There’s nothing quite like sitting down to some tea after a productive day. Guiyang saw sun and blue sky today for the first time in over a month and the whole city seemed uplifted. The scooter ride to work had less honking than normal and it seemed that anyone who was able to, spent their day outside, soaking in the vitamin D! Thursdays are my ‘get stuff done day’ though, so I spent most of my day indoors cleaning the teacher’s office, chatting with my fabulous coworkers and then teaching my wonderful kindergarten students whom I love very much!
What is this sudden shift in mood, you might be asking yourself? My last few posts have been centered around how I’ve been ‘getting through’ this part of living overseas. October and the first half of November were tough. Culture shock, finding my ‘place’ at work and being constantly sick had definitely been putting a damper on my mood. Dave is my rock, but even the best couples get nippy with each other when stresses run high for long periods of time, so we decided to do what we do best: travel! What better way to improve moods and remind us WHY we’re here! So Monday morning (I teach all day Saturdays and Sundays so my days off are Monday and Tuesday) we packed up, hopped onto a train and headed down to Zhenyuan Ancient Village!
We arrived shortly after noon, and caught a taxi to the old part of town, where our hotel was located. After a few minutes of waiting to check in, a woman arrived to show us to our room. I took out my passport so that she could match my reservation but she just laughed and told me that ‘she knew’ (as it turns out, not many Lao Wai visit this town).
She lead us outside and down an alley, to a locked door. She called for someone who was cleaning his mop in the river, and he came and unlocked it for us. As it turned out, he was the hotel’s owner. He had just finished cleaning our room (which was spotless!) and he came up to welcome us to the hotel. He spoke roughly 10 words of English, but he’d gone ahead and written down several things for Lao Wai to do in the town in English. Judging by the way it’s written, he probably copied it down from something he translated in Google, but it was such a thoughtful thing to do and it really impressed us because China isn’t exactly famous for its customer service.
After planning out our days in Zhenyuan with him, we sat down and had some lunch at a local restaurant and then set off to explore the town a little. I can’t really say we did anything terribly exciting, but there were so many beautiful things to see that it all felt like such an adventure! Zhenyuan is a 2000 year old town, and the buildings have been built and rebuilt in the Miao minority style. We wandered down cobblestone streets and eventually found our way to the busier part of town, where citizens there work, go to school and shop. It was such a beautiful mix of old and new.
After our stroll in the afternoon, we head back to the hotel for a much needed nap. After all, what is a vacation if you don’t get to rest a little?? The view that greeted us as we left our room to find supper was incredible. I’ve told my family and friends more than once that China, at nighttime, is too beautiful to really explain. Here are some photos to back that up.
For supper, we enjoyed one of Guizhou’s most popular dishes: Sour Fish Soup. It came with an assortment of vegetables, tofu and of course, rice! We enjoyed Chinese beer, a spectacular view and fantastic food. I’d recommend this restaurant to anyone…if for no other reason than the location!!
After this feast, we head back to the hotel, taking the North side of the river back. We got up close to the Green Dragon Cave (which is actually a temple..not a cave), and got to see the pagoda to the west of our apartment lit up. No pictures could ever really capture the beauty we saw in Zhenyuan Monday night, but I think my camera did alright in showing what it was like 🙂
Stay tuned for part 2! I always think I can fit it all into one post, but I want to share so many pictures so I always run out of time! I suppose I’ll have to get my butt back online soon to tell you about our Wuyang River cruise and our lovely afternoon walking along an ancient wall 🙂
The last week has been fantastic! The atmosphere at the school has been far more positive this week, we got out of the city last weekend and had a mini adventure and today, I got to hang out with an adorable kitten at my favorite restaurant:)
But I think the biggest thing that’s made this week awesome, is the little bit of extra money we’re making tomorrow doing overtime for the school. We save this money so that we can treat ourselves to some of the little things we miss from back home. Of course, we can’t find everything we miss from Canada in Guiyang, but the things we can find are always a big deal. A chocolate bar can make up for missing some of the things you can’t buy on Tao Bao or at Carrefour…
We officially hit Month 3 in Guiyang on November 15th (My brother’s birthday!), and the end of this first quarter abroad is notorious among travelers for being when you really begin to miss things. I’ve mentioned some of those things in previous posts, but today I’d like to focus on the things we HAVE managed to find in Guiyang, that have made our stay here a little less ‘homesicky’.
1. Western Stores
I’ve mentioned in past posts that Guiyang is home to several North American food chains, such as Dairy Queen, Pizza Hut, KFC and Mcdonalds. But we’ve also found some western stores that have made our stay here easier. Walmart is common here, and Guiyang now has 4 locations. Walmart has come in handy for household items, such as: spray bottles (couldn’t find one anywhere else…), soft pillow cases (the ones that we originally had actually hurt my face), drain cleaner and stationary supplies. Carrefour is a weekly lifesaver as well. We were able to find everything we needed there when we left for China while our luggage stayed in Vancouver. Carrefour also has a fantastic ‘foreign foods’ section, that sells Cuban rum, Perrier sparkling water and salty popcorn.
And there are even many western clothing stores here! H&M was a lifesaver during our first week in Guiyang. The biggest problem I had when our luggage went missing, was that I had no clothes. I’d been smart enough to pack some deodorant, my tooth brush and dental floss in my carry on…but I only had 2 pairs of tights and 3 shirts (that did not work with tights!) with me, so when I had to start work the next day, I would have been screwed if it weren’t for H&M. Women in China are tiny, so finding clothing that fit my Canadian Curves was a huge deal. I’ve since learned that China’s gained weight (probably from all the western fast food that’s popped up in the last 8 years), and it isn’t as much of a problem to find clothes that fit now, but at the time I had no idea where else to go, so it was a relief to find a familiar store, with familiar clothes.
2. Coffee: The Nectar of Life
There are many small cafes in Guiyang that make excellent coffee; definitely more than there were 8 years ago in Xiamen. There are times when my monthly Venti Caramel Machiato with an extra shot of espresso is my reason for living, and although I’d love to have this wonderful liquid more often, it’s monthly for a reason…coffee costs the same here as it does in Canada. That’s ok, for someone who’s making a Canadian salary, but for me…well, I just can’t justify it. So coffee is one of those things that we do rarely, and only when we’ve stuck to our budget for a while. Don’t get me wrong…I’m paid well here in Guiyang…but we are trying to save our pennies (or jiao, rather) so that we can do as much traveling as possible, so daily coffee is out of the question. But we do treat ourselves when we can!
