West 2 East

Photos: Haikou

lha — Sat, 4 Dec 2010 12:51:00 GMT

China's proposed Hawaii

Haikou, Hainan Province

lha — Sat, 4 Dec 2010 12:11:00 GMT

Time to up date again and yes, I'm late in doing this, but only by a couple of weeks. Things have been very busy here at school as we nearing the end of the term and final exams are racing up.

OK, the other weekend I ventured to Haikou, capital city of Hainan Province. My friend and I arrived there around 1am and went in search for a hotel, as this time I didn't pre book any and thought it would be easy enough to get one. How wrong I was. It seems that now is the time when all travel to this Island to escape the cold winters here. We were lucky with our 2nd choice and finally got to our rooms around 3 am.

The main reason for me going back to Haikou was business, so I didn't get to see as much of the city as I would have liked, but there will be other times, I'm sure. The city itself is old, mainly in the downtown area and the traffic is absolute bedlam 24 hrs a day. It is quite a noisy city, but the people there are very friendly and hold a relaxed feel about them.

I did go there a month or so ago and stayed in a different hotel to this time round and is another reason why I went back. The hotel then is classes as a 4 star hotel and is owned by Hainan Airlines and is situated in the downtown area. As soon as I walked into the Lobby, the smell of dampness hit me and it was very strong. I thought that once I get up to the room all would be right. How wrong I was. The whole room also smelt damp and musty and I felt as though it has never been aired. I asked for another room and was told all rooms are the same. (I booked this hotel for 3 nights, on line and on other guests reviews. As it was nearly 1 am I thought I would stay here for the night and try and fix the problem in the morning. I got into bed and was surprised to find that all of the bed linen was damp. After a few minutes I felt quite cold and got up again and had no sleep at all. The air conditioner didn't work in the bedroom and it was quite hot.

Next morning I checked out and went across the road to another hotel and found it to be the exact opposite of the one I just left. That night I slept like a rock in a dry bed. I wrote a review for the first hotel, stating what happened when I arrived back at school.

From then until my last trip to Haikou, I was contacted by the management of the hotel, where they apologised, in their normal Chinese way and asked me to stay there next time I come back as they have taken note of my review and have made many changes since. I informed them I would not stay there, but I would be happy to return and see the changes made and make another review. Then the manager asked me to delete my review, of which I could not, as it will damage their hotel.

K, now back to my latest trip to this city. On the morning I arrived I received a phone call from this manager again and was also invited to lunch. When I arrived there I could still smell the dampness before I walked in the front door. Lunch was pre-ordered for me and I was served different types of seafood, of which I don't eat, so needless to say I had very little to eat for lunch. After lunch I was shown around the hotel, but did not see the original room I stayed in and of which I continually asked to see it. Every time I asked the manager what changes have been made, he avoided the question and changed the topic. After 4 hours I left feeling that nothing much had been done at all, like I was told. My 1st review still stands to this day.

That night, my friends and I enjoyed a great meal at a restaurant where we demolished a BBQ Lamb leg each and made plans to meet for lunch the following day.

After lunch, we were taken to a couple of places around the city and our first stop was a park where most Chinese people go to fly kites, exercise or to jus wander around. It was very peaceful there and quite a few of the plants reminded me of home. After this we went to the beach where I watched bridal couples having their photos taken. Here in China, when they get married, they have photos taken before the actual ceremony and their wedding is called lunch or dinner with friends, just like our receptions. It's quite a site to see and watch, not to mention amusing :-)

At present I have no idea of where my next adventure will be, but there is talk with a few of us in going to Harbin in January to see the Ice Carvings. Stay tuned for more.

Photos: Xiamen

lha — Mon, 1 Nov 2010 15:42:00 GMT

Fujian Province, China

XIAMEN

lha — Mon, 1 Nov 2010 15:07:00 GMT

Well, I'm back and sorry for taking so long with checking in here and penning my latest happenings. Life has been quite busy for me since last I wrote.

K, for the October 1 Holidays I went to Xiamen, Fujian Province. October 1 is China's National Day and this year they celebrated their 61st birthday. Normally all get 3 days official holidays for this, but we end up with 7 days off from teaching, but do have to make up 2 classes when we return, which is a small price to pay.

