http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , China , Guangdong en-us Sat, 26 Jul 2008 21:11:17 BST Sat, 26 Jul 2008 21:11:17 BST MORE PHOTOS HERENow even though I failed to mention the bloody dead cow's head that traveled in a transparent plastic bag on the bus with us between Swaziland and Mozambique as well as the folkloric chapa minibus trip to the hotel if you thought like me that that 8hour bus odyssey between Manzini and Maputo was an adventure think again and keep reading yes this one is a bit long bu http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Guangzhou/blog-302073.html Na de Karstgebergtes hadden wij een volle dag bij Bart in Shenzhen. Bart had ons al gewaarschuwd dat er niet bijzonder veel te beleven valt in Shenzhen. Het is namelijk 1 van de 'Special Economic Zones' opgericht door China om tegenwicht te bieden aan de verschillende westerse kolonies in China in dit geval Hong Kong. In de jaren '70 was het niet veel meer dan een vissersdorpje maar nu is het ui http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-299876.html So then on the 12th I was still in Hong Kong and went for dim sum breakfast with Caroline. The waiter was exceptionaly rude but the Dim Sum was ok steamed buns and stuff. I then got the express train to Guangzhou and went to a hostel. This new hostel is actually more like a palace without doubt the nicest hostel ive ever stayed in and at under five pounds a night you cant argue. The hostel als http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Guangzhou/blog-299552.html I am sure Guangzhou is a very nice place but I don't know. I got a smelly bus there arrived walked for about an hour and a half got mcdonalds for lunch groan then walked another hour to find hostel where I wanted to stay only it wasn't there. So I decided to go find a temple and Jade market I thought would be good. Only my map was wrong I could find certain streets but others just didn't exi http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Guangzhou/blog-299089.html Hi EveryoneSorry it has been so longI finally have internet access in my flat. Communication here is not the easiest phones work in the local area so while I am here please contact me by email. When I make visits to Hong Kong I will have my mobile with the Hong Kong number very confusing I know so it is probably best if you just email meWell life here is Zhongshan is interesting. The s http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Zhongshan/blog-299088.html I came to China to join my husband who was working here as a general manager and wasn't sure about the teaching opportunities. Being in an area that has few foreigners in fact I know of no other Americans here in this city my first priority was to just get acclimated to my new location in a new culture where I did not speak the language. After several months I was asked to teach for a languag http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Shunde/blog-289904.html This used to be called Canton which is where Cantonese food comes from. I can't really tell the difference between the food here and elsewhere although no doubt Sinophiles could explain it with ease. No matter it's all good. China is an endless culinary festival. Guanzhou doesn't seem to offer much in the way of tourist sites to visit so I've just been hanging out on Shamian Island. This was http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Guangzhou/blog-288660.html After a bit of a sleep in and breakfast we decided to have a bit of a wander around Shatin. There is a river next to the hotel so we wandered down there hoping not to be caught out in any more downpours. Strolled through the cultural museum and saw lots of old stuff which was actually quite interesting considering New Zealands heritage of note barely stretches back more than 150 years. We caught u http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Zhuhai/blog-287992.html Two more days until we leave for Beijing and everything seems organized. We got our russian visas without much difficulty yet the tickets for the train were another issue. Supposingly the price of the tickets changes due to inflation and so we were supposed to pay 757 USD instead of 666. We thought that would still be alright and so we asked our agent how we could pay this in RMB since getting http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Guangzhou/blog-287160.html The most important trip you may take in life is meeting people halfway.In the summer of 2006 I traveled to China for the very first time in my life. In addition to the technical and vocational challenges that I knew I would face I had a strong desire to get to know the people and culture of China in a much deeper way than just a visit. The people of China have proven to be friendlier and more i http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Foshan/blog-282110.html E nao e que meu chines deu uma guinada arrematadoraesses dias parei para pensar e olhei a revista que estava lendo national geographic em chines...eu sinceramente nao faco a minima ideia de como entendo isso mas entendo.Tirando isso tivemos uma festa no nosso apartamento sabado passado que ficou apenas no sushi e amanha tenho que limpar o apartamento inteiro denovo para uma outra reuniao aqui http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-281854.html GuangzhouThe name Guangzhou comes from a very old legend that you will learn a bit later on this entry you see that's the motivation for you to keep reading if you want to be in the know that is. Anyway the word Guangzhou means the city of Rams or the City of Goats others will customarily call it the flower city Guangzhou is the capital of the province of Guangdong where I am currently http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Guangzhou/blog-279596.html GuangzhouI had some time before my connection flight to Liuzhou departured so I left the Baiyun Airport and took a 30 min busride to the city. It only took my about 15 minutes to get lost I thought I was heading for the Pearl River and Haizhu square but I wasn't. Getting my directions staight i finally ended up at Pearl River wich was very nice. hen hao.I also had time to get a bite to eat http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Guangzhou/blog-278672.html Pero ya van a ver ustedes que no todo lo que he hecho aqu ha sido trabajar no seor tambin me ha quedado tiempo para bailar un poco de merengue y salsa gracias a Dios que todava podemos no Si que pena con los vecinos pues cuando ando en son de arreglada de apartamento la msica no me falta pues me da energa el trapero y la escoba se mueven mas bonito y yo feliz que ni me doy cuenta