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标题: Greetings to all foreigners [打印本页]

作者: fastjudy 时间: 2006-12-11 10:15
标题: Greetings to all foreigners
First and foremost... On behalf of Bikehome Shanghai, Shan Ye and I, the moderators of the English forum would like to extend a warm welcome to all foreigners from all over the world.

The initial intention of the English section is for locals to get a better grip of their English command but I also believe that it can serve its purpose as a communication tool between locals and foreigners. It too can be used as a means for foreigners to get to know China better, to gain local knowledge, ride and trail information. It will be especially useful to those who just arrived in China and are interested to know more about riding here but couldn’t get over the language barrier. Shan ye and I, the English moderators will be more than happy to assist those who seek information or just to say hi so don’t be shy to contact us via email or drop us a line here at the English forums.

Take care and ride on!
Eric Wong a.k.a Monk (forum handle: fastjudy)

作者: calvinsonic 时间: 2006-12-11 23:55
there are quite a lot of foreigner riders around shanghai, i know some teachers from my schools that mountain bikes. But they have trouble finding small biking trips around shanghai (they go to this club call prodigy bike club, but they only offer long distance trips during holidays).
And i don't think foreigners are willing to spend their time in forums

作者: whytoi 时间: 2006-12-12 04:29
Would just like to make one suggestion. To attract quality participants, the forum needs focused discussions. Excessive so called "water posts" or poorly used English slangs is the best way to turn potential participants away. It would be productive for Monk to moderate these posts and maintain the technical standard.

Ride on...

作者: whytoi 时间: 2006-12-12 04:35

引用第1楼calvinsonic于2006-12-11 23:55发表的:
And i don't think foreigners are willing to spend their time in forums

This is untrue. Don't forget, there are more overseas cycling forums than there are on the Mainland. The question is whether this forum has the technical standard as well as valuable local info for riders to remember this site and participate on a regular basis.

作者: fastjudy 时间: 2006-12-12 10:37

引用第2楼whytoi于2006-12-12 04:29发表的:
Would just like to make one suggestion. To attract quality participants, the forum needs focused discussions. Excessive so called "water posts" or poorly used English slangs is the best way to turn potential participants away. It would be productive for Monk to moderate these posts and maintain the technical standard.

Ride on...

Thank you toi, suggestions noted. Currently, the English section is still under tests and it's potential to grow into a full fledge forum is still in it's infancy stage. The "water posts" are unavoidable because folks in China are still learning to use English and it's slang better, i'm pretty sure foreigners will understand. Over moderating to maintain certain english standards at this point will produce a counter effect that will chase away the local users instead, yes i agree that such standards should be made but at this point...encouragement to the locals are much more important. Again, thank you for your input.

E.

作者: fastjudy 时间: 2006-12-12 10:50

引用第3楼whytoi于2006-12-12 04:35发表的:

This is untrue. Don't forget, there are more overseas cycling forums than there are on the Mainland. The question is whether this forum has the technical standard as well as valuable local info for riders to remember this site and participate on a regular basis.

To be honest, it will be a far fetch for a foreigner to actually log on to this site to check for info on rides and trails. When i first came to China, i did my search in English sites, mtbr, Google and so forth... never would i thought such site exisited. It took me 2 years (albeit being busy from work) to actually find bikehome and it's website because i didn't know where to begin in the first place.

The reason why i extend the welcome to all foreigners is because their participation in itself will elevate the standards of the forum. I don't expect regular participation from foreigners let alone any locals so any one from beyond the China borders are more than welcome to drop us a line....someone like you.

作者: whytoi 时间: 2006-12-12 14:49
I think the issue here is one of objective for this forum.

I am not sure if the aim here is to provide a chit-chat place for locals to practice their English, or a serious English forum for discussion of cycling related matters. Based on my experience circulating on Usenet, web forums, email mailing lists and the problems you mentioned, If you guys are serious in building this English forum up, I would suggest,

1) Create a separate forum for people to "water" in English, or go to the hundreds of other English education sites.
2) Maintain a technical English forum, for quality discussion of technical issues, posting of English articles and local ride informations for Shanghai based English speaking cyclists.
3) Advertise the presence of this forum on the internet as well as by word of mouth to the local expat community.

