Blogs from Ji'Nan, Shandong, China, Asia - page 5

Det siges at man ikke har været i Kina, hvis man ikke har været i Xi'an. Dette slogan er formentlig opfundet at "turistmyndighederne" i Shaanxi provinsen (hvor Xi'an er hovedstad) - men for en sikkerheds skyld valgte det meste af vores team så at bruge weekenden plus fredag på en smuttur dertil. Xi'an var i mange år Kinas "hovedstad" - eller rettere Kejserens bopæl. Her har man fundet nogle af de ældste rester af neolitisk kultur og det var her, at Kinas første kejser lagde grunden til Qin-dynastiet for godt 2200 år siden. Han erobrede et mægtigt territorie, og Qin er grunden til at vi i dag kalder "Riget i midten" for Kina. Den første Kejser - Qinshihuang havde en besættelse af døden, eller måske rettere - han frygtede den voldsomt. Derfor lod han bygge et ... read more

Her er lige et indlæg skrevet til teamets fælles blog. Jeg sparer lidt tid og poster det også her. Genbrug er godt. Så må I tage det med, at jeg ikke har gidet at oversætte: For a Dane who is used to coordinated, regulated and rather well mannered traffic - the streets of Jinan are an “experience” to say the least… Each night when I fall asleep I can thank the Maker that I actually succeeded in crossing the roads I did, or rather that I even succeeded in walking the sidewalks - knock on wood! First of all the Chinese seem to drive everything that has more than one wheel. Well - there is also the occasional wheelbarrow, so I should say everything that has a wheel or more. Ok - I guess they invented ... read more

Så er jeg tilbage på bloggen. Havde lige et par dage hvor jeg dels havde travlt med at bestige bjerge, og dels ikke kunne logge på den (der er en del filtrering af websites herude, og åbenbart var min blog ramt af dette syndrom. Var det mon min kommentar om Norge, sidst... Ups nu gjorde jeg det igen... Vi må se om jeg er på i morgen :-)). Nu har jeg selvfølgelig ophobet en masse at fortælle om, men jeg skal spare de ærede læsere for det meste - men først og fremmest er jeg i dag vel ankommet til Ji'nan, og er nu godt installeret i mit "hjem" for den kommende måned. Jeg har jo ikke oplevet meget af byen endnu, men ved første øjekast, er den definitivt mere fattig end Beijing, infrastrukturen er ikke ... read more

I went to Jinan the other week. I took some lovely pictures there, and I would like to share the experience. Jinan is the city I initially flew into from Cambodia; it's where my co-LanguageCorps buddy is working at this time. I will be frank--the city depressed me horribly the first time. I arrived after a blissful month in Cambodia; Jinan was cold, grey, barren, and I couldn't find my way around the city. I stayed indoors shivering for most of my time there. I found the reverse to be true the second time around, even if it did rain for the duration of my visit (my only pair of shoes were soaked by the end of the day, and I had to dry them out with the solar heater my roommates had commandeered). It was ... read more

It was a warm early autumn afternoon when we flew in to Jinan International Airport on a “test run” with a host family. Earlier during the Hainan Airlines flight from Xi’An (I can recommend them - the service was excellent!) I was reading a travel guide which would turn even the most curious traveller off visiting Jinan. “Smoggy and dirty city which has little to offer the traveller - not worth the journey.” My excitement levels plummeted to zero. The host family brought along cousins, aunts, uncles and anyone else that could fit into their 7 seater people mover. Naturally there were more than seven! We squeezed in and made our way along a quite unremarkable highway towards Jinan city. Smoke haze, factories and dust lined the horizon. I was beginning to think the travel guide ... read more