Any time I work overtime I save my money for coffee. No matter how crummy my week has been…1 whiff of that delicious espresso and it all fades away. We actually spent 4 hours at Void Cafe today, here in Zhong Tian. We sipped our coffees and I corrected my students tests. It’s funny how such a seemingly boring day can be such an amazing one. Plus…correcting tests is always more entertaining than I expect it to be…
3. Online Shopping
I’m not sure how many people in Canada are aware of Alibaba, or it’s extremely popular shopping site, Tao Bao…but for us…it’s a life saver. Last week was China’s ‘Single’s Day’. Some students in Beijing decided to name November 11th (11.11) singles day, so that people who have no significant other can feel justified to buy something for themselves one day a year. Of course, online shopping companies turned this holiday into a money making monster and this year’s Single’s Day broke records. Over 80 billion RMB was made on Tao Bao and other Alibaba sites, and I have to admit, we took part in that great feat.
Online shopping is a huge industry worldwide, and it’s easy to see why. You can shop from the comfort of your living room and you can find almost anything you could possibly need online. And you don’t even need to lug all your items home…they come right to your doorstep!! But online shopping is even more awesome for Lao Wei living in China. Here’s a breakdown of why Tao Bao is a lifesaver for the expat:
One of the items we bought was a foot warmer for Dave. There’s no indoor heating in Guiyang, so while he’s at home, working on the computer all day, his feet get very cold…even with slippers and an area rug to help. But to find a foot warmer in China isn’t as easy as just going to the store and getting one! First, you need to find a store that sells them. This isn’t always easy, as was proven during the month it took us to find a spray bottle in Guiyang. Then you need to find the right product IN the store. Once more…it might seem simple from where you’re sitting, but in China, finding the right product is an ordeal. The packaging on most items is in Chinese so you have to base everything off of the picture on the box . When looking for something of good quality (that’s actually going to warm your feet without catching fire), you can’t even rely on brands here, because all of the brands in China are foreign to us.
Buying things online is just SO…MUCH…EASIER. For starters, you can punch what you’re looking for into Google translate, and search websites in Chinese. Then, Google Chrome translates the entire page for you so you can find out the wattage and other important stuff, and even check reviews online from other buyers. Best of all though, is that you don’t have to deal with a Chinese sales person trying to help you. They try so hard to be helpful, but they hardly ever speak any English (retail doesn’t pay well here either, so if you speak English, you’re most likely working somewhere that ISN’T a store…), so they talk to you in Mandarin…constantly…no matter how many times you tell them that you don’t understand. It gets very frustrating, and I often end up walking out of stores as a result. On Tao Bao…I don’t have to worry about that!
And when Google Translate or Chrome fail you, it’s easy to bring your laptop over to someone at the school and ask for help. The Chinese staff at Interlingua are great, and they are always happy to help translate if we need. One girl in particular, Lumi, has helped me on several occasions. Just this morning she called a number that had been calling me all morning to find out what they needed (It was about a tao bao delivery haha!). Today is her day off, but she was happy to help. So I try very hard not to abuse that help and I can tell you this: It is much nicer to bring your laptop over to Lumi while she is at work, than it is to have her play translator via cell phone on a Monday afternoon!!
So there you have it folks; 3 of the things that make our lives in China easier. Now I need to head to bed because I’ve gotta make some coffee money first thing tomorrow morning!!! Goodnight, my lovely friends!!!
I never had a chance to write this weekend, and I regret it but also know that it couldn’t be helped. We had to pack up the rest of our Christmas presents and bring them down to the post office so that they make it to Canada in time for the Holidays. This may seem simple: buy presents, pack them up, and ship! But in China, nothing is simple. It takes hours sometimes to find even the most basic things. When everything is unfamiliar (from language to brand names), finding the ‘right stuff’ can be difficult.
We purchased a lot of our Christmas shopping in Guilin, while we were on holidays. So it might seem like all we had to do was stick it all in boxes and ship it off to Canada. But customs can be quite difficult…so if they decide to open our box up, everything might end up a mess when it arrives. I experienced this in Xiamen, so this time I labeled everything as best as I could, so that our friends and family on the receiving end know whose gift is whose. I also included a letter with each box detailing which item was for which person as a back up.
Then, we had to go to the post office and ask for boxes and wrapping materials (in Chinese). Of course, this should have also been simple, but the women there sold us boxes that were too small for their labels, so in the end, we had to pack everything up twice (as well as buy a second round of boxes). Oh China!
Then, of course, there’s the long list of items that cannot be shipped anymore. Although we were careful with our purchases, knowing that they’d have to be sent via China Post, several items were removed from our boxes, leaving certain family members and friends with half-gifts. Some things in particular were especially confusing. Milk products aren’t allowed to be shipped. We were told this rather abruptly today, however, we have no idea which of the gifts we were sending contained milk! They didn’t take the item out. They left it in and scolded us instead. It is all terribly confusing.
But have no fear, we will manage to ship the rest of them before too long. Tonight, I’m taking a break from that stress so that I can finish writing about our last 2 days in Xiamen! I bet you thought I’d never get around to it, eh??
We only had 3 days to enjoy in Amoy city, so we had to spend them wisely. We woke up early on Friday October 3rd and checked out at the hostel. We weren’t too terribly sad to go, as the hostel wasn’t the greatest we’d stayed in. It’s only redeeming quality was the excellent bartender who was both friendly and nearly fluent in English.
Our first stop was Nanpu Tuo or “The South Temple”. The location of this temple goes back 2000 years, and it has been called Nanputuo since the 1600s, when it was rebuilt. It received another facelift since I’d seen it last, and it now has even more elaborate wood structures and its old stone statues have been replaced by newer ones.
