Saying goodbye to western norms as we enter China and the beautiful Yangshuo

Asia » China » Guangxi » Yangshuo
June 15th 2015

Published: July 29th 2015

China!!! This is one place from the get go we were really excited about. The language barrier, the culture difference and the sites we had read about. Who wouldn't want to see the Terracotta Warriors, climb The Great Wall of China or see Pandora from Avatar in real life? Plus with the scale of China (with it being bigger than the whole of Europe put together) we could not begin to imagine the dive... Read Full Entry

Photos are below

Photos: 35, Displayed: 21

Comment Follow (39) Message

CrispyLife

mikesrtw

Hi we're Chris and P. We have quit our jobs and sold our house to follow our dream of travelling around the world for 12 months!!! Let’s jump back about 2 years - We're driving to P's friend’s house for an evening meal when she turns and says "I've been thinking..." And what a thought that was indeed. That thought turned into buying a dilapidated property and spending a total of 2 years 'doing it up' ourselves coupled with a new job and a wedding thrown into the mix for good measure. We even questioned ourselves at times on whether travelling would actually become a reality or be j... full info

Blog Options

Top Photos Blog Map Private Blogs (1)

Print Version

[blog=890411]

[blogger=296438]

29th July 2015

RENanDREW
Ren & Andrew

Well done
So impressed that you could communicate in Mandarin - it's a really hard language! By the way, was Chris on his bike when it fell into the rice field?? :)

29th July 2015

mikesrtw
CrispyLife

Well done
Thanks Ren. We enjoyed it more than anything and I guess its time to get past our ignorant state one of one language . We have a long way to go especially with Mandarin but its fun trying to pick out words between Chinese tourists here in Laos. Lol. Its funny you ask. Chris has the worst luck with Rice paddies. He's fallen in them about 4 times on this trip. Lucky for him this time it was only a foot and a leg covered in mud. The local couple on the bike found it really funny to compared to Chris's lack of amusement. It was funny and he was unharmed so it was also good. ?

29th July 2015

denidax
Deni, Dax and Ella

I can't wait to go to China
I have been learning Mandarin Chinese for about a year now... so difficult! I am really looking forward to go there and practice. For the same reasons as you I am very attracted to China, and also find it difficult to believe that western tourism is not bigger there, but I guess most people rather go to places where they "have it easy", such as Thailand. I am glad I can follow your trip to China while I dream about mine :)

29th July 2015

mikesrtw
CrispyLife

I can't wait to go to China
I can say with confidence you will love China if you had started to learn Mandarin already. It's been one of our most favourite countries to travel. Plus with your level of Mandarin spoken I am sure will be able to experience much more of China than we have too. Make sure you give yourself enough time though. We had a month but that was not enough. Wow. I really take my hat off to you for studying Mandarin. I learnt loads but really struggled to say 'wor bu chi row'. I do not eat meat. I just couldnt get the r sounds right as they cant say there r's. Chris mastered it for me though. Hopefully our blogs may provide some inspiration for your trip ?

30th July 2015

taracloud
Tara Cloud

Karst heaven!
These karst mountains are among my favorites geological formations, and your photos of them are great. I'm so impressed that you learned some Mandarin, and people understood you! Great adventures--sliding down the mountain, walking across that fab bridge and biking to gorgeous spots. Your eating spot sounds perfect too. What a great beginning to your China sojourn, and you two are adorable in this photo!

31st July 2015

mikesrtw
CrispyLife

Karst heaven
Thanks for such lovely comments Tara ☺. We really enjoyed the beautiful karsts mountains here, I'm happy our pictures portrayed that. They just silently comanded a lot of attention. Zhangjiajie (soon to come) is especially good for this type of scenary too and also some river side towns in Laos. Once we find a spot to take them all in we can do this endlessly!!! Never failing to get bored.

3rd August 2015

A Small Swede in the Big World
Per-Olof Persson

Ups and downs =)
Seems you had your fair amount of ups and downs in Yangshou. All tallied though it seems you enjoyed yourselves. Thanks for writing about it, it was a good read. =)

8th August 2015

mikesrtw
CrispyLife

up and downs
Haha we've had many up and downs and they keep coming. We loved yangshou though. Your comments always make us smile. Its really nice to you enjoy following us ?.

Tot: 0.072s; Tpl: 0.014s; cc: 17; qc: 25; dbt: 0.0357s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1; ; mem: 1.1mb

Do not copy images or text from this page without requesting and receiving permission. All rights are reserved by the author and photographer.

Contact CrispyLife (mikesrtw) - a lack of a response does not mean that you have permission to use material from this page.

Saying goodbye to western norms as we enter China and the beautiful Yangshuo

Copyright Notice: All Rights Reserved