Read a review of 7 Sages (Qixian)Youth Hostel, Courtyard 5 of QiXianZhuang, NO.1 Bei Xin street, Xi'an, China.
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Hey,
I've finally got all of my photos from April online, in the right order and the right way up. They're on this page for your nostalgic enjoyment. By comparison, I've been rather speedy in getting my photos from Dengfeng, the Shaolin temple and Song Shan (all of which made for a great weekend break) online already. They're all here. Mega-planning going on, but I'll try ot blog over lunch. X Hey,
I've finally got the first batch of photos from last month online. Hurray! They're here, and I'll be adding those that I took with the SLR, plus some crackers of the Great Wall by an up-and-coming soon-to-be-famous photographer M.D Sister, as soon as possible. They're here. X Read a review of Xiangzimen International Youth Hostel, 16 Xiangzimiao Street, Xi'an, China here.
Good morning! Only 9 days to go! Yesterday, I bought my train ticket to Beijing, so I'm definitely coming! This morning I booked the hostels in Shanghai and Xi'an! Good news - there's another school holiday while you're here which means I get extra time off so can spend that last day in Shanghai with you. Yay! So i'll only be teaching in Zhengzhou on Monday and Tuesday - on Monday I think we'll be able to have dinner with the Birley clan - before getting the night train Tuesday evening to Shanghai, arriving on My Darling Sister's birthday! Like I said yesterday, the hostel I stayed at in Shanghai (the Biktime) isn't showing up anymore, and unfortunately the rooms at the Mingtown Hiker's didn't work out. Instead, I've booked two twin rooms and a double bed room (we can fight over who gets that) at the Blue Mountain Bund hostel - it's even closer to the Bund than the Biktime, near to where the Suzhou creek meets the main river and (trivia time) very near the building in which the Russian KGB used to be based in the city. I'm confident you'll like it. We'll come back from Shanghai in the afternoon, have a night at college, and head to Xian the next morning. I got us the same hostel in Xian as I stayed at, the Xiangzimen, right next to the city walls. It was great there, a fab base from which to explore the walls, the gardens, the arty district and the Muslim Quarter with its night market, and Drum and Bell Towers. First thing in the morning, we'll hit up the Terracotta Army ("bing my yong" in Chinese), have the afternoon in Xian and then get the train back to Zhengzhou. I hope these two are ok - they're not exactly the Queen Elizabeth Fairmont in Toronto but they've both got such perfect locations that I reckon they're the best. I'm lesson planning and reading about Balzac with Skype on this afternoon if you're about... Oh, and we went the to first home game of the season at Henan FC on Saturday night. With a new manager and five new signings, Henan of course lost 1-0, conceding a sloppy goal in the 87th minute. A couple of students came along and really enjoyed it, which made up for the fact that the Chinese Super League really isn't all that 'super'. Photos here. X Read a review of Xiangzimen International Youth Hostel,16 Xiangzimiao Street, Xi'an, China
Merry Christmas! Having read some of my entries from the last few months, I hope it's obvious that I've learnt a lot from teaching English in China this semester. I had hoped that exactly what I have learnt would be equally obvious but, in many cases, I've got more questions now than when I arrived in September and a few more answers without questions as well. As it's Christmas, and there's nothing on the telly that you haven't seen before, I thought I'd go over some of my highlights from my time here so far, and add some spuriously connected 'lessons' as well.
Hey, Despite the Internet's best efforts, I've got my Xian and Terracotta Army photos online here. Anna's also blogged extensively about our weekend away (this is our third in four weeks - I could get used to this!) on Waiguoren. I'll write more when I'm not swamped with lesson plans! Needless to say, it was a really great trip, and the Warriors are amazing! X Back safe, stories and photos to follow...
BUT FIRST!!! Wow, my Darling Sister's going to the Sorbonne!?!? I need details - what dates, to study what, everything, tell me, tell me! Especially want to hear about accommodation arrangements (nudge, nudge, wink wink)! SOOOOO envious!! X Woohoo!!
We've just bought our train tickets to go to Xi'an this weekend - it's home of the Terracotta Army, and I'm really excited :) We're leaving on Saturday morning and taking the fast train (two and a half hours, apparently) to arrive just after midday. We'll be back on Tuesday (oh, the hassle of getting time off!) in the evening. We're looking at hostels now; there are lots to choose from as Xi'an is firmly established on the tourist route so if we get one with internet, I might be able to take my laptop if you wanted to Skype briefly on Sunday. I'm not sure how I feel about turning 23... Speaking of which, 'Thank you' to Uncle Al, Aunty Kate, Katie and Sarah for my birthday card (a proper Chinese card - red envelope and Yuan inside!) DAD - could you please send them the link for my blog? Or pass on my thanks... X |
Photo Blog hereThere's a selection of photos from my time in China, and travels over Spring Festival, on these pages. Categories
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