and so it begins...

First... there were the frosty and cold days.
Followed by the snow storm of all snow storms to welcome in Winter.

Bundled up in our mittens and boots we set outside for a walk around Queens Park.
Later, our snowman kit is put to good use.


Hot chocolate warms our cold cheeks, noses, and fingers.
No better way to be in the Christmas spirit then by listening to our favorite Christmas music.
And now... the holiday craft projects are well under way with many new ideas planned for the season.


And so it has begun!
I love this time of year.

Hello neglected blog

It is September and that means getting back into the routine of things ... well almost back into the routine of things I am still waiting to for my first TOC job for the new school year... which means that I have loads of free time and a chance to update my neglected but not forgotten blog. So a chance to summarize my last bits of travel in China, as well as some photo updates. First the photos because they are much more interesting and probably do justice in telling my experience in China.
Potala Palace where the leaders of Tibet live
Prayer flags can be found strewn in trees and along the road side
Women working at hardening the freshly laid cement
The view from one of the temples
The market square in Lhasa
The land cruiser that we hired to take us on our excursion to Mt. Everest base camp. We had to travel on some very narrow paths and cross some unsteardy terrain.
More prayer flags
Mount Everest base camp. No cars are allowed to pass this point. We stayed in one of those tents for the night, boy was it cold even when we where nestled under a pile of blankets made from yak wool.
I am pointing at base camp no. 1 out of 4 or 5.
The clouds lifted and we could see the peak of Mt. Everest the tallest mountain in the world at 8848 m. (for some interesting facts search Mount Everest on Wikipedia)

It has been a long time but I am ...

... back to the blogging world
... back on Canadian soil
... back sleeping in my own bed
... back spending time with family and friends
... back sharing pictures and stories

Over the next couple of days I will fill all of you in on the last part of my travels. First off are some pictures that are long overdue.

I visited the Giant Pandas at the Panda Bear Research Institute in Chengdu. I never realized how rolli polli Panda Bears are. They are very playful and just so darn cute. they also sleep in the strangest positions. I wanted to hug every one of them but the divider, fence, and ditch separating us prevented us from coming anywhere close to them. Did you know that Pandas eat around 20 of China's 300 species of bamboo and they eat approximately 20 kg of food a day.

Since last time...

I have returned back to Foshan, my home in China, for a little rest and relaxation before I ventured out on my next jouney. Yesterday I met my Dad at International arrivals at the Beijing Airport. What a busy place, I can only imagine what a zoo that place will be next year during the Olympics when the athletes and spectators start arriving. Yes I am traveling around China with my dad. It is nice to have somone to travel with instead of being by yourself. I think I wore him out today though. We went for a 5 hour hike on the Great Wall of China. He was still getting aclimitized to the hot, humid, and smoggy wheather here. The Great Wall was a strenous hike as parts of the wall have been renovated and other parts are crumbling to pieces. The wall was build to keep the enemies out from the north. It took 10 years of hard labour from prisoners to build, but the wall never really did perform as its function becasue many of the watchmen were bribed by the enemies. The wall did serve a purpose of transporting goods for trade across China though. I have taken many pictures but unfortunately these internet cafe places do not have USB ports or they have restricitons about uploading pictures. So you will all have to wait with anticipation.
Tomorrow we are headed of to the Forbidden city and Tiananmen Square and in the evening the Beijing Opera.

5200m + less oxygen+ snow = Top of the world @ Mt. Everest

I have been to the top of the world and back. Okay so we did not climb Mt. Everest because it is the wrong season and it is something that takes lots of planning and training. But we stayed at the Base Camp which is 5200m above sea level. We arrived around 3:30 in the afternoon and immediately went for a hike to the first lookout point. We actually took the long way off the beated track so that we could have a better view. It did not help much as the mountain was covered in clouds and we had a fun time trying to guess which one was actually Mt. Everest. It turns out we were completely off. We slept in the tents at the Base Camp. Each tent is run my a Tibetian family and can probably sleep around 10 people. There is a cookstove in the middle to keep warm. It was really cold especially at night but they provided us with many blankets and yak blankets. I think I slept with 4 large blankets. The next morning we woke to a better view of Mt. Everest.
We still could not see the very top as it was covered by clouds. Pictures coming soon.

