Quand la croissance économique sent la mort Hi Tomislav
Good to know you are still alive (not). I enjoy your job very much and hope to keep it a bit longer. En consequence, I have today alerted Chinese authorities about your subversive bourgeois comments on the great leap forward and its great achievements. Your benevolence towards religions in this great atheist country is enough to awake Le grand Timonier Mao and send you to a facility where your ways can be redressed. Vive Mao, long vie au communisme pragmatique et surtout prends soins de toi
Un ami qui te veux du bien
10 Things I Love about China funny stuff...kids that don't wear nappies remind me of someone who would sh*t on newspaper when they were young. I guess it is NOT a weird customs since MILLIONS of other chinese kids do it...
you need some 'photoes' with yourself in it just to prove that you are actually travelling and not hiding in noonamah with a internet connection...but DON'T give your camera to random strangers or leaving it somewhere on timer to take the photoes...unless you are feeling very generous.
Sure you politely declined... its ok Tom, we're all friends here, this isn't a place for judgement. I'll be interested to see how you go in Beijing, I was just reading about its 'beautification' campaign (in preparation for the 2008 olympics), which includes fines for spitting (equivalent of a day's wages), dumping 6 million new fish in the yellow river (in response to a 40% drop in the fish population) and the demolition of thousands of Beijing's historic houses to make way for new construction. There was also some talk of painting Laoshou Mountain green to cover the scars of strip mining... Govt reportedly paid $56 000!
Smells and sights of a Chinese toilet Smell: like a fragrant rose garden on a dewy English Spring morn
Sights: Chinese peasants squatting over the crapper. I don't want to get any more graphic than that.
First of many akwward moments I could see teh funeral phopar coming. First of many because you are not justing watching the culture you are embracing it. I lok forward to hearing about more little embarasments
Different styles of Buddhism I found your discussion of the Buddhist sites and customs very interesting. I gave monk that blessed my wedding 10 ringgit and he gave me back an offering of 5 ringgit costing me about $1 AUS for a complete wedding blessing. I guess the Chinese drive for economic growth ahs also hit the Buddhists too. Ironic that the Communist government has capitalised Buddhism
Athela still thinks your mad and wants you to be careful. The bike trip and the river descriptions are enough to force her to more pleasant environments but I wish I was there but I would have to use a moped at least.
Keep up the excellent commentary
Cultural Experience Dog meat, monkey brain, tiger pen*s soup...you should at least give it a try...just don't blog about it so people won't give you guilt trips later...remember to live your life with no regrets Tommo.
Can't wait your next blog...you should give us a teaser of the next destination at the end of your blog or something!
A down market version of Mardi Gras? Hey Tom. Your description of the lantern festival made me think of the Mardi Gras...but alas they do not have Mitsy! I'm sure she is missing you though. Me thinks Al Gore could benefit from visiting some of the cities of China to discuss there environmental standards over there. A better Engrish interpreter would probably not go astray either!
From one Alien to another ....Nano Nano
Too cold and icy for south peak Hey will, cheers for the tip. Didn't make it to south peak as it was so bloody cold and the ice on the platforms would have made for quite an experience. Too bad about breaking the 'no striding' rule...
Not that cold...but maybe that hungry I haven't clad myself in dog fur,but I do have a hankering to try some dog meat in Beijing.Would that be morally wrong, or just a cultural experience?
Cold enough for brass ming? Hey Tom, glad that you've at least been able to find some genuine little red books. Great photos, and fascinating that a medieval city can look so similar but so different to the European equivalent. You're still the history teacher. Has it been cold enough to clad yourself in dog skin? Now there's a picture I'm looking forward to!
Happy trails mate.
striding up the mountain Glad to hear you strode a few times mate. I think I may have once or twice too. Glad you enjoyed it. You didn't go out on the south cliff face though?? One of the crazier things I've ever done- putting faith in chinese harnesses, but exhilirating all the same.
I've almost gotten over the cold I caught because I only got one blanket though. You're a lucky man.
Beijing has been fun. The beer in the hostel is cheaper than the water (seriously). When you come here I would recommend new dragon hostel near saga. Not in the book. Will send a proper email when I get home. Safe and happy travels buddy.
will
surely 'good' 'food' and 'thank you' cover pretty much everything you need! thanks for the great posts mate - I have already used the basics gleaned in the above entry to sound knowledgable about chinese history (although not to liam of course). take care chico.
being a gwalow I am amazed at how smooth your China adventure is going I supposed you are a seasoned traveller, and a master at finger pointing your way out of the toughest situations.
Looking forward to read about your next destination, and if you are still gonna be in China somewhere you will definitely see more Chinglish most likely it will be a literal translation of each chinese characters/words into its English equivalent so by the time you read the full translation it will just be a bunch of English words jumbled together, like what you would see on a Scrabbles board.
Worst still, I have seen ‘English’ signs where the entire contents were all written in Mandarin to English pronunciation. So something like ‘Ce Ho Mah?’ is supposed to be understood by any English speaking tourists so I truly hope you are either fluent in Mandarin or good at playing scrabbles my friend.
History are watching Most of the History people are a bit busy with assessment time and marking starting but I did print out this communist revolution posting and we all discussed the difference in China.
When I discussed you adventures with a friend of mine he told me about mobile phone call he received from a college travelling at 400k/h on the fast train which he says levitates above the track. Is that true? I think my friend was more impressed with the fact the mobile phone worked while travelling so quickly through the mobile cells.
The history people I think are all jealous especially Bec who is talking of meeting you in Egypt next Holidays. Have fun, Athela says high and wants me to tell you not to do anything silly.
Xian warriors Dont be fooled by nice chinese people who can speak english, they are the most evil bunch of all. when you are at Xian try and vist the first emperors's temple...its a worth while place to vist.
Having a J with our fellow ghost buster in a farm called new. Just got back from good old marloolaba, and stopped by caloundra before hand for some fish and chips...Elisa and I were the only asian looking people there, how bizzare...
Travel happens when I can fit it in, nowadays, but it will always be my favourite hobby. Here's my list of the best bits so far, in thirteen years of hopping around the world:
Asia Angkor Wat (Cambodia) Taj Mahal and Varanasi (India) Annapurna Range and Kathmandu (Nepal) Bagan (Burma) Koh Phiphi (Thailand) Great Wall, Terracotta Warriors and the Forbidden City (China) Peshawar and the Chitral-Gilgit road (Pakistan) Istanbul and Butterfly Valley (Turkey) Luang Prabang (Laos)
Americas Teotihuacan and Mexico City (Mexico) Lake Atitlan and Tikal (Guatem... full info
Adolph
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