For English speakers to participate, not impossible given the size of expat community in China and the number of them who are isolated and bored socially, this forum needs to be a no-nonsense forum where they can obtain quality information eg. Local cycling clubs, local group rides, local ride directions, reputable local bike shops, local bike bargains, and where all questions can be answered quickly and accurately without meaningless responses.

So yes, I think there's great potential for this English sub-forum to develop into a useful source of info for the expat cycling community. The issue is whether you can see the needs of the local expat cyclists. At the end of the day, out of the major English cycling web sites I frequent, none of them caters for these expats. I know for a fact that there is a need for cycling related info for expats in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Chinese Mainland.

作者: calvinsonic 时间: 2006-12-12 15:37
Than i would suggest moving the english sub-forum to the main cycling section instead of the chit-chat forum.

作者: fastjudy 时间: 2006-12-12 16:25

引用第6楼whytoi于2006-12-12 14:49发表的:
I think the issue here is one of objective for this forum.

I am not sure if the aim here is to provide a chit-chat place for locals to practice their English, or a serious English forum for discussion of cycling related matters. Based on my experience circulating on Usenet, web forums, email mailing lists and the problems you mentioned, If you guys are serious in building this English forum up, I would suggest,

1) Create a separate forum for people to "water" in English, or go to the hundreds of other English education sites.
.......

Again, I appreciate your opinions but I think you are taking this English forum too seriously at the moment. This is a test bed for future expansion into a serious forum or in that matter a fact...if it'll ever be one. I don't think bikehome or we (Shan ye and I) are ready to cater to the mass ex-pat market here in China.... it is just too big and it requires full time moderation and monitoring. I work in an Advertising agency and Shan ye is a Uni student, just the 2 of us with limited time in our hands will do this forum no good if we expand too quickly. Until more people with a substantiate amount of English background who volunteers to be a moderator would we be able to take this section of the forums further.... till then, we do the best we can.

E.

作者: whytoi 时间: 2006-12-12 16:36
Ok, perfectly understandable. I did take it from a more serious angle and thinking that you guys want to expand this forum. Yet again, it's a vicious cycle.

作者: fastjudy 时间: 2006-12-12 17:17
No worries... it's gonna take a while till we get to that size hence there's still time to iron things out.

作者: 山野 时间: 2006-12-15 21:03
i'm grateful for whytoi's suggestions,and i think Monk has made clear.this new section needs time to be enriched.now we see the subtitle is Free Talk in English,so any topic is ok,including bike topics.we will do our best to run this part.
Nice greetings posted Monk!

作者: 田鱼 时间: 2007-1-29 00:36
Couple suggestions:

1. Make this thread sticky, so everyone especially non-Chinese speaking members know what's this all about.

2. Where is the English version of "Sign in" or "Register" on the forum front page? The forum should make it more user friendly for the foreigners, at least point them where to sign up

作者: calvinsonic 时间: 2007-1-29 00:50
we just started this forum recently and the basic aim was to help improve others english by encouraging them to talk more. I don't think this really make any sence tho. still have a long way to go if we want to make it into a forum for foreigners

作者: 山野 时间: 2007-1-29 01:11

引用第12楼田鱼于2007-01-29 00:36发表的:
Couple suggestions:

1. Make this thread sticky, so everyone especially non-Chinese speaking members know what's this all about.

2. Where is the English version of "Sign in" or "Register" on the forum front page? The forum should make it more user friendly for the foreigners, at least point them where to sign up

nice suggestions,thank you
s1--I'll do this
s2--this is beyond our jurisdiction,I'll send word to the main admin.

作者: 山野 时间: 2007-1-29 01:18

引用第13楼calvinsonic于2007-01-29 00:50发表的:
we just started this forum recently and the basic aim was to help improve others english by encouraging them to talk more. I don't think this really make any sence tho. still have a long way to go if we want to make it into a forum for foreigners

I agree with you too,but it isn't bad to make this forum perfect at the beginning right?

