Blogs from Hainan, China, Asia - page 4

“Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.” - Buddha .... And, on Chinese New Year, thousands of incense sticks will be lit from the flame at Nanshan Temple, and the fragrance will float around the thousands of people who, just like me, decided to visit on what must have been the busiest day of the year. This better be the luckiest damn year of my life. I did a personality test today - turns out I’m ENFP, who, and I quote, "often have strong, if sometimes surprising, values and viewpoints... this sometimes results in the ENFP neglecting their nearest and dearest while caught up their efforts to change the world." So yeah, sorry if I'm neglecting you, ... read more

So che molti di voi scuoteranno la testa, pensando che il Mercante dopo tutto questo tempo trascorso in Oriente abbia dato fuori di matto, ma credetemi, vi posso assicurare che, almeno nel loro paese d'origine, i prodotti cinesi non sono poi cosi' male e la qualita' non e' quella di infimo livello da noi conosciuta nella lontana Europa. E' con questa ferma convinzione che decido quindi di prendermi una vera e propria vacanza "Made in China" tutta a base di sole, mare e palme da cocco; il luogo prescelto, nonche' l'unico adatto a tale scopo nel bel mezzo dell'inverno, e' la grande isola di Hainan, al largo delle coste del Guangdong, ed ormai a latitudini ben piu' che tropicali (il tropico del cancro passava per la tiepida Guangzhou...): qui il governo cinese sta promuovendo con tutte ... read more

Happy Thanksgiving Kai!! Still behind on my blog as you can see from the ^^ title... however, I am catching up; give me a week or so! I had to go to the police station this week so I could report my stolen wallet... three police stations and a wild goose chase around town in the rain was only to be followed by a cocky policeman telling me that it was physically impossible to have something stolen whilst walking along the street. Joy. On the plus side, the Chinese government now have my finger prints. In other news... and probably more optimistic news, Charlie and Dai took us to a new resturant where they serve dongbei food (literally north-eastern). Cheap and yummy... and although coated in oil, it was considerably less slimy than in the university ... read more

Oh God help me" Belle whist writing Chinese characters "Even God can't help you now" Luo, our Chinese teacher... On Tuesday night Belle and I went for dinner with Olivia, one of our Chinese friends. In China, I have no idea why, they dance in groups in the streets on campus, every 5 yards there is another group of kids dancing in unison. Olivia managed to persuade us, for a full 5 minutes that they were practicing beginners Kong Fu. At first we really didn't believe her, but she was so certain and persuasive that I really started to believe her, well until she started laughing her head off at least. Wednesday as usual was spent at the beach.... and our bus nearly crashed on the way there... he slammed on the breaks, narrowly avoiding a ... read more

My balls, my balls, my mental balls" Lola the Russian Week 3 in Sanya was characterised by... illness and bus trauma. BUT, we finally have all our classes sorted! With the typhoon little more than a distant memory, Belle and I set off for the town centre, navigating the way (for the first time) all by ourselves. As the laws of the universe seem to dictate, something must always go wrong when you don’t speak the language. This time, the bus crashed. I have been waiting a while for this to happen as the roads in china are mental. As I cross them, I whisper prayers to every god imaginable and screw up my eyes so as to not witness my own imminent death. This time the bus driver wasn't going too fast as we were ... read more