.text?
      (11)  What is alt.chinese.text.big5?
      (12)  My site does not carry alt.chinese.text. What should I
            do?
      (13)  How do I read alt.chinese.text through ftp, gopher, or
            e-mail?
      (14)  How do I post a Chinese article via e-mail?
      (15)  What other net resources broadcast HZ-coded Chinese
            text?
      (16)  Where can I obtain the latest version of this FAQ?]

  For alt.chinese.text.big5:
          ftp.csie.nctu.edu.tw:/pub/Chinese/chinese-text/big5-faq.

  [Here are some of the questions included in the FAQ of
alt.chinese.text.big5:
      [0]   How many people read a.c.t and a.c.t.b ?
      [1]   Where can I find the latest version of this FAQ ?
      [2]   If you have trouble with this group, and you cannot
            find any solutions in this FAQ, how can you do ?
      [3]   What's the differences between alt.chinese.text and
            alt.chinese.text.big5 ?
      [4]   What should I know before I want to read
            alt.chinese.text.big5 ?
      [5]   Do I need to crosspost my articles to both
            alt.chinese.text and alt.chinese.text.big5 ?]

Below we briefly summarize the basic information you might need to
know about hardware and software in Chinese computing.  

**HARDWARE**

Generally speaking, whether you have a PC or a Mac, you don't need
any special hardware if your computer was made in the recent past 
(i.e. anytime later than the mid 1980's, thus PC's that are 386's or 
later and Macs that are SE or later meet the minimum hardware 
requirements), since these late-model computers usually come with an
adequate amount of memory and the graphics capabilities necessary for 
Chinese computing.  Actually, this level of computing power is 
needed only because all of the special software which you need 
require sufficient hardware on which to run.  Making computers 
accept and display Chinese is basically a matter of storing a large 
dataset of previously entered Chinese characters and using the 
dataset when needed.  The graphics card in your computer, together 
with the software, takes care of displaying the characters like 
small pictures.

Some use unix/vax systems and work stations to do Chinese
computing.  In terms of hardware, these systems are generally more
powerful than personal computers, so they won't need a hardware 
upgrade to do Chinese computing.

**SOFTWARE**

If you did not get you computer with Chinese computing in mind, you
will need some new software for this purpose.  As with software to
do other computer tasks, many software brands and/or programs
exist for Chinese computing.  The different encoding/decoding
systems make the choices even more numerous and confusing. 
Choosing among them will depend on what you would like to do with
your choice.  For example, if you would like to read the group
alt.chinese.text, which uses the GB system, then you will only need
to get the GB-based software.  Another group,
alt.chinese.text.big5, uses the Big5 coding scheme.

To read and write in Chinese, you will need a Chinese editor or word
processor that allows you to display Chinese and to use your 
keyboard to input Chinese.  You may find quite a few of these 
Chinese word processors around, and more are coming into the market.  
Inputting Chinese using an English keyboard can take one of several 
ways.  Netters from mainland China are probably familiar with the 
PinYin system.  Other Chinese input systems include Chang-Jie, 
Zhu-Yin, and Big5.  Most of the good Chinese editors or word 
processors can handle the different input and coding systems and 
convert documents between the different encoding formats.

To read and write on line, you will need a Chinese operating system,
such as Chinese WINDOWS.  Again, there are a few of them and you 
need to choose which one to get.

There are also utilities that handle Chinese files to do things like 
file converting, formatting and printing.  A good word processor 
should include these utilities in the package.

Where to get these software programs and how much do they cost? 
Surprisingly, many of these programs are easily available and
relatively inexpensive.  Some are even free of charge under certain
conditions (shareware).  If you know how to ftp, the following are
several sites where the software programs are stored and can be
obtained through anonymous ftp.

      ftp.ifcss.org:pub/software
      nctuccca.edu.tw:Chinese/ifcss/software
      cnd.org:pub/software

You may find that some of the archived software programs are the 
simplest versions which lack some of the important features. That's 
because the authors of these programs, while eager to spread the 
word about their products, would like the users (customers) to pay 
for these products.  After all, this is a marketplace.  You may have 
to contact the author of a particular product, negotiate, and pay a 
fee for the better versions.

Some software programs are for sale in the marketplace.  To purchase 
Chinese software in the marketplace, you may have to find a vendor 
specializing in Chinese computing.  While in Taiwan, mainland China,
Hong Kong or Singapore this may be easy to do;  in Australia, North 
America and Europe, it may be difficult to find such a vendor. 
Again, the information you obtain from the above ftp sites may tell 
you how to contact vendors and/or authors.  At the end of this FAQ, 
a more extensive list of suggested ftp and WWW sites is included for 
your reference.

**HOW TO USE NETSCAPE/MOSAIC TO VIEW CHINESE**

Recently, the World Wide Web (WWW) has become very popular.  It is
now possible, and preferable to many, to view and communicate in 
Chinese on the web with Netscape and/or Mosiac and other such tools.
Since Netscape and Mosiac are similar tools and Netscape is more
popular, we use only Netscape to illustrate how to get the job done.

To view Chinese under Netscape, you need to run Netscape under a
Chinese system which can be launched from Windows.  This is very
much like running MS-DOS based Chinese systems (ZWDOS, KC, etc) to
read Chinese on-line under DOS.  Examples of Chinese systems are:
UnionWay, Twinbridge, ChineseWindows, Chineseware and others.  The 
shareware versions of these Chinese systems are available by 
anonymous ftp, at the sites listed at the end of this part of the 
FAQ.  If you can get on the WWW with Netscape, the web sites listed 
below will lead you to the appropriate places where these Chinese 
systems are archived.

