http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Shandong/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , China , Shandong en-us Wed, 08 Oct 2008 06:37:30 BST Wed, 08 Oct 2008 06:37:30 BST Seat Number 63hao car 14Price of ticket 281 RMB 40USDMoney saved by no sleepers being available 200 RMBHours on Train 42Noodle Pots eaten 1Pages of Book read 210Games of Du Di Zhu 25Guazi eaten 263Provinces crossed 6Friends made 132.7Being the coolest guy on the train PRICELESSOver a year ago I love saying that towards the beginning of my travels I had the extreme pleasure of ineb http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shandong/Qingdao/blog-330548.html Well its been a while. I have to admit there have been alot of downs and when it goes back up it doesn't go very far or last very long. Maybe eventually I'll get more ups then downs. I am sick of feeling down. I like this place yet i hate it as well. bah I dunno about anything anymore.Things with Emily got bad. seriously do not wanna discuss it but all who matter know I guess. We got our new apart http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shandong/blog-320580.html Thursday August 22 we left for our class bonding trip in China's Shandong Province. It's a six hour bus ride from Nanjing.We arrived to Tai'an city on Thursday. On Friday we visited Dai Miao the temple of the god of Mount Tai. After lunch we climbed Mount Tai 2788823665 Ti Sh257n It was a hard walk up the steps but beautiful at the top.On Saturday we woke up at 5AM to watch the s http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shandong/Qufu/blog-318874.html Het is 5 uur s ochtends. Ik maak me klaar voor mijn grote reis naar het Oosten het land van de reizende zon en de Olympische Zomerspelen van dit jaar. Ik heb het natuurlijk over China. Mijn reis begint in het kleine maar gezellige Fijnaart waar ik ben geboren en getogen. Om ongeveer half 7 vertrekken we naar Brussel waar mijn vliegtuig naar Helsinki in Finland de eerste stop op mijn reis ve http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shandong/Yantai/blog-315593.html I had the best time last night.It started out a bummer. We went to Alibaba first and that is just a pool hole because the bar is closed til friday cause a few months back some chinese guy stabbed and killed 2 Russians. It was the Russians fault and yantai is mellow as. U here of killings like once a year and its usually a pub fight.Anyway we were there for a while but because the bar was closed th http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shandong/blog-315520.html Ok I finally got off my lazy ass and created a blog. now all I gotta do is remember to write in the bastard. lol.Its slowly getting better here. I dont get on with my boss but shit happens ey. i just gotta sit this out for another 5 and half months haha. knowing me I'll stay longer. we'll see. I first have to get my visa extended but they wont do that til after the Olypics.So work is hard but what http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shandong/blog-315288.html I hope this works it was written in wordWriting at 6.10pm AEST on the 11.08.08This is really really hard. I knew it would be hard but it is so fucking real when u feel pain like this. Itrsquos hot as fuck over here. I was looking forward to it being summer but none of these stupid air conditioners work here. Irsquom alone. I know it will be an early night for Rachie. I canrsquot stand this I http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shandong/blog-315258.html Qufu is famous for being the birthplace to the famous Chinese philosopher Confucius. It also houses the tomb of Confucius and as a result plans to build a train station in the small town were scrapped on the basis that trains would disturb his tomb. Let me start with a bit of an introduction to Confucianism. Whilst Confucianism is not really a religion and more a philosophy he is described and http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shandong/Qufu/blog-302066.html Our next destination was a good old fashioned traditional holiday destination. We were headed for the coastal town of Qingdao which is famed for three things it plays host to a number of Chinarsquos best beaches for those of you who love watching sailing on TVwho doesnrsquot the Olympic sailing is taking place here it was formerly inhabited by Germanrsquos and finally and most impor http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shandong/Qingdao/blog-301816.html Luckily for me I met a guy who knew Qingdao really well the night before and he was an American Scottie is an aeronautics specialist from Missouri who has been teaching English at QU for the last 3 years and his mom came over to teach as well within the last year. They took me to an international church that is held in a big banquet hall on the top story of the Haixin Dasha Hisense Bldg. You h http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shandong/Qingdao/blog-297391.html This morning we took the bullet train from Beijing to Qingdao. The ride took 6 hours and would have taken 11 by regular train so I didn't complain. I was really jetlagged and tired on this ride so I didn't snap as many pictures as I would have liked but I still got a few of the countryside. I had my camera locked up in my bag at the station so I didn't get any pictures of Beijing station either http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shandong/Qingdao/blog-297381.html 9 more daysI have booked my ticket to Chengdu on 18th July.Before that I gotta cram for the examsAnd then my summer vacation will beginI have dreamed the last moment for the whole yaerbut I am really stressed when the moment coming.It's like a gambleyou gotta pick and choose areas of guess and focus what will be on the exams.It's always a gamble actually.What's moreit's will add more stress http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shandong/Qingdao/blog-297360.html You're been spending your timeThinking about why you think so muchIf there was ever a timenow would be time to see your time is limitedEverybody here is a cloudAnd everybody will evaporate sinceYou came up from the groundFrom a million little pieces have you found where your place isCloud Cult613 1215PM beginning of bus rideEvery place is the same place until you force yr insides to http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shandong/Tai-Shan/blog-288453.html This past weekend was one of the few long weekends in China so Trevor and I decided to take advantage of the extra day and took a trip to Tai'an where we would climb Mount