Blogs from Chengdu, Sichuan, China, Asia - page 7

Behind each of these student stories, there are many teachers from the Chengdu school and three very busy teachers from Australia. I would like to share one of these stories as a teacher from Cairns Hinterland Steiner School who is on this amazing rollercoaster ride we call an International Exchange. What you may not know is that we have homestay families as well. In my home in Australia, my husband and I shared our home with Elsy (XieYue) for four weeks in Australia and now here in Chengdu i am sharing YanFeng and Ella's home. Just like the students i am making mistakes and unsure about many things. Although i didn't get the opportunity to learn mandarin, so i bumble along with lots of animated hand gestures and exaggerated facial expressions. Fortunately Ella speaks both mandarin ... read more

When I first entered China I could taste twelve litres of petrol in the air per cubic inch. I was afraid of getting lung cancer. When I saw the city I was very confused. Half of it looks brand spanking new and the other half looks like it has been hit by a nuclear bomb 100 years ago and vegetation has just grown through. It is really funny how everyone has such good technology and cars but they don’t all have the best houses. The gardens are pretty amazing. My homestay family keep speaking to me in Chinese even though I have told them I do not understand. When Jenny is there it is a lot easier. Jenny's English is awesome! I am looking forward to more time in China.... read more

Na een slechte nacht komt de trein gelukkig goed op tijd aan in Chengdu. Paul en zijn vrouw staan ons buiten het station al op te wachten. In het hotel checken wij maar in voor 1 nacht omdat dit hotel blijkbaar ver van het vliegveld ligt en wij moeten vrijdag vrij vroeg op het vliegveld zijn. Gelukkig konden wij vrijwel direct inchecken en even lekker gaan douchen. Dat was ook wel nodig na die nacht in de trein! Ons ontbijt was eerder een vroege lunch ( bij mc.donalds!). We waren op tijd terug in het hotel om even te rusten want rond 13 uur zou een vriend van Paul ons komen ophalen om naar het Panda centrum te gaan. Lisa en ik hadden geen zin om in het hotel te blijven en zijn wat gaan rondlopen. ... read more

Chengdu, capitale du Sichuan -à l'ouest de la chine, avant le tibet,n'a pas tellement d'intérêt au niveau de ses bâtiments ou de ses monuments (à part une grosse statue de Mao, si on veut) mais davantage parce que c'est un point de départ pour les excursions au tibet ou à sa frontière, dans les parcs environnants, à Le Shan oùl'on peut voir une des plus grandes statues de bouddha au monde, ou dans le centre de préservation des pandas géants. J'ai pour ma part fait les pandas et le bouddha géant. Pandas : très belle expérience. On voit des pandas géant manger du bambou et se chamailler entre eux. Pour résumer, reprenons l'ensemble des touristes (dont moi) qui s'écrient en coeur "ooh, they are sooo cute !". Cf photos. Bouddha de Le Shan : très cool ... read more

Geo: 30.67, 104.07No trip to Chengdu in complete without a trip to the Panda Research Base. This place just gets bigger and better each time we visit! This time, they had built a whole new enclosure with wobbly bridges and incredibly cute baby pandas. Love it!Back in Chengdu, we managed to find some Digding chaomian. However, Lewis seemed completely oblivious to the sacred nature of such an occasion and I spent the majority of the meal up to my arms in baby poo! Somewhat takes away from the taste!! ... read more