Our next adventure in Xiamen was an overnight stay on Gulang Island. I’ve already written about the insane experience getting there, so I’ll keep this post short (er) by leaving that info out. (You can read about it in my post: Chinese National Day). Once we arrived at our hostel, and checked into our room, we set off to wander the island. What I was most looking forward to showing Dave, was the view of Xiamen Island from Gulang. At night, the buildings are all lit up and it’s absolutely beautiful.
As our stomach’s began to grumble, we made our way into the island’s center, where there are shops and food vendors waiting to be explored. I had my heart set on some fresh Xiamen Seafood, so we spent some time looking for just the right place.
We spent the rest of the evening drinking beer, journaling and relaxing after a hot day in the sun. We did get adventurous at one point and tried to find some wine to enjoy out on the terrace. We did find some wine, but it was a tad difficult to enjoy. I love many things about China: the food, the beer, the people….But I do not enjoy Chinese wine!! We called it quits at around 1am and jumped in the most comfortable bed we’d slept in since we arrived here in Mid August (a western style bed is a HUGE selling point for any hotel in the Orient!!)
The following morning, we set out to explore the island some more, but with 80,000 people in such a small space, it was a bit rough to get anywhere. We did manage to enjoy some very good skewered potato as well as some steam dumplings and other treats as we walked the paths and squeezed through the crowds
Eventually, we began to feel the effects of the sun, so we set off down a shaded path that was mostly empty. The lack of tourists lead us to believe that there wouldn’t be much to see, but I can say that the time we spent in that shade was the best I had on our last day in Xiamen. There is so much interesting architecture on Gulang Island, and it’s all so well kept! We took our time, taking photos of the beautiful walls and the winding path. Eventually we found our way into a mini-shopping area, where we discovered a bar with free Wifi. We spent about an hour in there, trying a Chinese iced cream dessert and chatting with Dave’s brother William on Skype. This was definitely another highlight of our day!
This quiet path eventually lead us back to our hotel, where our bags were waiting to be taken with us to the airport. It was time to leave. But this time, at least I left Xiamen on my own terms.
I can’t say enough times how lucky I felt to visit this hometown of mine. Part of me has always stayed in Xiamen, and it’s hard to put into words how much this trip meant to me.
Stay tuned! I’ve got many more stories and pictures to come!!
After spending the last hour or so organizing our Christmas presents for loved ones back home, it’s time to sit down and visit my good old neglected blog. I’ve been wanting to write all week, but I always try to write when I’m feeling positive. Unfortunately, I haven’t been feeling too positive as of late. But thinking about it today, I realized that my blog is suppose to be story about Adventure and Growth. And maybe some of my readers would like to hear about the bumps we’ve had during our first 3 months in Guiyang.
Culture shock can be rough. According to the text books, the worst stage is when the honeymoon is over, usually around the 3rd month. Things aren’t exciting anymore, and although your routine keeps you sane, you sort of resent the routine because it means the adventure is over (well, on the surface anyway). Around month three, you begin to notice the little things that annoy you about the new culture you find yourself in.
Aside from the small annoyances I’ve been feeling, I’ve been missing certain things from home too. Some days I just want to hop on a plane and go hug my nieces. Some days I want to close my eyes and wake up with Hobbes wrapped around my head. I miss his purr. Most days though, it’s the little things I miss. A comfortable place to read, a soft bed with soft sheets, good hairspray…
What’s made my last month difficult though, isn’t the culture shock or home sickness. These are things I expected. I knew that I ‘d get sick of hearing people spit. I knew that the beds were hard, and I cherished my last nights in Canada accordingly. I even knew that Skype could never replace a hug from Ellie, or seeing Addyson crawl towards me the first time. What’s made it difficult is the amount of negativity I’m surrounded by at work.
The school where I work has a lot of great things going for it. I work with some REALLY awesome people. The visa process was also done properly and the owner here takes great pride in her 100% legit team of teachers. Last month, 19 Lao Wei were deported for having the wrong visas in Guiyang, so to work for a company where those legalities are taken seriously is a HUGE win for any teacher.
But Z Visas and great coworkers aren’t always enough. When your work atmosphere is a negative one, it can be hard to overcome that negativity, no matter how hard you try. When you are overseas, missing your nieces and worrying about a friend’s health, that negativity is magnified a hundred fold. When you do your very best, coming in early to make sure the Halloween party is a success and staying late so that each of your students’ parents feel heard, you expect a certain degree of gratitude from your boss. But in China, that’s not how things are always run.
China is all about ‘saving face’. When I got a flat tire on the scooter, and the thing fell over as I tried to get it to a fence where I could lock it up, nobody helped me. This wasn’t because they were mean people. This was because they didn’t want me to ‘lose face’. Similarly, tipping isn’t a norm in China. To tip a waitress implies that the owner of the restaurant doesn’t pay him/her enough. This makes the owner ‘lose face’. This is also why verbal appreciation doesn’t come naturally to many people in China. Your paycheck is the ‘thank you’ you receive for doing your job. Anything more than that is to imply that you NEED your staff, which means you aren’t in control of your business. This makes the owner lose face. I think a lot of the negativity where I work is due to that culture norm.
But there’s more to it than just that. If I simply not being thanked for going above and beyond, I wouldn’t be struggling like I am. I work for a Chinese woman. It’s harder for women to ‘make it’ here, in the business world. The culture is very sexist and women here are basically dolls; they wear high heals and are always dressed to the nines. A teacher who used to work at the school summed up China with the 3 Hs: Honks, Horks and Heels. The men in China are a whole different story though. There is a very clear difference in expectations where the sexes are concerned. Women are dolls. Period. They aren’t suppose to be much more than that…
So for my boss to have made it to where she has, running a VERY successful English School, I know that she’s had to work HARD! I respect that about her, I really do. But her success also means that she has to be taken seriously ALL THE TIME. Even in Canada this is still a bit of an issue. My 5 years as a retail manager taught me that women are not treated the same way that men are. My boss didn’t shake my hand, like he shook the boys’. He’d go in for a hug…and I am NOT a hugger. I had to be better than the boys to be noticed, and my boss has to deal with that same sexism in a country where equality is even more of an issue.
