Blogs from Guangdong, China, Asia - page 134

Hi all! I hear the weather in Sweden has been gorgeous! Blue sky, sunny weather...what more can you ask?! That's everything Guangzhou is not! Or has been lately. The fog (no, rather smog...) keeps haunting us. So does the rain, and the humdity is getting to everyone's nerves. Apart from that, everything is good! ;) Visitor after visitor after visitor... Starting with my dad - arriving almost a month ago now, staying for ten days. We got a lot of work done - visited factories, had meetings, discussed the business and the future. It's all very exciting! My sister made it down from Shanghai, and stayed one weekend - which was great! My dad boarded the same plane Malin (my friend from Uni) arrived with! And once again I was there - in the arrival ... read more

True story: As I was sitting in the Shenzhen Airport last week waiting for my plane to Beijing, Sen sent me a text message with a picture. No, it wasn't some kind of sweet "goodbye and have a safe trip" message. It was a picture of the entry to the staff bathroom in the lobby of our building, the bathroom that the guards and janitorial staff use. In front of the bathroom door was a new addition to the lobby decor: a blue and white fluffy rug. "Wait a minute," I thought to myself. "That looks an awfully lot like the blue and white fluffy rug that I bought 2-and-a-half years ago and have been using in front of the bathroom door, the rug Sen made me throw away last week because it's old and ... read more

Life in between the trips and parties and parades is what my time in china is all about. The inbetween is my frustration, satisfaction, education and what consumes me. Frustration The staring....we all know I'm not Angelina Jolie....I mean I'm close in looks, but not in achievements. I have no adopted children, no People's sexiest man 2004 boyfriend, and after June 2007 no future prospect for a job. But regardless, I am stared at too no end. I have taken to wearing sunglasses in buildings! Which has led to a few almost falls. How do the stars see those sneaky little one or two steps that position themselves inconspicuously in front of you. There was almost a nasty incident today at the train station when I missed a step....but luckily, I have grace to catch myself. ... read more

I spent the weekend of 31 Mar on a trip to a Leprosy village in Dongguan with a charity group who occasionally visits these villages and does some rennovation works. This time, I was mainly involved in helping paint a building where the Leprosy villagers live. Due to the nature of the disease, paitents of Leprosy were often placed in isolation because people were afraid of the transmission of the disease. Many still are today. As a result, in China, Leprosy villages were built in remote areas where patients are concentrated. The village I visited this time is located on an isolated island off Dongguan and the only access from the outside world is by local ferry. Indeed, the whole institution is named as a hospital, although nearly all of the patients have now recovered. ... read more

As I and Pierre were the only one who didn’t have class on that Thursday, we went to Foshan city which is at about 1 hour by bus from Guangzhou. Foshan is the third biggest city of Guangdong province. This city of more than 2000 years of history is very industrial which makes it lose all its charm. However, it encloses a wonderful temple: the temple of the Ancestors. Moreover, for those fans of martial arts, Foshan is the city where two masters of kung-fu lived several years: Bruce Lee and Wong Fei Hong! So we just had time to visit the temple and the memorial of Wong Fei Hong but next time, we will go for sure to Bruce Lee museum as this museum is quite far from the center of Foshan city :) ... read more