09.06.09
For thoose of you who have visited the blog frequently you have probably noticed that we have not updated our blog in a long time now. The reason for this is that Blogspot was blocked so we could not open, or update it the last weeks we were in Ningxia. We are sorry for this.
So now we will write about some of the things we did the last weeks we had in the Middle Kingdom.
In the beginning of May we held exams at the schools we worked. The last month in Ningxia we also spent time preparing for the follow up work that we have now started in Norway.
The last period in China we went on a couple of trips in the Ningxia area. In the May holiday we visited Sha Hu (Sand Lake), a beautiful site outside Yinchuan, where the desert is right next to a big lake. It was cool to see desert and water this close. It makes you think about the closeness of fjord and mountain in Norway and why it is so extraordinary. Along with Sand Lake we also visited the famous Helan Mountain rock carvings.
The 18th we got to go with the Red Cross to visit a school they help to run in the Tongxin district in Ningxia. The school is situated in one of the poorer areas in Ningxia, where water is scarce. It was an interesting visit for us to the school, and for the pupils, who probably hadn't seen to many foreigners around, it also seemed interesting for them to have us there. The Ningxia Red Cross is giving away different materials to help supplying the school in Tongxin.
The 17th of May (Norway's national holiday) we celebrated with both Norwegians (Tom and Karen from Norway) and Chinese, and we made pancakes in the evening.
The last week in China, we said goodbye to everybody at work and that we knew. We attended some farewell banquets with our Chinese class, and with The Foreign Affaris Office at Ningxia University. We also bought our last gifts and finished our packing.
We came back to Norway in the end of May, and the temperature was about 20 degrees lower than we have gotten used to this spring. In that way (one of a few:)), we knew we had arrived back home. The rain also helped to convince us we had arrived back home.
It is good to be back, with all the things we have missed while in China. The food, our families and friends and the chilly weather.
But we cannot guaranty that we woun't miss China, Ningxia, the people we meet there and the travelling in the future. We had a fantastic time in the Middle Kingdom, a year we will most likely never forget.
Now we are in Flekke working on our follow up work. We want to send a great thanks to all who made this year possible, to Fredskorpset, Red Cross Nordic United World College, Ningxia University and the Ningxia Red Cross. Also we want to thank those at home and thoose who have followed us.
Chris and Tom
Tuesday, 9 June 2009
Tuesday, 28 April 2009
The 5th FK China Network meeting
Last weekend (25th-27th of April) we attended FK China's network meeting in
On Saturday we visited Jiu Xiang – some awesome caves south west of
After that we visited Shi Lin (The Stone Forest). In addition to enjoying the scenery all the participants had a meeting where we talked about what we had been working on since the last FK meeting in
On Sunday we had meetings and discussions with all the partners. It was nice to meet the people we met on the last meeting, and to meet new participants and partners.
We had a great weekend in
It was a very interesting city, and the surroundings, with red iron-rich soil, rice patties, and water buffaloes was quite different from what we are used to from the northern part of
The networks homepage;
Wednesday, 1 April 2009
Interviews with some of our students
We would like the readers of our blog to get to know some of the people we work with a little better. Therefore we have interviewed some of our students from the different places we work. Meet Tao Jun, He Qing, Yong Hui, Qiao Xiao Hui and Yu Ji.
The Ningxia Red Cross:
Tao Jun (James)
He Qing (Anne)
Yong Hui (Peter)
Qiao Xiao Hui (Alice)
Prep School for Ethnic Minorities
Yu Ji (Robert)
The Ningxia Red Cross:
Tao Jun (James)
What is your name?
- My Chinese name is Tao Jun and my English name is James
How old are you?
- I am 30 years old.
Where are you from?
- I am from
What is your job at the Ningxia Red Cross?
- I work as a district communicator.
How long have you been working at the Red Cross?
- I have been working here for seven years
How long have you been learning English?
- I have been learning English for ten years.
What is your favourite food?
- My favourite food is porkmeat.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
- I like to do outdoor activities and especially fishing. I am also found of tea culture.
He Qing (Anne)
What is your name?
- My Chinese name is He Qing and my English name is Anne.
How old are you?
- I am 27 years old.
Where are you from?
- I am from Zhongwei in Ningxia province.
What is your job at the Ningxia Red Cross?
- I am in charge of the volunteers.
How long have you been working at the Red Cross?