I left for Xiamen on Thursday, 30 September, as I don't have any classes on a Friday, so I was hoping to beat the crowd, well most of them anyway. I almost succeeded in this.

I pre-booked a hotel and when I arrived I was to find the room was not what I requested and after some time trying to sort things out and not getting anywhere with the management, I left and went to another hotel and of which turned out to be much better. Some things are meant to happen.....

One of my old students, from Nanchang days met me for breakfast and after this we went shopping. I was lead to Zhongshan Lu and this place was crowded and I swear every city in China has a shopping road of this name. Later we ventured to another shopping area and where I also managed to find the items I was looking for, late afternoon.

Next day we decided to go to GuLangYu Island, but found the ferry was packed with tourists and decided against this and aimed to go there another morning, but much earlier so we can beat the crowds. In lieu of this we hunted down somewhere to eat lunch and decided to do the tourist bus trip around the island, of which I did enjoy. This bus follows the coast and takes about 2 hours to complete and the weather was perfect.

On Sunday morning we arrived at the ferry for the island bright and early to find everyone else had the same idea as us. People were jammed packed on the ferry, including us and off we went. Once arriving on this island we tried to find the Aquarium without much luck. We walked quite a distance, asking people where this place was and still couldn't find it. It was after we decided to give up on this that we came across it and the line was from here to eternity! We then headed in search of somewhere quite for lunch and came across a nice little cafe which also had a rocking chair in the yard and I took the liberty of testing it out for the next 3 hours :-) It's not often one finds one of these chairs in China. After lunch, more and more people were turning up, so we decided to leave and I noticed another wharf which looked quite empty and headed for it. The other one had people lined up waiting to get the ferry back, so I think I made a good choice. With the ferry to GuLangYu, it is free going to the island, but on the way back, one needs to pay 8 yuan, very handy indeed as most places here in China charge a small fortune to enter and exit places.

On my last day in Xiamen I went to the Botanical Gardens and it was very pleasant indeed. The first area we visited was the Tropical Garden and here there were a lot of different Orchids growing from the trees and further up were some different Water Lily's leaves and of which fascinated me. Next we came across the Desert Garden, but didn't enter this as I am not a Cactus admirer, only when they are in full bloom. All the street lights in the gardens were operated by Solar power, which was nice to see for a change.

After walking some distance and beginning to feel a tad bit warm, thirsty etc we came across a restaurant and opted for an ice cream instead. This place had the best ice cream freezer I have ever come across since being here - the ice creams were solid! Boy, it sure did taste and feel good going down. On our way towards the exit, we also came across a new temple and I just fell in love with the craftsmanship here, the wood work was amazing. Then we found smiling Rocks, but I only managed to find one, onwards through Little Shangri-la, the Rose Garden, where there were only a few, through the Palm Garden and finally the main gate. All of this took us about 4 hours and we still didn't see everything, next time i will need to go earlier in the morning and find some more hidden treasures.

My next trip will be to Haikou, the capital city of Hainan, so, stay tuned.....

Moon Cakes

lha — Wed, 22 Sep 2010 13:01:00 GMT

It's that time of the year again........Mid Autumn Festival is a traditional holiday which falls on the 15th day of the eighth month on the Chinese Lunar calendar and this year it will be held on a Wednesday. To celebrate this, all here worship the moon.

The first moon cakes were made around the 14th century and were pancakes with pieces of paper inside which read "Kill the Mongol's on the 15th day of the eight month".

As the name suggests, the day falls in the middle of Autumn and symbolises harvests and family reunions.

Traditional celebrations will be held and families will go to each others places, taking moon cakes to give as gifts. On the night people will gather outside and watch the full moon while eating these cakes. Other activities enjoyed here are mountain climbing, a game with lanterns and in some areas a masquerade is held for young people to find partners as they believe the Moon God is a highly efficient matchmaker.

