Blogs from Hunan, China, Asia - page 20

Fenghuang are mythological Chinese birds that reign over all other birds. The males are called Feng and the females Huang I leave Yangshou with yet another slight hangover and get to Guilin.. OF COURSE I HAAAAD TO miss the train by 10 minutes so booked into Flowers hostel again until the next day - here I meet .....John, as in John Candy look alike... American guy that lives in Beijing, got chatting as I am heading there in 2 weeks and he lives and studies there, he invites me to stay in his apartment, I say I'll think about it, so we exchange numbers and I head off - Story on John Candy coming soon..... I end up taking bus from Guilin 2pm to Huahuia arrived in at 4am and then bus at 9am to Fenghuang... ... read more

Abroad. Adv. at large; in a foreign country. On my side of the world life is quiet, relaxed, manic, surprising, overwhelming, fun, nerve racking, homely, pure, interesting, old, traditional, fresh, littered, tasty and I am definitely attending the University of Life! Many people in this tiny rural town have never seen a foreigner so our every move is watched with intrigue, confusion and curiosity. Today we had a line of at least 10 people follow us around the supermarket while trying to do some basic shopping. Everyone stops and stares while we are walking down the street and when we give a friendly hello they seem shocked that we actually talk. But, I feel oh so lucky to have found a place that still feels like China. There are no restaurants, no bars, no KFC or ... read more

I have been invited to teach in a small town in Hunan Province (Chairman Mao's birthplace). My small town is called Anren. The students have never had a Foreign teacher and many people have never seen a foreigner. So I will not only be representing Australia, but every Western Foreigner. I am sure my quirks, mannerisms, personality and character will be looked upon with a magnifying glass and thought of as the norm for foreigners. I arrived at my new school which is in a very rural area. We (Dana from The USA & I) were driven 3 hours off the highway, 2 hours of it being red dirt and through rice paddies and farming areas. We arrived at the school to a parade of students and teachers clapping and cheering. We were given a bunch ... read more

William, one of our students, has an image of himself as a master businessman. About two months ago, he decided to set up a school, in the town his girlfriend's father lives. He offered us places as teachers, 10,000 kuai each a month, for two months. Apartment, flights paid for, the works. Wow, says us. This sounds like a fantastic plan. Making loads of bucks, seeing a different part of China, good hiking down there, and we'd have enough money to afford stuff when back in England for a week or so, rather than having to beg poverty and drink other people's dregs. Many meetings happened, to talk about nothing. William would call at 7.30am about something urgent, only for us to find out that it was because he wanted us to teach phrases in our ... read more

Huaihua We namen vanuit Zhenyuan de trein naar Huaihua (22Y voor een staanplaats, 3 uur). Daar namen we de volgende dag een bus naar Fenghuang. Deze bussen vertrekken vanaf het Westelijk busstation (Qiche xi zhan). Ongeveer 400m lopen van het treinstation: kom je uit de treinuitgangen, neem dan de 1ste straat rechts, daarna de 3de straat links. De bussen rijden van ongeveer 7h30 's morgens tot ongeveer 8h 's avonds maar hebben geen vaste vertrekuren, ze vertrekken als ze vol zitten. 35Y voor een rit van ongeveer 2uur30. Het landschap waar je doorrijdt is nog steeds hetzelfde als in Guizhou: bergachtig landschap, bochtige wegen en landelijke dorpen onderweg. In Huaihua konden we vlot een treinticket kopen naar Hangzhou. Het werd wel een boemeltrein, waarvoor we 251Y betaalden voor een onderbed, 243Y voor een middenbed (in hardsleeper), ... read more