Fenghuang Hotel Longyan

I can't believe the first week is now over, finished my first week of training and it was hard work!!!

In my last update i said that "my legs were going to hurt like crazy" if that were true i'd have been happy!! It is now saturday morning and moving is just about pain free ! (but not totally!!) unfortunately there is no rest for achy muscles, just have to get on with it or face the wrath of the Shifoo (teacher)! I had a choice of two forms to study while i ...

I finally landed in Nanchang after around 30hours of travelling! To be greeted at the airport by a Chinese girl who didnt speak a word of english, telling me to get in a cab, with a guy who also didnt speak any English and he was to take me to the academy! luckily, the girl phoned the owner of the academy and got him to translate what she was saying , at ths point i was more comfortable about getting in the ...

Xiamen was a typical Chinese city. It was not very interesting really. About the only exciting thing that happened took place in a local department store. We were on the third floor looking for a few things that we needed back on the ship, and Cub couldn't find a bathroom. We must have asked a half dozen store clerks and none ...

... and ended up with braised lettuce, congee with peanuts and spare rib, spicy beef with turnip and a sort of sweet fried pancake. This was supposed to be a light meal!

Xiamen itself is a very pleasant city considering how modern it is, the smart parts of town are dominated by the coast, where we are taken for a view of Taiwan! They hope for the reunion one day - she says. There is a big university which costs aboout 1500 pounds all in to attend for a year ...

... 14 92;. הרגשת 97; שאני מביט בדברי 01; בפעם הראשו 04;ה, שדברי 01; מפתיע 97;ם אותי מחדש, וליבי עלץ בקרבי. כ ...

... to think that the guide books we have (Lonely Planet in particular) have been written by people who have not actually been to some of these places.

Anyway we have shared bathroom facilities but with hot water etc, and the host speaks English. In fact there are more Westerners here than we have seen anywhere so far. Tonight (our second and final one here) there is a group of about 12 Dutch people travelling with Kuoni who are on a mammoth tour of ...

... is very welcome.

Low rise Gulang Yu is a complete contrast to Xiamen and looks a bit like a peninsular on the French mediterranean until you get close. There are many crumbling colonial mansions including an (ex) British consulate and similar for the US. Some of the buildings are lived in and some are in disrepair. All the roads are paved and all the greenery is manicured, and all the rocks have steps carved into them. The Chinese head straight for the highest point on ...

Hey Hey and a Big G'Day toya Here is the THIRD of the 'Uncle Shane Do You Eat Cats & Dogs & Bats & Frogs' food entries. Besides eating dogs, cats, rats and bats I manage to also sit down to a bowl or two of very normal food once in a while. Over the past week I've chosen my favourite little 'hole in the wall eateries' to sit at and take some happy ...

Hey Hey and a Big G´Day toya, Nieces and Nephews hey! I´m way way over here and they are way way over there! The longer I´m way over here living my dreams they are way over there growing up and getting older! Life is full of so many wrongs and rights. What is the right thing to do when it comes to family? Do you do what most would say the right thing to do is? Do you head home ...

... our phrasebooks saved the day and we were off to find our hostel. Thankfully we made it onto the second last ferry of the night that would take us to our hostel we'd booked online. We were so exhausted and so thankful to find our hostel so easily once we'd crossed onto the Island of Gulangyu (try googling it). Sure enough, adventure awaits...hostel is booked solid and had taken our money online anyway. We were offered a nice night of sleeping under ...