Many different kinds of fillings can be found inside these cakes and my favourite ones are Peach or Pineapple. The most famous one eaten by the Chinese have egg or a meat paste inside. This year I have seen the famous Green Tea flavour on the shelves of shops. I am still waiting for the chilli ones to evolve, maybe next year :-)

In memory of Tom Carroll

lha — Sat, 4 Sep 2010 06:52:00 GMT

Yesterday, I woke to find a very sad E mail in my box. My very good, dear friend and colleague, "Aussie Tom", as known by us all here at Peizheng College passed away in Brisbane, Australia the previous night.

Tom was one of natures true gentlemen and was admired, loved and respected by all who knew him here, both Chinese and Foreign.

I first met Tom when I began at this school last year and we spent many enjoyable meals together at various venues, both in and outside of the school grounds. One of our favourite haunts was the Northern Restaurant, where they sell food from the norther city of China, known simply as Dongbei. We often frequented this restaurant, with at times of up to 20 people and these nights always started with a lot of laughter and ended in much more. Another haunt we liked to grace our presence with was a local BBQ restaurant, where we could sit outside and watch the locals pass by doing their daily business, of finding something to eat. Then there was Magik Cafe, where one could always find very cold beer and After Five, which usually was the last haunt of our nights, if not Red Lovers.

Last Christmas, us Aussies decided to old our own Xmas dinner and along with the couple of New Zealanders here, again we enjoyed another fantastic and memorable night. No one can remember what time we all ended up going home, but I do remember it was late. On Christmas morning, we all got together again to enjoy an "Aussie" Xmas brekky of Bacon and eggs, tomatoes, baked beans, toast, Champagne and orange, sausages and of course coffee. This was one of the best Xmas' I have ever experienced in China.

The college held a Xmas party for all of us foreigners, complete with entertainment for the night. At our Xmas dinner party, we decided we were going to submit a late entry for this and promptly sat down and re-wrote the carol "12 Days of Christmas" to suit our life here in China and perform this act. This re-write was done at 2 am in the morning and after we had all consumed many bottles of good wine etc. Needless to say, the act went of better than we hoped and yes - Tom was right there with us, all the way.

Every time something was happening here, Tom was right there to help us enjoy ourselves to the max and was right in the middle of all of which was going on around him. Even in class, he loved his students, as they did him and was a very popular teacher here with them all. He had time for all, no matter how busy he was in his own life.

Tom, you will be missed greatly here, as you have been since your return to Australia for treatment for your health problem. You will forever be in our thoughts, hearts and our memories. It has been an honour to know you and to work with you over the short few months we spent here in Peizheng College. Very sadly missed by all.

My thoughts are with his family now and I know they will move on in their lives, just as I will do in time, but still draw on all the good memories we have of Tom.

Rest In Peace, Tom as I know you are now with your loving wife and your God.

Photos: Shamian Island, Guangzhou

lha — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 18:42:00 GMT

At Journey's End........

lha — Thu, 26 Aug 2010 18:21:00 GMT

I am now back at Peizheng College as the new school term will begin from Monday, Aug 30.

My last port of call during my holidays was Shamian Island, Guangzhou, where I aimed to relax and catch up on some much needed rest from all of my galavanting about. How wrong I was.

Shamian Island was the place of settlement for foreigners many years ago and most of the buildings to be seen here are original. On my wander around the island I came across a couple of signs stating "Consulate of.........".

There are some good restaurants around and one which I quite liked was the Orient Express at the end of the road of my hotel. This restaurant serves French courses and wine. I had Deep fried Cammy on a bead of salad and toast, followed by a very tender filet steak and washed down with a glass of French red wine. A very expensive restaurant for Chinese standards, but worth the taste.

As I was kept so busy running around Guangzhou taking care of business, I didn't have a lot of time to take pictures and aim to go back again another day to complete this task. Perhaps my main reason for not doing this is a lot of work was happening on the island during my stay there for the Asian Games in November.

My next journey is being planned for the October holidays, where we will have 7 days off and I am looking at going to Xiamen, Fujian Province. I have an old students there who has promised to be my official guide. This could be interesting as he has a habit of getting lost. Another of my student's here may also come with me, as this is her home province and also wants me to see her home town and meet her parents.

Keep watching for further updates as they happen and find out if I did make it to Xiamen or not!