Taishan one of the 5 sacred mountains in China. It is both a UNESCO heritage site and a world heritage site the first in the world. The mountain is in Shangdong Province the journey from Beijing on the fast train took just http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shandong/Tai--an/blog-285826.html Hello again my blog readers. I apologize for my long lapse in not publishing blog entries. A combination of factors is to blame. Partially it is just me being lazy but also the pace of my travels slowed down a lot for a while. I decided to take it easy for a couple of weekends because my travel companions Matt and Michelle scheduled a few trips that I did not really want to go on. Not too much http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shandong/Qingdao/blog-283277.html I first read about Mount Tai'shan in Michael Palin's book Full Circle and added it to the China 'must do' list It is a total of 6660 steps to the top and it's believed that you will live for 100 years if you make it all the way. Many Chinese emperors have done the climb some more than once and many people make the pilgrimage to the top each year.It said in the guide book that it would take ab http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shandong/Tai--an/blog-279325.html Where we went on our trip. http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shandong/Tai--an/blog-277437.html China has a history of being forced to conceed certain areas of its land to colonial powers. Although many may be aware of British French and Japanese territories I was suprised to learn that the Germans had a concession of land as well. Qindao is located on the East coast of China on the Yellow Sea across from Korea. It is a strategic location and is China's 4th largest port.Germany invaded http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shandong/Qingdao/blog-274990.html Although I didn't get a chance to climb Mt. Fuji I knew there would be other mountain climbing opportunities on my trip. I wouldn't have to wait very long and a week into China I found myself climbing Mt. Tai Shan. Tai Shan is the most revered of China's five sacred Taoist peaks. Emperors Chairman Mao and even Confucious himself has risen to the challenge of reaching its summit. It's said http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shandong/Tai-Shan/blog-274800.html Last week I gave a speech entitled The End of Loose Money Subprime The Credit Crunch and What it Means for China. I gave the obvious yet necessary disclaimer before the speech that I am not an economist affiliated with the real estate industry andor an expert on the material in any way shape or form BUT I do enjoy reading about such topics and find them worthy of further discussion. I w http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shandong/blog-265613.html Went to Qingdao for a weekend trip to see some ocean and get away from the smog and bustle of Dongying. The weather turned out to be pretty nice. Qingdao is famous for its beer and beaches the former coming by the plastic bagful if you are so inclined. No comments in this one just pictures Enjoy http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shandong/Qingdao/blog-262666.html Though it just like dreamingmy friend who hasnrsquot seen for many show up againHa ha.Though Portia just spent 2days in Qingdaowe had a lot of wonderful timeI felt uncertain and unconfident when I roaming in Qingdao 3years agobecause I am a totally stranger to this citybut now my Australian friends who I met in Dali is walking with me.I think they wonrsquot feel uncertain like I did thre http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shandong/Qingdao/blog-258001.html The pictures from this entry cover the last stop on the winter break tour in Beijing up to the first plunge back into teaching for semester number two. My time in Beijing was well spent getting a healthy dose of international cuisine culturaltourist sites and some pretty entertaining nightlife as well. The highlight of the trip was without a doubt Chinese New Year's Eve. A fellow Dongying fo http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shandong/blog-255281.html Hello everyone I arrived at Beijing national airport at 3pm on February 10th right on schedule. The trip to the airport and the flight were both pleasant and uneventful got my own seat watched some bad movies Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium A Bee Movie seriously Continental and hopped off the plane with all of my stuff and a couple of hours of sleep under my belt. I don't even think I http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shandong/blog-247047.html As you may have gathered from my last blog entry it's really hot and humid in the summer in Jinan. My days are spent in front of a fan andor airconditioning watching DVDs of Scrubs and Lost and Friends. I have taken on some extra hours with Aston Summer Intensive classes so I work MonWedFri afternoons in addition to my FridaySaturdaySunday routine. I like it it gets me out of the hous http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shandong/Ji--Nan/blog-246176.html Everything and everyone is cool. There are no problems and peace reigns supreme. I am happy and everyone else is happy. There is no conflict. There is no tribulation. Harmony has been achieved. No one complains and there is no reason to do so. People everywhere have everything they want and no one is wanting for more. The weather is perfect. Nobody is too hot nor cold. Everybody has enough to eat http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shandong/Ji--Nan/blog-244639.html I just returned to the United States for the first time since moving to China three and a half years ago. My father brother and sister and I met in Manhattan which we consider our spiritual home though we moved to California when my siblings and I were in elementary primary school. I did not as I suspected I might suffer from any reverse cultural shock. I felt perfectly at home in New York a http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shandong/Ji--Nan/blog-244565.html We finally set out on our travels to Japan on 9th after having packed up house in Tairsquoan and sent everything we didnrsquot need for travelling on to Nanjing. This involved quite an involved and baroque session at the Post Office and we are hugely grateful to Emma Jack and Gene for their interpretation and help with sewing up the postbags. We waved goodbye to everyone were advised by http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/China/Shandong/Qingdao/blog-241779.html