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Zhejiang Travel Blogs

Background: For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the country was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. After World War II, the Communists under MAO Zedong established an autocratic socialist system that, while ensuring China's sovereignty, imposed strict controls over everyday life and cost the lives of tens of millions of people. After 1978, his successor DENG Xiaoping and other leaders focused on market-oriented economic development and by 2000 output had quadrupled. For much of the population, living standards have improved dramatically and the room for personal choice has expanded, yet political controls remain tight.

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By soooze
November 24th 2009

with Swedes in tow, we head to the snow (Moganshan take 3) Asia » China » Zhejiang » Moganshan

snowy Moganshan

We spent the past week with our friends Lisa and Rikard from Stockholm. I met Lisa a year ago in Shanghai. We studied Chinese together and became fast friends…you know when you meet someone you are meant to be friends with? It’s even more special when you find these people a half a world away from both of your homes. Lisa brought her love, Rikard, with her this trip and we all had a great time together. Lisa showed Rikard her favorite spots and we introduced them both to some of our favorites too. They came stocked with Swedish food and [View Full Entry]

By Desi and Jill
November 22nd 2009

Springtime in Ningbo and Shanghai 2009 Asia » China » Zhejiang » Ningbo

Village off of Xinda Lu
This was a little village, near our apartment, fully intact the week prior. Things change so quickly here.

(I am trying to catch you up on the end of last year's school year.) Here are some of our highlights from last spring! Everything was wrapping up: cleaning up and organizing classrooms, apartments...celebrating warm(er) weather and enjoying barbecues, visiting with friends from home, traveling to Shanghai again, and finally, packing and moving apartments for the year to come. There is quite a lot to do upon the closure of a school year. The day we had to be all finished and wrapped up/classroom packed up at school, we were also moving our new apartment. We literally were scheduled to move [View Full Entry]

By ZahraT
November 4th 2009

Surfing Cat Asia » China » Zhejiang » Hangzhou

First Day I slept for ages last night/this morning. Tarik woke me up at 11.30 but i would have slept longer if I could. Am still yawning as i sit and type this... I visited Tarik's school today. He's done a lovely job with it. Goo sized classrooms andd a glass wall and a welcoming waiting area. He's teaching at a chinese school just now and I was going to go with him but had to go and register at the police station instead. Benny took me and said that the taxi driver asked where i was from and that [View Full Entry]

By Tesssa
October 29th 2009

Hangzhou Asia » China » Zhejiang » Hangzhou

The West Lake I

The bus ride from Suzhou to Hangzhou went faster than I thought. At arrival, it took a while before I found the right bus stop to the hostel, but when I finally found it, the ride went very well. And then, I have to say, taking the bus is more fun than to get into a taxi that brings you to your destination at once. After having checked in the hostel, I decided to do completely nothing that day. The hostel is located at the West Lake, the primary sight in Hangzhou. I just walked around until I found a nice [View Full Entry]

By Staci and Martin
October 29th 2009

Shenzhen to Hangzhou, courtesy of Shenzhen Airlines Asia » China » Zhejiang » Hangzhou

We woke up around 6:30am, probably the earliest we've set our alarms for since being in China (other than the whole training in Beijing thing...) as we rarely have to teach before 9am. It's a tough life. It was a bit chilly outside, so being up that early and showering on the balcony sans hot water (we still haven't figured that out) wasn't the most fun, but it had to be done. We'd quickly packed the night before and once we were ready, headed out to the front gate to hop on the bus with everyone else at 7:30am. We knew [View Full Entry]

By amay
October 21st 2009

Pilgrimage to Putuoshan Asia » China » Zhejiang » Putuoshan

learning to pray

Here in China, all 6 million people get the same week off in October for traveling home to see their families. Great idea...not. It's kind of like the chaos of Christmas travel in the US. Except a billion times worse. Of course it was my time off too and I wasn't going to sit around Suzhou for a week, so I fought the swarms of people to see which surrounding cities still had bus tickets available. I ended up heading to Ningbo a few hours south, the easiest place from which to get to the famous island of Putuoshan. I was [View Full Entry]

By J Rey
October 7th 2009

Night Life In Hangzhou Asia » China » Zhejiang » Hangzhou

So, I have been studying quite a bit, but as we all know, I do occasionally go out on the town… and this post is dedicated to the most interesting two nights I have had in the first month or so that I have been here. My First Chance at Stardom: Josh as the Lead Singer of a Chinese Rock Band I have a Chinese friend named Tommy who I met at a bar near my house. Tommy is a student also but on the side he is the singer in a Chinese punk band. He is also friends with another [View Full Entry]

By caw321
October 4th 2009

Photo day... Asia » China » Zhejiang » Zhejiang

Huzhou City 1

Since I rarely bring my camera with me, I thought I would shoot a few photos of Huzhou and some specific places that I like here. Wuxing Shiyan Zhongxue: This is the middle school that I teach at. We have some 700 students, some of whom board at the school. It is a so-called "experimental" middle school that has a more progressive curriculum that de-emphasizes rote memorization for standardized testing and focuses on new teaching methods and real comprehension of materials. The students seem to have better English skills than most other students their age, and the school is often acknowledg [View Full Entry]

By caw321
October 2nd 2009

National Day in China Asia » China » Zhejiang » Zhejiang

Blue Lights
Many buildings were lit up and continue to be in celebration of National Day.

Yesterday, October 1, was National Day in China, which celebrates the founding of the People's Republic of China. Since we have a week of vacation, it is a normal time for people to travel to different cities or to return to their home towns. While it is normally a big holiday here, this year it is especially big because it is the 60th anniversary (1949-2009). I was lucky enough to be invited by one of my teacher friends to her house to eat lunch with her friends and her mother. Of course, it was delicious (her mother is a very good [View Full Entry]

By ChinaCrew
September 30th 2009

“Through clever and constant application of propaganda, people can be made to see paradise as hell, and also the other way round, to consider the most wretched sort of life as paradise.” - Adolf Hitler Asia » China » Zhejiang » Hangzhou

A special Nanbeihu entry. Helloooo everyone! Since staff training ended it's been pretty much non- stop, for those good enough to be picked to do actual work :-p. Katie, being fabulous beyond belief, (or, in fact, just white and female - the two things missing from the other Nan staff) was selected to go to Nanbeihu where there were two back to back trips. To get there, the staff had to undergo a grueling 1 and a half hour bus journey, a 24 hour train journey and then another 2 hour bus journey from Shanghai; definitely an ‘experience’ but perhaps not [View Full Entry]

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