Photos: Beijing

lha — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 09:52:00 GMT

From Anzhen Road to Summer Palace

Beijing

lha — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 23:31:00 GMT

After 6.5 years, I finally made it to Beijing, although I didn't get to see a lot of it. The weather was perfect on day 1, so much cooler than what I have been experiencing. I met up with Farr, who use to work at my school and it was good seeing him again and knowing all is well in the big smoke. I waived dinner that night as my flight was delayed and for a few hours and opted for bed and a good nights sleep.

After catching on some mail, I trotted out and wandered around the area I was at. I could not believe how empty the roads and footpaths were as I am so use to people being everywhere I venture to. It felt kinda eerie, but really peaceful. After unloading my purse a the local shopping mall, I ventured back to get ready for dinner. After hooking up with Farr and Jasmine, his girlfriend, we decided on gracing our presence at the local Beijing Duck restaurant, where we ordered way too much and left much heavier than when we entered. I just love Beijing Duck!

Next day was spent mainly doing some washing and heading in the other direction of the previous day. Here I found a great tea house, named Semosa Garden Tea House, well on the front of the building it says Semosa and on their flyer it says Samosa. All the same I sat myself down at a table outside, which looked just like a small garden. there was soft music playing and the staff were great. One girl there spoke very good English and her name is Margaret. If you ever go to Beijing, search for this tea house and ask for Margaret. I just know she will look after you. On my last night in Beijing, I went back to have a second helping of tomato noodles and their Logan Healthy tea. Margaret presented me with a small gift and wished me well on my travels and hoped to see me back there again.

That night, the three of us bombarded another local restaurant and also enjoyed another great meal. (I was so glad the hotel didn't have any scales in my room) :-) Then we walked around looking at everything around us. The Chinese call it 'shopping' and I never cease to hear this.

Saturday afternoon took us downtown to an area where the Hutongs are and of which is also near the Bell Drum tower. Again there was hardly anyone in sight and I just lapped it up. The Hutongs hold a very long history in China and when there among them, one can sense this. As we walked down one of the streets, I remembered I hadn't had lunch yet and was why I felt a little hungry. We found a bar and wandered in for a snack and a much needed drink. Whilst there, a group of people came in and started hanging posters up. Farr told me there was to be a party there that night for some organisation celebrating their 2nd year. It seems the whole place was booked out for the night just for this event. While watching them set up, they showed some pics, which must have been taken while they were in the big cap. (Seems they were from Guangdong Province). Most of the pics were out of focus and all of them were of the members posing with their 'rabbit ears', as I call them. I thought I was bad at taking pictures and now I don't feel that way at all :-)

Next day, Sunday off we toddled to view the Summer Palace, which was quite some distance and we elected to hop on a bus. On the way we passed Renmin University, which one hears a lot about and all around China. Thos is one of the biggest uni's in China and all kids want to go there to study. Next we pass Peking Uni, also just like the previous one - huge and very popular with all.

Finally we make it the palace and now I know where all the people in Beijing are - Summer Palace! Don't ever go to this place on a weekend, it is absolutely crowded. The palace is very large and one could spend a whole day there and not see all of it. The part I saw, mainly the lake is only a very small part of the whole array, but is beautiful. One day I will go back and see it again, only this time I will go during the week and when everyone is at work and school :-) It was a lot cheaper to get into than I expected, only 30 RMB and that ticket just bought you the way in and out. If you want to go in and see other things etc, it will cost you more, all depending on what you wish to see.

Far and I walked, in total of about 5 hours that afternoon and I was beat when we finally arrived back at my hotel, around 6pm. On our way back, we did stop off and viewed the 'Mini shopping', as you can see in one of my pictures. How they got this up there, is beyond me, but looks quite effective.

Next day I left Beijing and headed back to Hangzhou. My planned trip to Xinjiang has been postponed for now, as my student never answered my message, so I guess she never got it. Always another day and I will get there one day or year.

As for my extra time in Hangzhou, nothing special will be happening and then I will head back to Guangzhou for about a week before heading back to school and preparing once again for the new school term.

Stay tuned for notification of my next adventure in China, which is planned for the October holidays and I will go to Fujian province, visiting Xiamen and anywhere else I have time to get to in a week.

