J Rey
Joshua Reynolds Joined: September 1st 2009
Logged in: February 10th 2011
Logged in: February 10th 2011
Travel Blog Posts
Last weekend, we had to interrupt our travels in Yunan to go to Xiamen (an island city on the coast of China near Taiwan) to attend a friends funeral who passed from a tragic accident the week before. I appreciate everyone's support in the past two weeks. After a weekend of celebrating his life, Jules and I were back on a plane to Kunming and then immediately on to a night bus to Shangri La (the mythical city portrayed in the novel Lost Horizon). I knew from the moment I arrived, this was the city in China that I had been seeking to discover ever since I arrived. The mood of the old city was so relaxing and surrounded by mountains, it is indeed a quiet little paradise. The city has not been overrun by Chinese ... read more
Hi all - I know it's been a while since I wrote last but I guess I felt more and more like I was just living in China and not travelling anymore, which gave me little motivation to write new entries about everyday life. But alas, I am travelling again and here comes the stories. After a hot hot hot June and July in Hangzhou (like over 30C for three days in a row, which is like over 100F), my friend Jules (a Frenchman with no set loyalty to France, which is why I can travel with him) and I decided it was time to leave dodge and go to the only place in China that has nice weather in the summer, Yunan. This is a province to the Southeast of Tibet and is known for ... read more
First of all sorry I have not posted in a while but I have been quite busy since returning from Bali. But I have just finished my first semester in China and am about to embark on a much needed vacation to Thailand for the month of February. Here are some interesting stories from the past month. As my Friends from my days in DC will tell you, I am a California boy at heart meaning I do not adapt to well to the cold. Unfortunately for me, Hangzhou gets quite cold. But Hangzhou cold is not the dry cold I was used to in DC, instead it is a humid cold which chills you to your bones. So even on a day where it is 50 degrees I wear my biggest jacket to keep me ... read more
Well first off, I have passed the state bar of California… which is quite an amazing feeling. After worrying about the about the bar for over three years, it was great to finally be rid of thinking about it and my mind can move on to being paranoid about something else (any ideas???). Second, I left cold Hangzhou behind and taken a week break under the equatorial sun in Bali Indonesia. I left last Friday to spend a night in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (the cheapest way to get to Bali is on a discount airline called Air Asia, but they only sell single destination tickets and from Hangzhou they only fly to Kuala Lumpur. So I had to wait a night to fly to Bali the next day). This turned out to be great because my ... read more
Sorry to all that I have been MIA for sometime now but I have just been extremely busy with classes and other activities here. I have started going to see Chinese tutors for about an hour each weekday in addition to my morning classes. This is helping me immensely because my teachers at the university cannot give me the individual attention I need on pronunciation (since I am tone deaf). My tutors are two women who went to school together, and I met them through my friend Bruce, at a bar no less. Not only do they help me with my Chinese language skills, but they are also trying to introduce me to Chinese culture by taking me to different types of restaurants (I also took them to have Mexican food for the first time). We ... read more
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 band that plays in one of my favorite bars called Fire Cicada. This band plays a mix of Chinese folk songs and classic western rock songs. At some point during most nights that we would ... read more
So I am at the end of me second week of school, and I couldn’t be happier. I have class every morning except Mondays (when it is in the afternoon). Starting next week, I will also be taking a class in Kung Fu, Tai Chi and Chinese calligraphy (the last one surprises me also). Our language classes are divided up into 3 different courses: Grammar, Spoken and Listening. Grammar is our core class which we have every day. My teacher even gave me a Chinese name Jiang Xu (pronounced Jee-ang Shoe). Jiang is the Surname and is a common one here in China. Xu means the brilliance of the rising sun or a display of youthful vigor and vitality. Obviously I really impressed my teacher if she is comparing my essence to a rising sun. So ... read more
Our Hotel
After settling into Hangzhou for two weeks, I decided I need to go visit the surrounding area and get out of dodge (my trip to shanghai the weekend prior does not count because I have been there before, haha my blog my rules). So my friend and I head to a mountain town called Moganshan. Moganshan was created as a cool getaway for Shanghai residents during the hot summers. From Hangzhou, it was only a 40 minute bus ride followed by a 30 minute taxi ride which made this destination extremely easy to get to. We arrive at the top of the mountain and find two options for lodging: $13 a night for room with hot water only 1 hour a day or $40 for a nicer hotel with hot water all day. I don't mind ... read more
After being in Shanghai for about two days, I head to my destination for at least the next year, Hangzhou. Although I had been in China for the past two summers, I have actually never been to Hangzhou. Hangzhou is located southwest of Shanghai by about an 80 minute train ride (if you catch the speed train). The city is best known for its lake called Xihu (or West Lake because the city was originally built to the east of the lake. Now the city surrounds the lake). The Chinese have taken great pride in Xihu and it has become somewhat of a mythical lake with many folklores revolving around it. So expecting nothing and everything, I made my way on to the train to Hangzhou. When I disembark from the train with all my bags, ... read more
