We’ve left China, sob After almost exactly a month there I’d really grown to love it. Before we got there I was a little worried. I didn’t know what to expect. There is a lot going on in China, especially the politics/censorship etc that’s not great to say the least (My blog stats were censored can you believe it! Obviously I’m dangerous…), but day to day at the level we were interacting with the place and the people, it was great. I suppose most people there are just getting on with living their lives and don’t really get involved. It’s difficult though. We spent some time working in an English school which gave us the opportunity to speak to young Chinese people and even in the short time we spent with them some really interesting issues were coming up. It would be great to spend more time there and really be able to see things from their perspective.

The last couple of weeks in China were spent down in the south with a trip to Hong Kong and a couple of it’s islands and then a week stay at the English school in Yangshuo. I have to say I think the main part of Hong Kong was probably my least favorite place of the trip so far. Maybe it was just too familiar? Loads of the same fancy shops we get at home, its rip off Irish pubs and fancy bars are far too expensive (£6/pint!) and the huge commercial centre with enormous skyscrapers and shopping centres really wasn’t for me. Sure you can get away from that and find, I suppose, more traditional areas, but the most obvious thing there is money and work. And if you’re after seeing something more ‘traditional’ there are a million other places in China you can go see it with out the priceyness (Guangzhou for example is amazing!).

We had a scary trip on the Metro one morning. We hit it at rush hour and found ourselves drawn into the march of the drones.

It was very freaky. Every person walked silently and quickly with blank expressions in a constant flow around the underground platforms. Such a contrast to the lively hussle and bustle of the streets we had grown used to on the mainland. I was really relieved when we finally escaped!

A trip out on a couchsurfing mission to Cheung Chau was definitely good idea. Apart from the island being something of a sun soaked tropical paradise with lovely quiet beaches and great walking around the green hills, we struck it lucky with our host who turned out to be a really lovely person, and an amazing cook!

Actually it was the guy on the right, Nir, who was the official host, but he was working away on the first night and back late others, so his girlfriend Wanda took over the job and really she did a lot more than you would ever expect! We were treated to an amazing curry using vegetables I’d never even seen or heard of, papaya salad with a fantastically spicy dressing, a tasty Thai(?) dessert, which was like jellyish type squares and a special Spring Festival sweet treat which, I think, was sugar cane which had been boiled up for hours to create a thick sticky sheet which is then cut into slices and fried til crispy. Yum!

She also made this soup, which went straight into the top ten soups of the trip so far.

It contained so many different root vegetables and squashes with all different tastes and textures. I’d really like to try them again when we get home (if only I could remember what they all were!). It was really a pleasure to meet her. We shared a couple of great evenings sat chatting outside on their balcony overlooking the beautiful bay. She had an interesting background, having grandparents from 4 different ethnic Chinese backgrounds. She grew up on a farm and so from them had learned so much about food and growing. Their balcony was home to an impressive range of fruit trees, vegetables and herbs that was really an inspiration. No excuse of not having the land when we get home! Her family had emigrated to Canada when she was young but her back ground gave her a great knowledge of and enthusiasm for Chinese culture, traditions and all styles of Asian cooking that it was a really amazing opportunity for us to be able to speak to her about.

The mornings there were similarly spent relaxing on the balcony. We’d have breakfast and read a while and watch the small boats sail by before maybe going for a stroll to the tiny temple just down the path where an elderly man practiced Tai Chi under a banyan tree . Amazing. A big thank you to Wanda and Nir for opening up your home to us and treating us so well.

While we were stying on Cheung Chau we took the ferry across to Lantau, the home of the “Big Buddha”. Which was really quite impressive. The statue is 34 meters tall, making it the world’s largest seated Buddha.

Don’t make the mistake though of arriving here straight from Hong Kong on the metro and taking the cable car (! ARGH!) across. You’ll get dropped in a hideous “traditional” (ie fake) street full of expensive tacky souvenirs where, for a fee, you can also visit the Buddha experience (some sort of virtual tour I think) and plastic banyan tree. I think after arriving this way it would be difficult to take the important spiritual significance of the site seriously. The over commercialisation of it all really detracts from the spiritual significance and tranquility of the beautiful surroundings. I wonder if the monks who decided on this project really anticipated that area surrounding their once peaceful temple would be turned into a theme park.

On the same island Tai O is definitely worth a visit. A beautiful old fishing village of stilt houses and narrow twisting streets to get lost in you’ll see a way of life unlike anywhere else, and also, if you’re lucky a surreal display of cut out characters from Snow White and the Seven Dwarves to a very bizzare image I’m sure I’ll never understand the significance of which was a dog (or pig?) giving birth to several dog/piglets which are then cleaned by a dog/pig wearing a bikini. Hmmm.

This post is getting too long, so I’ll skip a few things and just briefly mention again our stay at the English school in Yangshuo. Again organised through couchsurfing we spent a week there with accommodation and food in exchange for 2 hours conversation 4 days a week. It was really a brilliant thing to do and we’re already thinking about going back at some point. As I said it was a great opportunity to meet people, we had some really interesting chats with some of the students and amongst went out with the whole school for a lovely hotpot dinner, my new favourite meal!

While we were there we met a lovely couple Frank and Jane who we also ended up spending quite a bit of our spare time with going on various bike and boat rides around the surrounding area, which is stunning. The Karst rock formations spring up magically from the ground everywhere for miles around and we went on a 3 hour boat trip along the Li River which winds its way through this amazing scenery.

Apart from the good company it was also incredible to have someone with us who could do the various deals. Nothing ever has a fixed price and the boat trip we did if it were even possible would no doubt have been at least 2 or 3 times the price without Frank’s hard bargaining. It was also useful to have them around to translate the signs like this one:

Which reads, “For your safety, do not sail on the rafts”. Hmmm. Not that it made any difference. Here we are happily ignoring this piece of government advice.

“Chezzer!” Ready to board the raft!

Just to check if anyone has actually read this whole post I’ll leave you with two pictures. You can leave any comments for discussion below.

What is she doing?

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