On the roof of the world

We have made it to Lhasa, Tibet. It is not as easy to come as we first thought. There are so many permits and documents that need to be processed in order to enter the region. It is very hot here and I have been using an umbrella to block out the sun. It seems to be the thing to do here in China. It is like having your very own personal tree. The altitude here is 3650m above sea level and in a couple of days we will be viewing Mount Everest at the Base Camp from around 5000m above sea level. The high altitude affects each person differently with some people out of comission for three days. Thankfully I only felt sick for the first day, just a headach and very tired. I almost fell asleep waiting for our food at a restaurant. We have spent our time shopping and visiting the palaces and temples. Yesterday we visited the Potala Palace and the Jokhang Temple which I am sure I have taken way to many pictures of both. I believe I could create a 360 degree poster of Tibet. Tomorrow we head out for our 4-day tour to the Mountain. We are traveling with an American guy and a girl from Korea in a land cruiser. It will be nice and cozy for the next few days. Our longest day of driving is 9 hours. I hope that I won't get sick again from the even higher elevation. It is suppose to be the rainy season so I am not sure if we will have a good view of the mountain.

We have finally made it to Chengdu

On Sunday morning we watched our train pull away from the platform while we were standing on the opposite side. Yes, we missed our train by a few minutes, but were able to get an 80% refund and buy a new ticket for the next day. So we hung around in Guangzhou before returning back to Foshan for the evening. The next day we made it to the train on time. We spent 33 hours on the train watching the countryside, playing cards, reading and sleeping. We arrived at the very busy Chengdu train station were we navigated our way through the crowds to the ticket booth to buy a train ticket to Lhasa, Tibet. Travelling to Tibet is quite complicated. Unable to buy the tickets we decided to find our hostel and see what we could plan at the hostel/travel agent. After much planning we have booked a plane, permit, and 4 day Mount Everest tour to Tibet at a much higher cost then expected, but I think it will be worth it.
Oh, yesterday I vistied the Panda breeding and research base. The Giant Pandas are so cute. Did you know that they also have red pandas? Pandas eat only 20 species of the 300 species of bamboo in China. They are in danger of being extinct but the reserach base has been sucessful in their efforts. A baby panda was born 3 days ago. We couldn't see it as the mother would shelter it from the live video camera in her den. The pandas are very funny creaters who sleep for most of the time. We arrived at feeding time so we could see them awake and playing with each other.

Our bags are packed and we are ready to go

Well tomorrow we are officially on holidays. So this will probably be the last entry for several days until I find some internet cafes on our journey. First Deanna and I are heading of to Chengdu were we will be getting the necessary paperwork and documents in order to to head of to Tibet. We will be spending two weeks traveling around Tibet. We plan on taking the scenic train into the region. From there we will spend a couple of days in Lhasa, the capital before takinga trekking tour over to Mt. Everest Base Camp. After Deanna leaves to return back to Canada on July 16, I will spend some days relaxing in Guilin and Yangshou before meeting my dad in Beijing. I well then be traveling with my Dad from Beijing to Xian, famous for the Terra-cotta warriors, and to Shanghai. Lots of sightseeing + lots of adventures = lots of fun + photos.

Canada’s Next Top Traditional Chinese Model

How’s that for a catchy title. Just over a month ago I had a photo shoot in Traditional Chinese style clothing. It was a neat experience. At 9:30 Jane, a teacher from the school, and I arrived at the studio. First we had to choose our two favorite dresses that we would be using for the shoot. It took some time, as there were over a fifty to choose from. Finally, we narrowed our selection down and made our way to the dressing room. Next, came the make-up, hair and nails. They thought of every detail down to the fake decorated pink nails with rhine stones, black hair pieces, black hair spray, for those who do not have natural black hair (like me), earrings, and a million jeweled hair pins. After being primped and pampered for nearly an hour we were turning into ancient Chinese beauties. The photo studio itself was in a large warehouse type room that was divided up into different scenes. It was quite dark and hard to see, but I guess that works better with the lighting and camera flash. While one of us was having our photos taken the other one was getting ready for the next outfit. It was a little difficult listening to the instruction of the photographer has he only knew some simple phrases such as “a little smile” and “Oh yes baby”. Unfortunately I had to redo one of my photo shoots because the had some problems retrieving the pictures from the camera. Luckily, they realized right away so I did not have to come back at a later date. 7 hours later, hungry and tired we finally fished our photo shoot. Well what do you think? Could I pass as being a Traditional Chinese beauty?

See you...

The English Club students hosted a farewell party for me yesterday. They put together a slide show presentation of pictures, preformed a skit, taught me a Chinese tongue twister and then I had to teach them a tongue twister, they demonstrated the art of bamboo painting, played a game were the loser had to eat wasabi and hot sauce cracker sandwiches, and a fruit cake to top it all off at the end.




