I remember those heady days! 
These days our sub-prefecture’s door is locked and a pleasant woman (who speaks passable English) comes and unlocks it and lets us in and tries to help but expects us to then go away and do it all online. A month on, neither of us have got to grips with the system. We haven’t even managed to register, let alone sort out our issues. Progress - huh! 
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Not a language that is widely spoken in China.
I use the French rail network a lot and as a rule the trains run to the minute. The last time I travelled by train in Switzerland we were delayed by a simple problem. The guard refused to let the train leave the station until at least 20 people got off as it was overcrowded. My daughter and I who were not in a hurry were in that 20. We used the hour to spare to go up the nearby funicular to look over the lake towards Zug before returning and continuing south.
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A question I have raised in the past. To me the name is essentially negative. Thinking about it maybe “Enjoy France” would be rather more positive and reflect the standpoint of many of the contributors.
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I know it well. I regularly use to cycle up the Zugerberg on my way home.
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I’m reminded of a Syrian we knew in Germany, who was complaining about German bureaucracy. He said, “In Syria it’s much better, you give some bakshish and you get it straightaway.”
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It is called Survive France because the person who founded the site called it that, Simples! If you question the title why did you join?
Not just Syria but Italy and, yes, France too, but definitely not Germany. In the bad old days before the single market we lorry drivers had to have multiple permits to cross borders and each got stamped. Problem was that firms were never granted enough so we were given a special fund to cross the border and avoid a stamp.
It always worked in Italy, probably ended in gaol in Germany, but France was the worst because you never really knew which way it was going to go. Once I arrived back in Calais for the boat home and did not have a valid document. I was told to go and sit in the cab. I took that as meaning it had to be a one to one deal, no prying eyes and soon a customs man turned up at my window. ‘Papers’ he demanded and held out his hand into which I deposited the appropriate note. He went white with fury and stormed off. I rang the Boss in Kent and he said ‘offer him more’. No way was I doing that so at last he said 'OK catch ferry back as passenger, I’ll come over in the car and sort it. I went home and he brought an owner driver across in his Bentley who had a permit of his own and was being handsomely rewarded for having it stamped. Later that day my wagon was back in Canterbury and nothing more was said.
I could never understand why so many international hauliers voted for Brexit because long after that incident things got so much better.
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^This.
Also I think there is a touch of British irony and understatement in it - just as when people ask a British person how they are doing they will reply “not bad”, or “I get by” rather than “Awesome!” or “I’m doing great!”.
If a UK client were to ask me how my photos are looking I can say “terrible!” and they will laugh or smile. If I said that to an American client I would get a look of terror or puzzlement. 
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I think you should add ‘of a certain age’ where I have placed the **.
There is no way you would catch me saying the others. 
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I was thinking of our American cousins in respect of those replies.
China’s south coastal provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi have a population of ~ 127 million, half of whom are by heritage Cantonese speakers. Emigration during the 20th century created quite large Cantonese speaking areas in cities abroad, now about 20 million.
China’s government is currently exerting pressure in multiple ways on Cantonese speakers to use Mandarin and encouraging immigration into the area of groups from other parts of China. Loss of Cantonese language, descended from the mighty Yue Kingdom, will result in unique cultural loss. This has become a highly contentious issue. Individualism is incompatible with China’s plan.
Not just Syria! I have found baksheesh to be a social lubricant in so many countries. In Hong Kong it was referred to as a ‘tipsee’.
I suppose in some ways my initial instinct is to throw money at a problem until it goes away but in The West we usually call it an ‘incentive’ 
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China has a population of 1.42 billion according to World Meter in 2025, 127 million Cantonese is a drop in the ocean, Standard Chinese is the official language (Bejingese ) based on Mandarin but for very many years the government has encouraged the use of Pinyin which is a simplified version of Mandarin. When I was first in China in 1999 Pinyin and English was being taught in infant school, there are incidentally around 100 different languages in the PRC
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Cantonese is a language under siege. That is the cogent point.
And !!! 
, Palestine is being bombed into oblivion, Genocide is being carried out in full view of the world media. Ukraine is being bombed into submission again in full view of the world , all aided by the America, and you are worried about the possibility than you might have to endure hearing standard Chinese being spoken in southern China ? Are you worried about hearing English being spoken in Wales ,Ireland, Scotland?
Do systematic attempts to eliminate one group make acceptable attempts to eliminate others? Of course not, so why dismiss legitimate concerns from others.
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I’m not, and I think most people say the same, non English languages are being promoted in those countries in complete contrast to the forced non-use of the past.
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Guys. It was a pun on the word “canton”. Step away from the duelling pistols now please.
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I thought you were talking about the German speaker manufacturer 