Once you have obtained these systems, all you need to do is to run
them as a WINDOWS application, so that they are ready when you start
Netscape.  Within Netscape, you may have to select a Chinese font
under "Options," "Preference" and "Configuration."  Depending on the 
coding scheme of the newsgroup or Chinese library you are trying to 
read, you may need to choose to run the Chinese system that supports 
the particular scheme.  The good news is that the latest versions of 
these shareware Chinese systems can display Chinese under several 
coding schemes (GB/HZ/Big5).  So you may need to get only one such 
system and only select the coding scheme you use for the moment.  This 
selection is usually done when you launch the Chinese system, before
running Netscape.

We need to remind you that this part of the Internet is changing on 
a daily basis, literally, and so do the Chinese applications in this
part.  New things come out everyday that make using the WWW easier 
and more interesting.  So it pays to keep up with the development, 
even if you are not a cyber junkie.  For information about the latest 
developments in Chinese systemsand applications, we suggest that you 
check out the following places for answers to questions related to 
Mosaic/Netscape.  Of course they also provide links to WWW sites where 
new and free software can be found.

http://www.mordor.com/pei/china.html
http://meena.cc.uregina.ca/~liushus/pub/read-chn.html
http://www.gy.com ([Chinese Computer Digest])


(6)   Can I communicate in Chinese with friends and others, like
using email and reading and posting in Chinese in newsgroups? 

Certainly.  Once you have installed the necessary software, and you
have the communications software (email, telnet, gopher or
Mosaic/Netscape) already running on your computer, you can use
them in conjunction with your Chinese software.  Just make sure
the following things are taken care of before you start firing away
with your Chinese:

1.  Check that your communications software is compatible with
your Chinese software.  This is usually done by configuring the
software with appropriate fonts and other system settings.

2.  Contact your friends and others you communicate with on the
Internet.  If they are also set up for Chinese computing, then you
are ready to "talk" to each other in Chinese.

3.  Make sure the newsgroup you want to post your Chinese writings
to accepts the coding system (GB, HZ, Big5 or UNICODE) you use.


(7) List of anonymous ftp and WWW sites

      ftp.ifcss.org:pub/software
      nctuccca.edu.tw:Chinese/ifcss/software
      cnd.org:pub/software
      moers2.edu.tw:chinese-pub/

      http://www.mordor.com/pei/china.html
      http://meena.cc.uregina.ca/~liushus/pub/read-chn.html
      http://www.gy.com ([Chinese Computer Digest])

------------------------------------------------------
written by:     Jihong Cole-Dai <jidai@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>

with editorial assistance from:

               Mark Swofford <mswofford@aardvark.ucs.uoknor.edu>

==================================================================

INTERNET IN CHINA
  written by Tung-chiang Yang <tcyang@seas.ucla.edu>
  with contribution and assistance from Zhan Su <raysu@hphkae0.hkg.hp.com>
__________________________________________________________________ 
For comments and suggestions, please send your ideas to the first
author or to

   scc-faq@saavik.cem.msu.edu
__________________________________________________________________

TABLE OF CONTENTS

 I. 1    Are there any World Wide Web pages for China?
 I. 2    Are there any FTP sites in China?
 I. 3    Are there any archie servers in China?
 I. 4    Are there any gopher servers in China?
 I. 5    Where can I access the Internet in China?
 I. 6    My friend has such and such an E-mail address.  Where is he?
 I. 7    How can I read China's local Usenet newsgroups?
 I. 8    How can I read Usenet newsgroups which my newsserver does not
         carry?
 I. 9    Are there any active BBS's in Mainland China?
 I. 10   How can I send E-mail or post to the Usenet anonymously?

-----------------------------------------------

I. 1    Are there any World Wide Web pages for China?

Yes, there are some.  You may try the URL at

    http://www.cernet.edu.cn/cernet/cchina.html

It provides some basic statistics for the People's Republic of 
China, and some links to other universities in China.

The homepages for some universities and institutes are also worth 
visiting.  Their URL's are at

    http://www.buct.edu.cn/     Beijing Univ. of Chemical Technology
    http://panda.ioz.ac.cn/     Institute of Zoology
    http://www.nankai.edu.cn/   Nankai Univ., Tianjin
    http://www.pku.edu.cn/      Peking (Beijing) University
    http://www.tju.edu.cn/      Tianjin University ( formerly known as
                                Peiyang University )
    http://www.cernet.edu.cn/tsinghua/
                                Tsinghua (Qinghua) University

Some Peking University alumni also maintain two WWW pages in the 
U.S.;  another page in Europe may join later.  Their URL's are at

        http://www.fiu.edu/~zyang01/pku/pku.html
and     http://www.freepress.com/pku/

The first one (in the Eastern U.S.) is maintained by Zhong Yang, 
"yangz@fiu.edu" and the second one (in the Western U.S.) is 
maintained by Michael Yee, "myee@best.com".

The homepage for ChinaNet, a somewhat technically oriented network, 
is based at

        http://www.cnc.ac.cn

It describes some facts about "The National Computing/Networking 
Facility of China" (NCFC), a project supported by the World Bank.

If you are interested in knowing China from an American viewpoint, 
try the WWW page for the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA):

        http://www.odci.gov/cia

and, while there, choose "China" under the entries "Publications" and
"The World Factbook 1995".  You can directly go to 
the CIA file about China by

        http://www.odci.gov/cia/publications/95fact/ch.html

Hongkong will be handed over from Britain to the People's Republic 
of China in 1997.  The newsgroups "soc.culture.hongkong" and 
"soc.culture.hongkong.entertainment" may give you a taste of Hong 
Kong today.  Currently the official WWW site for the Hong Kong 
government is at

        http://www.hongkong.org

Macau is currently under Portuguese administration.  The official URL 
for Macau is at

        http://www.macau.net

which also includes a pointer to the homepage for the Zhuhai Special 
Economic Zone.

