TIC (This is China)

[998S]

Gorgeous. Taitung? Hualien?

Nop, that is the gorgeous west side of YangMingShan, starting about 2 min from my house here.
If you bike up from Tamsui, go over the top at ~800m altitude pass, turn north, you got a long winding decent, ending at the beautiful North coast, which I can follow all the way back.
Some 80km trip on the bike, with today ~20 degree at sea level, but colder up.

[euphonius]

I lived in Taipei for four years, and know that area pretty well, but never remember it looking so nice (and warm) in the winter. That's why I guessed further south. I took scuba lessons off the island's northeastern tip, though the best diving is at Seven Stars Reef 七星岩 due south from the island's southern tip.

Damn what I'd give to be there right now!

[998S]

Damn what I'd give to be there right now!

I gave the travelagent 2.200 RMB, and my passport to the customs for checking.
Nothing really more to give, the rest was all arranged

Sad part of the story, it will all go into reverse end of next week, hope the API is back to 13 in Shanghai by then

[felix]

The AQI in Xi'an was over 800 a couple of days ago. Absolutley terrifying! What's interesting is the amount of transparency the new government has been displaying throughout the crisis. We can most likely thank the US embassy for that; either that or this flurry of pollution reporting is to distract from the series of escalating fly-bys from Japan and China over the Diaoyu islands.

Luckily i'm nestled in Lijiang for the winter and safe from both crises. Here's the view from my 'office', every single day:

[998S]

Now, not sure if I should be afraid (as there is no driver on board), or if I should be happy (as there is no driver on board).


Minhang keen to introduce driverless buses

MINHANG District plans to develop a model of driverless bus this year, which will run along a line of magnetic nails, district officials said yesterday.

The new bus will look like a normal bus but an electromagnetic system on board will interact with the magnetic nails on the ground to guide the bus forward, the Minhang Construction and Transportation Commission told local lawmakers.

Sensors will be aligned on both sides of a bus lane and installed on the bus to keep it move inside the lane and maintain a safe distance from other vehicles. The sensors can also stop the bus at stations automatically.

The bus can have two or more trailer sections for carrying more passengers during rush hours, according to the commission.

"The magnetic-nail bus will supplement the existing Metro and bus systems and boost the capacity of the district's public transit network," an official with the commission said.

However, the new bus will have to use a special lane and renovation of some roads and bus stops is needed.

The first magnetic-nail bus was developed about 10 years ago in the United States where the first commercial route opened to service a few months ago.

[ZMC888]

Minhang keen to introduce driverless buses

MINHANG District plans to develop a model of driverless bus this year, which will run along a line of magnetic nails, district officials said yesterday.

The new bus will look like a normal bus but an electromagnetic system on board will interact with the magnetic nails on the ground to guide the bus forward, the Minhang Construction and Transportation Commission told local lawmakers.

Sensors will be aligned on both sides of a bus lane and installed on the bus to keep it move inside the lane and maintain a safe distance from other vehicles. The sensors can also stop the bus at stations automatically.

The bus can have two or more trailer sections for carrying more passengers during rush hours, according to the commission.

"The magnetic-nail bus will supplement the existing Metro and bus systems and boost the capacity of the district's public transit network," an official with the commission said.

However, the new bus will have to use a special lane and renovation of some roads and bus stops is needed.

The first magnetic-nail bus was developed about 10 years ago in the United States where the first commercial route opened to service a few months ago.

AKA white elephant big face-getting project to impress Beijing overlords.

[MJH]

The problem with driver-less vehicles is that sensors cannot ever react to the illogical actions and reactions of the people driven vehicles. Unless all vehicle are automated and synched its seems any combining of manual and automated would be very problematic.

We are in the cusp of changes and the future will be much more futuristic then previously ever imagined.

[moilami]

About the beer: Czech beers are better.

Kozel? Hit me!

Staropramen? Hit me twice!

Gambrinus? Hit me all day long!

Those sound like very mainstream beers. Gems are often found from small breweries.

That said, to say Czech beers are better than German beers is quite interesting statement. We should do some research how the thing is. That would, naturally, involve trying hundreds of different beers, after which I would certainly propose another hundreds of samples because betterness would still be undecided :D

[TB-Racing]

the must have E-biker / scooterist accessory for the winter: http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=...a7f74c10a3762c

[Zorge]

That said, to say Czech beers are better than German beers is quite interesting statement. We should do some research how the thing is.

In that case, we should include Danish beers in our research too.

the must have E-biker / scooterist accessory for the winter: http://detail.tmall.com/item.htm?id=...a7f74c10a3762c

Tucano Urbano - Chinese way.