Blogs from Zhaoxing, Guizhou, China, Asia
April 21st 2012
Once arriving at Zhaoxing I put my backpack in my room and had a look around this large Dong minority village which contains 5 drum towers as well as numerous wooden bridges. It has a wonderful setting at the base of a valley surrounded by many farming terraces. It has quite a few hotels located in the traditional three storey wooden buildings but surprisingly few tourists. Whilst I was in town I only saw a handful of foreign tourists and only small groups of Chinese tourists. There were also quite a few tourist restaurants as well as a lot of local eateries all selling good food. The tourist side of things was kept very low key and the locals just went about their business as if we weren't there. The other thing I liked about the ... read more
April 11th 2011
If that old adage applies to me being like the Chinese I certainly will not adapt as required. At least not completely. You see there are parts of the customs and habits of China that I, being brought up in the west, just could never get used to, not to mention try to adapt to. And this blog will be about some of the things that most disturb our western sensibilities. Let me stress that this is in no way a criticism of these manners, or a way of saying that our morals and customs are better. No it is just that for us some things seem quite disgusting simply because we have been raised in a way to find it so. So what are these attributes? Well probably what most foreign tourist would put on ... read more
December 9th 2008
That morning as the train jolted me from my slumber, I woke to spectacular chartreuse light which filled the carriage. Everyone was already up sipping green tea from glass jars, highlighted in the dazzle and staring out the windows. Our train came to rest on a viaduct and from beneath it yellowing green autumnal rice, illuminated in the rising sun, stretched to the horizon. There was no fanfare on our arrival that morning in Kaili, and not a solitary taxi driver awaits us as we exit the train station. We hop on bus #2 and trundle into town. Judging by the intrigue of the local passengers not many little blonde baby boys make it out here. Like most small cities in contemporary China, Kaili is a fairly dull, nondescript place, devoid of tourist sites and growing ... read more
April 13th 2008
Today we went to the Dingu Shan nature reserve for a good long walk. The number 21 bus dropped us off by the entrance and the rest was all uphill. The area was astounding. Everywhere you looked was waterfalls and amazing rock formations and pools. really beautiful place! Cant explain it in words very well but we will put a photo or two up! After hours spent hiking around and arriving at the peakj to see a huge rice bowl we took a little electric cart back down to the entrance and then the 21 bus back into Zhaoxing. lunch was an interesting experience. Rice and god knows what wrapped up in bamboo leaves and then steamed for hours. Very tasty indeed. We spent the rest of the day shopping for tat and another tasty meal. ... read more
April 12th 2008
Waking up at a decent hour we packed up and headed to the bus station on the train. We bought three tickets to Zhaoxing and hopped onto the 1.30 bus. After a few hours on the bus we were dropped off in another strange city and quickly set about getting lost. Success!! The bus station we were dropped off at was not the one we thought it was and so our careful wandering was all in vain. This would be the moment when the light rain that had been hounding us decided to become a torrential downpour. Stopping at a ceramic shop we attempted to ask for directions. This too did not help us! We waited for a while under the shop for the rain to stop but it just got heavier and heavier. Then the ... read more
Zhaoxing - Part of the Dong Family in Tang an
Published: December 13th 2007Asia » China » Guizhou » Zhaoxing
December 13th 2007
Well itchy. Well itchy. Well itchy. I haven't done shite for updating my blogs. No excuses really. Well I have been busy since I started working in September but I had 2 months in Singapore to catch up but I was lazy. Just a quick update of now. I am in Wenzhou, Zhejiang, China teaching English at English First Training Centre. The city is crap but I love the friends I've made and the most my students are great. Anyway. So here I go again. I hope I can remember all the good shit. These upcoming blogs will probably be a lot shorter than the "in the moment" ones since because of time that has gone by. Boh well. Maybe that is good for you if you were quite bored with them. Hehehe. Oh well. Lets ... read more
October 10th 2007
An early start saw us pootling out of Sanjiang in a bus packed with the usual mix of smokers and chunderers. It was clear when we passed from the province of Guangxi into the richer province of Guizhou, as the road suddenly became tarmaced. Shortly after entering Guizhou, there was an interesting incident that made both of us wish we could speak Mandarin. A group of men got on the bus, 2 of whom started a loud and protracted argument that eventually several other passengers joined in. Suddenly a pack of cards was produced, and there was a mad scramble by all and sundry to hand over 100 yuan notes - presumably stakes in some sort of gamble (and not an insignificant amount of money, possibly a week's income, for locals in traditional employment). We couldn't ... read more
September 30th 2007
Toch nog een PC gevonden in Zhaoxing. Allereerst willen we even melden dat we het zo leuk vinden om alle reacties op ons log te lezen. Prachtig hoe er wordt meegeleefd. Vanuit Kaili zijn we gisteren naar Rongjiang gereden. Wederom een prachtige route door de bergen. Onderweg kwamen we in een opstopping terecht: er was een ongeluk gebeurd. Een zware oplegger had de bocht iets te nauw genomen en het tegemoet komende busje werd gegrepen. Niemand kon er meer langs. Toen wij arriveerden was er net een stevige woordenwisseling aan de gang. Het leek net of die Chinezen elkaar de hersens gingen inslaan. Er stonden wel 50 mensen omheen. En maar schreeuwen naar elkaar. De politie was gebeld. Daar moesten we op wachten. Gelukkig kwam die na een 1/2 uur. De man keek, liep terug naar ... read more
February 20th 2007
Dinsdag 20 februari 2007. Berna, Wim, Herman, Pieter en Ria ontbijten in hun restaurantje op de hoofdweg. Berna heeft vandaag trek in een pannenkoek. We bestellen elk een pannenkoek. Pannenkoeken zijn blijkbaar niet de specialiteit van dit huis, trouwens van maar weinige Chinezen. Mevrouw houdt zich eerst bezig met de noedelsoepen voor de habitués en voor de grote schare van Chinese toeristen, die de vorige dag aankwam voor het Tai Gun Ren Festival. Pas een uur na onze vraag, serveert ze haar kanjers van pannenkoeken. Die kunnen echter in de verte niet tippen aan de fijne pancakes, die de gastvrouw van Lulu’s Home Stay de vorige dagen voor ons bakte. We doen ons uiterste best om de dikke lappen te verorberen of meer plastisch omschreven ‘naar binnen te werken’. Het is nu tijd om afscheid ... read more
February 19th 2007
Maandag 19 februari. Gisteren was het de huwelijksdag voor de koppels waarvan beide uit Zhaoxing afkomstig zijn. Vandaag is de trouwdag voor de koppels waarvan één van beiden in Zhaoxing woont. Vandaag viert Zhaoxing ook het ‘festival of carrying the governors’. Berna vernam gisterenavond toevallig van een oom van onze gastvrouw dat het feest van ‘Tai Guan Ren Carnival’ hier zou doorgaan. Het gaat om een driejaarlijks feest. Heel wat toeristen komen af op dit evenement hoewel de meeste Chinezen gewoontegetrouw Nieuwjaar in hun familie vieren. We ontmoeten toeristen vanuit Sjanghai, Hongkong en zelfs iemand, die 2000 km reisde naar Zhaoxing. Dit gebruik van 300 jaar oud komt overeen met het Han Chinese Spring Festival bij het begin van elke eerste maan in het jaar. Deze ceremonie is het symbool van het verlangen naar een ... read more
