Blogs from China, Asia - page 2310

We are attached to SISS for 3 days during which the girls get to do the following fun: Tour the new school campus; attend music recital, english creative workshop; sports challenge..now that's a fun one for them as they get to play soccer...seems that soccer is an all time favourite in china; today we visited Zhuo Zheng Yuan" or in English, "the humble administrator's garden" - a famous tourist sport in Suzhou, being rated AAAA (National Tourist Atraction Grade) in China. It's also on the World Cultural Heritage map. Built as early as the 4th year of the reign of Zhengde under the Ming Dynasty (1509 AD), the area is extremely large, covering 5.2 Ha and is one of the four most famous gardens in China. It is divided into the eastern, middle and western parts. ... read more

The best trip I did in China so far was to the Great Wall at Mutianyu. Starting from Beijing there are several possibilities to visit the Great Wall. And everybody will tell you another spot which is the most beautiful, the most remote, has the least tourists, is restored in the most original way, is by far the cheapest, features the 'Secret Wall', and so on. Especially the touts in Bejing selling all inclusive tours are very imaginative in praising their spot. And all the other tourist I met where quite certain that the place they had visited is the best. So am I! And here is why: I wanted to see a section of the Great Wall that had at least partly been restored. When you've had a picture in your mind from the age ... read more

Happy Sports Days! For two and a half magical days, classes are canceled for the university wide track meet. Each college puts together teams, who have been training and preparing for this event since the year began. The teachers, however, have been given strict instructions that we will be back in the classroom if rain seems imminent, so this is no holiday. Wednesday afternoon was the opening ceremony where tight lines of students danced into the stadium in grand shows of elegance. Many of the teams seemed to be seeking to compensate for their impending defeats in the upcoming games: the art and music students had well decorated costumes, choreographed movements and martial arts, the physics and maths department rolled in a replica of the just retuned manned Chinese rocket, and the honors college released doves, ... read more

What life in China is like is by far beyond the scope of this journal, it is already difficult fro me to tell the part of it that I experienced. China has been the most interesting country so far, in term of diversity, in term of people, in terms of sightseeing, and in terms of difference from home. An impressive moment has been when I first visited a big Chinese Supermarket, a three storry building, bigger than any supermarket I have seen before. I had gone there in the hope of some European food. But I had to realize that there was hardly nothing in the shelves I knew from home. I kept runnnig towards goods that looked like something I know, but when I came nearer it was again some strange little frozen balls, fungi-like ... read more

Lhasa, Tibet, China Autonomous Region planes only fly in to Lhasa in morning when lift for plane is good so very early wake up call 5;30. previous day we had a wakeup call at 4:30 for a flight from Xi'an (Terra Cotta Warriors) to Chengdu (International Center for Research on Giant Pandas. arrived in Tibet on a sensational day, sunshine and 65 degrees. i did get to use my down vest IN hotel. am using it now. no central heat. heaters were ordered for our rooms but never appeared. western exposure of our room kept us toasty though and dry air helped our wash dry quickly. lots of Russian looking buildings including the hotel but beauty of monasteries makes one soon forget. stress of traveling caught up with all but a half dozen upon arrival in ... read more