Tesssa
Tesssa Joined: July 6th 2009
Logged in: September 6th 2011
Logged in: September 6th 2011
before the end of my China trip and arrival in Amsterdam
Travel Blog Posts
Lamma Island I
Only a 30-45 minutes ferry trip away from the hustle and bustle of Hong Kong! Lamma Island is like a quiet paradise, especially because it is so close to the big city... ... read more
Taipa Village I
After the night train from Xiamen, I took the bus to the coach station in Guangzhou. That went very well and by that way I had a nice tour through the outskirts of Guangzhou. The bus stopped right at a ticket booth for the bus to Zhuhai, the border town to enter Macau. So within no time, I was on the next bus. Then I had to take another bus to the real border. It was a bit of a search, but finally I found it. Having crossed the border, I realized that I didn’t write anything down of the hotel I had booked beforehand, so I tried to find a place where they have internet or wifi, but these two things are very scarce in Macau (strange!). When I finally found a tourist information office, ... read more
Sea at Xiamen I
After the arrival at the airport, I took the local bus to the hostel. This was also not the quickest way, but I can say I’ve seen a lot of Xiamen at night already. It was a small search for the hostel, because the description they gave on internet was not really extensive. Luckily the location (near the beach) and the people who are working there make up for that small bit of inconvenience. I think I was really lucky, because the last weeks in Xiamen the weather prediction was not that nice. The temperature was high, but no sun. When I arrived this changed. The next days it was going to be sunny. Therefore, I decided to walk on the beach my first day in Xiamen. It was a nice walk along the coast, especially ... read more
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 place to sit and where they had wifi (it turned out to be a Starbucks). When the evening fell, I went to the night market on Qinghefang Old Street. It was too touristy for me ... read more
Tongli I
I arrived in Tongli about 4 pm and found quite easily the old town and in that part a hotel room. There is an entrance fee for the old town, but luckily I’d got a discount via the hostel in Suzhou. Tongli is one of the famous water towns and there are many tourists that do a daytrip from Suzhou or Shanghai to Tongli. This was the reason I went late in the afternoon to stay the night. Indeed I didn’t see many tourists that day. The street to the old town and the first four streets in the old town are very touristy, but the rest of the streets are not like that. The atmosphere in those parts is so relaxed, I cannot describe it. It felt a little like the villages on Greek Islands, ... read more
Suzhou historic area I
I arrived around 20:30 in Suzhou from Shanghai by train. Therefore, I took a taxi to my hostel. For once it was clear that the Chinese have some idea about efficiency! Everyone had to stand in one line and people who tried to get in front of the line were sent away by two police men. Wonderful! The night of my arrival I didn’t do anything anymore, except for a drink in the hostel’s bar. The next morning, I walked around in the neighbourhood of the hostel. I expected Suzhou to be a big city and it is, but the hostel is located in the historic area of Suzhou. This means that the city centre is very close by, but that the area feels like a small village. I walked around and surprised myself of the ... read more
Shanghai I
The last days in Harbin went very quick. Of course, I had to learn for my exams and next to that we had to develop a game as a final assignment. In the mean time, I've tried to realize that many of the things I did for the last time and that I would probably never do them again. Although I really had a very nice time in Harbin, I did not feel bad about leaving at all. The last Friday night, a party was planned by two of my classmates, but because our Chinese classmates could not enter our dorm, we decided to just go to a bar. After diner, we picked them up in a KTV (karaoke) and sang some songs. Because my flight was really early in the morning, I went home quite ... read more
Heilongjiang (Black Dragon River) in Heihe
Well, I can definitely say that this trip was the most boring and annoying trip I have made in China. Probably Heilongjiang province is just not the best province to travel to and in. On Wednesday night, I took the night train from Harbin to Heihe, a town north of Harbin and border town with Russia. I arrived around 7 in the morning and bought my bus ticket for the next day to Wudalianchi, because that was the main reason of my travelling. Then, I took a taxi to bring me to the only place in the LP which was written in Chinese. A taxi driver said he would bring me there for 5 yuan. I thought okay, but later I noticed that it wasn’t a legal taxi. Not really smart to get in, of course. ... read more
Protect yourself from the flu!
H1N1 flu is serious and dangerous and very very scary. At least, that is how most of the Chinese think of it. Where you already could see people with a mask a few months ago, nowadays they are everywhere. Since a week, even the ladies at the desk of the dormitory are wearing the mask. Sometimes they put it off, but when you approach them, they put it back on immediately. Like you have a deadly disease! When I was in Hong Kong, there were everywhere antibacterial soap dispensers and the elevators where disinfected every hour. I didn't see this in mainland China. However, since two weeks Harbin is very scared of the flu, since in the Heilongjiang University 7 students were diagnosed with the flu. Immediately they stopped teaching in that university and people could ... read more
Pedestrian street on campus
Thursday, 1st October: National (holi)day The reason for the October holiday is the celebration of the National Day. This year 60 years ago, The People's Republic of China was founded. Wednesday evening there was some fireworks at the river, but I didn't see that because I was still recovering from food poisoning. I asked around if there would be some kind of parade or other form of celebrations in Harbin, but nobody knew about anything. So after having celebrated the birthday of one of my classmates with a small birthday cake, I went with the last classmate still in Harbin to explore the town some more. We had a long walk to the famous Guogeli Dajie (although I am wondering why it is famous...) and Children´s Park. There we went in some attractions, which was exciting ... read more
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