Photos: Shanghai Municipality

lha — Sun, 8 Aug 2010 03:10:00 GMT

Nanjing

lha — Thu, 5 Aug 2010 13:07:00 GMT

Nanjing is a city I do like here in China as it's not flat and all grey looking :-)

I came here for 3 nights, mainly to catch up with another friend who was teaching a Summer camp. Once I had booked into the hotel, I went in search of my friend, but found him just coming out of the elevator. After the normal greetings of "What's Up?" and with my answer of "The ceiling!" we caught up a bit on our latest happenings and went in search of more food.

It was very hot in Nanjing and while I was there, I never saw it get below 36 C during the day, with the nights hanging around 30 C and complete with a hot wind. So, I didn't venture out a lot, only for food.

My mate informed me the hotel was c..p, as always with these summer camps :-) then he informed me the air conditioner turns itself off every now and then and you have to wait 10 mins, if you're lucky before turing it on again. Now this is not good during the night and you wake up hot and bothered, then can't go back to sleep again. Thankfully this only happened to me once while there. Other than that, my time in Nanjing was enjoyable and nothing really to write home about, except for when I left there yesterday for my next leg of the journey.....to the big capital......Beijing :-)

My flight was due to leave at 2:45 pm and arrive in Beijing at 4:35 pm. I thought this would be good timing and with luck I would miss the peak hour traffic. I nearly missed everything, more so my hotel booking as they couldn't speak English and my Chinlish is outstanding, needless to say my Chinese is barely zilch!

My flight was delayed and there was no reason given and there was also nowhere to sit as the flights before mine, all 4 of them were also delayed. After standing and waiting for about an hour, there was movement, so I rushed over and got a seat :-) One sure needs to be quick here in China to get a seat anywhere :-)

Finally a girl appeared out of nowhere with a megaphone and I know from experience that when a Chinese citizen has one of these in their hand, it could only mean one thing.....an announcement was going to be made and finally I might learn something. Wrong! She made the announcement in Chinese only and more than half of the hoard got up and moved, meanwhile I waited and waited and waited and was still waiting for the English announcement for 5 minutes and finally went up to her and asked what's going on? She couldn't speak english! Another worker informed me what was happening and said it was not for my flight, so I sat again and continued on waiting.

At 4:30 we boarded the plane finally and still sat there for another hour before taking off. I was informed that a storm was terrorising Beijing and is why all flights were delayed, in and out of Beijing. The seat in front of me was broken and I thought "thank goodness I didn't get that one". Time to eat while we waited to depart the scene at the airport. I was feeling a little peckish as I hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast. I undid the latch for my tray and it landed in my lap! By this time I was in no mood for anything else to go wrong. The air stewardess looked in surprise when they saw it and laughed. Later I was moved up to First class, where I might add, the seats were in top form :-)

By the time I reached my hotel it was nearly 9pm and I was absolutely beat and didn't want to do anything. Farr met me at the hotel and helped me with my gear and we decided to go out and have Beijing Duck tomorrow night, which is now tonight. Just thinking about it is making me hungry right now.

Tomorrow is another day, so heres hoping all will begin to go well again.....stay tuned.

Shanghai

lha — Thu, 5 Aug 2010 12:34:00 GMT

Latest update on my travels. I left Hangzhou for Shanghai on the D train, which only took about an hour's travelling. Shanghai hasn't really changed that much to me, just more and more new buildings.

The hotel I stayed at was an experience that surprised me. Most hotels here generate some noise of one kind or another, but this hotel wins hands down! The first room I was put in was at the back of the hotel and I had a view of a garden, but there was no room for my computer so I could continue on with my work - yes, even while I am on holidays, I am still working! Getting back to this hotel, I asked my friend if he could ask for a room with no computer and then waited for the response. Big mistake! I was put into a room at the front corner of this hotel and I thought ok, perhaps the locals do sleep at night. All night I had horns hooting and here, the trucks use these horrible "air horns!" and to make it even more interesting, when they use the horns, their hands magically get stuck on the button for the next 10-30 mins! Next came the sound of the Metro, which I worked out to be right underneath me, but thankfully they did stop operating around 11 pm.

