Hey there! Sorry about the slow response, email me at sirtwatty@hotmail.com for a quicker one! :)
Yeah, everyone there was absolutely fine with Americans - one of my best friends out there was from the US and had no problems at all out there - if anything they prefer American's as its English spoken in an accent they're familiar with!
Beijing to Siping City was a good 6hrs+ by train but can vary alot depending on the train you get, some a really slow while others are modern. Otherwise by coach its a good 12hrs+ not a short trip in any case!
Siping to Changchung was just a couple of hours, maybe 3 at most, but on a pretty crowded seating - unless your really sharp you may have to stand for the whole period (but hey at least the seats are cheap!). It is extremely cold in the winter and I would strongly reccomend avoiding the winter months if your going to visit him!
The Great Wall is pretty close to Beijing, definately do-able as a daytrip.
China Our 22 year old son is coming to Siping City for a year's study at the Shalin Academy to study martial arts. We will come over in a year to pick him up. It sounds fairly safe over there just a different culture from U.S. Do the people generally like Americans? How far from Bejing is Siping City and how from Changchun to Siping? He is hoping to travel a little on the weekends. I assmue it is cold this time of year. Is the Great Wall anywhere close or more south?
How entertaining! You seem like a really modest and sweet guy who was able to get a lot out of the experience. I went from wanting to go to Siping, to reading your blog, to not wanting to go, and by the end of it all, wanting to go again. Thanks for all the details!
Siping martial arts academy thank you for writing such anin depth blog!
Its very helkpfull, and I look forward to writing one of my own if i ever get round to getting my 1000 $$$ for my own month! :D
thank you
-storm
wow what journey. really enjoyed your blog....Teaching Egnlish is a BIG business there as the Chinese are rushing into the globalization. lots of the blogers on this site are English teachers in China. They all seem to have great life there...
Good start Looks like you have a good start to the adventure, and lots of fun/strange things occurring to mention. As for signing up, you seem to have it working such that we don't need to. Don't worry about the spelling etc, there is more than enough excitement and fun mentions to make it a very interesting and amusing read which is much more than most blogs can say for themselves.
Lukey
Luke Pickerill
lol thanks Allison i'm glad you enjoyed it and found it informative!