tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-59049423791524547422024-03-18T09:48:19.408+00:00Sammy's Generic Travel BlogSammy's Generic Travel Blog is a great place for travel tips, travel guides for destinations all over the world and amazing travel stories. A must visit site for anyone interested in travelling the world.Proxy Personhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13561526683031514274noreply@blogger.comBlogger102125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904942379152454742.post-91717331755743212572015-05-12T14:58:00.000+01:002015-05-12T14:58:06.700+01:00When the Chinese smog blows away the result is, beautiful.It happens once every few epochs, but here in central China, the smog does sometimes clear, to astonishing results. The sky returns to a shade of blue one forgot was possible. The landscape regains its spectrum. The smog seems to absorb vibrant colour, the result is world of grey and cigarette faded pastels. <br />
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Today was one of those few periods of time in which I could see my surroundings clearly. I felt the need to document it in case it doesn't happen again. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oR89zNUWuHA/VVID45kIljI/AAAAAAAAA-c/y_UWDrxN6nY/s1600/IMG_0807.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oR89zNUWuHA/VVID45kIljI/AAAAAAAAA-c/y_UWDrxN6nY/s320/IMG_0807.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sun setting over what remains of the Yellow River market in Zhengzhou</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-S2ytMRN8j1Y/VVIEBPsigdI/AAAAAAAAA-s/vdqZ545bFEg/s1600/IMG_1283.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-S2ytMRN8j1Y/VVIEBPsigdI/AAAAAAAAA-s/vdqZ545bFEg/s320/IMG_1283.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blue skies in Kaifeng, Qixian</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uNctuqSkt6s/VVID89RF1xI/AAAAAAAAA-k/DbkE7eMSaB0/s1600/IMG_5276.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uNctuqSkt6s/VVID89RF1xI/AAAAAAAAA-k/DbkE7eMSaB0/s320/IMG_5276.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look! The sky is even blue in Beijing!</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZpaRKlxoeW8/VVIEJKHz_-I/AAAAAAAAA-0/bxmwu4X-w2Y/s1600/IMG_9069.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZpaRKlxoeW8/VVIEJKHz_-I/AAAAAAAAA-0/bxmwu4X-w2Y/s320/IMG_9069.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blue skies in Luoyang</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-i__GP0IK4DQ/VVIEU2zUioI/AAAAAAAAA-8/2tRBq6Ecs4Q/s1600/IMG_9253.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-i__GP0IK4DQ/VVIEU2zUioI/AAAAAAAAA-8/2tRBq6Ecs4Q/s320/IMG_9253.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">But if you go up the hill, you can start to see the smog coming back.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-E2kldDJGqlo/VVIEZqyLJPI/AAAAAAAAA_E/T8ivbRUxiUE/s1600/IMG_9278.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-E2kldDJGqlo/VVIEZqyLJPI/AAAAAAAAA_E/T8ivbRUxiUE/s320/IMG_9278.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Luoyang almost looks like a beautiful city without all the smog. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gq88YBc88nc/VVIEgvSRG1I/AAAAAAAAA_M/uXrAavif8n0/s1600/IMG_9304.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gq88YBc88nc/VVIEgvSRG1I/AAAAAAAAA_M/uXrAavif8n0/s320/IMG_9304.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Blue skies over one of China's many Sim City replicas</td></tr>
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<br />Warning: If you haven't been in China for too long, these photos wont look at all remarkable. If you're as blown back as I am, it could be time to leave Northern China.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com189tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904942379152454742.post-76004089514517552092015-03-01T09:53:00.000+00:002015-03-16T14:51:13.492+00:00Infographic of the day: 24 strange things you probably didn't know about China<div style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a> Are you thinking of coming here to China? Choosing where to stay can be a minefield filled with tasty noodles, firecrackers and maybe even a few new friends stuck in the mud somewhere along the way, but if you go to a city called Xiamen, here's a good idea of where not to stay, <a href="http://www.sammysgenericblog.blogspot.com/2015/02/the-fawlty-towers-of-china.html">the Fawlty Towers of China</a>. <a href="http://securethoughts.com/">Secure Thoughts</a> have provided me with this, awesome, new info-graphic, detailing the bizarre, everyday facts, about our Chinese cousins. </div>
<div style="line-height: 115%; margin-bottom: 0.35cm;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"></span></span></span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">24 strange things you probably didn't know about China</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br />
Before you read the info-graphic, here's a taster: <br />
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2 Bizarre facts about China:<br />
· In 2010 there was a traffic jam in Beijing that was 62 miles long. It took 12 days to clear – that must have been a long ride home for some people.<br />
· China employs over two million people to monitor internet activity! Many websites you are used to using are blocked so you’ll <a href="http://securethoughts.com/3-best-vpns-china/">have to set up a VPN</a> to bypass it.<br />
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For the other 20 bizarre facts, take a look at below.<br />