For news information, you can try the URL for the China News Agency, 
which is at

        http://www.chinanews.com/

where you can read both English and Chinese news (a Chinese environment
is required).  You will need to provide an account name and a password
to access news here.  On the other hand, now People's Daily is also
online at

.http://www.egis.com

though a Chinese environment will be needed.  Guangzhou Daily is also
available via Guangdong Posts and Telecommunication Agency at

.http://www.gz.gdpta.net.cn/gzdaily/gzdayl.html

and it requires the Chinese environment.

You might also try the WWW page at

        http://www.mordor.com/pei/china.html

with the title "China the Beautiful", where you can find some
information about the traditional side of China, like writings of
Confucius, Tang poetry and other art issues.  You do not need a
Chinese environment to visit this site, but some of its contents still
require a Big5 or GB environment.

Some graduates from Zhejiang University and Fudan University established
a Web page at

.http://www.cyberway-to-china.com/,

which is also worth visiting.  This page includes some hotel listings,
business on-line resources, and some interesting links to other sites for
provincial maps, classical poems and paintings, etc.

For more information regarding WWW, subscribe to the newsgroups
"comp.infosystems.www.misc" and "comp.infosystems.www.announce".


I. 2    Are there any FTP sites in China?

The ftp server for NCFC is located at the URL

        ftp://ftp.cnc.ac.cn

It covers the information about NCFC and ChinaNet.

The ftp server for CERNET is at the URL

        ftp://ftp.cernet.edu.cn

It seems to be under construction just now and more things are
being added.

You can find some interesting software, like "talk" in Chinese, at
the ftp servers in Beijing and Shanghai:

        ftp://info.bta.net.cn/pub/software
and     ftp://info.sta.net.cn/pub

The ftp server at Tsinghua University is now set up at:

.ftp://ftp.net.tsinghua.edu.cn

You can share something you created with others by putting them in
the directory "/incoming".  Please remember to send an E-mail to
"hzr@net.tsinghua.edu.cn" for a description of your package and not
to infringe the copyrights of the commercial softwares.

"ftp.ifcss.org" is not located in Mainland China, but it provides a
lot of useful information (like immigration) and Chinese software.
You can try the URL at

      ftp://ftp.ifcss.org/pub

and have a tour there.  It is also mirrored at "ftp://ftp.cnd.org/" and
"ftp://nctuccca.edu.tw/".

The FTP site for China News Digest, "ftp.cnd.org", keeps some information
regarding back issues of CINET-L ( Chinese Internet Tech Forum non-public
discussion list ), and CND's Chinese Magazine.  You can go to
the directory "/pub/cinet" to fetch them.


I. 3    Are there any archie servers in China?

There does not seem to be a server explicitly reserved for archie in 
China.  However, you can make use of the "Archie Request Form" at

        http://www.cernic.net/INFO/archie

to start your archie search.  In the form there is a field with 
which you can select the archie server you want to use, which should 
be close to your site in the network sense for best performance.


I. 4    Are there any gopher servers in China?

You can try the gopher server at

        gopher.cnc.ac.cn

It contains information about NCFC and libraries.  On the other 
hand, the server

        gopher.ncic1.ac.cn

includes some introductory information about NCIC.  Accessing this 
gopher server requires some GB encoding software, and it seems that 
this site is not yet well built.

The gopher server at CERNIC (in Tsinghua University) might be the 
master server in China. Its URL is at

        gopher://gopher.cernic.net

It registers all the open gopher servers connected to CERNET in
China.

Peking University also set up a gopher server, which is located at

.gopher://gopher.pku.edu.cn:70/11/

It includes a phonebook directory for PKU and also some Usenet FAQ
documents which might be convenient for people in China.


I. 5    Where can I access the Internet in China?

In addition to the the academic and educational sites, there are
some Internet connection service providers in China.  Below is a
partial list of these providers:

ChinaNet:

      Cost: 
            Basic Rate:        600 RMB for 40 hours/month 
                            or 100 RMB for 6 hours/month (optional)
            Extended Rate:     20 RMB/hour
            Weekend Rate:      10 RMB/hour for legal holidays, 
                               weekends, and 21:00-07:00 for weekdays.
            Communication Fee: 300 RMB (prepaid)
            Installation Fee:  200 RMB (optional)

      Information:  
            Marketing Department of Beijing Telecom Bureau 
            (phone no. 010-601-0861).  In Shanghai you can try the phone
.    no. 021-3271014.

      Services: 
            mail:   public.bta.net.cn (202.96.0.97)
            ftp:    ftp.bta.net.cn (202.96.0.124)
                    (also aliased as info.bta.net.cn)
            www:    www.bta.net.cn (202.96.0.124)
                    (also aliased as info.bta.net.cn)
            gopher: gopher.bta.net.cn (202.96.0.124)
                    (also aliased as info.bta.net.cn)
            news:   news.bta.net.cn (202.96.0.124)
                    (also aliased as info.bta.net.cn)

        This news server carries about 1080 newsgroups as of June,
        1995. (You might also try replacing all "bta" above with 
        "spt".)

The Web page "http://www.bta.net.cn/what_new.html" includes some 
information about account applications.

GDNet:

      Information:
.    Guangdong Post and Telecommunications Agency ( GDPTA )
.    under the Post and Telecommunications Administration.
.    (phone no. (20)730-2420, 730-1043 for Guangdong Digital
.    Communications Agency)

.    You can also go to http://www.gz.gdpta.net.cn/ for
.    information.  An English version is available at
.    http://www.gz.gdpta.net.cn/Eng

      Services:
.    E-mail, Usenet news, telnet, ftp, gopher and WWW browsing,
.    and archie/WAIS searching.

