Chaozhou, Guangdong

Apologies for not posting very much these days but I've been very busy with exams and my YARP (Year Abroad Research Project). This is something I have to do for University of Southampton and counts for a seventh of my degree. I have to write 6,000 words in English and 2,000 Chinese characters as well as do my own research so it has been quite time consuming!

A couple of weekends ago we had a long weekend for Tomb Sweeping Holiday. This seemed the perfect opportunity to get out of Xiamen and visit somewhere new. We left it quite late to book tickets and were running low on money so decided to go to Chaozhou in Guangdong province, just three and a half hours away by bus. The bus cost 86元 from the Xiamen University booking office and we got the bus from HuBin Nan station in the middle of the island.

Unfortunately our journey and arrival didn't go too smoothly. After rushing down there from Xiang'an campus for our 2pm bus, we found out that it had been delayed and we would be leaving at 15:10 instead. We sat in the station playing minesweeper on my laptop to kill the time! Once we were on the bus, the journey itself went smoothly. As we neared our destination, I checked to see if my internet was still working on my phone by opening up my email as I'd never taken it to another province before. I then saw that we had an email from Ctrip saying that we needed to call them urgently about our booking which we'd made the night before. It turned out that the hotel we'd booked at couldn't accept foreigners or people from Taiwan, Hong Kong or Macau so we needed somewhere else to stay. After Alex's long conversation with them on the phone, offering us Ctrip coupons to pay the difference of a new hotel they'd found, we decided to get some food while they sorted out the new booking for us. We went to a Chaozhou cuisine restaurant and asked the waitress what she recommended...

BIG MISTAKE. We ended up with Chaozhou fried rice which was ok, but also an oyster omelette. I had food poisoning from the next morning, throughout our entire stay, return to Xiamen and for another day once we were back. 5 days in total! We ended up spending the majority of our time in our hotel room which stank of smoke as it was a "Business Hotel" i.e. where businessmen go to smoke and have fun with prostitutes! Thankfully there was a Macau film channel on the TV with the films all in English with Chinese subtitles which gave us something to do.

Anyway, after the restaurant we decided to walk the 3km to our new hotel (because we disagreed to pay a higher price for a new hotel we got one that was a long way out). The walk wasn't all that interesting as it was just a long, straight road with shops, businesses and restaurants either side. When we finally reached the hotel, the receptionist was very glad we could speak some Chinese as she'd been worrying about trying to speak English with us!

Because of my food poisoning, we only made it out to do some sightseeing on the Sunday. We got a tuk-tuk from outside our hotel to Guangji Bridge which seemed to be Chaozhou's main sight according to our online research. Towards the very end of the journey, we came across a very narrow gap before a bit of road they were doing some work on. Our driver went through the gap and onto this bit of road before the tuk-tuk got stuck and the door fell off leading to us getting out and Alex helping the guy push it. 不好意思 for the driver!

Tuk-tuk

Chaotic section of road

We got to the bridge and decided to get our picture taken by a professional photographer. As we were standing together, she told me to put my hand on my hip to look 很漂亮 (very beautiful) and her colleague edited the photo to make us whiter, the bridge darker and the sky blue.

After this we went in search of food as we hadn't eaten yet that day. I only fancied plain boiled rice as didn't think my stomach could handle that much more but that proved difficult to find. Who would have thought that finding a bowl of rice in China would be difficult? We ended up in a fast-food place a bit like KFC.

Then it was time to go on the bridge itself. Guangji Bridge is one of China's four ancient bridges. It costs 50元 to cross the bridge, 25元 for students, but it is well worth the money. I've never seen a bridge like it! It had so many different sections, the most interesting of which was the middle which was made up of boats. These boats get taken away at the end of the day to allow traffic through and we were lucky enough to be on the bridge at the time this operation was happening when we were on our way back.

On the bridge

Bridge made of boats

Taking pictures with the funny white man

Hand on hip!

Guangji Bridge

On the other side of the bridge we went to a temple built on a steep hill with lots of steps leading up to it. Unfortunately by this point I was feeling really rotten and ended up throwing up so didn't enjoy it too much!

Lots of steps

Alex inside the temple

 Overall it wasn't the best of trips but I wouldn't disuade people from going there. If you do, just avoid the seafood...

Travelling through Vietnam - Hanoi

When we found out we had a month-long holiday for Chinese New Year we knew we had to take the opportunity to do some travelling. Alex, Chloe (my friend from University of Southampton who studies at Nanjing University) and I decided to travel the length of Vietnam from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh where Alex would leave us to go back home and Chloe and I would go on to Chiang Mai, Thailand. The journey from North to South took almost three weeks with some amazing experiences along the way. 