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com150tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904942379152454742.post-43247868351505941752015-02-20T09:54:00.000+00:002015-02-20T10:11:25.924+00:00Serious Travel Aricle 25: Xi'an Part 4. The Terracotta Warriors<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
On our last day in
Xi'an, we went to the train station to take the coach to the largest
and best known atoll of interest in Xi'an. Far from the main
archipelago and outside the protective lagoon of the city wall are
the terracotta warriors.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
We were befriended
on the bus by a group of public school leavers (probably Eton). They
were on their travels after finishing school, two of them, Olivia, a
pale redhead and Augustus, a blonde haired son of a diplomat whom I
thought of as the heir to Boris Johnson (in a good way) were on gap
years. The other,Tiberius , was soon to start his physics course at
Oxford, as “the Oxford Physics department don't allow you to take a
gap year”. While we were waiting in line, they asked us whether we
would like to share a guide to save money. Coco announced “Don't
worry, you don't need a guide, I was a student here for four years, I
can be our guide!” </div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bl4-BW-kin4/VOcBIfs6SHI/AAAAAAAAA50/-ZPPaArz4Sc/s1600/Angry-Terracotta-warrior.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bl4-BW-kin4/VOcBIfs6SHI/AAAAAAAAA50/-ZPPaArz4Sc/s1600/Angry-Terracotta-warrior.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A stern looking terracotta warrior.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I knew very well
that Coco knew nothing at all about the terracotta warriors and just
wanted to save a few quid, but our poor new toffee nosed friends
didn't and happily accepted the offer. We spent our time touring the
magnificent remains of the terracotta army, all covered by an
enormous hanger and dimly lit to preserve the wonders (or to make it
more atmospheric, but I prefer the first explanation). Coco bent
over backwards to try and eavesdrop on the tour guides speaking in
Chinese around us and translate it into English for our friends,
pretending she really did know about the warriors, she struggled a
lot with extra questions and dates, although she became quite
creative, making up enough phoney facts to keep them convinced. If
found them to be charming company, and almost as interesting at the
warriors themselves. After they left, I decided I liked the British
upper classes. Except when they go on rifle safaris and fox hunt. </div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tYVSlQYKmP0/VOcBiTOYtSI/AAAAAAAAA58/c0-5683YYes/s1600/tourists%2Bpose%2Bat%2Bthe%2Bterracotta%2Bwarriors.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tYVSlQYKmP0/VOcBiTOYtSI/AAAAAAAAA58/c0-5683YYes/s1600/tourists%2Bpose%2Bat%2Bthe%2Bterracotta%2Bwarriors.jpg" height="218" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tourists pose with the terracotta warriors</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The warriors
themselves were mind blowing in their immensity. Each a life-sized
replica of a person that would have lived over two thousand years ago
when Qin Shi Huang ordered the terracotta warriors to be constructed.
Each warrior has been crafted with such intricate detail it's
difficult to believe that they aren't petrified human remains, frozen
in time by an evil witch. When you try to imagine them pained in
realistic colours as they would have been originally and some still
are, they become one of the greatest achievements of the ancient
world. The most miraculous thing about the warriors is that they were
discovered just after the end of the Cultural Revolution and thus
spared the merciless vandalism of the red guards.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
It was drizzling as
we left, so we had lunch in the subway to escape the rain. We both
wanted to eat biang biang mian, a bowl of noodles with a name so
complicated, being sold around the terracotta warriors complex that
Chinese tourists stopped to take photos of the overly complex
character. Unfortunately subway was the only restaurant not to rack
up the prices and the only one we could afford. </div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E8PLyUJe3Os/VOcBxX80BUI/AAAAAAAAA6E/f_2MXVoyIRs/s1600/biang%2Bbiang%2Bmian.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E8PLyUJe3Os/VOcBxX80BUI/AAAAAAAAA6E/f_2MXVoyIRs/s1600/biang%2Bbiang%2Bmian.jpg" height="98" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Biang Biang Mian. Biang is the most complex character in simplified Chinese script. After much searching, my wife and I were unable to find a definition. Only that, this word isn't in the dictionary, but is a local Shaanxi word to describe it's special big hearted noodles.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
We ate biang biang
mian when we returned to Xi'an.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
After visiting all
the atolls of interest Xi'an had to offer, there seemed no reason
left to stay, you can't stay in Xi'an for more than four of five
days, not as an island hopper anyway. We headed beck to Zhengzhou,