China-On-Line E-mail Service

      Cost:
.    Initiation Fee:   4800 RMB for corporations
...      1200 RMB for individual users
...      Both initiation fees include softwares,
...      installation and training
.    Monthly Flat Fee: 1200 RMB unlimited access time for
      .                      corporations
...      350 RMB unlimited access time for
...      individual users on weekends and
...      18:00-08:00 on weekdays

      Features:
            * Local access to our service in Beijing, China; access from
.      other cities of China can be done with very cheap domestic
.      long distance call.
            * User friendly E-mail software which allows user to access
.      E-mail offline ( without holding up user's telephone line
.      for too long ).
            * 5 days per week technical and customer support.
.    * Focus on Internet E-mail service only (no other Internet 
.      services such as FTP, Gopher, home page, WWW) to minimize 
.      the chance of user getting busy tone when dialing in.

      Information:
.    China-On-Line Communication Ltd.  Tel: 86-10-8498603 and
.    Fax: 86-10-8498603.  You can also send an E-mail to
.    "info@chinaonline.com.cn.net" for further information.

Great Trend Internet Services:

      Information:
.    You can send an E-mail to "zhaoe@shell.cninfo.co.cn" for
.    information about application for regular user accounts.
.    You can also visit "http://www.cninfo.co.cn/" for other
.    related information.

If you just want to open an E-mail account in Mainland China, you can
contact

   CNC             Ms. Xiqiong Zhang           zxq@ns.cnc.ac.cn
   IHEP            Ms. Xiao-guang Wang         86-10-255-4324
                   or Ms. Ge-tao Li            86-10-256-1604
   SICCUIN         Ms. Huang                   86-10-809-3033
                                               Fax: +809-3045
   FUDAN           Mr. Liangyao Chen           86-21-534-7577
   DDN             officials in the Bureau     86-10-201-2994
   CEIC            no specific person          86-10-822-1972
   CHINAPAC        no specific person          86-10-601-0861

In the Shanghai region you can send an E-mail to CHEN, Liang-yao at
"lychen@fudan.ihep.ac.cn" or call him at (86)21-534-7577 for accounts
with E-mail access.  Other Internet services might be added soon.


I. 6    My friend has such and such an E-mail address.  Where is he?

The top-level domain name for addresses in China is "cn". However, 
the secondary level domain is somewhat different from those used in 
the USA.  A brief listing is as follows:

       ac.cn    Academic Community ( Academy of Science )
       edu.cn   EDUcational sites (universities)
       go.cn    GOvernmental departments
       co.cn    COmmercial sites (COmpanies)
       or.cn    ORganizations
       bj.cn    BeiJing
       sh.cn    ShangHai
       .....    .....

Some Internet Service Providers (ISP), especially those from the 
U.S., might offer accounts which do not use the "cn" convention.

Some sites, especially educational sites, are listed below.

   xxx.ac.cn:
       cc
       cnc      Chinese Network Center
       cncodata Chinese National Committee for CODATA
       csdi     (to be resolved)
       ia       Institute of Automation
       icm      Institute for Chemical Metallurgy
       ihep     Institute of Higher Energy Physics
       im       Institute of Microbiology
       ioa      Institute of Acoustics
       ioz      Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Science
       kw       Keh Wang ( Scientific Net )
       math     Institute of Mathematics
       ncicl    National Research Center for Intelligent Computing Systems
       sti      Institute of Science and Technology Information of China
       ustc     University of Science and Technology of China

   xxx.edu.cn:
       bit      Beijing Institute of Technology
       bjpu     Beijing Polytechnical University
       bnu      Beijing Normal University
       buaa     Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics
       buct     Beijing University of Chemical Technology
       bupt     Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications
       ccnu     Central China Normal University
       cdnet    Chengdu Southwestern China Regional Network Center
       cernet   Cernet
       chisa    China Scholars Abroad ( magazine )
       cpu      (to be resolved)
       csru     Changsha Railway University
       csut     Central South University of Technology ( Hunan )
       cumt     China University of Mining Technology
       dgut     Dongguan University of Technology
       dlut     Dalian University of Technology
       ecnu     East China Normal University
       ecsi     East China Shipbuilding Institute
       ecust    East China University of Science and Technology
       fsu      Foshan University ( Guangdong )
       fspu     Fushun Petrol University
       fudan    Fudan University
       fusu     Fushan University ( Guangdong )
       fzu      Fuzhou University
       gdcc     Guangdong Commercial College
       gdut     Guangdong University of Technology
       geiu     Guilin Electronic Industry University
       gspi     Gansu Polytechnical Institute
       gxnu     Guangxi Normal University
       gxu      Guangxi University
       gznet    Southern China Regional Network Center
       gznu     Guangzhou Normal University
       gzu      Guangzhou University
       hebu     Hebei University
       henu     Henan University
       heu      Harbin Engineering University
       hfut     Hefei University of Technology ( Anhui )
       hit      Harbin Institute of Technology
       hnnu     Hainan Normal University
       hnu      Hunan University
       hrbust   Harbin University of Science and Technology
       hust     Huazhong University of Science and Technology ( Wuhan ) 
       hzu      Hangzhou University
       jlu      Jilin University
       jnu      Jinan University ( Guangdong )
       just     Jiangsu University of Science and Technology
       jut      Jilin University of Technology
       lnu      Liaoning University
       lzu      Lanzhou University
       nankai   Nankai University (Tianjin)
       nau      Nanjing Agricultural University
       ncu      Nanchang University
       neau     Northeast Agricultural University
       net      CERNET
       neu      Northeastern University (Shenyang)
       njau     Nanjing Agriculture University
       njfu     Nanjing Forest University
       njim     Nanjing Institute of Metrology
       njmu     Nanjing Medical University
       njnet    Eastern China ( North ) Regional Network Center
       njnu     Nanjing Normal University
       njtu     North Jiaotong University
       nju      Nanjing University
       nuaa     Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics
       nuct     Nanjing University of Chemical Technology
       nudt     National University of Defense Technology ( Hunan )
       nust     Nanjing University of Science and Technology
       nutcm    Nanjing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine
       nwau     Northwest Agricultural University ( Xian ) 
       nwpu     Northwest Polytechnical University ( Xian )
       nwu      Northwest University ( Shaanxi )
       nxu      Ningxia University
       nxpi     Ningxia Polytechnical Institute
       pku      Peking University 
       qhu      Qinghai University
       qhnu     Qinghai Normal University
       sacei    Shandong Architectural and Civil Engineering Institute
       scau     South China Agriculture University
       scnu     South China Normal University
       scut     South China University of Technology ( Guangzhou )
       scuu     United University of Sichuan
       seu      Southeast University (Nanjing)
       shmu     Shanghai Medical University
       shnet    Eastern China ( South ) Regional Network Center
       shsmu    Shanghai Second Medical University
       shu      Shanghai University
       sjtu     Shanghai Jiaotong University
       stu      Shantou University
       sxtu     Shaanxi Teachers University
       syit     Shenyang Institute of Technology
       synet    Northeastern Regional Network Center
       szu_js   Suzhou University ( Jiangsu )
       szu_gd   Shenzhen University ( Guangdong )
       tjmu     Tianjin Medical University
       tju      Tianjin University
       tsinghua Tsing Hua University
       tyut     Taiyuan University of Technology
       uestc    University of Electronic Science and Technology in China
              ..( Sichuan )
       whapu    Wuhan Automobile Polytechnical University
       whnet    Central China Regional Network Center
       whtusm   Wuhan Technology University of Survey and Mapping
       whu      Wuhan University
       wut      Wuhan University of Technology
       wxu      Wuxi University of Light Industry
       xaili    Xi'an Institute of Light Industry
       xamu     Xi'an Medical University
       xanet    Northwestern Regional Network Center
       xauat    Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology
       xdu      Xidian University ( Xian )
       xhu      Xian Highway University
       xipt     Xian Institute of Post and Telecommunications
       xit      Xi'an Institute of Technology
       xjtu     Xi'an Jiaotong University
       xju      Xinjiang University
       xmu      Xiamen University
       xpi      Xi'an Petroleum Institute
       xut      Xian University of Technology
       ynift    Yunnan Institute of Financial and Trade
       ynnu     Yunnan Normal University
       ynpu     Yunnan Polytechnical University
       ynu      Yunnan University
       yzu      Yangzhou University
       zju      Zhejiang University
       zsu      Zhongshan University ( Guangdong )
       zzu      Zhengzhou University