- I have been working four years at the Ningxia Red Cross.
How long have you been learning English?
- I have been learning English for fifteen years.
What is your favourite food?
- Boiled chicken with sauce.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
- I like to play badminton and to travel.
Yong Hui (Peter)
What is your name?
- My Chinese name is Yong Hui and my English name i Peter
How old are you?
- I am 30 years old
Where are you from?
- I am from the city of
What is your job at the Ningxia Red Cross?
- I do advertisements among teenagers, and recruit volunteers for the Red Cross
How long have you been working at the Red Cross?
- I have been working at the Red Cross for two years now.
How long have you been learning English?
- I have learned English for ten years.
What is your favorite food?
- Small peeled noodles.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
- I like to watch movies, TV and to play basketball.
Qiao Xiao Hui (Alice)
What is your name?
- My Chinese name is Qiao Xiao Hui, my English name is
How old are you?
- I am 20 years old.
Where are you from?
- I come from Guyuan, in the South of Ningxia.
What do you study?
- I am majoring in English.
How long have you been learning English?
- I have been learning English for eight years now.
Why did you choose to study English?
- Because I like English, and in the future I hope to become an English teacher.
What is your favourite food?
- Rice, fruit, potato and meat.
What do you like to do in your spare time?
- I like reading, go shopping, sleeping and to write in my diary.
Prep School for Ethnic Minorities
Yu Ji (Robert)
What is your name?
- My Chinese name is Yu Ji and my English name is Robert
How old are you?
- I am 20 years old.
Where are you from?
- I come from the city Yantai in
What do you study
-I am majoring in Science.
How long have you been learning English?
- I have studied English for ten years.
What is your favourite food?
- My favourite food is watermelon.
What do you like to do in your sparetime?
- In my sparetime I go to the internet bar, I read books and play basketball.
Tuesday, 24 March 2009
Too tall for China...
With his 188 cm above the ground Tom rules the basketball court in the University. Well, at least he would've if height was all that mattered. Everywhere he walks he also get a pretty good view of the crowds, which helps when you lose your friend and just have to look for the only blond guy among ten thousand people.
But being taller than the average Zhou is no laughing matter. Not when you are travelling by public transport, and the expected public is way smaller than you.
For when do you know that you're too tall for China? When your kneepad is flat after sitting in a bus or an airplane? When your elbow hurts after the shopping cart constantly bumping into you while passing down the aisle? When your head aches after crashing into doorways, signs, lamps, roofs, all of them hanging too close to the ground? When your feet are hanging out of every bed there is? When you want to buy clothes, but no stores have your size in shoes, and no sweater arms are long enough? When your best hope of buying clothes is to get them tailor made? If you cover at least three of these, you can surely, with Tom's guarantee, apply for the title; "Too Tall for China".
That said, the young generation in China seems to be much taller than their ancestors. Seeing grandparents, parents and kids walking side by side, it seems like each generation are growing over ten cm. If that's the case, we're looking at the Chinese National Team in Basketball with an average height of 250 cm twenty years from now. Good luck to the rest of the world! So, next time Tom comes to China, he'll probably feel a lot more normal. And maybe public transport is more suited for people like Tom. One can always hope.
But being taller than the average Zhou is no laughing matter. Not when you are travelling by public transport, and the expected public is way smaller than you.
For when do you know that you're too tall for China? When your kneepad is flat after sitting in a bus or an airplane? When your elbow hurts after the shopping cart constantly bumping into you while passing down the aisle? When your head aches after crashing into doorways, signs, lamps, roofs, all of them hanging too close to the ground? When your feet are hanging out of every bed there is? When you want to buy clothes, but no stores have your size in shoes, and no sweater arms are long enough? When your best hope of buying clothes is to get them tailor made? If you cover at least three of these, you can surely, with Tom's guarantee, apply for the title; "Too Tall for China".
That said, the young generation in China seems to be much taller than their ancestors. Seeing grandparents, parents and kids walking side by side, it seems like each generation are growing over ten cm. If that's the case, we're looking at the Chinese National Team in Basketball with an average height of 250 cm twenty years from now. Good luck to the rest of the world! So, next time Tom comes to China, he'll probably feel a lot more normal. And maybe public transport is more suited for people like Tom. One can always hope.
Saturday, 7 March 2009
Our last semester in China starts...