作者: hongkong 时间: 2007-3-18 23:49
Just Say Hi to all, good to have a english forum for i cant type chinese hehe

作者: 好丽友好朋友 时间: 2007-5-26 18:23
i   am   very glad   to know   everyone ,my english is very   poor,,so that i want   to   study   from   you .thans.

作者: 好丽友好朋友 时间: 2007-6-4 22:25
I   HAVE   NOT BEEN   IN THIS FORUM A LONG TIME 。 HOW   ARE YOU   EVERYONE ？I   HOPE YOU CAN REMANBER   ME ，ALTHONGH   I   AM   FRESH 。  

作者: tai 时间: 2007-6-5 00:45
I just came to SH not long ago and they say it is best to look for activities on online forums. I am lucky to have found this site so quickly. I think it is wonderful to attempt an english forum as there are many many expats who are interested in biking around and outside of Shanghai but have no idea whereabouts to go. As for myself, i still haven't bought my bike here in SH yet, but I am certainly interested in picking up mountain biking again. I think it is an absolute amazing sport and I am very eager to see the country side of China. I have a few foreigner friends who are also interested in joining short trips on the weekend to go biking out of the city, maybe it will be a start to get them to join the forum here at Bikehome. Anyway, I think you still should offer an English registration and sign in page. It would help getting English "speakers" in joining the forum.

作者: calvinsonic 时间: 2007-6-5 01:07

引用第19楼tai于2007-06-05 00:45发表的:
I just came to SH not long ago and they say it is best to look for activities on online forums. I am lucky to have found this site so quickly. I think it is wonderful to attempt an english forum as there are many many expats who are interested in biking around and outside of Shanghai but have no idea whereabouts to go. As for myself, i still haven't bought my bike here in SH yet, but I am certainly interested in picking up mountain biking again. I think it is an absolute amazing sport and I am very eager to see the country side of China. I have a few foreigner friends who are also interested in joining short trips on the weekend to go biking out of the city, maybe it will be a start to get them to join the forum here at Bikehome. Anyway, I think you still should offer an English registration and sign in page. It would help getting English "speakers" in joining the forum.

Welcome my friend, we are more than welcome to have you here, i'm sure you'll be able to find what you need in here. I apologize for our lack of preparation to make this forum more friendly to foreigners. The english section is still in the testing stage and is new to most people. I hope it will develope into a place where foreigners and local riders can communicate with each other. Thanks for the friendly advise anyways. If you need any help, fastjudy, shanye and I will be more than welcome to help out.

作者: tai 时间: 2007-6-5 01:24
Thank you!!!!

I was browsing around the site and I noticed there seems to be more posts for road bikes than mountain biking. (And a lot of them seem pretty serious stuff and I don't think I can handle anything too hardcore to begin with...) Do you guys usually meet up to ride on the weekends?

I have been out of touch with bikes for quite some time, so I guess my question is if there are any good recommendations on purchasing a mountain bike? I will definitely go check out the Trek store this week. Thanks guys! I am very excited about finding this site. Can't wait to hop on a bike and hop on a trail. Mwhahaha

作者: lynn 时间: 2007-6-5 01:38
Well done, CS!

Warm welcome to Tai.

For the riding activities, the organisors will post the details in ACTIVITY. You may check out there.

Regarding the bike buying, it depends on your location. There are too many dealers here in Shanghai.

作者: calvinsonic 时间: 2007-6-5 13:05
oops, for got to mention lynn, she will be very happy to help out as well

Road bikes are more popular in shanghai due to its geographical location, there are hardly any mountains around. if you are looking for a place for decent biking, the closest will be Suzhou, which is like an hour and a half drive away. we do sometimes organize trips to suzhou or nanjing for mountain biking. for more information, plese check out the activity forum, as lynn just mentioned

作者: fastjudy 时间: 2007-6-5 13:57
Welcome HK, 好丽友好朋友, and tai...

First and foremost, my sincere apologies for the late intro... Shanye and I have to juggle between work/Uni and moderating this section hence we sometimes lose track on a few post...thankfully there's C.S and Lynn to back us up.

The English forum is still in it's infancy stage and most likely, it'll stay this way for quite sometime as the general population is still trying to pick up English as their second or third language. Anyhow, i believe it's a good attempt so far...