   xxx.go.cn:
       ceic     Information Center of Ministry of Electronics Industry

   xxx.net.cn:
       bta      Beijing Telecommunications Administration
       canet.cn Institute of Computer Application
       cernic.net 
       gdpta    Guangdong Posts and Telecommunications Administration
       sta      Shanghai Posts and Telecommunications Administration
       szptt    Shenzhen Posts and Telecommunications Bureau,
..Digital Communications Services
       tjvan    Tianjin Xiandao Informations and Networks Company
       zjpta    Zhejiang Posts and Telecommunications Administration

   xxx.or.cn:
       cnd.org  China News Digest


I. 7    How can I read China's local Usenet newsgroups?

You can try to connect your newsreader program (such as "tin") to 
the following newsservers to read local Usenet newsgroups in China. 
However, please remember that the Internet connection across the 
Pacific may be slow at times.  Listed below are a few of them:

   news.ac.cn (osf.cnc.ac.cn, 159.226.2.8)
        This is a newsserver which is fed from Sesquinet in 
        Houston, Texas every 5 minutes.  Currently it carries 
        around 2000 newsgroups.

   news.cernet.edu.cn (beijing3.cernet.edu.cn, 166.111.250.3)
        This is a newsserver based in Cernet (China Education and
        Research Network).

   news.bta.net.cn (info.bta.net.cn, 202.96.0.124)
        This is a newsserver based in ChinaNet.

   news.net.edu.cn (beijing3.net.edu.cn, 166.111.250.3)
   news.pku.edu.cn (sunrise.pku.edu.cn, 202.112.7.11)

All of the above newsservers refuse connections from the University 
of California, Los Angeles and they may only be available to some 
local (in China) users.

The following news servers are found to be open to the public for testings
from University of California, Los Angeles ( except that for njnet ):

   news.gznet.edu.cn ( pineapple.gznet.edu.cn, 202.112.17.34 )
   news.njnet.edu.cn ( willow.njnet.edu.cn, 202.112.23.161 )
   news.shnet.edu.cn ( jupiter.shnet.edu.cn, 202.112.26.39 )
   news.synet.edu.cn ( Taurus.synet.edu.cn, 202.112.29.88 )
   news.whnet.edu.cn ( s1000e.whnet.edu.cn, 202.112.20.3 )
   news.xanet.edu.cn ( netsvr.xanet.edu.cn, 202.112.11.140 )
.The above newsservers carry newsgroups mostly in "comp.xxxx" and
."sci.xxxx" hierarchies, especially for the former.  SCC and TPC
.are not carried for the testing on 01/16/96.


I. 8  How can I read Usenet newsgroups which my newsserver does not carry? 

If you are in Mainland China and you are interested in some groups 
which newsservers in Mainland China do not carry, you can try to 
connect your news reader to some newsservers outside the Mainland by 
setting the environmental variable "NNTPSERVER" to them and read 
news directly there.

You can try "fconvx.ncifcrf.gov", "newsserver.technet.sg" and
"news.ifcss.org" as your NNTPSERVER.  On the other hand, there are also
some open news servers in Taiwan.  Read the FAQ for "soc.culture.taiwan",
Internet part for details.

Some of the newsservers are for reading only while some others
also enable you to post.