Teaching has started. Students have found their pencils and sharpened them thoroughly. And we are ready to continue what we started last semester. Or, at least we thought so.
Much remains the same, Red Cross teaching started again two weeks ago and Christian's school has started. Well, Tom's school has started as well. But the difference is that Christian has started teaching. And Tom is still waiting. Tom went home from Beijing two weeks ago and thought that his teaching would start the following Tuesday. But no, on the contrary. When he finally got to Yinchuan, his superiors tells him that teaching is not in another two weeks. Kind of a bummer when you have your family visiting and you could have stayed longer in Beijing.
Anyway, after having been in China for over half a year, you get used to "expect the unexpected". So instead of asking why, Tom decided to tell you about the changes made to his subject.
It seems now that Tom has the same amount of teaching. But what used to be two classes have now doubled. So Tom is going to teach two lessons a week in four different classes. And where he had students who were randomly chosen last semester, he now has all new students who had to apply for a seat. Big changes. But foreign teachers in China are really popular. So I guess they had to be made to make more people happy.
So now he is just preparing for next weeks lessons, and waiting eagerly to hold the white chalk again.
Enough about the teaching, today is Women's Day, worldwide. And we would like to congratulate all women, young and old. We would not have been here if it were not for you! Thank you all for giving this world more than we men could ever give.
Last thing, thanks to family members for coming to visit during our holidays. We really appreciated it, and promise to repay you with dish-washing when we return to Norway. =)
Much remains the same, Red Cross teaching started again two weeks ago and Christian's school has started. Well, Tom's school has started as well. But the difference is that Christian has started teaching. And Tom is still waiting. Tom went home from Beijing two weeks ago and thought that his teaching would start the following Tuesday. But no, on the contrary. When he finally got to Yinchuan, his superiors tells him that teaching is not in another two weeks. Kind of a bummer when you have your family visiting and you could have stayed longer in Beijing.
Anyway, after having been in China for over half a year, you get used to "expect the unexpected". So instead of asking why, Tom decided to tell you about the changes made to his subject.
It seems now that Tom has the same amount of teaching. But what used to be two classes have now doubled. So Tom is going to teach two lessons a week in four different classes. And where he had students who were randomly chosen last semester, he now has all new students who had to apply for a seat. Big changes. But foreign teachers in China are really popular. So I guess they had to be made to make more people happy.
So now he is just preparing for next weeks lessons, and waiting eagerly to hold the white chalk again.
Enough about the teaching, today is Women's Day, worldwide. And we would like to congratulate all women, young and old. We would not have been here if it were not for you! Thank you all for giving this world more than we men could ever give.
Last thing, thanks to family members for coming to visit during our holidays. We really appreciated it, and promise to repay you with dish-washing when we return to Norway. =)
Monday, 2 March 2009
Sunday, 1 March 2009
Pictures from our backpacker journey
We decided to put up a lot of pictures in one post instead of adding to the numerous texts we've been writing. So here they are, directly from Tom's camera, some of the things we saw during our one and a half month through China. Enjoy!
Tuesday, 17 February 2009
Wuhan and Shanghai - two cities on the Yangzi River
08.02.09
We arrived the capitol of Hubei province, Wuhan early in the morning. We spent two days here in a great hostel. We walked around quite a bit, exploring the city. The first day, we had our first encounter with the Yangzi River. This river has been and still is very important to many regions in China, and we have heard and read about it, so we were looking forward to seeing it. It is incredebly wide, and the bridges crossing it quite impressive. The city reminded us abit about Lanzhou, an industrialized city and quite big. We saw some pretty nice buildings in Wuhan the few days we were there. We visited the Hubei Provincial Museum and a place where Mao Zedong lived a while during the 1960s.
10.02.09
Arrived Shanghai in the morning (as always when taking our favorite hard sleeper night trains). Found the hostel, and went with map in hand to explore this famous city. We stayed here for enough days to find the local restaurant with the best pulled noodels (la mian) in Shanghai City (atleast so we believe). We stayed there for 6 days.
Here is a list of things we saw and did:
The Bund, The Astor Hotel, Jinmao Tower, East Nanjing Road, People's Park, The French Consession, The Bund Sightseeing Tunnel, The Shanghai Museum, took the subway alot (ALOT), ate icecream, played pool and checked out some very nice art galleries.
