Living in China

Friday, May 02, 2008

At last

Hey,

sorry for not posting anything is such a long time. It seems that, since I live here in Suzhou now, nothing worth writing about happens. Quite on the contrary. I have been too busy I guess. I now study in the mornings, work in the evenings and squeeze every free minute I have to go out with friends :P

Here some pics from Nanjing, a city 3 hours from here, which I visited a couple of weeks back.

Chinese people

More Chinese people!

Me with Chinese people :)

Let me explain: I wanted to go to the Nanjing Massacre Museum, and it was free entrance, and so about 2000 Chinese people had the same idea. They only let 100 or so people in at the time, so I had to wait 1 hour. (I was the only foreigner there)

Sign inside a bathroom

"No comments"

"The Nanjing Experiment" I wonder what that is...

It seems that nothing is allowed in the Nanjing underground. not even balloons! :(

Nanjing Museum

Friday, February 29, 2008

Spring time in Suzhou!

At last! The weather is brightening up. No more snow, no more rain, and no more sub-zero temperatures.

Today it was 15 degrees and sunny. I took a trip, 2 hours by (crowded) bus out of the city, to Xi Shan (West Mountain) with some friends. It was a nice day, and below are some photos.

Believe it or not, but this is tea. In China, tea can be anything, from flowers to dried roots. It doesn't have to be actual 'tea' leaves. Anything that tastes nice in hot water is called tea.

Extremely pushy local women selling (stolen) blossoms from pear and plum trees nearby

Dried fish from the lake

Plum blossoms and a Taoist pagoda in the background

Spring time in China

Up on the pagoda

more dried goodies, from flowers and lemon to shrimp and fish

Late February is the best time of year to visit Xi Shan, since all the fruit trees are in bloom

Lucky I caught this

The obligatory annual "me with blossoms" photo, pt1

pt 2

More dried stuff

Hang a red ribbon in the tree and make a wish for the New Year

Romantic spot

More blossoms

Sunday, February 24, 2008

Back in Suzhou

I'm back in Suzhou now. I arrived in Shanghai at midnight on the Chinese New Year, and could see the fireworks shooting into the night sky from the plane.

China is cold this time of year. Especially coming from Manila, where it was 30 degrees, when I arrived, there was still snow everywhere. The nights were freezing, and during the days it was little above 0 degrees. Right now it is a little better here in Suzhou, something like 10 degrees during the day and 3 at nights.

The past two weeks have been holidays (the Spring Festival) here in China, and there were fireworks every night. It is for sale on every street corner, and at any time of day, groups of Chinese are shooting them off. (From 6 AM to 2AM all day long sometimes) Most people have parties and big (huge) dinners with friends and family. I was invited to a few dinners, and it was great. My plate and glass were never empty!

I registered for my studies, which will start next week. I found an apartment to live in and bought a cheap PC. All I need now is a bicycle, which I might buy tomorrow.

Suzhou is quite a rich and developed city, and there are many Western bars and shops here. Many people can speak English (relatively, of course) and it is easy to go around. The old town is quite touristy, but not too bad. I live now near the University Campus, which is about 30 minutes walk from down town. I am renting a room on the 7th floor (no lift) with a Chinese family who cannot speak any English, which should be good for my practice. I can't wait to start studying some proper Chinese.