our vast ocean of uninterest.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://sammysgenericblog.blogspot.com/2015/02/serious-travel-article-22-xian-part-1.html" target="_blank">For Part 1: Click Here </a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://sammysgenericblog.blogspot.com/2015/02/serious-travel-article-23-xian-part-2.html" target="_blank">For Part 2: Click Here </a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://sammysgenericblog.blogspot.com/2015/02/serious-travel-article-24-xian-part-3.html" target="_blank">For Part 3: Click Here</a></div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904942379152454742.post-29433207447810630582015-02-20T08:58:00.000+00:002015-02-20T10:56:47.783+00:00Serious Travel Article 24: Xi'an Part 3. Return to Xi'an International Studies University and the Best Cake in Central China<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
On the next day Coco
brought me to her old university, Xi'an International Studies
University. It was a typical Chinese University, filled with old
teaching blocks and seven story student dorms, six to a room with no
running water, and no elevator to get up to the top floor. Inside the
campus were tall leafy trees and abstract statues which meant nothing
to me. </div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Kslb3ZiGP6Y/VOb0p4C_YpI/AAAAAAAAA5U/p7cWaRfmkMY/s1600/xian%2Binternational%2Bstudies%2Buniversity%2Bmain%2Bgate.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Kslb3ZiGP6Y/VOb0p4C_YpI/AAAAAAAAA5U/p7cWaRfmkMY/s1600/xian%2Binternational%2Bstudies%2Buniversity%2Bmain%2Bgate.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Main Gate of Xi'an International Studies University</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The side streets around the university were buzzing with
activity. Bars, cheap shops and restaurants lined the streets. We
stopped in a little place called The Village Café, turn left as you
leave the main gate of Xi'an International Studies University and
walk down the side road, you'll find it on the right hand side. It
was special as it was run by a bunch of foreigners, Coco used to meet
her old friend Bonnie Stanford there when she taught in Xi'an, and it
served all the favourites from back home. Including apple pie,
chocolate chip cookies, cheesecake, carrot cake, chocolate cake and
more. Being in China for extended periods makes you miss such things,
we bought one of every cake they sold. Feeling food drunk, we
continued to Xi'an International Studies University's new campus, out
of town. </div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2Ell_Fm3Dfk/VOb0tA2NKSI/AAAAAAAAA5g/ADHP--qlYQc/s1600/cakes.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2Ell_Fm3Dfk/VOb0tA2NKSI/AAAAAAAAA5g/ADHP--qlYQc/s1600/cakes.jpg" height="239" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Delicious Cake</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
It was a large modern campus, empty but still impressive. It
was green and had fruit trees throughout. Close to Coco's old dorm
building were plum and pomegranate trees. Both were falling off the
trees and giving the ants below a grand feast. We decided to deprive
the ants and take some fruit for ourselves. No sooner than we begun,
a fat, middle aged woman began chasing us, screaming “that's not
your fruit, go away”.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
“We'll just let it
all drop on the floor then if that's what you want,” Coco shouted
back as we fled.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
“It's my fruit, I
can do whatever I want with it”.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
It wasn't her fruit,
it belonged to the university, but during the summer holiday, this
pretender seemed to claim it as her territory. Not wanting to fight
we scrambled with the handful of fruit we collected before the hippo
charged. </div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-w8PpnujPyB4/VOb0s2xTyaI/AAAAAAAAA5c/wDY2vnTj-o0/s1600/xian%2Binternational%2Bstudies%2Buniversity%2Bnew%2Bcampus.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-w8PpnujPyB4/VOb0s2xTyaI/AAAAAAAAA5c/wDY2vnTj-o0/s1600/xian%2Binternational%2Bstudies%2Buniversity%2Bnew%2Bcampus.jpg" height="148" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The new campus of Xi'an International Studies University filled with mammoth buildings and lines of fruit trees. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
We explored the
outer reaches of the campus, most of it abandoned and covered in
graffiti, a growing problem in urban China.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
For dinner I fell in
love with another dish. Ma Shi are little noodles shaped like tiny
fish, no more than 2cm long and 1 cm wide. Not what once expects when
one orders noodles. They can be fried or boiled with chilli, eggs,
vegetables, tomatoes or meat, or any combination of the above. I
would soon be leaving Xi'an and you can't get Ma Shi anywhere else. I
bravely decided to have two dinners that evening. It wasn't easy
after all that cake, but brave decisions are often difficult.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://sammysgenericblog.blogspot.com/2015/02/serious-travel-article-22-xian-part-1.html" target="_blank">For Part 1: Click Here</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://sammysgenericblog.blogspot.com/2015/02/serious-travel-article-23-xian-part-2.html" target="_blank">For Part 2: Click Here </a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://sammysgenericblog.blogspot.com/2015/02/serious-travel-aricle-25-xian-part-4.html" target="_blank">For Part 4: Click Here</a></div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com69tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904942379152454742.post-54232391608092291852015-02-20T07:50:00.000+00:002015-02-20T10:13:17.429+00:00Serious Travel Article 23: Xian Part 2. The Drum Tower and The Wild Goose Pagoda<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Overlooking the end
