[Rand al Thor]

Kosh's Happy New Year post just reminded me that I'd meant to do this for a while now.

So, you have, I'm sure, all noticed that I haven't been around lurking the last few months. That was because I'm in China, and for the first 3 weeks when I was in Dalian the 'earthquake' (thats what Chinese news told us) near Tiawan took out the majority of China's international internet connection and the for the last two months because I've been travelling arround China with my brother who's teaching English here for about a year.

Anyway, he's put together a travel log so I figured I'd post the link if anyone was interested. Might give you a bit of insight if you're planning a similar trip. Plus it'll bump the hits on the site and swell my brothers ego somewhat.

http://www.travelpod.com/first-travelogue-entry/rivers2007/china-2007/tpod.html

He's the one with the red hair (don't ask me how. And DON'T make any jokes!).

[Kosh]

That was because I'm in China, and for the first 3 weeks when I was in Dalian the 'earthquake' (thats what Chinese news told us

It wasn't just the chinese news that said it was an earthquake.....


So what do you think China so far?

[Rand al Thor]

Phew, sorry this has taken so long, I've been spending the last 3 days travelling home. And yeah, I know (now) it wasn't just the chinese news but at the time that was all I had access to due to the crappy connection. CCTV9 isn't what I'd call a.... thorough news station.

Overall though, China was class. Like the blog says we went from Harbin to Sanya (Hainan) through Shenyang, Datong, Pingyao, Wutai Shan, Xi'an, Chengdu, Songpan, Kunming, Nanning, Beihai, Ghongzhou, Yangshou and Chengching (just the airport which is why I'm probably spelling it wrong).

It's a pretty amazing place. The things that stick out are;

For an (officially) secular country, it has a huge number of temples.
Chinese people don't like orderly queuing.
There's a hell of a lot of polution in the cities.
McDondalds is one of the most expensive places to eat. And that suited me just fine.
Chinese is a really hard language to learn and some people decide they aren't going to understand a foreigner even if (s)he is speaking perfect Chinese. I've seen this happen to ex-pats that have been there for years. It's pretty funny.
A huge number of people travel by train.
I love chinese food.
I hate chinese desserts.
Chinese people eat everything. I tried, God help me I tried, but I cannot get any enjoyment from eating snails or a chickens foot.
Expensive Chinese restaurants don't match up to the cheaper ones.
I thought Christmas was commercialised in the west.
I am rubbish at snowboarding.

I'm incredibly glad to be home but thats probably to do with the fact that I've been living in very close quarters with my brother for the last 3months. I'd definately recommend China as a place to visit. For long term stays I'd say check out, Dalian in the north east, Chengdu or Kunming in the south west and Xi'an in the centre. The best of the cities, not too poluted (relatively speaking) and to see. Well, actually, in Chengdu we did nothing but flake, but it was good for that.

Plus they got of good beers in China. And Beijou!

[Kosh]

Chinese is a really hard language to learn and some people decide they aren't going to understand a foreigner even if (s)he is speaking perfect Chinese. I've seen this happen to ex-pats that have been there for years. It's pretty funny.

Also if you get into trouble with the traffic cops you can just pretend not to understand them, and then you can get away with a lot of things. It's great.


CCTV 9 is not exactly what I would call "great tv". Occationally it has something interesting, but not too often. The "news" that is reported on CCTV 9 is actually a lot more censored than the news on the other CCTV stations. On the other ones it often talks about various social injustices, corruption scandals, amoung other things.

[Rand al Thor]

Really? Well, I'm fairly relieved to hear that. CCTV9 is, as a news channel, insane. I mean for the 3 months I was there you could pretty much predict what was going to be on. There'd be a few stories about Chinese economic expansion, maybe a couple of feel good/tourism/citizens success stories and then a couple of reports about polution or polution awareness. No bad news whatsoever. The only time negative news was reported was when it was a piece about another country, like bombings in Iraq or Israel or something like that.

Do you live there BTW? And where?

[Kosh]

I live in Nanjing

[Rand al Thor]

I hear thats a pretty cool place. And a lot of history, but thats a thread in itself. I would've liked to have seen more of the east coast at least but time ran out.

I take it you're not chinese (else fair play on convincing traffic cops you don't understand them)? You over there working?

[Kosh]

I'm not chinese, but I do work here, at least for a while.

[Wild Fragaria]

Cool pictures.  Made me laugh my way through, in a good way though   It looked like a really fun trip.  I guess I will have an advantage in communication if I visit China for I speak Manderin and a dozen Chinese dialects.  Travelling's fun.  I have planned something similar for Europe for the near future.

Oh, very interesting that your brother's a ginger

[Kosh]

I speak Manderin and a dozen Chinese dialects.

I'm impressed. How did you learn so many?

[aldo_14]

I speak Manderin and a dozen Chinese dialects.

I'm impressed. How did you learn so many?

I think she's under-exaggerating, actually.......

[Wild Fragaria]

I speak Manderin and a dozen Chinese dialects.

I'm impressed. How did you learn so many?

I think she's under-exaggerating, actually.......

You mean exaggerating...

Well, Kosh, I learned some of them from watching movies and incidentally, I also picked up the accent too   So, Taiwanese thought I was from Taiwan; my friends from Hong Kong thought I grew up there.   Pretty funny.

[aldo_14]

You mean exaggerating...

Well, Kosh, I learned some of them from watching movies and incidentally, I also picked up the accent too   So, Taiwanese thought I was from Taiwan; my friends from Hong Kong thought I grew up there.   Pretty funny.

Nope :d

See, 1 added post and an added language   non?

[Rand al Thor]

That's pretty impressive. I was there for 3months and all I learnt was how to say hello, goodbye, and thank you. And that was just so I could go on to order beer and the 3 or 4 dishes that I know.

Travelling IS fun. And I can say that now, because already I'm starting to black out the 50% of times when I was thinking about smacking my brother one. Right. In. The. Face. But we're both adults so it usually just resorted to name calling instead.

About Europe, I'd recommend Sweden (Stockholm) for scenery, Estonia (Tallin) or Poland (Krakow) for drinking/eating (and Cheaply!) and I've heard Croatia is class from a few mates. Prague is a beautiful city but there were far too many foreigners there for my tastes.

[Wild Fragaria]

I think that's more than any foreigner will learn (to say hello and order food in Chinese), considering you're only there traveling for 3 months

Sweet, I will add those places to my list and maybe we can have a drink when I'm in Ireland.  Where are you on Ireland? 

[aldo_14]

Visit Edinburgh & Glasgow!

Barcelona is - so far - my favourite european city.  I didn't like Paris the only time I went,  but maybe I'll get a chance in the next few years to make some happier memories there .  Wouldn't mind seeing some of Italy too.   Plus my parents just bought a wee flat on Portugal, so I guess I can have a few cheap breaks there.

On a slightly less OT note, I wouldn't mind visiting China one day.  Methinks Hong Kong and maybe (not sure) Tokyo would be just ahead on that list, though.

[Wild Fragaria]

Yes, Edinburgh's on my list

[aldo_14]

Yes, Edinburgh's on my list

But not Glasgow? !

[Wild Fragaria]

Ok, Glasgow too   Since it's about an hour away from Edinburgh.  We can have an alcohol night (and maybe go clubbing)? 

[aldo_14]

Ok, Glasgow too   Since it's about an hour away from Edinburgh.  We can have an alcohol night (and maybe go clubbing)? 

Ooooh, alcymahol - our speciality!

You don't want to go to a Ceilidh?