I. 9  Are there any active BBS's in Mainland China?

Listed below are the active BBS' in Mainland China as far as we know:

"bbs.ncic1.ac.cn", "159.226.43.26" aliased as "jet.ncic1.ac.cn" and
   "blue.ncic.ac.cn",
"bbs.net.tsinghua.edu.cn", "166.111.1.11" aliased as
   "captain.net.tsinghua.edu.cn",
"bbs.xanet.edu.cn", "202.112.11.132" aliased as "netmgr.xanet.edu.cn",
"sunshine.pku.edu.cn", "202.112.7.61",
"lcc.icm.ac.cn", "159.226.250.40".

You can login with the login id "bbs" for Chinese-GB coding scheme, or
"bb5" for Chinese-Big5 coding scheme. No password is required.


I. 10  How can I send E-mail or post to the Usenet anonymously?

In the Internet, there are some remailers who help people to send E-
mail and/or post to the Usenet anonymously.  In this way, basically 
people can enjoy the freedom of speech they like without facing 
possible prosecution.  However, these remailers are basically for 
those who need protection from possible persecution, not for people 
who wish to make irrelevant and irresponsible postings without 
taking any responsibility, like attacking some individual or 
organization and then hiding oneself behind the anonymous screen.  
If such net-abuse is repeated again and again, eventually the 
remailer will be forced to shut down.  This is not good for those 
people who do have a legitimate need for the anonymous shelter.

Listed below is a partial list of anonymous E-mail remailers:

   remailer@utopia.hacktic.nl
   nowhere@bsu-cs.bsu.edu
   remailer@rebma.mn.org
   remail@vox.xs4all.nl
   remailer@ideath.goldenbear.com
   remailer@nately.ucsd.edu

You can add the line

      Request-Remailing-To: destination@address

in the header of the message to deliver the mail to the intended
recipient "destination@address".  You can also put two colons ( :: )
on the very first line of your message, then on the second line
put "Request-Remailing-To:" followed by the address you want the
message to go to anonymously.  After this, skip a line, then start
the actual message you want from the fourth line.  By repeating
the double colon convention ( :: ), you can actually direct your
mail through several anonymous remailers, which makes it much
more difficult to trace.

For more information about these anonymous remailers, you can
finger "remailer-list@kiwi.cs.berkeley.edu" or try the WWW site
"http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~raph/remailer-list.html".  The Web
site includes detailed descriptions about the miscellaneous
anonymous remailers and the services they provide.

All the above remailers allow you to send E-mail anonymously,
but the recipient cannot reply your message.  If you want to
receive replies anonymously, you can try the remailer
"remailer@soda.csua.berkeley.edu".  You can finger that address
for more information.

There are some mail-to-news gateways available as follows.

   group.name@news.demon.co.uk
   group.name@cass.ma02.bull.com
   group.name@paris.ics.uci.edu
   group.name.usenet@canaima.Berkeley.EDU

You send an E-mail to the above addresses (replacing the 
"group.name" by the newsgroup in which you want to post your 
message), and the gateway will post the message for you. However, 
please remember that none of these gateways provide anonymous 
postings.  In order to make your posts anonymous, you have to send 
your messages to the above sites through an anonymous remailer.

The anonymous service provided by "anon.penet.fi" might be the most 
famous and trustworthy one currently available.  It assigns an 
address in the form "anxxxxxx@anon.penet.fi" so any mail sent to this 
address will be forwarded to you.  Unlike the aforementioned list of 
anonymous remailers, it provides a password feature for people to use 
it for anonymous E-mail and Usenet postings (the password is 
mandatory for Usenet postings ), which means that no one else can 
post or mail as you.  For details about this service, send an E-mail 
to "help@anon.penet.fi".

There are some basic warnings about the anonymous mailing and
posting issue:

   (1) Do not abuse it:

        Some generous people set up these sites.  Do not shut them
        down for your own interests of abusing the net.

   (2) Proofread your text before sending:

        Double check the text you just edited and see if there is
        anything which reveals your identity, like your signature,
        your E-mail address or your name mentioned in the text.

   (3) Test it first:

        Try to send a message to yourself with the anonymous
        remailer first.  When you receive your own message, check
        its header and body to see if there is anything which
        reveals your identity, especially in the header part.

        Some remailers might return your submission back to you
        if you have any incorrect settings, which reveals what you
        said to anyone who can read your E-mails, like your system
        administrator.  Always test it first before you send/post.

        For post testings, please use the appropriate test
        newsgroups (like misc.test, alt.test, sci.test, and so on)
        instead ofposting it in SCC, wasting everyone's time.

   (4) Last and the most important:  Don't use the anonymous
       service, if you truly don't want anyone to know who you are:

        Anonymous remailers are just like the locks you put on
        your brand new bicycle.  Locks can be picked.  The
        anonymous protection for your mail and post can be
        broken, by various means.  A lock on your bicycle may only
        mean more time for a thief to steal it;  for an expensive
        bicycle and given enough time, a determined thief will find
        a way eventually.  Plus, someone may have a master key
        to your lock and have the authorities open it without your 
        consent.  The following are examples of other ways by which
        anonymity can be broken.

        An E-mail and/or a Usenet posting becomes anonymous only
        after it reaches the remailer site.  Before that,
        technically any network node which relays your message
        from your computer to the destination remailer can know
        who you are and what you said.  In addition, some anonymous
        remailers might log your transactions;  this log might be
        released under the legal process in the country where the
        remailer is located.

        Thus, if you use the remailers to protect yourself, know 
        that they do not provide a complete assurance of anonymity.
        Moreover, if you use them for some illegal purpose 
        acknowledged by the international public (such as posting 
        commercial software or other copyright-protected material) 
        you might get caught.

