Sheila Walsh
Hi,The Great Walsh of China
This blog will be what it says in the title: The Great Walsh of China - an Irish Grannie in Beijing.
That's me - I'm a "mature traveller" which means I'm on the sunny side of 60 and I've been getting around a lot in recent years. I'm Irish, a single mother and I've just been blessed with my fourth grandchild! Since my five kids have grown up and left the nest I've been taking overseas assignments so I can see the world and meet the people in a way I could never afford as a tourist. My latest gig is here in Beijing where I landed in March 2011 to do an office job. I'll be here until compulsory retirement when I turn 65 in January 2013.
I have always sent regular "epistles" to friends and family worldwide when I've been travelling, but this time my kids have been urging me to blog. ("Wha?!") OK, I'll try and see if there are others who are interested in my own, personal perspective on life here. I've been noticing those things that are "different" about China and the Chinese people - what makes them unique. I've already quashed a few of my pre-conceived notions.
I usually try to see the funny side of new situations and the reactions of myself and others. I hope you get a chuckle. I don't know, but I guess if a reader has a question s/he can email me and I'll try to answer it asap. One of my first excursions was to a Chinese (obviously) wedding in a rural village. I was really excited because my young host had said I'd be the first Westerner to go to their village.
My First Big Trip was going on the Trans-Siberian Railway through Mongolia and Lake Baikal, to St. Petersburg and Moscow, then flying to the farthest point west in China, and going up to the Pakistan border. That's part of the old Silk Trail.
There's lots more ahead of me. I won't be blogging every day because I do have a very busy life, after all. But I'll tell you about that too. I have been studying Mandarin and I'm pleased with my progress. After my trip to Russia I took up tai chi and I'll tell you what that's like. I'll also take some Chinese cooking classes. Oh - I'll also be uploading my photos, which I take all the time about ordinary things in Beijing. I didn't get to many of the tourist sites yet because I'm only off on weekends and they are always crowded then. I figure I'll wait til I have visitors.
I'm far more interested in people anyway so I've been going to a LOT of Chinese art films which have been excellent. If you stick with me you'll discover that I write the way I talk - in volumes. Tell me if there is anything that you think would be interesting to an older person in China. I don't know much about 5* hotels here or anywhere because I always travel the economy route. You'll see that from my Trans-Siberian and other trips. OK, Bye for now and please let me know if anyone is out there!
Travel Blog Posts
Negros Island, no crowds here!
Published: May 21st 2012Asia » Philippines » Negros Oriental » Dumaguete
May 21st 2012
Hi, On the boat from Cebu Island to Dumaguete on Negros Island, the older gentleman who had told me about the Seniors' discount also recommended the Bethel Guest House. He said it was on the sea front, of a high standard and owned by his friend. It was very near the heart of Dumaguete which has a cathedral, bell tower and park. It took a jeepney and then a tricycle to get there and the Bethel was a very nice hotel, hardly a guest house. It is located on the famous seafront Rizal Boulevard, named after the national hero Jose Rizal who once made a stop in Dumaguete on the way to Dapitan City where he was deported. A single room with air conditioning (A/C) in the Bethel was €13 after discount. Unfortunately the WiFi ... read more
May 7th 2012
The last time I wrote I had seen enough of Cebu City and was headed for the bus station and the southwest coast of Cebu Island. The bus system in the Philippines is really good. The air-conditioned buses are very comfortable, with some dvds showing (if you can hear them). I’ve calculate that most bus journeys cost about €1 for an hour or travelling.So if you are told that the trip will be three hours long, count on a fare of about €3. The journey was uneventful but I love taking photos of the homes and people as we drive by. I like to see them working, playing, eating together, shopping, etc. My original plan had been to go to Oslob where, it was said, one could swim with the whale sharks and dolphins. The ... read more
May 2nd 2012
Hi, I had some annual leave days to take before the end of March and I’d heard from people in Beijing that the Philippines are very nice. So I came here for twelve days only, to do a quick survey of some of the central islands. It has been even better than I anticipated. I flew with Cebu Pacific overnight from Shanghai to Manila and then south to the island of Cebu in the Visayas group of islands. I left Shanghai at 12:30am, arrived in Manila at 4:00am and the one-hour flight to Cebu arrived at 7:00am. Because the flights were short and during the transfer I had to keep moving, I didn’t feel the usual tiredness of an overnight flight or bus ride. It was a small plane and I was a bit confused ... read more
April 18th 2012