Hanoi

Alex and I flew to Hanoi from Xiamen on 17th January, the first day of the holiday, not wanting to waste any time in Xiamen. We applied for our visas online, printed off the acceptance letter and flew with Hong Kong airlines, via Hong Kong, to Hanoi where we picked our visas up. The visas cost 45 US$ for 1 month. We then got a taxi to our hostel in the old quarter of Hanoi, checked into our room and had a wander around the busy streets to find somewhere to eat.

Our first meal in Hanoi

Alex sitting on his plastic kiddie chair at the side of the road. Street food culture is a big thing in Hanoi

The next day we decided to look into the different day trips we could take from the city and booked to go to Halong Bay on the Sunday and Perfume Pagoda the day after. As Chloe was arriving on the Tuesday, we didn't want to do all of the sights in Hanoi without her. Once the trips were booked, we went to Hoa Lo Prison where political prisoners were kept by the French colonialists and American POW stayed during the Vietnam War, nicknaming it "The Hanoi Hilton". It was a very interesting place to visit and we were happy enough to go again when Chloe arrived a few days later. After the prison we decided to try to find Hoan Kiem Lake, another of Hanoi's tourist attractions. We ended up getting a bit lost and having to buy an overpriced tourist map but we found it in the end!

Alex outside Hoa Lo Prison

Hoan Kiem Lake

Our day trip to Halong Bay started at 8:30am when we were picked up from our hostel by our tour guide and taken to the minibus. The drive to Halong Bay was 3 hours from Hanoi so if you have more time consider going for more than just a day. When we finally got there we got onto our boat where we had lunch on the way to see a cave. Halong Bay is stunning. It is one of the natural wonders of the world and a world natural heritage site. I highly recommend going there if you get the chance! Also included on the tour was kayaking in a floating fishing village. It was great to get the chance to explore the bay and its caves by yourself rather than staying with the group the whole time. After the kayaking it was time to go back as by then we'd spent 4 hours at the bay. 

The Perfume Pagoda day trip started off in a similar way, getting picked up at 8am and taken to a minibus. The journey was only about an hour and a half this time though so not so long spent travelling! When we arrived we were taken on a 1-hour boat trip up the river as minibuses are not allowed to go into the protected area. Before going up the mountain we had our included lunch and bought tickets for the cable car having decided that there were too many steps for me to walk it (I've got a bad knee)! I was really glad we'd opted for the cable car as it was really simple and you got a good view as you went up. Perfume Pagoda is the biggest centre of Buddhism in Vietnam and they were busy preparing for when the pilgrims came during the festival. Apparently thousands of pilgrims arrive to spend a couple of days a pray at the numerous temples and pagodas. We went to see the main pagoda which was in a cave at the top of the mountain. It did feel like quite a spiritual place but was slightly ruined by the amount of tourists! At the bottom of the cable car we saw one of the main temples which was impressive. One thing we noticed was that people seemed to have brought offerings of western biscuits and soft drinks. I suppose that's what Buddha likes?

Boat trip

At the top of the mountain

Perfume Pagoda

Temple

On Tuesday Chloe arrived and Alex and I went to pick her up at the airport. When we first arrived, Hanoi had felt very foreign, more foreign than China, so we didn't want her to be arriving alone. We booked a taxi from a travel agent as it was cheaper than getting one on the meter and waited for her to arrive. Once we'd found each other we got back into a taxi and took Chloe to her hostel. She'd accidentally booked a different one to us but thankfully it wasn't too far away! We took her for a meal in the evening, traditional Vietnamese Pho (the country's national dish, a noodle soup) and then let her sleep after all her travelling.

The next day we went to a travel agent to organise our travel through Vietnam as we'd wanted to wait for Chloe to arrive before we did it. We opted for getting an open sleeper bus ticket costing 63 US$ as it meant that we had some flexibility for when we went between places and the price was cheap! Unfortunately, as we were there during the Tet festival, the ticket was more expensive than it would usually be and we had less flexibility as so many of the locals were travelling home to see their families. Once we got the important bit out of the way, we went off sightseeing. We went to Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum, Ho Chi Minh Museum, One-Pillar Pagoda, Temple of Literature, Hoan Kiem Lake for the second time and booked tickets to see the Water Puppet Show that evening. A very touristy day!

Ho Chi Minh's Mausoleum

One Pillar Pagoda

Ho Chi Minh Museum

Temple of Literature - Vietnam's first university

Chloe and I at Hoan Kiem Lake

Hoan Kiem Lake in the evening

Water puppets

 For our last day in Hanoi we went back to the prison as Chloe was interested in going and went to the temple in Hoan Kiem Lake. This was just about all we had time for before we had to get our first bus for the hour and a half journey to Ninh Binh, where we stayed that night.