        To sum up, if you indeed fear the authorities, remain silent
        and do not send E-mail or post messages anonymously.
---------------------------------------------------------------
written by:     Tung-chiang Yang <tcyang@seas.ucla.edu>
                Zhan Su <cssuzhan@pku.edu.cn>

with editorial assistance from:
                Mark Swofford <mswofford@aardvark.ucs.uoknor.edu>
_______________________________________________________________


==================================================================
NETIQUETTE
  written by Bo Peng <bo@saavik.cem.msu.edu>
__________________________________________________________________
For comments and suggestions, please send your ideas to the first
author or to

   scc-faq@saavik.cem.msu.edu
__________________________________________________________________

Netiquette: Etiquette for Net Surfing. 

No, this is not meant to teach you what to do or not to do. In
fact, I'm probably among the last few on Planet Earth to
qualify for giving instructions on manners. I simply don't
give a *BONK*...

Oops. That's what I mean. Feeling assured that we're not going to 
get kicked in the rear when arguing on-line, we all share the 
tendency of letting it all out:  being aggressive, bitter, or even 
downright nasty while being perfectly gentle, nice, and perhaps 
even sensible in real life. Just as people curse and honk and give 
each other the finger on the road, but the moment they step out of 
the car, they instantly warp through a few millennia and catch up 
with civilization. So don't feel too bad about yourself; you're 
not alone.

The only difference between net surfing and road surfing is that 
when you inadvertently make a fool of yourself over the net, 
people actually see it -- thousands, perhaps millions of them. 
Therefore, for your own sake, a little self-restraint and 
self-consciousness is in order. I speak here from my own 
experience, as someone who went through the "SOB" phase when I 
first stumbled into the wild and wonderful world of USENET.

Netiquette is all about common sense. The only reason we feel it's 
necessary to include this section in the FAQ is that, exactly 
because it *is* so common sense, it's all too easy to forget at 
times, especially when caught up in the heat of things. By 
definition, soc.culture.* groups are among the hotter places in 
USENET.

First and foremost, always remember that you're making a speech 
in front of perhaps millions of people all over the world 
whenever you post something to scc. The following "rules" are all 
corollaries of this "Zeroth Law".

1. Refrain from personal attacks, inflammatory remarks, and 
swearing. I know, it's not easy. But perhaps it'd help a little if 
you remember this: it does not work. Bullying may work in high 
schools or on the streets, but it simply doesn't work in netland. 
Just like you feel safe and sound letting it all go, the 
psychological barrier against flaming back is very low for your 
opponent. This is where the saying of "East wind blowing and drums 
rolling, nowadays who fears whom in this world..." is actually 
true.

Keep cool. If you're really irritated, ignore'em. Try to recall 
the frustration and the sense of defeat when you've been ignored 
(C'mon, everybody must've been ignored at least once!) and you'll 
realize how powerful silence can be. As the Chinese like to say, 
nobody is gonna mistake you for a mute.

2. This is soc.culture.china; talk.politics.china is a separate
group. Yes, they're closely related, as with everything else
when viewed from the purest, highest philosophical level. Yet one 
can safely say that many a post in scc by all means belongs to 
tpc or somewhere else. Again, trust your common sense in making 
the judgement.

3. Try to use smileys whenever appropriate. ;-)  You don't have 
the luxury of being helped and footnoted by body language over 
the net as in face-to-face conversations. 8-( Therefore, your 
remarks, especially friendly sarcasm, could easily be 
misunderstood as something else. 7-> |-o Personally, I hate using 
smileys :-[ because it often ruins the humor, as shouting 
"Everybody, smile!" after telling a joke. %-0 Unfortunately, such 
is reality. {:-* >8-(

4. Some types of discussion are better done in private. All
news readers I know provide the function of a private email 
"reply" in addition to the public "post" or "followup". In fact, 
experience suggests that private exchanges are often more 
efficient in carrying out meaningful discussions.

5. Try to read through the post you'd like to comment on in its 
entirety before sending out the follow-up. Much unfortunate and 
unnecessary misunderstanding has occurred simply because one side 
didn't have the basic courtesy of listening to what the other 
had to say before jumping up and criticizing. It's not Jeopardy;
you have all the time in the world. It's unhealthy to think all 
the time that the world is anxiously waiting for you to provide 
an answer, although it often feels that way.

6. Try to read all follow-ups on the same thread before composing 
your own. With so many netters out there being so outspoken and 
diversified on virtually every issue, chances are that someone 
else has already said at least part of what you want to say.

7. It's always a good idea to include relevant parts of the post 
you're commenting on, so that people know what you're talking 
about. It's an even better idea to delete the irrelevant parts and 
keep it compact. A follow-up with 184 lines of the original post 
followed by "Agreed!" hardly means anything. Nobody is counting 
votes, you know.

8. Be concise and focus on the point.

9. Try to do your own homework before burdening fellow netters 
with your question or inquiry. It's tempting to throw out a 
question, sit back and wait for the answer to come your way. 
There's nothing inherently wrong with that. After all, a primary 
purpose of USENET is for people to help each other. Just remember 
that getting help from others is a privilege, not a right. Try to 
locate relevant FAQs, like this one, before screaming for help. 
Your question could have been asked and answered by others a 
hundred times already.

10. Chek you speling befor sneding ti aut. English is a foreign
language for many netters of scc;  thus proofreading can be
somewhat tedious. But if you go to the trouble of typing out the 
point you want to make, why ruin it with simple, idiotic typos? 
It can even be a good practice.

11. DO NOT USE ALL-CAPS or excessive exclamation 
marks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! All-caps and excessive exclamation 
marks convey a sense of shouting. Nobody likes being yelled at. 
And it's all too easy for others to turn away when they find 
yelling on the net. If you want to emphasize a certain phrase, 
using "*"  or "_" is *generally* considered a _better_ way.

Last but perhaps the most important:  relax. Contrary to the 
common perception, you're not in scc to save the world, not even 
the 1.2 billion Chinese. Heck, you don't even get paid a lousy 
dime for all your anger, frustration, and time. 

So, take it easy, be nice, be cool, and happy 
soc.culture.china'ing!