Hi Everyone, I want to tell you about my two-day visit to Shanghai. Whenever Shanghai is mentioned in Beijing it always seems to be with a sort of reverence, almost like some families relate to the rebellious offspring who has become a great success. Thank God for Wikipedia since not many of us know the details given here: Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and with over 17.8 million people. (Beijing is a paltry 11.7 million.) It is a major financial centre and the busiest container port in the world. Located in the Yangtze River Delta in eastern China, Shanghai sits at the mouth of the Yangtze River on the East China Sea, roughly equidistant from Beijing and Hong Kong. "Once a fishing and textiles town, Shanghai grew in importance in the 19th ... read more
Spring National Holiday
Published: April 18th 2012Asia » China » Beijing » Chaoyang district » Dongzhimen
April 18th 2012
Hi Everyone, I really must apologise for taking such a long break from this blog. The problem is that I am having so much fun living in Beijing. I never imagined that there would be so much to do year-round. I have a weekly two-hour one-to-one Mandarin class, plus a taije class once or twice a week. Almost every week, sometimes even twice, I go to Chinese films in one of three or four venues that play films made by Chines directors, not Hollywood-style, with subtitles in Mandarin and English and often a Q/A afterwards with the director. On the weekends when I’m not travelling I go hiking to the mountains and villages outside Beijing with the Beijing Hikers or the Culture Yard. I’ve also made a real effort to visit some of the popular tourist ... read more
Trying Chinese Traditional Medicine (TCM)
Published: December 6th 2011Asia » China » Beijing » Chaoyang district » Dongzhimen
December 7th 2011
For many years I’ve been interested in traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) or at least alternatives to Western medicine. In my other life I was a medical laboratory technologist. For that I studied physiology and various aspects of Western medicine, so I had that knowledge base to begin with. However it was a long time before I had a chance to have first-hand experience of Oriental medicine. I had an accident when I was trekking in Nepal two years ago, in November 2009. I tripped on the path and fell down a rocky slope. A few days later I met my niece, a Buddhist scholar, in Katmandu where she was acting as an interpreter for a Tibetan woman doctor. She suggested that I have a treatment from the doctor so I underwent “cupping” while my niece took ... read more
My Morning Walks Along the Canal - and Beyond
Published: October 31st 2011Asia » China » Beijing » Chaoyang district » Dongzhimen
October 31st 2011
When I first arrived in Beijing had to walk along the canal from my temporary accommodation to the office. That was early March and the clear blue skies and sunshine imbued in me an instant love of Beijing and of the canal in particular. It is called the Liang Ma (Bright Horse) River but it looks like a canal to me. I am sure that what I have seen is typical of life alongside the many waterways of Beijing. I almost always have my camera in my schoolbag and I have tried to capture in photos the people I meet and the scenes I observe. Most of the photos were taken during my morning walks to work and I can’t explain why there is less activity in the evenings. I’ll describe what I’ve seen, but really ... read more
October 24th 2011
I spent a fabulous weekend hiking on the Mongolian Grasslands. The trip was arranged and carried out by Beijing Hikers who I’ve been with on daytrips before. I would advise anyone coming to Beijing to check out their website and go on a walk or hike with them. Apart from enjoying the beautiful scenery and seeing less-well-known places, it’s a great opportunity for visitors to talk to ex-patriots here about why they came and stayed in Beijing and what everyday life is like for an ex-pat. On this weekend there were returned Chinese people who have unique perspectives on life in China that ex-pats will never have. We all met up on Friday midday and boarded the Beijing Hikers coach with Henjie (“Way-jay”), the woman leader and owner of the Beijing Hikers business. There were twenty-one ... read more
October 13th 2011
I’ve gotta tell you about my first – and LAST! – group tour. I am so relieved to be back “home” in Beijing and to close the door on the most boring, tedious, exhausting - you pick the expletives - sickening, over-priced “holiday” in at least the past 25 years. It was no holiday, I assure you. When I started these epistles I said that I would tell you about my travels, warts and all. I said that I wouldn’t be able to consistently report like some touristy travelogue. So this time I’ll tell you about what was for me a very unpleasant experience. If you aren’t in the mood for listening to a mega-moan, as always it’s OK to tune out. Just before I came to China I read an article in the Irish Times ... read more
September 27th 2011
I am delighted to say that I went on a day trip with the Beijing Hikers and we climbed very long, steep, derelict sections of the Great Wall of China. I’ve earned my stripes! OK, to go back to the beginning: Soon after I arrived in China I was, of course, reading the magazines for ex-patriots about all there is to see and do in Beijing. I read about the Beijing Hikers who organise regular trips to areas outside Beijing. My immediate response to the discovery was, “That sounds brilliant!” But all my free time for the next few months was taken up apartment-hunting, moving in, then planning the trip to and going on the Trans-Siberian Railway. By the time I got back to Beijing mid-June it was too hot to even consider doing anything energetic ... read more
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