Back in Xiamen after my Vietnam/Thailand trip

I am now back in my room in Xiang'an campus having got back to Xiamen yesterday afternoon. 

Last time I posted was when I had just left Xiamen and was at Hong Kong airport waiting for my flight to Hanoi. Since then I've travelled from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh by bus in Vietnam, flown from there to Chiang Mai, Thailand, via Bangkok, spent a week there apart from a day trip to the golden triangle meaning I went to Laos for half an hour and flew back to Xiamen via Bangkok. 

I had an amazing time and will be doing some more detailed blog posts about my adventures soon. Off to Kathmandu, Nepal, tomorrow for my cousin's wedding though. So excited!

First photo of the trip - Eating at a street food restaurant in Hanoi, Vietnam

Last photo of me of the trip - Chloe and I at Chiang Mai beach club, Thailand, having just been tubing down the river

New Year 2014 in Hong Kong

After a lovely 9 days in Dubai for Christmas it was time to go to Hong Kong. Our flight was at 00:05 from Dubai and unfortunately neither Alex or I got much sleep despite trying. When we arrived in Hong Kong we decided to get the Airport Express rather than a taxi to save money and they offer a free shuttle bus service from train stations to the closest hotels. It cost 140HK$ to get the train from the airport to Kowloon for the two of us but unfortunately there was a bit of a wait for the shuttle bus from there.

We stayed at Pearl Guesthouse in Mirador Mansion on Nathan Road in Tsim Sha Tsui, a strange place with various shops and cheap accommodation. There are four different lifts depending on which floor you want to go to as each one went to a different set of floors. We were on floor 15 which meant that we always managed to get in the lift on the way down but sometimes had to queue on the way up. The room was very small and basic but fine for what we needed it for. Enough space for a double bed with storage space underneath and a bedside cabinet with fridge and safe. We also had a tiny bathroom with just about enough space to stand in for a shower. It was all very clean and there was a communal water dispenser and microwave available for us to use as well as free WiFi which just about worked if you stood by the door of the room.

When we arrived we crashed in the room for the afternoon from lack of sleep before venturing out in the evening for a walk down to the harbour where we saw the Symphony of Lights show, getting something quick to eat and then going to Ned Kelly's Last Stand, a jazz club where I'd been with my mum and brother, Fraser, 4 years previously. We only stayed for one drink as we were still tired from the journey but it was one of the highlights of the trip for me. I used to play the piano in my secondary school swing band so really enjoy listening to that type of music live. Alex caught onto this and bought me the house band's, China Coast Jazzmen, album as an early birthday present!

The next day was new year's eve and as we didn't really know what we were doing to celebrate in the evening, struggling to contact our friends who had come down from Xiamen, we didn't do too much. We took the Star Ferry over to Central and have a wander around before getting the ferry back, having dinner at an Irish pub and getting ready to go out. When we left the hotel to go and meet the others it was unbelievable how many people were already out on the streets at 9pm! The new year fireworks took place at Victoria harbour so thousands of people flocked to Tsim Sha Tsui (mainland side of the harbour) to see them. We were meeting our friends at IFC mall on the other side of the harbour and with the amount of people on the streets, police everywhere and MTR (Hong Kong's underground system) stations closed off we were worried we wouldn't be able to get there. Thankfully the Star Ferry was still running and we made it to the roof of the mall before 10pm. This seemed to be a popular place to go as many people had turned up, bringing their own drinks with them, to wait for the firework display. There was also a DJ, bar and ice sculpture which was slowly melting. We decided to claim our spot early as we wanted to be in a good location to see the fireworks. When it was finally time for the display it was very impressive. The fireworks were let off from barges in the harbour after a countdown to 2014 which we unfortunately couldn't see from where we were. We'd already seen them testing it earlier though so knew what it looked like! After the fireworks we went along to a club to continue celebrating.

The next day we attempted to go up the Peak but the queue for the tram was 3 hours so we wandered down to the Mid-Levels escalator instead before heading to Temple Street Night Market in the evening. The day after we finally made it up the Peak after queuing for an hour. The Peak is somewhere you must go to if you visit Hong Kong and we paid the little extra to go onto the Sky Terrace viewing platform. When we were in Dubai I had kept telling Alex that although Dubai's skyline is impressive, Hong Kong still beats it. He did have to agree with me in the end.

