Blogs from Zhejiang, China, Asia - page 7

I have loved China and Chinese culture for a very long time now and once again I visited my country in August –yes, it’s really as if I was coming back home when I am in China!-. It was the 4th time I was coming to China, so my goal and way of travelling was much different from the last times: I visited friends, went to job interviews and took time to spend at least 4 days in each place. Yes, you read well, I went to job interviews!! I am indeed planning to realize my 2nd biggest dream –for the ones, who are not following my stories, 1st one was to do this world trip :)!) and to move to China next year. I am ready to go back to work but it doesn’t mean ... read more

China-continued… Day two (Thursday) is a long one—three classes starting at 8:00 and finishing at 3:20 with a 2-hour break in the middle of the day. Still very hot and humid and even the locals are commenting on the humidity in particular. I am in the break period in the foreigner’s office, which fortunately is air-conditioned, although it still feels very ‘moist’. Apparently, it will continue like this for another couple of weeks…. Yesterday was “interesting’ as I had more or less run out of cash and I had been trying various ATMs around the city to no avail: I used the ones from last time, which worked fine two years ago but for whatever reason, no luck, no cash. I thought I would try Western Union transfer to China, but no luck there either—at this ... read more

China! The mysterious Orient...actually mysterious is not really the right word--perhaps 'exciting, puzzling, frenetic, frustrating rewarding...' might start to describe a fascinating country and equally fascinating culture and people. I am in Jinhua for a four-month teaching gig at Jinhua Polytechnic University as part of an exchange program with Royal Roads University, Victoria, BC, Canada. The intent of the program is to deliver RRU's Hospitality program to Chinese student at JPU. The program is taught in English and the Canadian teachers work with Chinese translator's in the classroom to help facilitate the course. I teach Marketing and Sales: this is my second placement and I have just arrived and anticipate getting going in the classroom in a few days. I arrived in Shanghai from Vancouver where I stayed to 'acclimatize' and de-compress before heading to Jinhua--this ... read more

On top of Tiger Hill in Suzhou is a very old pagoda that was built in the tenth century. Over a thousand years later, it remains aloft, though it leans considerably to one side. Because of its tilt, no one is allowed to venture in. Instead, it’s boarded off and peaceful. There are trees and moss growing on the stone walls and it is surrounded by a leafy courtyard with benches and picnic tables. Completed in the Song Dynasty, the pagoda and park have a long history. The area has been mentioned by wistful poets and scholars who used to wander amongst its bamboo groves. In recent years, when they dug underneath in an attempt to repair the faltering supports of the pagoda, they found a chest of ancient Buddhist manuscripts. According to a plaque at ... read more

Sorry this one isnt quite finished yet. At the mention of Jinhua, the first thing that comes to a Chinese person's mind is perhaps Jinhua ham, a local specialty. Few people, however, know that it is also the hometown of Immortal Huang, a man who practiced Taoism here and become a local god. It borders the provincial capital of Hangzhou to the northwest, Quzhou to the southwest, Lishui to the south, Taizhou to the east, and Shaoxing to the northeast. Its population was 5,361,600 at the 2010 census including 1,077,300 in the built-up area. One can notice that the cities of Dongyang/url... read more