Blogs from Liaoning, China, Asia - page 26

Bing Yu Gou doesn't mean 'Ice Fish Dog' as my initial attempt at translation went. The trouble is no Chinese person has yet to tell me what it does mean. It's become an obsession for me. The most convincing answer I've had so far is 'Ice Mountain River', with the name conjuring up (in Chinese minds anyway) images of idyllic scenery and fresh mountain streams. Many locations in China have been given such a name to attract the tourists. Bing Yu Gou is apparently very 'haoting', nice-sounding, which was enough to appease me. It's also known as 'Little Guilin', Guilin being on the backpackers trail in Southern China, though I've only seen photos so it's difficult for me to comment. . The first 20 minutes there were perfect. After entering through the East Gate we boarded ... read more

For those of you who I haven't been in touch with, yes I'm back in Dalian. I've been back here since December 2006 studying chinese with a bit of teaching on the side. It's not really been "travelling" as such, but here are a few photos from this year. Nothing too exciting I'm afraid.... read more

Hi Everybody, can't talk long. I am in Fuxin with Miao and her parents. We are staying in their apartment and we have basically been eating every lunch and dinner with various relatives... it has been very interesting. They have been very gracious to me and treat me very well. It is really nice in this city. It is small, but very populated. For the blog, I have pictures only this week, as I have been very busy with social commitments. I did film a short 10-second video for a Gmail contest on YouTube at a big square in this city with a Mao statue. If you really want you can see the short video JUST CLICK HERE. Today we take a 15 hour sleeper-train ride to Beijing, stay one night, then take a 12-hour sleeper-train ... read more

Last Day in Dalian Today Miao and I will be packing up our luggage and getting ready to leave. Friday morning we get on the train and head up to Shenyang, the capital city of Liaoning province. We will be in Shenyang for two days, then take another train to Miao's hometown of Fuxin where we will stay all next week. I am very excited about this second half of the trip. I will get to spend some time in the countryside, as well as see Beijing and Tiananmen Square. We scratched the plans to see the Great Wall, though, which I am kind of bummed about but it was a necessary move. I originally planned on staying in Beijing for about a week, but I loved Dalian so much that after a week or two ... read more

My Travels in ChinaBill ConradNEW VIDEO!!! "Dry Run Video" for the Dalian BEER FESTIVAL!!! All of my videos up until now has just been me editing and dressing up raw, 1st-person footage. For the next part of my trip, I want to include some "reporter on the scene" type of videos, where I "cover" aspects of China or certain events... more like what you would see on a travel channel on cable. Enter sidekick Miao, who has had so much fun helping me make my other videos that she has volunteered to be my new camera person here, allowing me to play on-camera host to you, my honored viewers! This coming Friday, here in Dalian, Miao and I will be going to their annual international beer festival in Xinghai square. I want to cover that evening ... read more