I myself am a foreigner too, well...sort of. I'm a Malaysian Chinese, meaning ethnically i'm Chinese but born and raised in Malaysia.

As CS has mentioned, Shanghai is pretty much a roadbike city.... which i too converted to a roadie' recently. I used to ride a mountian bike a year ago but finding time to travel out of the city is just too taxing.... but by all means, i hope i'm not discouraging you but just wanna' give you a heads-up before purchasing your first bike here in SH.

Last but not least, i like to extend a warm welcome to you and your friends to join us here in this section of the forum and hopefully, we could provide assistance to any questions or problems you may face.

作者: lyfen 时间: 2007-6-12 16:30
Greetings to all foreigners

First and foremost... On behalf of Bikehome Shanghai, Shan Ye and I, the moderators of the English forum would like to extend a warm welcome to all foreigners from all over the world.

not besides Chinese

作者: fastjudy 时间: 2007-6-15 12:17

引用第25楼lyfen于2007-06-12 16:30发表的:
Greetings to all foreigners

First and foremost... On behalf of Bikehome Shanghai, Shan Ye and I, the moderators of the English forum would like to extend a warm welcome to all foreigners from all over the world.

not besides Chinese

American-born-Chinese, Malaysian-born-Chinese, Singaporean-born-chinese and etc are all foreigners as well. We're ethnically chinese but cannot be considered as a local born chinese.

作者: kadc 时间: 2007-6-24 02:11
I am interested in joining China bike trips (duration 5-30 days), and you are probably the only forum in China that provides an 'English' section.

However, the posts I'm interested in reading are mostly in the 'Activity' section (and written in simplified Chinese, which I can understand only 60% of).

Anyway, I really appreciate your efforts.

作者: goshawk 时间: 2007-7-31 01:11
Welcome here, bbs.bikehome.net
You can enjoy here, find mates, friends, and etc.
If you need help, you can leave message here, or goshawk007s@hotmail.com

By the way, we have to design English Version for logging in, first of all.

作者: xprobe 时间: 2008-2-8 02:37

引用第21楼tai于2007-06-05 01:24发表的:
Thank you!!!!

I was browsing around the site and I noticed there seems to be more posts for road bikes than mountain biking. (And a lot of them seem pretty serious stuff and I don't think I can handle anything too hardcore to begin with...) Do you guys usually meet up to ride on the weekends?

I have been out of touch with bikes for quite some time, so I guess my question is if there are any good recommendations on purchasing a mountain bike? I will definitely go check out the Trek store this week. Thanks guys! I am very excited about finding this site. Can't wait to hop on a bike and hop on a trail. Mwhahaha

I second what Tai is saying. Youu guys are pretty hardcore averaging 35-45km/h, and I am intimated given that I just started to pick up road biking again.

Anyway, I have just brought over my road bike and is looking for something that is long distance but in a less harcore way. Where do I start?

Cheers!

作者: seagullbi 时间: 2008-3-31 10:22
Hello, Everyone,

My Danish Friend plan to ride from Shanghai to Chengdu, then to Tibet, Can you provide any information for him, and whether you have such activity before? Or perhaps do you know somebody interested, then can introduced to us;

Thanks for your support very much!

作者: fastjudy 时间: 2008-3-31 11:26
Hi seagullbi,

Most of the riders here who have traveled to Tibet are not fluent in English... If you could understand and communicate in Chinese, there is someone i know from this forum who can provide your friend with a lot of information. Let me know.

Eric.

作者: Tim800 时间: 2009-12-17 14:12
If you want to get some infor, via your Chinese friends, i think it is a nice choice for some foreigners, then talking together with the maps!

作者: Tim800 时间: 2009-12-17 14:24
BTW: Maybe you can buy the book<< TRAVEL BY BICYCLE IN CHINA>>
The map is the English version.
Address:

作者: Tim800 时间: 2009-12-17 14:26
BTW: The <<TRAVEL BY BICYCLE IN CHINA>> is useful for some rider.
It is sold in BIKEHOME of ZHANGNING RD 1435

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