We arrived the capitol of Hubei province, Wuhan early in the morning. We spent two days here in a great hostel. We walked around quite a bit, exploring the city. The first day, we had our first encounter with the Yangzi River. This river has been and still is very important to many regions in China, and we have heard and read about it, so we were looking forward to seeing it. It is incredebly wide, and the bridges crossing it quite impressive. The city reminded us abit about Lanzhou, an industrialized city and quite big. We saw some pretty nice buildings in Wuhan the few days we were there. We visited the Hubei Provincial Museum and a place where Mao Zedong lived a while during the 1960s.
10.02.09
Arrived Shanghai in the morning (as always when taking our favorite hard sleeper night trains). Found the hostel, and went with map in hand to explore this famous city. We stayed here for enough days to find the local restaurant with the best pulled noodels (la mian) in Shanghai City (atleast so we believe). We stayed there for 6 days.
Here is a list of things we saw and did:
The Bund, The Astor Hotel, Jinmao Tower, East Nanjing Road, People's Park, The French Consession, The Bund Sightseeing Tunnel, The Shanghai Museum, took the subway alot (ALOT), ate icecream, played pool and checked out some very nice art galleries.
Friday, 6 February 2009
Guangzhou, Macau and Hong Kong - 3 cities in the South
02.02.09
We arrived in Guangzhou by bus the 2nd. The city is situated by the Pearl River. It was quite strange for us to come down here after having been in the cold North of China. The temperature down here now is similar to the temperature in Norway during summer. In February! This is a weird feeling, but we enjoy it alot. We stayed at a nice hostel in Guangzhou, right next to the Pearl River. We visited the market, The Guangdong folk art museum, Shamian Island and walked alot during our stay there. The metro system in Guangzhou looked brand new, and it was awesome to use. We enjoyed it there.
After having stayed in Macau, we took the boat to Hong Kong. The trip took about an hour. It was overwhelming to come to Hong Kong. The city is very compact, with numerous huge skyscrapers. Finding cheap accomodation is not easy in Hong Kong, so we had to settle on a tiny room on the 15th floor in a shabby block. Even though we are used to taxi-dodging from the mainland, dodging pushy salesmen was even harder. The way they grab you and hold can be scary at times, but luckily, we survived. We walked the streets alot because this is a very expensive city, visited the Victoria peak, took the worlds longest escalator and visited the good Hong Kong museum of history. It seemed like a dynamic and multicultural city. We left Hong Kong by train for our next stop, Wuhan by the Yangzi River.
We arrived in Guangzhou by bus the 2nd. The city is situated by the Pearl River. It was quite strange for us to come down here after having been in the cold North of China. The temperature down here now is similar to the temperature in Norway during summer. In February! This is a weird feeling, but we enjoy it alot. We stayed at a nice hostel in Guangzhou, right next to the Pearl River. We visited the market, The Guangdong folk art museum, Shamian Island and walked alot during our stay there. The metro system in Guangzhou looked brand new, and it was awesome to use. We enjoyed it there.
04.02.09
After having spent a couple of days there we sat on the bus to Macau. After a warm busride, and some time spent in the waiting hall at the border, we finally set our feet in Macau. It is a compact, nice, multicultural city, with loads of history. And as historybuffs, we wanted to rediscover some of it. At the good Macau museum we got to understand more about this city. We also saw the old ruins of The Church of St.Paul, aswell as the Largo do Senado square in the city. Macau is famous for it's many casinos, so we dropped in at one, but it was to expensive for us to place bets there, so we just hung out and tried to learn. Macau is on the coast and facing the South China ocean. It was really nice to finally get to see the ocean. We don't get to see much of that in inland China.
After having stayed in Macau, we took the boat to Hong Kong. The trip took about an hour. It was overwhelming to come to Hong Kong. The city is very compact, with numerous huge skyscrapers. Finding cheap accomodation is not easy in Hong Kong, so we had to settle on a tiny room on the 15th floor in a shabby block. Even though we are used to taxi-dodging from the mainland, dodging pushy salesmen was even harder. The way they grab you and hold can be scary at times, but luckily, we survived. We walked the streets alot because this is a very expensive city, visited the Victoria peak, took the worlds longest escalator and visited the good Hong Kong museum of history. It seemed like a dynamic and multicultural city. We left Hong Kong by train for our next stop, Wuhan by the Yangzi River.