I ventured out to find something to eat and to also locate some much needed items for my time there - Coke Zero! After walking around some and having a good old general peak at the place, I went back to my room to meet a friend on line. Once inside, I found the local traffic INSIDE was a whole lot worse than the trucks and cars outside and this went on until about 2 am - another sleepless night had.

The next day, my friend Jack met me and we trundled off in hunger and ended up at a Japanese style restaurant, where we decided to go to an old factory which has now been turned into art studios, but there was not much open when we finally arrived there, so we decided to head for another old part of town and search for a nice long cold drink. The temp. That day was 36 C and there was no breeze, so it felt a lot hotter.

We located this famous street, (pls forgive me, I can't remember the name of this street just now, but will find it out soon and enlighten you) and I was surprised to see there were lots of watering holes around and to choose one was not easy. We sat in this little bar, which was cool from the air conditioner, a nice change to see as most people in China won't use them, they just have them and look at them as pieces of art! We sat there for well over an hour before summing up the courage to move on and check out the rest of the place. We came across one guy who was painting original Chinese pictures, using his hands and I was absolutely amazed by the mountains, clouds, trees etc all taking shape with a quick flash of his hand. I tried to take some photo's, but alas they didn't turn out too well mainly as my finger on the button was no where near as quick as this guy's hands :-)

Onto the next famous street in Shanghai, same idea as the other one, only more modern and more bars/restaurants. After checking this one out, we were beginning to feel a tad bit hungry and couldn't decide where to go or what to eat, so we chose an Italian restaurant and enjoyed a well earned drink, while chewing over the fact of WHAT to eat :-)

We decided "Homeward Bound" was the best place and on our travels to find the closest Metro entrance, we stumbled upon a little Italian restaurant and filled ourselves stupid and enjoyed every little morsel.

The next day I met Jack and his mum for brunch, then we made our way out to the new train station at Hongqaio airport. Boy some things have changed here. This place is amazing and I learnt the Metro system goes from Hongqaio airport through to the Pu Dong airport, which makes it all a whole lot easier now getting from A to B.

I left Shanghai in a rush - on the new G train and I noticed as we pulled out of the station, the train was clocking up a speed of 71 k's before we even got to the end of the platform! I've never left Shanghai so quick before, so things are looking up :-)

Next stop........Nanjing (in 1 hour and 10 minutes)

Photos: Nanchang/Hangzhou

lha — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 11:27:00 GMT

Johnson, Nick, Ronan etc

Nanchang and Hangzhou

lha — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 11:10:00 GMT

My time spent in Nanchang, though short was very pleasant. I managed to catch up with Johnson and young Nick, both of whom I have known for the last 5 years.

On my second night there, we managed to demolish half a Mongolian BBQ Lamb and boy, have I missed this since being in Guangdong Province.

On my trip to Nanchang, I ran in to another Aussie on hols here until the end of August. John came and visited me and I told him of my adventures to date in China, plus some of the things one should and should not do here.

While now in Hangzhou and leaving today for Shanghai, I have also caught up with more friends and enjoyed a well earned rest. Hangzhou has changed some since my last trip and it never ceases to amaze me how things can appear over night. There will be a new Marriott hotel opening soon, right in the central part of Hangzhou.

On my second night, I finally got to meet Ronan's parents and we all went out for dinner at a typical Hangzhou restaurant, where we stuffed ourselves to our hearts delight. The duck we ordered came out with a certificate and I guess this means it is duck and not something else :-)

After dinner Ronan and I ventured to the 1945 bar, where another great friend of mine works - Windsor. Windsor is Chinese and sings English songs and is how I first met him, back in 2004. Then his hair was long and now it is shorter than mine, though it does suit him.

Yesterday was a pleasant day by having lunch with Janey, my first teachers assistant back in 2004. We have been great friends ever since and are more like sisters now.

Some of the pictures I am adding are of Johnson, Nick, Ronan, his parents and Windsor, mainly for those of you who know what I am talking about and can see an up date of them all.

Onwards to Shanghai and with luck, my next up date will be from Nanjing, where I will have more time to write. There I will be catching up with Chuck and as we always do when we get together, we will enjoy some great Chinese/Western food and a few good drinks, not forgetting lots of laughter.

Till next time.........keep smiling :-)