I am going to miss all these hard working students...so long, aideu, au revoir, sayonara...

Thanks for the comments. I will have to read them later when the blog is working on the internet. For the past week I have been trying to visit different websites and friends blogs but they have all been restricted. Something that is not uncommon here in China. Right now I can only add to my blog but I cannot view it. Happy reading.

Chinese Paper Cut

...and not the wound that happens on your hands from paper made in China but the handicraft art form. This past weekend I visited the historical museum, for the second time ( it was free and I realized I missed the entire second floor) and was again drawn to the Chinese paper cut exhibit. This ancient art from uses cutting tools to cut thin paper into a decorative design. They are especially popular to decorate ones windows and entrance ways during festivals. Several women were demonstrating this technique. They sure do have lots of patience to sit there and carefully make thousands small incisions. At least they had about 20 stapled tother and were not doing them one at a time.

Hair wash and massage for 10 RMB

You can’t find a cheaper way to relax and ease the tension in China then to stop at one of the billion hair salons for a hair wash which usually includes a a neck and shoulder massage and if you are lucky a back, arms, and leg massage as well. I have been several times and will not refuse any chance that i may have to go. Like today for example, during school hours Christine invited me to join her for a trip to the hair salon. We spent over two hours at the place enjoying a hair wash, massage and a hair conditioner treatment.

Several days ago I ventured to the flower, fish, and bird market, which Christine had showed me once before. I didn’t end up bringing any pets home, besides who would look after them when I leave in a week. Yup that’s right, I only have one more week left of teaching before summer holidays. I have some travels plans in the works but will save those for another entry.

Dragon Boat Festival

The 5th day of the 5th month of the lunar calendar marks the Dragon Boat Festival. A celebration that began with a legend two thousand years ago and includes rice dumplings, boat races, drums and gongs. The story goes like this. “A famous poet drowned himself after his state was captures by opposing forces. The local villagers attempted to save his life by beating the water with their oars and sounding drums and gongs to scare of the fish trying to eat him. Rice dumplings were thrown into the river to lure hungry fish away from his body.” Today the festival is celebrated with annual dragon boat races up and down the rivers. Rice dumplings are also eaten during this time, I had two mini dumplings for breakfast. Flavored sticky rice first thing in the morning would certainly take some getting use to.

To celebrate, several of the young teachers went to a restaurant for Hot Pot, very similar to fondue. One large pot is sunken into the middle of the table over a gas powered element. The pot is divided into three sections, the middle is for the beef broth soup, and the two outer portions contain cooking oil, one super super spicy, and other one is just plain. An assortment of vegetables and meats await on a tray beside the table until we are ready to cook them. We had many things that I was unable to identify. Some tasted good while others really didn’t have much flavor. I later found out the stuff that looked like tofu was actually ducks blood in tofu form, I steered clear of it for the rest of the meal. We also cooked leaf lettuce, baby greens, and cilantro in the Hot Pot, they tasted the best even though I would never have thought to boil lettuce. It was a nice evening even if we did have to consult the portable electronic translator every 5 minutes.


Answers from previous blog pictures
Photo #1 The lock to my apartment door
Photo #2 An upside down clay pot for a plant (those are drainage holes)
Photo #3 Incense, they are located outside everyones door except for mine
Photo #4 Rice Dumplings
Photo #5 A basket used to catch fish

Can you guess what are in these photos?

As I was organizing my photos I came across some of these photos that I hadn't shared with you yet. All of these photos made me think of that game or puzzel that they often had in childrens magazines where you had to guess what was in the image. So here are 5 photos take a guess at what is in the image. Some are easy and some may be more difficult.
Photo #1
Photo #2
Photo #3
Photo #4
Photo #5

Cultural Kaleidoscope

Honk Kong has such a diverse mix of the old in the new. One day you could be enjoying the shopping and theme park and the next day you could be be touring around in a ancient fishing village. And that is just what we did. After 2 hours of traveling on the metro, train, and bus we finally reached our destination. Tai O, literal translation means Big Bay, is a 200 year old fishing village with wooden stilt houses the line the waterfront. There are also tiny shops, ancient temples and numerous fishing boats, or junks as they are more commonly known. The village is also home to a unique saltwater mangrove. We participated in a 2 hour tour of the village and saw a whole other side of Hong Kong.
Yum, dried fish snacks
Anyone hungry for lunch?
The hard wood holding up the houses is extremely strong and becomes stronger with age. It also does not rot.
The air bladder of the fish is apparently good for stomach aches.