Tuesday, 3 February 2009
Guilin - it's getting warmer
28.01.09
We arrived by bus from Guiyang in beautiful Guilin. This is a city that is known for it's surrounding mountains. We saw the elephant trunk mountain. It is situated next to the Li River and is shaped like an elephant that has it's trunk in the river as if drinking from it. During our stay here, we also went by bus to a city closeby called Yangshou. It is smaller than Guilin and is called backpackers heaven by some. We liked the atmosphere there, and the fact that we did not have to pay to hike up a mountain there made us like it even more. In Guilin we had to pay to hike the mountains. Sometimes the price was as high as 50 yuan (approx 50 kroner or 5 pounds). Both Guilin and Yangshou has familiar food for people from abroad, maybe this is one of the reasons why so many come from other countries to visit these places. We meet many nice people there and had a great stay on both places. The 1st of February we took the night express bus to Guangzhou (Guangdong province).
We arrived by bus from Guiyang in beautiful Guilin. This is a city that is known for it's surrounding mountains. We saw the elephant trunk mountain. It is situated next to the Li River and is shaped like an elephant that has it's trunk in the river as if drinking from it. During our stay here, we also went by bus to a city closeby called Yangshou. It is smaller than Guilin and is called backpackers heaven by some. We liked the atmosphere there, and the fact that we did not have to pay to hike up a mountain there made us like it even more. In Guilin we had to pay to hike the mountains. Sometimes the price was as high as 50 yuan (approx 50 kroner or 5 pounds). Both Guilin and Yangshou has familiar food for people from abroad, maybe this is one of the reasons why so many come from other countries to visit these places. We meet many nice people there and had a great stay on both places. The 1st of February we took the night express bus to Guangzhou (Guangdong province).
Thursday, 29 January 2009
Guiyang - The capitol of Guizhou province
28.01.09
We arrived in on the train from Chengdu to Guiyang early in the morning. The city is surrounded by beautiful hills and the city itself is pretty compact. We visited the Guizhou provincial museum (a fairly new museum that displayed many nice and colourful costumes from the 17 different minority groups that live in the region) and Qianling park with many hills. On one of the hills we climbed we saw a bunch of wild monkeys. We also walked around the city and tasted some "small food" from the street vendors around town. In general we liked the city, but we saw quite alot of beggars compared to other cities we have been in so far. We got a night sleeper bus to Guilin the day we arrived, so we only spent one day in Guiyang, before we went on.
We arrived in on the train from Chengdu to Guiyang early in the morning. The city is surrounded by beautiful hills and the city itself is pretty compact. We visited the Guizhou provincial museum (a fairly new museum that displayed many nice and colourful costumes from the 17 different minority groups that live in the region) and Qianling park with many hills. On one of the hills we climbed we saw a bunch of wild monkeys. We also walked around the city and tasted some "small food" from the street vendors around town. In general we liked the city, but we saw quite alot of beggars compared to other cities we have been in so far. We got a night sleeper bus to Guilin the day we arrived, so we only spent one day in Guiyang, before we went on.
Monday, 26 January 2009
Chengdu - Panda City
27.01.09
We have stayed in Chengdu, Sichuan, from January 19th to 27th. It all started with the train ride from Lanzhou, where we had to stand on the train for twenty hours. After a trip like that we figured we should take a longer rest. We haven't regretted it so far, and we take off towards Guiyang in just a few hours.
First we have to mention our hostel; Sim's Cozy Garden Hostel. It's among the best hostels we've ever seen, with an incredible atmosphere and smiling staff. We have changed some of our books with books from their library, we've eaten excellent burgers and in general we felt at home here. I'm now sitting at the hostel's internet bar and smiling when I think back to what we have done.
We have visited a Panda Research Breeding Centre, which was very cool. They really treasure these furry bears down here, and the centre was of good quality. We've also gone to see the world's largest Buddha statue in Leshan and visited and ancient Chinese town in Huanglongxi. Other than that we've just strolled around Chengdu city, visiting parks, temples, museums and tasting Sichuanese food.