of the Muslim quarter is the drum tower. A rectangular based,
traditional Chinese tower which looks solid enough to withstand a
tsunami if it had to. Nearby the Drum Tower is Xi'an's famous Bell
Tower. Despite my student card getting me half price entry, I still
decided to choose only one to save a little money. Considering the
bell tower's new job as roundabout centrepiece, and the unlikelihood
that I'd be allowed to ring the bell, I decided to climb the drum
tower. It exceeded my expectations. The tower seemed old (which in
China is all you can really ask for) and it had lots of big drums. It
sounds simplistic but sometimes a great sense of satisfaction can be
gained by banging a drum bigger than oneself, especially when you
suspect it may be forbidden. It wasn't a very strictly enforced rule,
everyone seemed to be doing it. </div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-84HjlaE0368/VObkeseU9OI/AAAAAAAAA4w/-De6W6fr5Qg/s1600/xian-drum-tower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-84HjlaE0368/VObkeseU9OI/AAAAAAAAA4w/-De6W6fr5Qg/s1600/xian-drum-tower.jpg" height="211" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Drums of the Drum Tower, Xi'an</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Inside the second floor was an
exhibition of ancient Chinese musical instruments. Although many were
truly old drums, there were many other instruments on show a
multilingual explanation of how the instruments were used as well as
the story of the tower itself. On the top floor of the Drum Tower was
a room filled with nineteenth century, European looking antiques. It
was odd that no photos were allowed, it seemed like a rule for the
sake of a rule but I followed it after being told off. On the top
floor was a little shop selling tourist tat. It seemed there was no
escape. Hawkers tried to sell me a box of postcards, for 30 yuan. My
indifference to the postcards seemed to intrigue them as when I began
to walk away, they were shouting “only pay 5 ok!”. I left the
drum tower happy at having banged some big drums. </div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nq1OseU6ehQ/VObk3g5YCAI/AAAAAAAAA44/hpFqSH6uf04/s1600/Xian%2Bbell%2Btower.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-nq1OseU6ehQ/VObk3g5YCAI/AAAAAAAAA44/hpFqSH6uf04/s1600/Xian%2Bbell%2Btower.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Bell Tower. A fine roundabout centerpiece.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The next atoll of
interest in the Xi'an archipelago was the Wild Goose Pagoda. We took
a bus from the Bell Tower changing at an intersection close to the
university and filled with young people. Xi'an, outside the tourist
areas, seems more vibrant than other inland Chinese cities like
Beijing or Wuhan. The Wild Goose Pagoda is surrounded by a ghastly
new, sprawling shopping complex, inspired half by the architecture of
the Tang Dynasty, half by glassy modernism. </div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
It looks good from a
distance, and the musical fountains are fun, especially watching
security guards furiously whistling at members of the public walking
across them. However when you see the fake LED ceiling inside the
mall itself, changing every five minutes from a blue sky (Xi'an dwellers might need to be reminded what that looks like) to comets hurtling thorough space, I felt it trivialized an important historical monument
in a cheap, Las Vegas way. </div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VbRlDcAMYi8/VObmiC_fzPI/AAAAAAAAA5E/ymZ4_FfztFg/s1600/Xian_Big_Wild_Goose_pagoda%2Bfountains.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VbRlDcAMYi8/VObmiC_fzPI/AAAAAAAAA5E/ymZ4_FfztFg/s1600/Xian_Big_Wild_Goose_pagoda%2Bfountains.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Wild Goose Pagoda in Xi'an. Don't walk across the fountains or you will be whistled at. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The wild goose pagoda itself is a grand yet austere old building dating back to the seventh century. Although it has been remodeled and repaired , in the 8th century it had 5 floors added and was extensively repaired during the Ming dynasty and in 1964 in the early Mao dynasty, it has the appearance of ancientness, unlike the Drum Tower and especially the Bell Tower which to me was just a pretty centerpiece for a busy intersection, like the Arch de Triumph. </div>
<br />
If you find yourself having to choose between sights in Xi'an, a visit to the Wild Goose Pagoda is a better use of your time than the Drum or Bell Towers. <br />
<br />
<a href="http://sammysgenericblog.blogspot.com/2015/02/serious-travel-article-22-xian-part-1.html" target="_blank">For Part 1: Click Here </a><br />
<a href="http://sammysgenericblog.blogspot.com/2015/02/serious-travel-article-24-xian-part-3.html" target="_blank"><br /></a>
<a href="http://sammysgenericblog.blogspot.com/2015/02/serious-travel-article-24-xian-part-3.html" target="_blank">For Part 3: Click Here</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://sammysgenericblog.blogspot.com/2015/02/serious-travel-aricle-25-xian-part-4.html" target="_blank">For Part 4: Click Here</a>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904942379152454742.post-11294254776734255442015-02-20T06:06:00.000+00:002015-02-20T10:12:11.287+00:00Serious Travel Article 22: Xi'an Part 1. The Muslim Quarter<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Xi'an feels like a
collection of small coral islands scattered in the ocean. The parts
of Xi'an you want to visit are the coral atolls, floating above a
reflective sea of uninteresting glass and frozen waves of concrete.
