Blogs from Xujiahui, Shanghai, China, Asia

Beijing er en kæmpe by med meget trafik. At tage fra syd-banegården til den centrale togstation med taxa tog 45-60 min. Solen skinnede og i byen fløj små fnug som lignede bommuld og gav en stemning af snevejr midt i forårsvarmen (25-30°C). Gående langs en af hovedgaderne ser det ikke umiddelbart meget anderledes ud end Shanghai men der er til gengæld mange små sidegader med små huse og træer. Hyggelige små ’alleys’ eller ’hutong’. Disse varierer også i standard og det lader til at nogle af de dyreste boliger findes i sådanne små områder. Efter ankomst i Beijing om eftermiddagen var første punkt på dagsordenen at hente togbilletten inden CITS’ kontorer lukkede. Da det var gjort gik gåturen videre til den forbudte by som tilsyneladende lukkede kl 17 lige som jeg ankom . I stedet blev ... read more

What follows is a rather sad trend for those who enjoy driving scooters and motorbikes to get around the city. After having finished an extended bicycle trip, I'm now back to using a motorcycle to get around Shanghai as my primary mode of transport. Basically I ride around a Yamaha 125cc motorcycle and have been doing this kind of 'career' for the past 2.5 years. The benefits of using a motorbike in Shanghai are enormous: 1. Freedom to go at your own schedule 2. Punctuality in a city where late arrivals and delays are commonplace 3. Save money 4. No need to put up with crowded buses, subways, or scarce taxis in rush hour 5. Good mental stimulation to focus during traffic. 6. Speeds are low, so it is safe. On the surface, the traffic in ... read more

Today marks the end of the 1st semester at Nanyang Model High School where I have been happily employed as a Math teacher since September. The schools runs a BC program, in conjunction with the Chinese program. As a BC teacher, I teach BC courses in English for students who plan to graduate and go to Canadian universities. It's a very good job, all things considered, especially when we get 3 weeks winter holiday vacation! So as the students finished off their last round of exams, we finished off the marks this week, collated the report cards, and now it's time for the annual Spring Festival vacation. The plan is to spend 3 weeks in South East Asia on a bicycle, doing short tours in Thailand, Malaysia, and Indonesia. All flights are boooked, and all routes ... read more

Shanghai delicious food... read more

If the title confuses you, we've already published a "Zai Jian Shanghai part 1" that didn't seem to get through...so feel free to check it out, and comment please on our homage to our visitors. As for this final Shanghai blog, we have to say that even putting the words Zai Jian to paper brings a lump to our throats…but we appreciate that the Chinese words for ‘Good-bye’ (Zai meaning ‘again’ and Jian ‘meet’) amount to something akin to au revoir. So as we wave zai jian, or au revoir, to this incredible place called ‘Shanghai’, and close the book on this amazing adventure, we find that mixed with our incredible sadness at leaving is an equally huge happiness at coming home. But if we’ve learned nothing else after two years in Asia, we know that ... read more