The last thing worth mentioning here is the Chinese New Year Celebration. Chinese uses a Lunar Calendar, which means they have a different year count than us in the West. In 2009 the lunar year of the ox starts on the 26th of January. And we have celebrated this, in the streets of Chengdu! Even though the reckless use of fireworks caused some concerns we had a great time with other people from the hostel. What remains now is to say Chun Jie Kuai Le, a Happy Spring Festival to all of you! (We will definitely enjoy it, continuing our travel through China)
We have stayed in Chengdu, Sichuan, from January 19th to 27th. It all started with the train ride from Lanzhou, where we had to stand on the train for twenty hours. After a trip like that we figured we should take a longer rest. We haven't regretted it so far, and we take off towards Guiyang in just a few hours.
First we have to mention our hostel; Sim's Cozy Garden Hostel. It's among the best hostels we've ever seen, with an incredible atmosphere and smiling staff. We have changed some of our books with books from their library, we've eaten excellent burgers and in general we felt at home here. I'm now sitting at the hostel's internet bar and smiling when I think back to what we have done.
We have visited a Panda Research Breeding Centre, which was very cool. They really treasure these furry bears down here, and the centre was of good quality. We've also gone to see the world's largest Buddha statue in Leshan and visited and ancient Chinese town in Huanglongxi. Other than that we've just strolled around Chengdu city, visiting parks, temples, museums and tasting Sichuanese food.
The last thing worth mentioning here is the Chinese New Year Celebration. Chinese uses a Lunar Calendar, which means they have a different year count than us in the West. In 2009 the lunar year of the ox starts on the 26th of January. And we have celebrated this, in the streets of Chengdu! Even though the reckless use of fireworks caused some concerns we had a great time with other people from the hostel. What remains now is to say Chun Jie Kuai Le, a Happy Spring Festival to all of you! (We will definitely enjoy it, continuing our travel through China)
Friday, 16 January 2009
Lanzhou - The capitol city of Gansu province
16.01.09
We arrived after having spent the night on the train from Jiayuguan. Lanzhou is situated in the South of Gansu, by the Yellow River (Huang He). It is a fairly big city with around 2,8 million inhabitants. According to the Lonely Planet China book, this city was at one point during the 1990s considered to be the world's most (air) polluted city. But no problem, we have bought these nice "cotton covers" for our mouths.
We quickly noticed that Lanzhou is a city full of sights. There are many things to see here. The Gansu Provincial Museum is really cool. It is loaded with Silk Road history, and with an awesome paleontological department. The last one is very interesting because of the many discoveries in this province.
We also visited an old Taoist temple close to the bank of the Yellow River. White Cloud Temple was beautiful, but it looked kind of lonely and malplaced because of all the skyscrapers surrounding it. Also we saw a beautiful mosque that is situated in the center of the city. Lanzhou has a lot to offer. It is surrounded by hills, and has a lot of parks. We hiked to the top of White Pagoda Hill. It has many nice buildings and a white pagoda on the summit. Unfortunately, the visibility was a bit like Lonely Planet warned us about.
Lanzhou is famous for it's beef noodles (niu rou mian). We decided to go to test them, and we see why. They were delicious. We ate them again a couple of times before we set off towards our next target on this journey: Chengdu in Sichuan Province.
We arrived after having spent the night on the train from Jiayuguan. Lanzhou is situated in the South of Gansu, by the Yellow River (Huang He). It is a fairly big city with around 2,8 million inhabitants. According to the Lonely Planet China book, this city was at one point during the 1990s considered to be the world's most (air) polluted city. But no problem, we have bought these nice "cotton covers" for our mouths.
We quickly noticed that Lanzhou is a city full of sights. There are many things to see here. The Gansu Provincial Museum is really cool. It is loaded with Silk Road history, and with an awesome paleontological department. The last one is very interesting because of the many discoveries in this province.
We also visited an old Taoist temple close to the bank of the Yellow River. White Cloud Temple was beautiful, but it looked kind of lonely and malplaced because of all the skyscrapers surrounding it. Also we saw a beautiful mosque that is situated in the center of the city. Lanzhou has a lot to offer. It is surrounded by hills, and has a lot of parks. We hiked to the top of White Pagoda Hill. It has many nice buildings and a white pagoda on the summit. Unfortunately, the visibility was a bit like Lonely Planet warned us about.
Lanzhou is famous for it's beef noodles (niu rou mian). We decided to go to test them, and we see why. They were delicious. We ate them again a couple of times before we set off towards our next target on this journey: Chengdu in Sichuan Province.