Surrounding the little islands is a barrier reef, worth visiting,
protecting the little gems from the fury of the high seas.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Xi'an involves a lot
a pavement stomping, and after dropping off our bags at our hostel,
just a room in some lady's house. We pounded away. The city blocks
all feel sameish and with no clear destination and no clue that
you're getting any closer to an atoll of interest, your legs feel all
the more tired.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Coco was taking me
to the Muslim quarter, an area she used to come to when she was a
student in the city. But it had changed so much in the four years
since she had studied there it had become unrecognizable. We stopped
to get directions and were pointed back onto the right path. The main
street in the Muslim quarter came out of nowhere, hiding behind a
corner in some dank, dead end in the city. </div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QxEzVnVYkb4/VObC90s1EOI/AAAAAAAAA4I/cg7fngWF0ko/s1600/Xian%2BStreets.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QxEzVnVYkb4/VObC90s1EOI/AAAAAAAAA4I/cg7fngWF0ko/s1600/Xian%2BStreets.jpg" height="200" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The uninteresting streets of Xi'an</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The crowds make it
seem buzzing. Tourists come from all over China, and the world to
gawk at the Koranic followers who dwell there. I found the place
interesting too, particularly the trash bins. Many of the tourists
had bought kebabs of mutton, vegetables, tofu and even skewered
sugared fruits. These had been piled into the bins in the Muslim
quarter and instead of being cleared, had been allowed to pile up
until they became towers of jagged wooden skewers which stool proudly
with the bin far below acting as a solid foundation. I enjoyed adding
my skewers to the towers. </div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IJT6l5JvvFk/VObNqBaPQeI/AAAAAAAAA4Y/RpvB7b6KQtE/s1600/xian%2Bmuslim%2Bquarter%2Bbin%2Bstick%2Btower.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IJT6l5JvvFk/VObNqBaPQeI/AAAAAAAAA4Y/RpvB7b6KQtE/s1600/xian%2Bmuslim%2Bquarter%2Bbin%2Bstick%2Btower.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A bin based tower of sticks in Xian's Muslim Quarter </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The Muslim quarter
is quite clearly Islamic. The Arabic script which is used to write
the Xinjiang Uyghur language is everywhere while women cover their
immoral parts (their hair) and men grow long bushy beards and wear
white skull caps.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Somewhere within the
Muslim quarter is a bazaar which wouldn't look out of place in
Marrakesh, Mosul or Medina. An ongoing, narrow and semi covered
alleyway, occasionally branching off in some other direction. The
alleyway was filled with warm, rich colours, lots of red, orange and
yellow everything. The traders were well verse in world languages,
especially English which is rare in China. The traders in the market
spoke English better than most of the Chinese English teachers I
know. As good as there linguistic skills were, they were filled with
ill meaning. They sold all manner of fake antiques, dancing cardboard
cut outs floating on bits of string (yes, that old trick) and general
tourist tat. The tat was so overpriced my wife and I spent an hour
inquiring and listening to foreigners trying to haggle just for
entertainment. The sort of rubbish that you could buy in Zhengzhou
(off the tourist trail) for 0.1 yuan was selling here for 10. If it
cost them 10 yuan, they'd be selling it for 200.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RgrMdBcazbI/VObOJs7YQFI/AAAAAAAAA4g/fvxpxPengGw/s1600/xian%2Bmuslim%2Bquarter%2Bbazaar.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-RgrMdBcazbI/VObOJs7YQFI/AAAAAAAAA4g/fvxpxPengGw/s1600/xian%2Bmuslim%2Bquarter%2Bbazaar.jpg" height="204" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Xi'an Muslim Quarter: The Bazaar. Don't get overcharged!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
We saw a German
couple haggling for a crummy watch. The hawker started at 600 yuan
(£60), the Hawkers got it for 300 and walked off happy. The traders
later boasted they'd bought it for five yuan in a box of a thousand.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I know a lot of
travellers tell you not to haggle too much because these people are
poor and unfortunate, some tell you to aim for 50% off. Don't listen
to them, in Xi'an, and in many places around China this isn't true.