So when someone at work steps out of line, or doesn’t do what they’re suppose to do, I know that my boss has to yell louder to be heard. I know that she thinks that the only way she can be taken seriously, is to be serious all the time. This creates a very negative atmosphere. To only ever hear the bad (because saying the good can mean losing face) and to be jumped on for every small misdemeanor (even the ones you didn’t realize were a faux pas until it was too late…) becomes exhausting. Add the fact that the honeymoon phase is over, and it’s a pretty raw deal.
So why don’t I just pack up and move home, you might ask? Well, there are two reasons.
I am able to recognize that many of these issues I’m having at work are due to cultural differences. I recognize that my boss isn’t just a bad person. So much gets lost in translation here, and so many other things get mixed up because we have different expectations of what the boss/employee relationship is suppose to be. At the end of the day though, KNOWING THIS is what gets me through.
To help you understand my second reason, I need to tell a little back story here…
In 2006, when I left Xiamen, it wasn’t on my own terms. I was working for a school where the visas were not legit, and I was caught working with that bad visa. After 5 days at the immigration bureau, signing papers and answering questions in an interrogation room, I was handed back my passport with a big red stamp across my visa: REQUESTED TO LEAVE THE COUNTRY WITHIN 5 DAYS. It was heartbreaking. I was kicked out of a country that I’d learned to love so much.
When I returned home, my family and friends couldn’t understand why I missed China so much, after I’d been treated so badly here. People couldn’t see why I’d want to return to the cockroaches and language barriers and uncomfortable beds. But the thing is…once you’re back home for good…you miss everything about your life overseas; cockroaches, deportation and all!
Knowing that one day I’m going to miss every moment of this helps a lot. In a few years, I’m going to look back at my time in Guiyang and see how these bad days shaped me into the person I’m going to become. We’re all growing after all…we’re all becoming new versions of ourselves. My most important goal in life is to make sure that my next ‘version’ is an upgrade from the last.
So I’ll take these experiences in stride. Hopefully, the school will begin to see me for the teacher that I am: a hard working, caring and dedicated educator who wants what’s best for her students above all else. And if that doesn’t happen, well, I’m all about growth and moving forward. The best thing about Marie V.28.4 is that she’s been in these situations before. My experience and my determination will get me through any rough patch that shows its ugly face 🙂
I haven’t forgotten to write about my last few days of holidays! They’ll be coming soon, I promise!
It’s a green-tea-drinking, guitar-music-playing and blogging type of night! After a fabulous day off spent scooting around Guiyang with Dave, I’ve decided to postpone my final piece of the National Holiday Saga for a night when I have less recent events that need telling. So today, I shall write about Guiyang, the city where I am living 365 days of my life.
Guizhou Province is the poorest province in all of China. People who know about Guizhou province don’t have very fond opinions of the place, and while we were on vacation we received quite a few negative reactions from Chinese people when we told them where we live. However, the majority of westerns have no idea where Guizhou even is. It’s sort of like Saskatchewan in Canada…internationally, it isn’t very well known, and within the country, nobody really wants to talk about it!
We live in the capital of Guizhou province: Guiyang. And although it definitely has it’s flaws, we feel safe here and I most definitely never scoff at it’s scenery. Guizhou may not be as rich as Xiamen city , or as scenic as Guangxi province but the scenery here is so ruggedly beautiful.
Still, Guiyang does have its flaws.
It’s an up and coming city…In the last 6 months, there’s been a huge influx of western restaurants and stores. As of now, Guiyang has many KFC and Dairy Queen locations, a Burger King, a Starbucks, 3 Walmarts (with another being built), a Carrefour (a French Grocery store chain) and most recently, a Subway (it opened here last week). There are even western clothing stores in Guiyang, such as H&M and designer stores like Diesel and Calvin Klein. Guiyang is moving up in the world! The only problem is that many of the citizens of Guiyang haven’t caught up to their city’s progress!
I know that Guiyang will eventually be fabulous in all ways, but the city is currently very lacking in the sanitation department. Parents allow their children to urinate in the streets (they sometimes hold them over sewers so they can relieve themselves…but often it’s done on the sidewalk), and people spit constantly. It’s not pleasant to hear, and it’s not pleasant to see on the ground. Walking in Guiyang is a fun little game…you need to watch where you’re going, but at the same time, you need to have your eyes on the sidewalk so that you can dodge spit, urine and loose or uneven tiles in the ground. How so many women here walk around in 3 inch heals is beyond me…the sidewalks are an obstacle course!!
Surprisingly, there aren’t many cockroaches in Guiyang. When we first moved into our new apartment, they were a HUGE problem, but since we got the place cleaned up we haven’t seen a single one. Rats, on the other hand, are an issue. The school is infested. My desk often has poop in it, and I find myself constantly wiping everything down with sanitary wipes. We find chew marks in our books and we sometimes see them running along the pipes above the teacher’s office. Worst of all, I can often hear them moving around in the walls behind my desk. Lexie and I will just look over at one another and shudder at the sound.
And Guiyang’s lack of sanitation isn’t its only problem. The queue situation isn’t quite as bad as it was in 2006, (the main issue in Xiamen was that queues didn’t even exist…), but still, people often cut in line. Just today, I had a women cut in front of me at Carrefour. She had a cart full of items, and all I had was a bottle of MeiJiu in hand but still, as soon as I looked away, she pushed her way past me. The smug grin she gave me after made me so angry I wanted to backhanded her. But the Canadian in me took over and I just gave her a passive aggressive dirty look instead.
But there is something even worse than urine on the streets, or people cutting in front of me at Carrefour. Traffic in Guiyang is insanity. The infrastructure here is so bad that it makes Winnipeg’s streets look logical, but even THAT isn’t the worst of it! People here have absolutely no regard for other drivers on the road, to the point where signaling isn’t done (EVER!) and instead of doing shoulder checks, everyone just honks to let others know that they are there. Guiyang is a LOUD city!
Just today, we saw someone make a U turn from the far right lane of a busy 6 lane road. I should add, that this U turn was NOT made at an intersection. We were driving in the lane to his left and had to swerve and slam on the breaks to avoid T boning him. Did he look scared or regretful, you might ask? Nope! He just kept driving. I’m not even sure he realized that there were other vehicles on the road, or that a beautiful white scooter had nearly been injured due to his insane expectations of what driving should be.