That evening we met up with one of my childhood friends, Marisa, for a meal at a Vietnamese restaurant. It was really nice to catch up but made me realise how long ago it was that I left Hong Kong. I mentioned my youngest brother, Ethan, in conversation and then realised that she'd never met him. He was born when we moved to the UK and he's almost 14! It was similar when we met up with another school friend, Hayley, the next day. I am thankful that after all these years we still remain friends despite the distance. 

Unfortunately it was then time to go back to Xiamen. Alex and I were booked on different flights back so I went off to the airport on my own, leaving him in Hong Kong. It worked out well though as my uncle who lives in the US was in Xiamen for business but was leaving the next morning to go back to the States. We had a few hours overlapping which meant I got to meet him at his hotel and have dinner before heading back to Xiang'an campus. It was a really good two weeks off from classes and is a bit strange that I'm already off again!

End of semester exams and winter holiday travelling

I still need to write a post on spending new year in Hong Kong but as soon as I got back to Xiamen on 3rd January I was busy catching up on lessons I'd missed and preparing for my end of semester exams. Exams started on Monday this week and finished on Wednesday. I also had to do a performance for my 唱歌学汉语（Learning Chinese through Song) module which I didn't find out about until that day! Exams went ok apart from a not so good 口语 (oral) exam and I passed all of my modules. The pass mark in China is 60% which is a bit of a difference from 40% in the UK! On Wednesday night we had a last night out together as a way of celebrating exams and end of semester. Some people are leaving as they were only here for one semester so there will be new people when we go back. 

The majority of those who are staying are spending the month-long holiday travelling either in China or southern Asia. We were advised by teachers and Chinese friends not to stay in China over the holiday as lots of Chinese people are travelling at that time to be at home with their families and many shops and restaurants close over the period. However, some people are planning to stay in China to travel to Harbin for the ice festival, Beijing, Xi'an, Shanghai and Chengdu as these cities are a long way away from Xiamen so difficult to get to during term time. 

From the warnings it seemed to me that a better option was to get out of China for a bit and go to other countries in Asia. I had originally hoped to go to Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand but realised that that was a bit too much considering the time we have. My current plan is to go to Vietnam for almost three weeks with Alex and meet Chloe, a friend studying at Nanjing University, in Hanoi which is our first stop there. We plan to travel our way down the coast, stopping at cities along the way, to Ho Chi Minh where I will be for my 21st birthday. From there Alex will fly back to Xiamen as he is going home to Dubai and Chloe and I will fly to Chiang Mai in Thailand where we will spend some time before leaving the country and going back to China from Bangkok. I will have a day and a half in Xiamen before flying off again as I'm going to my cousin's wedding in Kathmandu, Nepal, for a week in February where I will see my family for the first time since September. Finally, my family and I will go to Xiamen so that I can start next semester and they can spend another week with me. 

I'm writing this in Hong Kong airport as we have a 6-hour stopover which isn't enough time to leave and go into Hong Kong so my journey's already started! Hong Kong airport has free WiFi which is great for keeping us amused during the long wait. Our flight from Xiamen left at 8:30am so we've been up since 5am having got to sleep at about 1am. We got up late after going out on Wednesday night so couldn't sleep! It's already been and will continue to be a long day... but hopefully worth it!

Christmas in Dubai

I was lucky enough to be invited to Dubai to spend Christmas with Alex and his family rather than stay in China where Christmas doesn't really seem to exist! Xiamen University doesn't have a holiday for Christmas meaning that classes continued almost as normal throughout Christmas Eve, Christmas Day and Boxing Day. I think my teacher gave the class the morning off on Christmas Day itself but that was it. I'd prepared myself for a strange Christmas in China eating noodles without my family, the first Christmas I'd spent without them, so it was lovely to find out I could still have a family Christmas outside China but with Alex's family instead.

We flew with Cathay Pacific/Dragonair which meant a stopover in Hong Kong. This worked out perfectly as we planned to spend new year there so it was just a longer stopover than usual with no change to the price of the ticket. Our flight to Hong Kong was on 20th December so we left Xiang'an the evening before and went to Siming on the island as it would be easier to get to the airport. We had a last Chinese meal at a DongBei (northeastern Chinese food) restaurant near the main campus which was really good.

Alex enjoying our last Chinese meal for a while

The journey went well and we managed to watch a couple of good films on the main flight from Hong Kong to Dubai. I, as a languages student, watched a French film "Les Femmes du 6eme Etage" which I thoroughly recommend. The film was about Spanish maids living in Paris so there was some Spanish in there as well! We chose our seats in advance so that I could have a window seat which was definitely worth it as we could see the lights of Dubai as we arrived at about 11pm on Friday evening. Alex's parents and sister were there at the airport to meet us and take us to their apartment.