------------------------------------------------------
written by:     Bo Peng <bo@saavik.cem.msu.edu>
with editorial assistance from:
                Mark Swofford <mswofford@aardvark.ucs.uoknor.edu>

===============================================================

  ACRONYMS
  
    written by Tung-chiang Yang <tcyang@seas.ucla.edu >
   
   References:
          
          + "soc.culture.taiwan FAQ (part 4/5) -- Politics" by
            Tung-chiang Yang at "tcyang@ee.ucla.edu".
          + "soc.culture.china (SCC) Frequently Fought Topics (FFT)
            Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) Version 0.05" by Deng at
            "deng@bnlux1.bnl.gov".
_______________________________________________________________
   
For comments and suggestions, please send your ideas to the author or
to scc-faq@saavik.cem.msu.edu
_________________________________________________________________
   
  ACRONYMS
  
   6.4    The incident that took place on June 4, 1989 in Tian An Mem 
          Square in Beijing.
          
   ABC    American-born Chinese. Those born in the United States to 
          Chinese parents.
          
   CCK    CHIANG, Ching-kuo, the son of CKS who succeeded CKS as the
          leader of the ROC and KMT after CKS' death in 1975.  He died in
          1988.
          
   CCP    the Chinese Communist Party, currently the governing party in 
          the government of Mainland China.
          
   CG     Chinese Government, or, alternately:  Central Government
          (of the People's Republic of China).
          
   CKS    CHIANG, Kai-shek, the leader of the Republic Of China and also 
          the KuoMingTang since the 1930's.  He died in 1975.
          
   CND    China News Digest, a volunteer run news and information service
          on the Internet
          
   CR     Cultural Revolution, a mass political movement in Mainland China 
          which lasted approximately from 1966 to 1976.
          
   CSS    (overseas) Chinese Students and Scholars (from Mainland China).
          
   DPP    the Democratic Progressive Party, currently the largest opposition
          political party in Taiwan.
          
   DXP    DENG, Xiao-ping, currently the most significant and most
          effective statesman in the PRC in spite of his deteriorating
          health.
          
   EU     Eventual Unification (with China), maybe currently the
          moderate status quo proposal with the most popular support in 
          Taiwan because it does not promote any sudden change, as 
          compared to TI or U. This proposal puts off the discussions 
          about TI and/or U until the time when China can catch up with 
          Taiwan both economically and politically (in terms of democracy).
          
          Refer to "TI" and "U" for more information.
          
   HK     Hongkong.
          
   HR     Human rights.
          
   IFCSS  Independent Federation of Chinese Students and Scholars, an 
          association of various Chinese student organizations (in the
          United States).
          
   JZM    JIANG, Zeming, President of the PRC and the Secretary General
          of the CCP.
          
   KMT    Kuomingtang, or the Nationalist Party, the current governing 
          party in the government of the Republic of China.
          
   LTH    LEE, Teng-hui, the current President of the ROC and also 
          Chairman of the KMT. He succeeded CCK after his death in 1988.
          Alternately: LDH (after LI, Deng-hui, the pinyin romanization).
          
   MFN    Most Favored Nation, the privileged trade status the United 
          States government grants to many selected countries.
          
   NP     the New Party, currently the second largest opposition political
          party in Taiwan.
          
   PLA    the People's Liberation Army, the name used for the army of the 
          PRC.
          
   PR     Permanent residency, or permanent resident, also known as green 
          card. (Sometimes PR stands for "public relations" in popular 
          press).
          
   PRC    the People's Republic of China, the current effective government 
          in Mainland China.
          
   RMB    Renminbi ("people's money"), the official currency used in
          Mainland China.
          
   ROC    the Republic of China, the current effective government in Taiwan.
          
   SCC    "soc.culture.china", the newsgroup you are currently reading.
          
   SCT    The newsgroup "soc.culture.taiwan".
          
   TAM    Tian-An-Men Square in Beijing. Also commonly refers to the TAM
          incident on June 4, 1989.
          
   TI     Taiwan Independence. One of the political proposals made by
          some people in Taiwan who claim that Taiwan should be
          independent of China, and that Taiwan should abandon the 
          current name of "ROC" if it wants to participate on the world 
          stage.
          
          Officially, the ROC does not support this idea and claims it 
          would simply bring disaster to the residents of Taiwan; instead
          it promotes the idea that "the ROC is different from the PRC".
          
          The PRC views TI and this ROC policy as approaches to 
          independence, and vows to use force should Taiwan ever announce
          independence.
          
          Note that a lot of problems arise because of the confusion over
          "Taiwan = ( or != ) ROC" and "CCP = ( != ) PRC". Refer to "EU"
          and "U" for more information.
          
          Sometimes TI also refers to the Tibet Independence movement.
          
   TPC    The newsgroup "talk.politics.china".
          
   U      "U" here refers to the Chinese Unification, the counterproposal
          to TI. Refer to "EU" and "TI" for more information.
          
   WJ     World Journal, a Chinese newspaper published widely in the US.
          Its official name is "Chinese Daily News".
          
   WJS    WEI, Jing-sheng, the most well-known Chinese dissident.
          
  _________________________________________________________________
   
   written by: Tung-chiang Yang <tcyang@seas.ucla.edu >
   
   with editorial assistance from: Mark Swofford
   <mswofford@aardvark.ucs.uoknor.edu >
     _________________________________________________________________

List of soc.culture.china FAQ authors and contributors
(in alphabetical order)

Jihong Cole-Dai  <jidai@magnus.acs.ohio-sate.edu>
Bo Peng          <bo@saavik.cem.msu.edu>
Ray Zhan Su
Mark Swofford    <mswoffrod@aardvark.ucs.uoknor.edu
Wuchun Wu        <wuwu@phys.ksu.edu>
Tung-Chiang Yang <tcyang@ee.ucla.edu>

_________________________________________________________________
.