So why, you might be wondering, am I still living in this city? Why do I continue to work in a rat infested building and continue to navigate horribly designed streets under fear of sudden insanity brought on by road rage? Well…that’s the thing. Amidst all this craziness, we both find ourselves happier than either of us have ever been.
There are so many things here that contribute to this happiness. The food is a big one…everything here is flavored with an abundance of spice. The only bland food I’ve had has been when Chinese cooks try to prepare dishes for the western palette. Hot Pot is especially delicious and we’ve found several restaurants that have really made living here a tasty and fantastic experience.
Even better than the food at this restaurant, are the people who work there. Their restaurant is always clean and well maintained, and the staff work very hard. The owners, Kevin and LoMan, greet us by name every time we arrive. They are two of the nicest people we’ve met here and I hope our friendship grows. I always told everyone back home that the two things I missed the most about China were the People and the Food. At our hot pot place, we get the best of both 🙂
But honestly, I think even more than the people and the food, what makes me so happy here is how much I LIVE!! Every day is an adventure…every adventure is a challenge. Whether we are trying to mail post cards or trying to find some western ingredient for a dish we are craving…every moment of our lives here is interesting. Seeing the way people drive here is interesting. The cultural norms here, that are so drastically different from our own….are interesting! We went to Walmart today to look for a Halloween Costume for Dave, and saw the funniest things. We saw strange meat, and asked what it was. The woman replied that it is rotisserie rabbit. You can also find stools at Walmart, that have the middle section cut out. These are built this way so that they can be placed over squatter toilets so that you can sit comfortable instead of crouching, while trying not to get pee on yourself!
So I suppose what I’m trying to say here, is that I love my life. I love that everything is difficult. I love that I’ve learned so many new words in the last 3 months. I love how exciting it is to say something in Mandarin and have the other person understand what I’m saying! I love how the people here can be so amazing! Our waitress at the hot pot place didn’t speak a word of English when we first started going there. Now, she has a friend teaching her so that she can ask us simple things in English, even though we know how to ask for them in Mandarin.
I love how I’m building meaningful friendships here. I’ll never be able to talk about those rats with anyone like I can with Lexie!! I’ll never be able to stand on a street corner in the rain and rant about work and students and craziness like I can with her, because she’s going through the same things I am!
I love what I’m discovering about myself, and what Dave and I are discovering about our relationship. We are learning what we are like under the most stressful circumstances, and I’ve gotta say…I am SO happy to be here with someone I love so much!!
Another day is coming to an end here in Guiyang. On Wednesdays I teach 2 kindergarten level classes; one at 5:30pm and one at 7:00pm (each are an hour long). I can’t say I enjoyed teaching these groups for the first few weeks. I’ve never been particularly fond of teaching kindergarten (I find it’s more nose wiping than it is teaching), but these students have come a long way in the 9 weeks that I’ve been their teacher. Their behavior has improved greatly and they learn new words every class. In the last two months I’ve taught them 10 occupations (policeman, doctor, mailman etc…), 12 locations (library, park, hospital), how to use 5 pronouns properly (he, she, it, I and you) and I’ve even taught them a couple of phrases (Where does the policeman go? He goes to the police station!). More importantly though, these students have been building the confidence that is SO necessary when learning a new language. I had parent teacher interviews this weekend, and one parent made my day. He told me that he’s noticed a HUGE improvement in his son’s confidence since I began teaching them this semester. Jason even approached a Lao Wei while on vacation and struck up a conversation with them. His father was so impressed that he asked if I could stay in Guiyang forever. This…my friends…is why I’ve spent the last 8 years of my life telling you all how much I miss teaching.
No matter how much I love teaching though, holidays are pretty grand as well! The last 3 days of our National Holiday in China were spent in Xiamen city where we drank tea, shopped to our hearts’ content and enjoyed the hot sun.
Our first stop on Thursday October 2nd, was Zhong Shan Gong Yuan. Our hostel was located right next door to this large park, so when we got outside our first day, we walked through the park to get to our bus stop. ZhongShan Gong Yuen is famous for its pristine condition, it’s beautiful palm trees and it’s lovely man-made creeks, where you can rent a paddle boat and enjoy the views from the water.
After a peaceful walk through the park, we head downtown so I could show Dave all the places where I lived and worked back in 2005/2006. We didn’t find any of the restaurants or tea shops where I spent my time then but we did find a new tea shop where we sat for over an hour, trying different leaves and chatting (as best we could) with the owners. We left with two very nice red teas, and head for ZhongShan Lu…the shopping street of Xiamen.
Zhongshan Lu is interesting in several ways. First, it should be noted that it is a pedestrian street. The lack of cars means it’s much safer to weave in and out of shops, and it’s no problem to run to the other side of the street if something catches your eye. Zhongshan Lu is also interesting because you can find both designer brands as well as knock offs, all within feet of one another. There are more stores than you could possibly visit in a day, and it’s a struggle just to pick and choose which ones to stop and see. Finally, Zhongshan Lu comes to life at night. We were there during a major holiday, so this was especially true during our visit. For as far as you can see, there are people walking from stores to street vendors, and from tea houses to restaurants. There’s an abundance of strange foods to try, and often, there are shows put on as well. I saw some neat puppet shows years ago, and this trip, we saw some street performers and a photography show.
I do have to say that my favorite part of ZhongShan Lu though isn’t the shopping or the way the buildings are lit up at night. My favorite part of Xiamen night life is the food! We had various dishes from street vendors both on the main road, and off onto side streets. We ate some fantastic dumplings at a small wooden table with pink plastic stools. The location left something to be desired perhaps, but the food was delish! We also got something similar to popcorn chicken while we were there. The key to eating street food is to eat where the locals eat. We weren’t worried about buying meat from this street cart because she was running out before the stuff she brought from her freezer had had time to thaw!
My favorite street food dish that night happened to be crab. Whole crabs are coated in a batter and deep fried on a skewer. People huddle around garbage cans to eat the meat and throw out the shells, so we joined them after ordering a skewer to share. Of course, we soon realized, standing over that garbage can, that we were as much of a tourist attraction as the street itself. People started flashing pictures of us eating this (rather messy) crab on a stick, so we decided to finish our delicious snack back at the hostel, which was only about a 15 minute walk away.
