May 8, 2010 - Boarding Diamond Princess

ALOHA ALL: We need to back-up to Tianjin where at 2PM we boarded 'Diamond Princess'. We were glad to have made the decision to stay in a hotel and rest a bit before the cruise. David went immediately to the laundry to do our 'touring jeans' and whites, while I unpacked. At dinner were the only ones at a table for eight, a rather wierd feeling but there were lots of empty tables. The next day we started to hear the horror stories of getting from Beijing to the port. A total of 5 buses following each other, got LOST! They circled around...

May 6, 2010 - QINGDAO

ALOHA ALL: QINGDAO-TSINGDAO: Both are correct. In fact Tsingdao is the name of the beer, for which this city is famous. It is our last stop in China so we have saved some Yuen to get a beer and maybe some seafood. The shuttles dropped loads off at the Friendship Store, rather like Duty free a/p shops. Since David has a Tsingdao beer in Tianjin and we heard that the Pavillion shown on the label was an actual building at the end of a pleasure pier at Bathing Beach #1. There are several beaches at this town, and they are supposed to be...

Dec 15, 2009 - Qingdao

Vrijdag na een heerlijk wersters ontbijt naar twee musea geweest. Het navy en het bier museum! Het bekendste chinese bier wordt in Qingdao gebrouwen, Tsingtaobier. En dat moesten we natuurlijk even zien en proeven! Lekker! Zaterdag op de fiets naar de tv-toren geweest, mooi uitzicht! Daarna naar het financiele district geweest, heel modern met hoge gebouwen. Goed het verschil kunnen zien tussen het rijke en arme gedeelte van deze stad. Verder gerelaxed in de bar van het hostel!

Dec 15, 2009 - Tai'an

Twee busreizen verder zijn we in Tai'an, om de Tai Shan te beklimmen! 's avonds eten we in een restaurant met alleen een chinese kaart..Help! We proberen iets te bestellen en krijgen een grote bak met boullion op tafel wat aan de kook wordt gehouden, vervolgens arriveren er rauwe stukken vlees, paddestoel en hele enge vissen.. We maken ze duidelijk dat we de vissen niet willen! Niet veel later arriveren er twee hele verse vissen in stukjes..en die worden geheel(met kop en staart) in de hete buillon gegooid.. Eet smakelijk! Dinsdag...

Sep 26, 2009 - Stair Mountain - Day 10

We woke up at 7am to ensure some climbing before the temperature increased. We were pleased to find out that the weather was remarkably cooler than the day before. We found square shaped breakfast items resembling croissants (which we had dry without Jam) for some energy for the climb. Blagging half price student tickets we proceeded to climb what we were soon to find out was a million stairs – 8 kilometers in fact! There was officially no climbing or even normal walking. Stairs, stairs and more stairs which got ridiculously step passed...

Sep 25, 2009 - The Not So Fun Day - Day 9

Alfie kindly took us to the train station at 3am to catch our train to Tai’an (the town at the bottom of TaiShan – mountain). It has proven impossible to travel by train in China without complying to the popular chinese custom of eating pot noodle. Water from the taps are not even drunk by the locals due to contamination therefore hot water dispensers are available at every carriage entrance of the train, making tea drinking and pot noodle eating a must. As they say : when in China…… As we have learnt the hard way, upon arrival we decided...

Sep 7, 2009 - Qingdao

Unfortunately in my last couple of days in Beijing i developed a slight case of food poisoning which, rather than passing by itself, simply got worse as time went on, ending in fairly severe stomach cramps by the time i was in Qingdao. The train from Beijing to Qingao is a new 'D' train [super fast] and only took about 5-6 hours whereas previously the trip took 8/9 and was often done on a sleeper. My tine in Qingdao was largely spent in and around the old observatory hostle, a great location on top of a hill with a balcony bar area...

Mar 19, 2009 - Qingdao

We spent 2 days in Qingdao, and it was really strange. This was where the Olympic water events were held (yachts etc) and as it was by the sea, we really expected a lot more. The hostel we stayed in was in the Old Town area, which was a little rough around the edges but nothing serious. The area down by the beach was a bit like a quiet Blackpool without the illuminations. It was just like the british seaside in the winter - no bugger around, and most things closed! We walked along the "boardwalk" - read concrete path by the sea - until our...

Jul 21, 2008 - Qingdao - China's Switzerland But Not Really

We flew China Southern into Qingdao and caught a ride to the Beijing airport with Jeffrey as he drove Rebecca’s parents to catch their flight back to Canada. It was difficult saying goodbye to Howard and Sue. We had a great time with them in Beijing and will miss their company. Rebecca, especially, was grateful for the time with her parents. We have to admit that we also enjoy the increase in our standard of life (with the strangely coincidental decrease in our spending) that seemed to coincide with their visit. Having seen all we wanted...

Apr 4, 2008 - Shandong Personalities # 2

Name: Yang Xiangkun (Husband) Age: 38 Occupation: Saleman for TCL(?) Television Car: Beijing Xiandai (Joint Korea-China company) Residence: Ji'nan (capital of Shandong) Hometown: Weifang (middle of Shandong) Name: Wang Lihua (Wife) Age: 36 Occupation: Self-employed, trades with the Middle East Residence and Hometown: See above Major in College: Chinese Literature Name: Frank (Yang Yunsheng, son, not pictured) Age: 11 Occupation: Middle school student Favorite food: Dumplings Favorite Basketball player(s): Yao Ming, Jordan, O'Neal

Apr 3, 2008 - Shandong Personalities

Shandong Personality Profile 1 Name: Liu Cong Age: 20ish Occupation: Finance Student at Shandong Agricultural University Favorite Hobbies: Climbing Tai Shan every other Monday and accosting foreigners in order to practice speaking English. Political Views: Would vote for Obama. Thinks Hu Jintao (current Chinese head of state) is doing a much better job than Jiang Zemin (former Chinese head of state). Religious Views: Believes Daoism is a philosophy, not a religion. Favorite Tai Shan Mountain Legend: When babies are born in the vicinity of...

Apr 3, 2008 - Theres no apostrophe on the Chinese keyboards

Which leads me to do something I hate. Writing incorrectly. Quick update: Fukuoka, 6am in the morning - Shimonoseki - Goodbye Japan - 28-hour ferry ride - Qingdao, China - no money - ATM out of service - Jonas in the shower - Jonathan sitting next to a guy playing World of Warcraft in a Chinese internet cafe. See, I cant find the accent either, so thats spelling going wrong as well. We passed customs fairly easily. The only thing they wanted to look at was my paperback copy of "Kerouacs On The Road" - see, speechmarks arent that hard. Well...