The traders are rich and they like nothing more than ripping you off.
Haggle for a fair price or don't pay. Tip: When the price is settled
and you've got your money out, ALWAYS ask for an additional freebie.
It usually works as the traders can see how close they are to getting
their money, but be prepared to walk away.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The best thing about
the Muslim quarter is the food, don't let the hanging carcasses of
dead animals, attracting flies in the mid day sun put you off (well,
use your discretion). Try as much as you can but if you're pressed
for time and can only try one thing, get the spinach noodles. I fell
in love with them in Xi'an.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://sammysgenericblog.blogspot.com/2015/02/serious-travel-article-23-xian-part-2.html" target="_blank">For Part 2: Click Here </a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://sammysgenericblog.blogspot.com/2015/02/serious-travel-article-24-xian-part-3.html" target="_blank">For Part 3: Click Here</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://sammysgenericblog.blogspot.com/2015/02/serious-travel-aricle-25-xian-part-4.html" target="_blank">For Part 4: Click Here</a></div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904942379152454742.post-90647806858916444782015-02-18T08:54:00.000+00:002015-02-18T08:54:56.369+00:00Rant of the Day: The Surprise Beaches of Xiamen City & Non accurate top 10 listsWhile searching online for the best beaches in China, I found the following list:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.echinacities.com/expat-corner/Beach-Hunting-9-of-Chinas-Best-Beaches" target="_blank">China's Top 9 Beaches: According to echinacities. </a><br />
<br />
<strong>"1) Bo'ao City, Hainan Province</strong><br />
Bo'ao city, located in the middle of the east coast of Hainan, is itself
regarded as a pleasant and historical small town to visit, surrounded
by rice fields and notable for its restaurants and cultural sites. Bo'ao
Beach is not far away, and its main peninsula forms a crescent shape,
largely separating the two outgoing rivers from the sea. Though it's a
pay-to-enter beach, it is beautifully scenic and not known to draw the
large crowds that the Sanya area does.<br />
<strong>Beach Name:</strong> Bo'ao Yudai Beach (Jade Belt Beach)<br />
<strong>Size:</strong> 2.5 km long, 10-300 m wide<br />
<strong>Price:</strong> Adults – 60 RMB; children over 1 meter – 30 RMB; children under 1 meter – 20 RMB<br />
<strong>Popular activities:</strong> Tour boats – 50 RMB, hot springs <br />
<strong>Nearby venues:</strong> Several large restaurants, small food stands, noodle shops, local product vendors<br />
<strong>Other spots nearby:</strong> Bo'ao Asian Forum Hall, Eastern Culture Garden, Ocean Museum, Wanquan River Drifting<br />
<strong>Interesting details:</strong> According to the Shanghai Guinness
World Record archives, Yudai Beach is the narrowest and longest stretch
of beach in the world that separates the sea from fresh water<br />
<strong>Distance from city or town:</strong> The beach is about 500
meters from the center of Bo'ao town, 16 kilometers from Qionghai City
and 96 kilometers from Meilan Airport<br />
<strong>2) Xuejia Island, Qingdao, Shandong Province</strong><br />
Qingdao and its surroundings have been attracting tourists for nearly
one hundred years due to a fantastic coastline with large beaches, both
within the city and without. Because of its German colonial heritage, it
also blends its Chinese flair with numerous European style mansions,
villas and churches. Since most city-goers prefer as quick a journey to
the beach as possible, Xuejia Island is far less crowded than closer and
more famous retreats. Not an actual island, but a long peninsula in
Qingdao's southeastern Huangdao District, it also remains
little-developed, so people who expect the comforts of home will have to
adapt to more modest venues. Golden Beach, which looks out directly on
the ocean and several small islands, is flanked by two large sectors of
farms and forest, and the equally-undeveloped Silver Beach.<br />
<strong>Beach name</strong>: Golden Beach<br />
<strong>Size:</strong> 3.5 km long, 300 m wide<br />
<strong>Price: </strong>Free<br />
<strong>Popular activities:</strong> Motorboats, beach volleyball and beach soccer; prices around 50-200 RMB<br />