http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Zhuhai/blog-276227.html Beijing Competition ScheduleMay 23 1st day of competition and selection of Top 10 from the 20 finalistMay 25 2nd day of competition and selection of Top 6May 29 3rd round of competition and selection of Top 3May 31 Champion Selected from each age groupJanis and I are headed to Beijing for the 1st two rounds of the competition. We will keep you posted on Annie's progress. http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-275809.html We have heard from so many friends this week after the China Earthquake that we at least want to let people know where we are and that we are safe in southern China. We have been here nearly 2 years and enjoyed this adventure even more than we expected. Even though Shunde is a city of over 1 million people Google hasn't even added it to their map. Shunde is located just a 1 hour drive south of http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Shunde/blog-275731.html HI EveryoneI'm still at home in Scotland but I only have 10 days left here I leave on the 22nd May. I am going to spend around a month in Hong Kong and then I'm going to teach English in Zongshan for a year I think.It's all exciting and I have quite a bit to do before I go including sorting out all the documents for the complicated visa.Anyway I thought this would be a good and easy way to keep http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Zhongshan/blog-275047.html We got a bus from Hong Kong to Guangzhou in China luckily no problems with our visa and straight through. We were dropped near a metro station and followed directions to get to our hostel. After checking in we went to Shamian Island which is a former colonial island of France and England. It was very quaint and we had a nice dinner and paid 3 times too much for a can of Sprite Another currency http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Guangzhou/blog-273303.html Tempestade passoue esta um sol extremamente grande aqui um calor infernal...mas pelo menos a tempestade passou.Aqui na china e comum ter os famoso taifengtornados na mainlandou seja na china continental nem tem muito mais nas ilhas de Hainan Taiwan e Hong Kong tem direto principalmente agora no verao e como moro logo do lado de hong kong a gente sempre sofre com isso.Na verdade geralmen http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-272699.html Anda tudo nublado aqui nessa terra.Um furacao atingiu o sul da china e nele trouxe essas merdas de nuvens que nao passam e com o sol se foi tambem a alegria do povoPorque todos aqui tao em uma depressao tao grande que eu sou o unico a passar os dias vendo tv porque ninguem esta muito afim de fazer algo.Polones quieto sabese la porque francesa em crise de nao quero voltar para franca e tals.Ac http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-271090.html Arrived at my hotel only to discover it was directly in front of the Jade Market and one street back from the Temple Street night markets. The night markets. Every night. As someone who loves markets of any description and who will basically purchase anything with cherry blossoms on it this place will be the death of me. This is where adherence to the baggage limit ends.MondayI venture to th http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/blog-270850.html Another Winning PerformanceThe third round of the CCTV Oral English contest proved to be the most challenging thus far. Hosted in Guangzhou a city of 8 million in southern China gave Annie plenty of new competition. The students competed in 4 different age groups elementary junior high senior high and university levels. Annie's junior high group was made up of 11 students from all over Gu http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Guangzhou/blog-270411.html After some noodles for breakfast we hopped onto the train and headed for Yue Xiu park. After finding the entrance we went for a massive wander and looked at all there was to see. the weather was quite bad but the rain didn't stop us. We found some ping pong tables and played our little hearts out. In one of our sheltering spots there was a group of people playing their mandolins and we listened to http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Guangzhou/blog-268225.html Very lazy day today Relaxed in bed for a while in our 'hostel'. Three double beds and a massive tv Went for a little walk around the town and looked at all the market stalls. Very different to Hong Kong though Then ate a very cheap meal in a local restaurant by guessing what was on the menu and hoping it was good. After this we wandered for a little while longer before returning to our suite http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Guangzhou/blog-268221.html Every week in China seems to hold a new adventure and always a unique experience. This week was no exception as we attended an oral English contest with our 14 year old friend Annie. I meet Annie nearly 2 years ago as I was wondering the streets of Shunde taking photos one day. She and her friend approached me and to my surprise began to speak very good English. Annie had a millioin questions http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Foshan/blog-268000.html 27308Left HK under small rain yesterday yes...traveling again I chose Kaiping in Guangdong for my 1st stepping stone. And they had some fort buildings to offer those already within the waiting list of the world heritage application. Direct bus only took 4 hours from HK. Bus drop me at the new bus station in Kaiping but the old one is more in the town center and was about 2km away and where m http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/blog-267667.html Hi there The last few months have been good and busy. I'm still enjoying life in Guangzhou and my tolerance for the cultural differences here in China keeps growing. At the same time it also feels like I'll never be able to completely adjust... But there are so many good things like the way Chinese friends and family look after each other the way dinners and activities are so casual and non co http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Guangzhou/blog-266593.html We landed in Shenzen on April 4th around 10pm with no hotel reservation. We wandered around the airport in search of some english signs and didn't find many and none that said anything about how to get to town. The airport was huge and empty kinda strange for a City of 10 million people. So we basically just observed everone to try to figure out the process. We tried to talk to some people but t http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/China/Guangdong/Shenzhen/blog-265203.html