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)

FK Network Meeting in Beijing

Last Saturday we went to Beijing on the night train. 19 hours and hard sleepers again, but it's always fun so we didn't mind much. We travelled through the desert lands of Inner Mongolia, through Shanxi and Hebei, saw a lot of beautiful scenery, until we finally arrived at Beijing Railway station.

In Beijing we had two free days before the show (network meeting) started. We decided to be crazy tourists and went to the Great Wall, Ming Tombs, Jade Factory, Tea House, Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square, Beihai Park and Jingshan Park. All this in just two days. Imagine how tired we were of all the walking. Especially the day we ran to the top of the Wall. But it was definitely worth it. We got to see a lot of China in two days, and had a lot of fun.

But after the fun started the work. The reason for travelling to Beijing was that we were to attend an FK Network Meeting for FK China. It lasted for one and a half day, but it turned out that it wasn't half bad after all. We discussed and shared experiences and from the looks of it it was rather successful. One of the best, some people said. So with a satisfied smile on our faces we flew back to Yinchuan on Thursday to plan Friday's teaching. It was a hasty but fun week in Beijing. Looking forward to going back there some day.

Link to Fredskorpset's coverage of the meeting (in Norwegian):
http://www.fredskorpset.no/no/Fredskorpset/Media/NyheterPressemeldinger/Nettverksmote-i-Beijing/

Our trip to Xian during the October holiday

During October holiday we went to the city of Xian, in Shaanxi province. This was one of the old capitols in ancient China, during the famous Qin-dynasty (221-207 BC), the Han-dynasty (206-220AD) and the Tang-dynasty (618-907AD). It was a beautiful city, but quite big for two western Norwegians with its 3,2 million inhabitants. We heard there that during the holiday it is supposed to be exceptionally crowded, which we found out was true. Crowded it surely was:)

We took the night train from Yinchuan to get there. This was the first train experience in China for both of us, and we enjoyed it alot. We had hard sleepers, in an open wagon, which was surprisingly comfortable. Except for Tom who for some reason never fits into China's when it comes to doorways, lamps, and in this case, beds. Travelling with the train ("firewagon") in China is a social event and it was a great opportunity for us to practice our Chinese. The journey took approximately 13 hours.

In Xian we visited the Shanxi History Museum, The Terracotta Warriors, The Calligraphy Museum, A Silk factory, The City Walls,The Big Goose Pagoda, The Muslim Quarter and The Bell Tower to mention some of the sights. Xian is a more Chinese town as we know it from movies and books, with the typical traditional architecture and ancient tourist sites. It is a city with a lot of history and many of the places preserve history very well.

We had a great time during our first Chinese holiday trip. Xian is definitely a city worth visiting. Drop in at the city's home cozy youth hostel if you are there, a really neat place with people from all over the world. Highly recommended by Chris and Tom.