<strong>Nearby venues:</strong> Food street with countless small shops and restaurants, street stands selling shells and other local treasures<br />
<strong>Other spots nearby: </strong>Silver Beach, Shique Beach, Chengu Temple, Ganshui Bay, Yangwuhou Tomb<br />
<strong>Popular foods: </strong>The most famous dishes at Golden Beach are crab, abalone and sea cucumber.<br />
<strong>Interesting details: </strong>During ebb tide, locals say you can see a large frog-shaped stone, its head facing east and its back facing west<br />
<strong>Distance from city or town: </strong>The Island is twenty
minutes by fast boat from Qingdao and forty minutes by ferry. From the
dock, you can get to Golden Beach in around 15 minutes by bus<br />
<strong>3) First Bathing Beach, Qingdao, Shandong Province</strong><br />
Probably the most popular beach in Qingdao, and just a few minutes from
downtown, First Bathing Beach sits within a broad inlet, with two
peninsular arms stretching out on either side, one of them lined with
weathered, rugged rocks and both of them peaked with European villas. If
you feel like a walk in the grass after swimming, Huiquan Square and
spacious Zhongshan Park are immediately behind the beach. If you feel
more like a stroll through one of the city's old quarters, Xiaoyu Hill
is directly to the right. Sand, water, and city treasures are neatly
interwoven here.<br />
<strong>Beach name:</strong> First Bathing Beach (Haishui Yuchang)<br />
<strong>Size:</strong> 580 m long, 40+ meters wide<br />
<strong>Price:</strong> Free<br />
<strong>Popular activities:</strong> Waterbiking, motorboat, paragliding; prices range between 150-300 RMB<br />
<strong>Nearby venues:</strong> Leisure center, food stands, beach venues, hotels, international restaurants<br />
<strong>Other spots nearby:</strong> Qingdao Ocean World, Xiaoyu Hill, Zhongshan Park, Qingdao Museum of Marine Products<br />
<strong>Interesting details:</strong> The beach is open for swimming
only from July to September. It's known to have clean water and mild
waves. Though it draws large crowds for much of the summer, the Qingdao
area has five other beaches to choose from<br />
<strong>Distance from city or town:</strong> It takes about 25 minutes
by bus from downtown. You can take Bus No. 6, 15, 26, 31, 214, 304, 311,
312, 316, 604 or 605 buses to the Haishui Yuchang stop<br />
<strong>4) Golden Pebble Beach, Dalian, Liaoning Province</strong><br />
The Dalian area is surrounded by thousands of kilometers of coastline
and numerous beaches, but Golden Pebble Beach has quickly become the
most highly-regarded in the region. Its clean water, fine sand and many
reefs make it attractive, as do the fantastic shapes and colors of its
limestone rocks. Though the beach is free, the area has been a resort
since 1992, and some of the nearby attractions and hotels are quite
expensive.<br />
<strong>Beach name:</strong> Golden Pebble Beach (Jinshitan Scenic Area)<br />
<strong>Size:</strong> 4.5 km long, 100-200 m wide<br />
<strong>Price:</strong> Free<br />
<strong>Popular activities:</strong> Diving, fishing, windsurfing,
water-biking, beach volleyball and soccer (most of them located on
beach's eastern portion); prices between 50 and 300 RMB<br />
<strong>Nearby venues:</strong> Many shops and restaurants are along the eastern portion of the beach.<br />
<strong>Popular foods:</strong> International food, seafood, barbecue<br />
<strong>Other spots nearby:</strong> Golf courses, yacht club, house of wax, Golden Stone Park<br />
<strong>Interesting details:</strong> This beach is said to be the
longest and most beautiful in northeastern China. Many sports matches
are held here every year, including the Women's Beach Volleyball World
Cup, the Dalian International Winter Swimming Festival and the Dalian
Triathlon<br />
<strong>Distance from city or town:</strong> 8 km from Dalian<br />
<strong>5) Meizhou Island, Fujian Province</strong><br />
Meizhou Island, just off the coast from Putian in China's southeastern
Fujian Province, is a composite of many rapidly-developing neighborhoods
and long swathes of beach. Once most famous as a pilgrimage site
because of its Mazu Temple, and still drawing thousands of pilgrims
every year, the island is also quickly becoming known for its natural
attractions. Though only six square miles, its odd shape cut out from
inlets and peninsulas allows for even more miles of mostly-broad
beaches. Large portions of the island's southern half and northern tip