First sight of Dubai from the air

The next day Alex decided to show me round the marina and take me out to the palm.

Driving round the marina

Driving round the marina

Driving round the marina

We went out to Atlantis which is a big ocean themed hotel with a water park and shopping centre at the very top of the palm

Driving up to Atlantis

In front of Atlantis

On the Palm with the marina in the background

On Monday we decided to go on desert safari which is one of the main touristy things to do in Dubai. We were picked up at 3:30pm by our driver for the evening in a 4x4 before picking up the rest of the passengers, an Indian family, and making our way to the desert. It soon became clear that it was not just our car doing this trip. The driver stopped in a car park by a couple of small shops where a lot of similar cars were parked so that people could use toilets, buy snacks/drinks and so that the drivers could take some air out of the tyres before going over the sand dunes. We got back in the car for a short way until we reached the desert and yet more cars. It seemed we were waiting for the rest of the Arabian Nights (tour company) cars to turn up before going over the sand dunes together. We used this opportunity to walk around in the desert sand and take photos. Once all the cars had arrived we started going over the sand dunes in a line, not something I'd recommend to anyone who gets car sick! I really enjoyed it and they even stopped so we could get some pictures of the sunset. 

On the way to desert safari

Cars waiting to go over the sand dunes

Going over the sand dunes

Going over the sand dunes

Sunset over the desert

Me in the desert

We ended up at a camp in another part of the desert where we stayed until 8pm. At the camp you could ride a camel, go sand boarding, ride quad bikes (for a price), dress up in traditional Arabic dress, an eagle, get Henna tattoos and get photographs taken. There was also a buffet and a stage in the middle for live entertainment consisting of a guy who span around for about 15 minutes (actually quite impressive) and a belly dancer. I enjoyed the evening and would recommend it to anyone going to Dubai.

Riding a camel

Sand boarding

Some locals

The camp

Queuing for food

He just kept spinning!

His dress had lights on it

Buffet

Belly dancer

Eagle

On Christmas Eve we went to the beach because we could and it was warm enough to! We brought Santa hats and took photos wearing them with our swimwear. Danish people begin celebrating Christmas in the evening of Christmas Eve so we went back and smartened up for the Christmas meal afterwards.

Christmas Eve at the beach

God jul! (Merry Christmas in Danish)

Chinese Christmas tree decorations

We spent the rest of Christmas Eve and Christmas Day with Alex's family which was really nice. Eating, opening presents, eating, watching Love Actually and going out for a coffee in the evening on Christmas Day. I had a phone call with my own family as well meaning I got to talk to my parents, two younger brothers and Gran which was lovely. 

On the Friday we went out to Friday brunch. I don't really know what I was expecting, a buffet containing breakfast and lunch items maybe, but what Friday brunch actually was, definitely wasn't it. There were several rooms containing buffets with all kinds of food and drink as well as an outside area with live band. Alex and I avoided the Chinese food room but made sure we filled up on other things! The waiters made sure that our champagne glasses were always full which was quite strange considering it was early in the afternoon. Unfortunately I didn't get any photos of the food as I was too busy admiring it, but I got some photos at the end when they were clearing up.

Burj Al Arab in the background

Chinese lanterns leading to the Chinese food room

Boats

Christmas tree

BBQ Pit

Over the course of the week I got to meet Alex's friends from sixth form and experience Dubai nightlife. They all seemed like really nice people! On the Saturday though I met up with some friends from Southampton, something I hadn't thought would happen on my year abroad. Caitlin, Josh and Ali's parents all live there and Rebecca was visiting Caitlin so it was nice to meet up at a beach bar for a catch up whilst also being a bit surreal. 

Alex's parents got us tickets to go up the Burj Khalifa on our last day in Dubai. I can now say I've been up the tallest building in the world! We went up at 5pm so managed to see both a day and a night view from the viewing platform, the sun setting while we were up there. It was a nice way to end the trip as I could recognise places I saw below. Afterwards we had a last family meal and wandered around Dubai Mall (largest shopping centre in the world) before going to the airport for our flight to Hong Kong where we spent new year. Thank you to Alex's family for making my time in Dubai so enjoyable.

Burf Khalifa, World's tallest building

Dubai Mall

Views  from highest viewing platform in the world

Me up Burj Khalifa

Outdoor viewing platform

How much of the tower was still above us

Views  from highest viewing platform in the world

Views  from highest viewing platform in the world

Aquarium in Dubai Mall

Directory of largest shopping centre in the world