Now, this wouldn’t be a blog written by Marie Willman, if it didn’t have a cute animal story or two, so here’s one from this day that we spent in Xiamen:
Back at the hostel, we sat down at an outdoor table to enjoy our crab and put down our numerous bags for a while, before heading up to our room. Two minutes after sitting down, we heard frantic meowing and saw a white ball of fur charging toward us. This cat had been somewhere on the grounds and smelled our food. He came running, hoping that we’d share. Of course, Dave and I are total softies when it comes to animals, so we began throwing him scraps. Before we knew it, the meal was gone, but our friend stayed. He took a bath (as cats tend to do after a delicious meal) and curled up on one of the empty chairs at our table. He looked healthy, so I went over to pet him and sure enough, he was purring up a storm. I miss my “Hobbsiecat” so much…and it was so great to meet a furry friend in Xiamen. I saw him the following day and he came running over and rubbed up against me. Cats in China aren’t usually friendly (because people in China aren’t usually very friendly to cats), so for this guy to come up and give me some loving was pretty cool!!
The rest of our night was spent sitting in the hostel bar, sipping beer and talking to fellow travelers, as well as our bartender, Wesley. We sat there for hours, eating BBQ and relaxing after a long day in the hot Xiamen sun. Hostels aren’t always the nicest places to stay, but I’ve always met interesting people at them, and I always look forward to my next hostel experience as a result 🙂
Next time, I’ll be writing about our adventures at the South Temple and on Gulang Island!
After a long weekend of teaching my wonderful students, I am back on my blog and ready to finish up my posts about our holidays! Mondays and Tuesdays are my weekend here (I teach 24 of the 48 hours that make up Saturdays and Sundays), so tonight, instead of our typical ‘end of day’ tea, we’ve switched to some Cuban rum! We discovered a Havana Club white rum at Carrefour tonight and couldn’t help but get some. Due to Cuba and China’s communist bonds, the trade prices must be good, because we paid under $20 Canadian for a bottle! It’s closer to $30 Canadian for most other western bevies, so this was a grand surprise! But that’s enough about the rum….onto Xiamen!!
I was fortunate enough to live in Xiamen city 9 years ago. It was the summer of 2005 when I arrived there. I was 19 years old, full of rebellion and wanting an adventure. I can definitely tell you that it was QUITE the adventure. I am a small town girl. I grew up in a farming town, where there is lots of space and where everyone knows one another. I always joke that St. Malo has a population of about 1000; and that includes the cows!
So, when I arrived in Xiamen city in 2005, I was blown away by pretty much everything. The smells made me nauseous, the crowds made me hyperventilate and the heat had me sick and in a constant state of exhaustion. Culture shock hit me hard, and it took about 6 months for me to really appreciate the beauty that is Amoy City.
Eventually I grew to love Xiamen. Since I left 8 years ago, I’ve missed her beauty and her endless potential for adventure. I’ve dreamt of her cobblestone paths, and her abundance of palm trees. I’ve missed the smell of street barbecue and an ocean breeze. I never really believed I’d ever make it back to Xiamen, so when we arrived on a late flight from Guilin on October 1st, the excitement I felt is really difficult to describe. I felt like I was home, in a sense. I felt like I’d returned to the place where I’d found myself, and become the person I am today.
Xiamen has grown a lot in the last 8 years. When I lived there, the population was just over 2 million people. In 8 years, that population has more than doubled. Because Xiamen is an island, there is limited space, which means that there are 4 million people living on an island one QUARTER the size of Winnipeg, MB. This means that there are very high buildings, and the space here is used very wisely.
I worked in one building that was over 70 floors high. I taught conversational English to the employees of a company that manufactures hearing aids. We discussed everything from paranormal activity to Chinese traditions during those classes, but the best part about teaching there, was the view. I was up on the 68th floor and in a large room that had windows from floor to ceiling. When the blinds were open, I got a full view of Xiamen City. I’d often go in early, just to see that view. From that floor I could see old, dirty buildings, with rusted tin awning and school uniforms hanging off of balconies to dry (there are no driers in China…everyone hangs their clothes to dry). I could see new buildings, free of the weathering of typhoons and pollution. And I could see the buildings that were coming up. The green netting used to protect the new building from falling debris. I could see countless cranes, building up the city… the city that I was eventually able to see in 2014.
Xiamen has changed a lot since 2006. The city is much greener than it was then. More trees have been planted in the medians, and a greater effort has been put into beautification. Like Guilin, Xiamen is a tourist area so it is in the city’s best interest to stay clean and visually appealing. In 2006, people still spit and smoked indoors in Xiamen. Now, it is rare to see someone spit on the street, and many restaurants and stores have ‘no smoking’ signs posted in both Chinese and English. In 2008, Xiamen tackled its traffic issues by building a long overpass that is solely for buses. This speeds up the commute to the most popular places in the city (downtown as well as the big tourist attractions) and removes many buses from the streets. Traffic is hardly a problem now.
Still, some things have stayed the same. The most incredible part of my trip to Xiamen occurred our first day there. I took Dave downtown to see if any of my old hang-outs or apartments were still standing. We managed to find 2/3 of the places where I lived. I spent the final (and most enjoyable) 6 months of my time in Xiamen in one particular apartment, located right behind Wen Ping DaSha (a large apartment complex where many of the other foreigners lived). Amazingly, this apartment was still there! I was able to show Dave where I hung my laundry to dry, and the courtyard where I played badminton with the neighbors.
