Blogs from Tianjin, China, Asia - page 9

Today's original plan was to start at 8:30 am. However, due to rain (not heavy at all), the outing was delayed at least an hour. We visited Tianjin Cultural Centre. The beautiful music fountain was put on show just for us. Then we visited the Music Hall, 2 art exhibitions and a gift store. We were back on campus for lunch at around 1:30 pm. In the afternoon, some students rehearsed for closing ceremony and some watched Kongfu video. Tomorrow, we'll have breakfast at 7, closing ceremony from 7:30 - 8:30. Then we'll hit the road. All of us are very excited because we are going to the Great Wall tomorrow! This is the third time I'm doing this entry. The internet is very unstable. I lost what I wrote twice because I thought it's not ... read more

Yesterday, as everyday, we woke at 6:50 a.m. with the usual wake-up call. We very quickly prepared ourselves for morning Kongfu exercises. These sessions, from run from 7:15 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. are led by teachers from the camp. It’s comical to watch each other try to master this art since we all demonstrate various levels of competency and energy levels at this early hour. Immediately following breakfast we attended our first session which was Chinese Language. Again, various levels of competency are demonstrated by our classmates during these Language sessions. Moving on to more exciting activities, we were also introduced to the ancient art of calligraphy, using ink and brush, and then painting, using only your hand as a brush. Practising the art of holding the calligraphy brush correctly and then working with the ink ... read more

Yesterday I went on my first train adventure, which can only be preparation for the upcoming train journeys in the months ahead! So we decided to go to Tianjin, I have no idea why since we actually had no idea what was there, we pretty much rocked up to the city and were like, "well, now what?" We got out of the train station and luckily the architecture pretty much jumps out and slaps you in the face. So we went for a wander along the river and took lots of photos. The architecture was really European and really modern in style so it was very interesting. It was really ridiculously hot though so we didn't really make it very far. We then met up with one of Ralph's friends who is studying there and went ... read more

19 March 2011 Qingdao (pronounced Chengdow) Arrived alongside Qingdao wharf at approximately 7:00am this morning to be greeted by lion dancers (not the Billy Ray Cyrus type as Barrie had thought!) and a Chinese drum and brass band. It is not as cold as it has been, so we were looking forward to going ashore on the German Heritage Tour. Qingdao is still emerging as a tourist destination and is touted as “a dynamic city on the east coast of China’s Shandong Province”. I think they have a long way to go to live up to such a statement as my first impressions were not enhanced during our tour of the city. Everything was shabby verging on the ramshackle and a thin layer of dust blanketed everything including cars, buildings and trees. Every now and then, ... read more

Incheon to Tanggu English below Die Fähre von Südkorea nach China war die einfachste und gemuetlichste Option . Auf der Faehre traf ich Monica und Philip innerhalb weniger Minuten, da wir die Einzigen aus dem Westen waren. Spaeter traffen wir ein paar Koreaner mit denen wir einen schoenen Abend verbracht haben. Bis um Mitternacht haben wir Bier getrunken, chinesisches Barbeque gegessen und die beliebteste koreanische Unterhaltungstätigkeit, Karaoke, genossen. Obwohl die Fähre 25hours dauerte, war es der billigste und bequemste Weg um nach China zu gelangen. The ferry option from South Korea to China was so easy and really classy (may be exaggerating on the latter). I met Monica and Philip straight away. It was quiet easy to figure out that all three of us were back-packing. It was a real laugh to meet some Koreans a ... read more