Blogs from Fujian, China, Asia
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Revisiting Fuzhou = a few days with Pascal.
Published: April 26th 2013Asia » China » Fujian » FuzhouI met Pascal in Thailand in February 2013 when he was taking a year off traveling around the world. We were both traveling with our parents at the time. We all got along very well and had dinner on several occasions in Koh Phangan and Koh Tao. As he told me he would be passing through China, I gave him my email address and invited him to stay with me in Fuzhou to enjoy a typical Chinese city. He hadn't written and I thought he had lost my email or changed his plans when last weekend he messaged me... from Fuzhou! We ended up spending pretty much 5 days together and I showed him the sights: temples, old neighborhoods, shopping streets, the squares and the dirty restaurants! Pascal told me Fuzhou was much cleaner that Indian ... read more
A beautiful and relaxing day in Quanzhou, Fujian, at the beginning of April. Good life with Becky! Like every year around Tomb Sweeping Festival (Qingming Jie) the weather around Fuzhou was rainy and pretty unpredictable. We got up at least 3 times at 6am to go to Quanzhou but as it was raining, we ended up going back to sleep every time! But finally one morning the sky was clear and blue, so we took the fast train south and enjoyed a wonderful day in Quanzhou! I really enjoyed this city and wouldn't mind going back in the future for more hiking. Quanzhou is like a little Fuzhou. The fact that it is much smaller than Fuzhou makes it very convenient to get around. People seem very laid-back and we didn't witness any traffic jam... It's ... read more
My biking trip adventure in Fujian province.
Published: April 2nd 2013Asia » China » Fujian » YongdingIt was spring festival holiday in China. This involves endless firecrackers being let off in the streets throughout the week and over a billion people travelling to their family homes. It was recommended to us to avoid travelling since all public transportation are booked up and relatively more expensive than usual. Perhaps travel on bike would be a good idea. I got further inspired while on one of my longish bike rides in the mountains surrounding Fuzhou, when I came across a guy biking home for the spring festival. He was going to Gutain, just 130km up the road! He had no pannier bags, just a ruksack attached to a rack on the back of his bike. I stopped and had lunch with him, which was quite handy because he ordered some decent vegetarian food. His ... read more
Dopo oltre un mese di viaggio, tra tavolette riscaldate, coperte elettrificate e finestrini congelati, mi dirigo finalmente verso il Sud della Cina, dove le giornate si allungano e la colonnina di mercurio e' libera di schizzare gioiosamente verso l'alto. Unica tappa intermedia tra me ed i tropici e' la teoricamente imperdibile citta' di Shanghai, se non fosse altro per la sua breve ma ricchissima storia e l'importanza che ha rivestito nel corso di tutto il secolo appena trascorso. Seppur situata a meta' strada tra il Nord ed il Sud della Cina, il suo clima continua a rivelarsi decisamente gelido, con temperature costantemente attorno allo zero e fiocchi di neve che arrivano fin qui dalle piu' fredde campagne circostanti, gia' imbiancate da una spessa coltre bianca. La metropoli e' senza dubbio interessante, attraversata da fiume HuangPu che ... read more
8 wonderen om mee te maken in China
Published: December 19th 2012Asia » China » Fujian » Xiamen » GulangyuWil je ook weleens wat groter en ruiger dan de Berlijnse Muur? Heeft het Boeddhisme 'iets' dat je wel aantrekkelijk vindt? En vragen je smaakpapillen meer dan Babi Pangang en Foe Jong Hai? Dan biedt China zeker een fantastische reiservaring voor je. Maar dat wil nog niet zeggen dat je alles ook leuk vindt. China heeft als land zijn eigen manier om dingen te doen - en haar mensen ook. Het kan zijn dat jij het stuitend vindt als een Chinese man in de trein op het tapijt rochelt. Of onsmakelijk als de bediening een bord met gekookte lever of botten en vet voor je neus zet. En misschien vind je het onbeschoft als volwassen mensen keer op keer blijven voordringen. Al die ervaringen maken je bewust van je eigen voorkeuren en standaarden. Als je erin ... read more
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Elien oli taas sellainen päivä, että sitä miettii millä on selvinnyt hengissä tähän asti. Lähdin töistä viideltä ja vasta puoli seitsemältä huomasin että olin jättänyt tietokoneen työpaikan pöydälle. Tässä vaiheessa en vielä tiennyt mitä olisi edessä. Muutaman puhelinsoiton jälkeen tietokone oli pelastettu työkaverin avustuksella ja seuraavaksi lähdinkin onnellisena salimarkkuilemaan. Markkuilun jälkeen aloin etsimään puhelintani , mikä oli tietenkin hukassa. Pienen etsinnän jälkeen se löytyi pukukaapin perältä, enkä tässäkään vaiheessa vielä manaillut huonoa päivää. Kun puhelin oli löytynyt, niin seuraavaksi oli hukassa kotiavain. Mun kotiavain on sellain hotellityylinen kortti, joka tietysti hukkuu helposti tälläiseltä sähläriltä. Avainta kuumeisesti etsiessäni pukuhuoneeseen tuli pari kinkkiä, jotka pienen ihmettelyn jäl... read more
Wow!! What a full on day today. Whatever doubts I had about whether I could do the presentations about our school were quickly wiped out, along with our nerves, as we were thrown straight into marketing all day long. Considering the three of us presenting spoke no Chinese and were sent off to the second agent on our own by taxi, as the lady from the international education division travelling with us had another appointment, I think we all did really well. We started the day by visiting two different agents and going through our presentation with each of them. After that off to visit a massive school where all four us worked together to present a demonstration lesson about aboriginal dot painting to a class of about 50. Then I was wizzed off by taxi ... read more
When i get back from Xiamen Jasmine fills me in on the gossip that i've missed and the best news of all - Chef has finally walked out! Yes! He has been replaced bya grim faced Chinese woman who stands and stares with her mouth in a line – then starts shouting at me incomprehensively. There is nothing as scary or indeed as loud as the sound of a Chinese woman shouting at you. Old timers know the drill already – they are seated before the gong has gone to get their share of rice and meat/veg that is put on sharing platters in the middle of the table. By the time I get there there is nothing left. Alison gives me some of her rice and I find some meat and veg eventually but nothing ... read more
Finally I get to experience the last of the Rising Dragon school Malevolent Myths and Looming legends. Shaolin Stretching. For the last two weeks all I have heard about is pupils who have been screaming and reduced to tears by this medieval form of muscle torture. There is a lot of stretching involved in Shaolin anway – every day after each run we push ourselves intoo the splits and box splits, opening our thighs, trying to bend our torsos onto our knees. "Does it hurt – are you ok" asks Ferdinand after he's pushed my resistant hips towards the ground in the box splits for this morning's warm up. "I don't really know what o.k is any more I say - everything always hurts and i'm constantly in pain but it didn't feel like you did ... read more
Xiamen, skin nibbling fish and wooden penises.
Published: October 19th 2012Asia » China » Fujian » Xiamen » JimeiWe arrive into Xiamen at about 10 at night. A man on the bus recognises Emily from Scott's bar (she has been working behind it for some of the summer) so we ask if he can recommend any hotes and he calls around for us and finds us a place where we can share rooms for around 100 yuan a night. We get a cab with him which takes us to the university district. We hang around outside and the man calls the hotel on his phone. We stand on a street corner and debate whether or not to buy some fruit. Eventually a surly looking women with a child on her shoulders comes to find us and lead us back to the “hotel.” The entrance is down a dirty alley way (there isn't another kind ... read more
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