More incredibly yet, we found the small store where I bought my water every morning. These people were unbelievable sweet and always kept water in the ‘freezer’ (basically a fridge) for me, because they knew I enjoyed my water cold. In China (circa 2006), water was mostly served at room temperature, so I really appreciated their effort in keeping me cool. The same people were still working at this store. They are actually the landlords for the building. I remember the morning I left Xiamen, the woman there started frantically trying to show me other apartments that were for rent. She didn’t want us to go. She was so very sweet! And now here she was…8 years later…selling me water. Her husband was sitting on a chair in their house (behind the store). Neither of them recognized me, of course, but I sure recognized them! It was a moment of pure beauty, and I felt more linked to my past than I have in a very long time. I felt that Xiamen was no longer just a cool dream I had. It felt real again…
On our way out of the courtyard, I spotted another familiar face. She was around 16 then…the landlords’ daughter. She and I played badminton in the courtyard together several nights a week. She taught me the word for Cat (mao) in Chinese. She was so shy with me at first but we became friends. Friends that couldn’t really communicate, but friends nonetheless. Now, she is much older. She is probably married and may have a child. She didn’t recognize me, but she came up to us to ask if we were looking for an apartment. She’s apparently helping her parents with the business, which is really neat :). I was kind of sad that I couldn’t explain to her who I was because our translator app wasn’t working well in Xiamen. Still, I truly enjoyed the fact that I was seeing a familiar face 8 years later. A very large part of me just wanted to grab her and hug her but I figured that would be too strange…even for a Lao Wei! So, I smiled instead and we bid one another a good day. Dave and I continued on our way to see more of my past.
In my next post, I’ll be telling you about our trip down Zhongshan Lu, our time at Nanputuo and our night on the beautiful Gulang Yu! Stay tuned, friends!!!
It’s beginning to get colder here in Guiyang. Both Dave and I are wearing sweaters and slippers, and we’ve pulled out some extra blankets for the bedroom. The Chinese government doesn’t provide heating for anyone below a certain imaginary line they’ve drawn across the country, so in Guiyang, we don’t have indoor heating. We were lucky to find several space heaters that had been left behind by previous tenants of our old apartment, so when we moved this weekend, the heaters came with us. We were also smart, and brought along slippers with us. Mine are the nice fur-lined moccasins that my dad got for me for Christmas 2 years ago. Unfortunately, the fur on them has seen better days (life with cats!), but they’ll help a great deal with keeping my toes warm through the cold months. (Also, Dad, if you’re reading this…I could use a new pair :p Size 8!!!).
Our final day and a half in Guilin was most definitely not ‘slipper weather’. We developed some well defined tan lines in Guangxi (they only got darker in Xiamen), and the sun was very welcomed, after 2 months of clouds in Guiyang.
After the Rice Terrace tour, Emily dropped us off downtown once more, where we said goodbye and hugged our wonderful tour guide. We exchanged phone numbers and WeChat IDs (WeChat is a little like BBM mixed with FB). Since then, she’s sent me several messages, telling us what a great job we did painting our apartment, and even sending me links to job postings in Guilin city. Oh, how I wish I could make that happen!!!
We spent our last evening in Guilin walking around downtown once more. This time, we walked down to the Sun and Moon Pagodas, one of Guilin’s most famous sites. They are located right on the river, and are lit up beautifully, so they were really worth seeing. The river path was gorgeous and clean. People don’t spit as much in Guilin (it’s bad for tourism; the city’s main source of income), and it seems like fewer people there smoke as well. We enjoyed our walk along the river, as the sun went down, talking about our day in the fields, and enjoying the view as the pagodas began to light up.
We spent a few more hours in the market after our walk along the river, buying a few more Christmas presents and enjoying some Guilin style bbq. There is more seafood available in Guilin than there is in Guiyang so we definitely took advantage of that! As we were leaving the restaurant, we noticed a strange looking meat, wrapped around a skewer. At first, I thought it might be snake, so we asked the waiter. He looked bashful and told us it was “Zhu Rou” (pork meat). I’d seen many pork parts at bbqs in the past, but I didn’t recognize this one, so I pointed to my stomach and said “from here?”. He looked at me bashfully once more, pointed at Dave’s mid section, and looked away very quickly. The Chinese believe that whatever part of the animal you eat, the better you will become in that area. They eat brain to be smarter. They eat eyeball to have better vision. They eat pork penis, because well…you know…We did not try it, as we were very full. I imagine Dave would have probably wanted to, but I’m not upset that we missed the chance!
The next day, we head downtown once more, but the experience was very different from the previous nights’. It seemed that overnight, quiet and beautiful Guilin was invaded…by tourists! The buses were ‘standing room only’ and the streets were so full that it took ages to get anywhere. Everywhere we looked there were vendors selling food, drinks and cheap merchandise. It was all very overwhelming, so we found our way to Elephant Trunk Park, where we hoped there would be fewer people (the high admission price kept many tourists at bay).
Elephant Trunk Park, I must say, was a bit of a let down. It’s main attraction, a large rock formation that’s shaped like an elephant (I guess?) was really the coolest thing to see. Still, it is the most famous scene to see in Guilin, so I’m happy we went. And to be fair, I honestly think anything would have disappointed me after seeing the mountains along the Li River, followed by the LongJi Rice Terraces!
There were a few other things to see in the park. There were a large number of parade floats set up around certain areas of the park. Some of them were quite well done. Some of them were in some very strange positions. And a lot of them made no sense at all.
And thus concludes my telling of our four day stay in Guangxi Province! Next time, I will be writing about our stay in Xiamen; my first home in China!!
We are all moved into our new apartment! It was a rough few days of scrubbing and painting and more scrubbing, but we’re here now, and very happy to be in our cozy new (mold-free) place! We are about half unpacked, and are emptying our suitcases by priority. First, I unpacked the tea 🙂 Tonight, it’s Oolong that we are enjoying. It was purchased at one of the many shops along ZhongShan Lu in Xiamen during our holiday. But before I can get to that, I must finish writing about Guilin!
Our 3rd day in Guilin was spent at the LongJi Rice Terraces. Emily picked us up bright and early, and we took the 2.5 hour drive to one of the three minority villages there. Our wonderful tour guide paid great attention to our personalities, and brilliantly brought us to the most calm of the 3 minority villages. The village where Emily took us has only been open to the public for a year and a half, and (minus some satellite dishes) the people here are still living quite traditionally, nestled in these beautiful rice terraces.
As we walked through the village, we saw elderly women taking care of small children. Emily explained that nearly everyone who is physically capable of working is either in a rice field or selling goods to tourists,so the elderly stay at home and watch the children. Nearly everyone in town was dressed in their ethnic group’s traditional clothing. Both the colour of the fabric and the stitch work are unique to this minority group, and they still dress this way to honour their traditions (and probably because the tourists like it! haha…).