Wednesday, 14 January 2009
Jiayuguan - The Westernmost part of The Great Wall
15.01.09
We left Dunhuang the morning the 13th by train, for the city of Jiayuguan. We were here until the evening the 15th when we jumped on the train to Lanzhou in the South of Gansu province. In Jiayuguan there are only 130000 people. But that doesn't mean the city cannot offer a lot.
An ancient fort, restored by the government, now serves as a museum and cultural park for tourists. Jiayuguan Fort is also the Westernmost part of The Great Wall. There were some great photos to be taken there, even though camel owners and shop keepers can be quite pushy at times. In addition we met a delightful young guy, at the age of seven, who had the best English we've heard so far in China. And yes, he was Chinese. He really astonished us and we had some fun, except from the fact that his mom continuosly asked about whether they could guide us somewhere in the district.
We also tried some exciting food here. Jiayuguan Bazaar really showed us that the point-and-taste tactic actually works. At least for most dishes, while others were a little bit too spicy for delicate Norwegian tummies.
That being said, the city also had some unpleasant experiences in store for us. The hotel room we stayed in, no name of hotel mentioned, was not cleaned and rather dirty. And that comes from Norwegians who like youth hostels and are used to sleeping in nature. But the fact that the floor had several used cigarettes and a lot of ashes. We also stayed next door to the common toilet, with screaming pipes and people coughing and spitting day and night. Last drop was spilled when we got a mysterious phonecall when we were going to sleep, someone asking if we wanted something that sounded suspiciously like massage. And with brothels just next door, we could only imagine what else is included in a massage.
But the room was only one part of it. Taxi drivers in the city gave us another surprise. Not only were they more noisy and persistent than in any other Chinese city (so far), but they also refused to use the meter even though we insisted several times. But it's not often as bad as it seems, and that goes for this trip as well. Because hard feelings towards the taxi drivers made us take more buses, and that gave us amazing experiences when it came to meeting people and discovering a cheaper way of sightseeing a city.
Even though we might be a little bit harsh here, we have no hard feelings at all. You have to experience both good and bad to really get a feel of an area, and we are still smiling when travelling through China.
We left Dunhuang the morning the 13th by train, for the city of Jiayuguan. We were here until the evening the 15th when we jumped on the train to Lanzhou in the South of Gansu province. In Jiayuguan there are only 130000 people. But that doesn't mean the city cannot offer a lot.
An ancient fort, restored by the government, now serves as a museum and cultural park for tourists. Jiayuguan Fort is also the Westernmost part of The Great Wall. There were some great photos to be taken there, even though camel owners and shop keepers can be quite pushy at times. In addition we met a delightful young guy, at the age of seven, who had the best English we've heard so far in China. And yes, he was Chinese. He really astonished us and we had some fun, except from the fact that his mom continuosly asked about whether they could guide us somewhere in the district.
We also tried some exciting food here. Jiayuguan Bazaar really showed us that the point-and-taste tactic actually works. At least for most dishes, while others were a little bit too spicy for delicate Norwegian tummies.
That being said, the city also had some unpleasant experiences in store for us. The hotel room we stayed in, no name of hotel mentioned, was not cleaned and rather dirty. And that comes from Norwegians who like youth hostels and are used to sleeping in nature. But the fact that the floor had several used cigarettes and a lot of ashes. We also stayed next door to the common toilet, with screaming pipes and people coughing and spitting day and night. Last drop was spilled when we got a mysterious phonecall when we were going to sleep, someone asking if we wanted something that sounded suspiciously like massage. And with brothels just next door, we could only imagine what else is included in a massage.
But the room was only one part of it. Taxi drivers in the city gave us another surprise. Not only were they more noisy and persistent than in any other Chinese city (so far), but they also refused to use the meter even though we insisted several times. But it's not often as bad as it seems, and that goes for this trip as well. Because hard feelings towards the taxi drivers made us take more buses, and that gave us amazing experiences when it came to meeting people and discovering a cheaper way of sightseeing a city.
Even though we might be a little bit harsh here, we have no hard feelings at all. You have to experience both good and bad to really get a feel of an area, and we are still smiling when travelling through China.
Dunhuang - an oasis far away
11.01.09
Arrived this morning in Dunhuang, in Gansu province. A famous laid back oasis, with surrounding desert and many historical buddhist caves and grottoes. Dunhuang is a nice little city, and we will stay here for two nights, heading for Jiayuguan on the 13th.