This picture I did take myself. We were far enough away that she couldn’t see us haha! She is picking chili peppers. They grow more than just rice in LongJi!
As we hiked through the village and up the mountain, we saw horses and dogs, and heard many roosters calling. The town was quaint and both Dave and I were so happy to be away from the city, in this quiet, simple atmosphere. The smell of cow manure was welcome and the cool mountain breeze was refreshing after the heat in Guilin city. This particular day was the highlight of our stay in Guangxi Province.
They followed us down a little ways, probably hoping for some food. They might have also just been interested in seeing what the Lao Wai were up to!
As we hiked, Emily told us all about the rice fields and rice. I’d never seen a rice plant before, so it was very neat to see how a food that sustains the better part of the world’s population is grown. She showed us the difference between long grain and sticky rice plants. She also explained that in the springtime, these fields fill with water. The way these fields are built to be cascading down a mountainside was not a mere coincidence. Gravity works as a brilliant irrigation tool, and seeing as how rice needs a great deal of water to grow, this method of growing the plant is very successful. We arrived in LongJi just days before the crops are harvested, so we got to see them in their golden splendor.
Eventually Emily lead us to a set of stone stairs, going up to the peak of the mountain. I was really able to appreciate the 11 flights of stairs I’ve been climbing daily to get to the apartment, because the trek wasn’t nearly as bad as it could have been! The view was beautiful the whole way up, and I soaked in the quiet and the smells of nature. Living in a city is exciting, but nothing beats fresh air and silence.
The scene at the top of the mountain was amazing. The two hours it took us to get up there were worth every step. I took a video because no picture alone could do the scene justice, but the video is too large to upload 🙁 I’ll see if I can post it on facebook eventually. For now, here are some pictures of that incredible view…
The walk down was just as nice as the walk up, though it took a lot less time. We stopped for lunch in the village, and were treated to some herbal fruit tea, which I am now definitely addicted to. We were served a bamboo dish (because Emily overheard me say that I love bamboo), and a taro dish (because Dave had never tried Taro…Emily is SO thoughtful!!) and finally, a chicken and mushroom dish, which was made with white meat, so that we didn’t need to worry about bones! In China, chicken is chopped up, and you have to eat around shards of bone with your chopsticks. All westerners hated it. Emily knows her clients so well…I love that girl!!! Also served at lunch was a special rice that is roasted in bamboo, as well as pig blood soup. Emily originally ordered it for her and her husband (because she still hadn’t learned that we’ll eat anything), but was happy to share and let us have a try. It wasn’t something I’d necessarily order myself, but if it’s ever on a table in front of me, I’d try it again!!
A neat shot I got while coming down from the peak. Emily took a different route because she knows Dave hates seeing the same thing twice (it became an ongoing joke throughout the trip)
Well, I had originally intended to finish writing about Guangxi tonight, but it would appear I’ve already gone over my word count goal (I try to keep my posts around 1000 words so I don’t bore anyone), and I still have more to write, so I suppose there will be a part 4 to this part of the trip! I hope I haven’t lost any of you yet!! Thanks to everyone that’s been following me and especially to those of you who have written such nice and encouraging things in the comment section. This project means so much to me, and I’m so glad some of you are enjoying it as well 🙂
Tea and blogging: a fantastic way to end the day! After a long day of cleaning the new apartment, it feels nice to sit back and reminisce about our trip to Guilin 🙂
After the cruise, our tour guide lead us into the town of Yangshuo, which is roughly 2 hours away from Guilin. The small town might not seem like much on the map, but it became a very popular destination for backpackers and tourists in the 1980s and has continued to be popular now. There are shops everywhere and we were warned by Emily before getting out of the van, that people would try to trick us into spending money on unauthentic products (silk, pearls etc…) and that we should bargain…HARD! This was great news to me, because Dave and I are a stellar bargaining team 🙂 I won’t go into details because we bought many Christmas presents along this street, but we got several items for as much as 75% less then their original asking price. Even Emily was impressed, and she’s all about the bargaining!!
After using the washrooms (or as the British like to say: the toilet) and getting some iced coffee at KFC, Emily lead us to the sleepy riverside where a bamboo raft awaited us. The relaxed scene that greeted us was a fantastic shift from the chaotic atmosphere in Yangshuo. Soon we found ourselves drifting down the river, enjoying Guangxi’s stunning scenery.
After enjoying some delicious barbecued fish and a quick bump down a small rapid, we head back to the shore where Emily was waiting for us. By this point she’d learned that we are more adventurous than her average tourists, but still, she was surprised we’d eaten the fish. She told me: “I’ve decided that I consider you both Chinese. 95% of my clients don’t eat the fish. I’m glad you enjoyed it!” (and we did…half way home I was still talking about haha!!!).
Emily dropped us off downtown and gave us a quick tour of the area, showing us how to get to the night market and giving us tips on where to find the best deals. We spent the rest of the night buying Christmas gifts, having our feet cleaned by fish (a strange experience, but oddly awesome!) and having a nice outdoor dinner by the market.
Emily’s job ended when we arrived back in Guilin, so the extra time she spent showing us around down town was truly above and beyond what she needed to do as our tour guide for the day. Most guides I’ve had in the past spend their time trying to get to you spend money shopping and telling you to book extra tours (they make commission if you spend money or buy anything at the market). Emily never once pushed us during either of our days with her, and for that alone she stands out to me as the best guide I’ve had. More importantly though, she was very friendly and open with us throughout the tour. We spent hours chatting together on the cruise and on our way to and from the sites she was taking us to see. She is incredibly thoughtful and even got us our favorite chocolates for the ride back (she knows I like chocolate with nuts in it, and that Dave likes anything that’s made of chocolate…). She and I exchanged WeChat IDs on the first day (that’s kind of like facebook in China) and have been in touch since our trip. The best text I received from her was a picture she took while at work: an English school in Guilin was hiring, and she wanted me to apply. I hope to live there one day so we can become better friends. She’s really a fantastic person and Dave and I were very fortunate to have her as our guide.
Stay tuned for my next post, where I’ll be writing about the Longshen Rice Terraces, The Sun and Moon pagodas and our last day in Guilin 🙂