Walking in the desert, riding camels, and looking at the oasis from afar was a really nice experience. The fact that we are doing this in an area that was a part of the old Silk Road makes it even more exciting. There was a bit of snow in the desert when we visited it, which made it look different from anything we have ever seen before.
We also visited The Thousand Western Buddhist Grottoes, which was situated alongside a beautiful river canyon just outside Dunhuang. The grottoes were closed when we came there, but the sights were amazing.
Arrived this morning in Dunhuang, in Gansu province. A famous laid back oasis, with surrounding desert and many historical buddhist caves and grottoes. Dunhuang is a nice little city, and we will stay here for two nights, heading for Jiayuguan on the 13th.
Walking in the desert, riding camels, and looking at the oasis from afar was a really nice experience. The fact that we are doing this in an area that was a part of the old Silk Road makes it even more exciting. There was a bit of snow in the desert when we visited it, which made it look different from anything we have ever seen before.
We also visited The Thousand Western Buddhist Grottoes, which was situated alongside a beautiful river canyon just outside Dunhuang. The grottoes were closed when we came there, but the sights were amazing.
Friday, 9 January 2009
Urumqi - The city that is furthest away from any ocean in the world
10.01.09
We are in Urumqi, Xinjiang. Trying to get a drift of the Uighur way of life. Went to Turpan yesterday. Nice little town with a great mosque and bazaar. Stayed in Silver Birches Youth Hostel, cozy and cheap. Leaving for Dunhuang tonight.
Urumqi is the capital city of Xinjiang province, and is situated in the North Western corner of China. The city has a population of approximately 1,5 million inhabitants (The whole region has approximately 20 mill. inhabitants). Urumqi is about 100 meters under sea level and is 2250km away from the nearest ocean.
Of things to see in Urumqi is the Xinjiang Autonomous Region Museum and the Erdaoqiao market.
The city of Turpan that we visited had an old beautiful mosque and minaret. Visiting the bazaar in Turpan was also a cool experience. The bread in this region is very tasty. We have tried out some of the different types of food like samsas (baked mutton dumplings), girde nan (nan tasting bagel), polo (a rice dish with fried meat rice and pumpkin) to mention some. Travelling here offers great views (mountains, plains, desert).
As long as one brings enough clothes, travelling here in January is no problem weatherwise.
We are in Urumqi, Xinjiang. Trying to get a drift of the Uighur way of life. Went to Turpan yesterday. Nice little town with a great mosque and bazaar. Stayed in Silver Birches Youth Hostel, cozy and cheap. Leaving for Dunhuang tonight.
Urumqi is the capital city of Xinjiang province, and is situated in the North Western corner of China. The city has a population of approximately 1,5 million inhabitants (The whole region has approximately 20 mill. inhabitants). Urumqi is about 100 meters under sea level and is 2250km away from the nearest ocean.
Of things to see in Urumqi is the Xinjiang Autonomous Region Museum and the Erdaoqiao market.
The city of Turpan that we visited had an old beautiful mosque and minaret. Visiting the bazaar in Turpan was also a cool experience. The bread in this region is very tasty. We have tried out some of the different types of food like samsas (baked mutton dumplings), girde nan (nan tasting bagel), polo (a rice dish with fried meat rice and pumpkin) to mention some. Travelling here offers great views (mountains, plains, desert).
As long as one brings enough clothes, travelling here in January is no problem weatherwise.
Sunday, 4 January 2009
Happy New Year
We, Christian and Tom, have had a wonderful semester in Yinchuan. We have seen a lot and experienced even more. Now we look forward to the next semester, which will bring us even more joy and happiness. But first we will have a vacation. Chinese people celebrate the new year when the lunar calendar says it's time. So we also look forward to the 25th of January, when there will be celebrations all over China. That's what they call Spring Festival, which is a holiday spent with family. But since we don't have that much family in China, we decided to travel instead. So here comes our current travel schedule; Yinchuan - Ürümqi - Dunhuang - Jiayuguan - Lanzhou - Chengdu - ?. The question mark means that we haven't decided where to go after Chengdu. But every decision, every experience will be noted down here on the blog. Maybe just in short words, and definitely without pictures. All the most interesting pictures will be posted when we come back from our one month journey through parts of China. So all that remains is to say; happy western new year!
But for your pleasure, here are some pictures so you wont forget us while we are gone;
But for your pleasure, here are some pictures so you wont forget us while we are gone;
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