are heavily tree-covered, and several large stone shorelines interrupt
its curvaceous stretches of sand.<br />
<strong>Beach name:</strong> Jiubaolan Golden Beach<br />
<strong>Size:</strong> 3 km long, 500 m wide during ebb tide<br />
<strong>Price:</strong> Free for the beach, but island entrance is 50 RMB<br />
<strong>Popular activities:</strong> Yacht, motorboat, hovercraft, surfing<br />
<strong>Nearby venues:</strong> Restaurants, shops selling handicrafts and accessories<br />
<strong>Popular food:</strong> Mazu noodles and dried scallops are local specialties<br />
<strong>Other spots nearby:</strong> Mazu Temple, Lianchi Beach, E'wei Beach, E'wei Stone Garden<br />
<strong>Interesting details:</strong> You can rent a tent and camp on the beach for 50 RMB<br />
<strong>Distance from city or town:</strong> About 50 minutes from
central Putian to the dock, and 15 minutes by boat to the island. Taxis
are available from the island dock to the beach<br />
<strong>6) Gulangyu Island, Xiamen, Fujian Province</strong><br />
Just a few minutes from Xiamen, Gulangyu Island is a world apart, not
just for its smaller buildings and heavy tree-cover, but also for its
motor vehicle ban, which maintains the island's quiet, neighborhood
atmosphere. Much of what makes the island unique comes from its history
as a western settlement, one which has left the island with many
churches, an array of international architecture and an immense number
of pianos. Exploring the narrow streets, shops and local wares is also
an obvious part of the island's charm. Gangzaihou Beach is on a
southwestern stretch of the island, and is one of the island's most
popular.<br />
<strong>Beach name:</strong> Gangzaihou Bathing Beach<br />
<strong>Size:</strong> Over 300 meters long, 20-70 meters wide<br />
<strong>Price:</strong> Free <br />
<strong>Popular activities:</strong> Motorboat, yacht, swimmer's service center; prices between 100 and 250 RMB<br />
<strong>Nearby venues:</strong> Shops selling specialties such as handicrafts and fishballs, restaurants<br />
<strong>Other spots nearby:</strong> Riguangyan (Sunshine Rock),
Shuzhuang Garden, Haoyue Garden (Moon Garden), Piano Museum, Ocean
World, Gulang Stone (an island landmark)<br />
<strong>Interesting details:</strong> The island has many hostels and cafes. There are no motor vehicles<br />
<strong>Distance from city or town:</strong> The ferry reaches the island in 5 minutes from Xiamen.<br />
<strong>7) Hailing Island, Yangjiang, Guangdong Province</strong><br />
Hailing Island is ridiculously beautiful. Just off the coast of
Yangjiang city in southern China's Guangdong province, the southern half
of this large island looks out on the South China Sea, with beaches
surrounded by tropical forest and hills. While its traditional fishing
culture still survives among the locals, the island entertains visitors
with its abundance of water sports and beach activities along with its
stunning ocean views. Despite the island's development in some areas,
most of the island is not heavily built up, and several isolated
beaches, on its eastern and western tips, await the adventurous. Shili
Silver Beach, on the southern coast, is the island's longest.<br />
<strong>Beach name:</strong> Shili Silver Beach<br />
<strong>Size:</strong> 8 km long, 150 m wide<br />
<strong>Price:</strong> Free<br />
<strong>Popular activities: </strong>Surfing, boating, horse riding<br />
<strong>Nearby shops:</strong> Many stalls selling handicrafts and local food<br />
<strong>Popular food:</strong> Cantonese<br />
<strong>Other spots nearby:</strong> Two mountains are to the left and
right of the beach area – Dajiao Mountain (Horn Mountain) and Caowong
Mountain. Dajiao Bay and Mawei Island (Horsetail Island) are also
nearby.<br />
<strong>Interesting details:</strong> Much of the Shili Silver Beach area has very little development<br />
<strong>Distance from city or town:</strong> Shili Silver Beach is 15 minutes from Zhabo Town, 1.5 hours from Zhuhai and Hong Kong by bus, and 3 hours from Guangzhou by bus<br />
<strong>8 & 9) </strong>Also worth regarding is <strong>Beihai Silver Beach</strong>
nearby Beihai city in Guangxi. Not only is it one of China's longest,
but also exceeds 300 meters wide for long stretches. It's a veritable
dune. Beihai Silver Beach is known for its clear, clean water and
countless beach activities and despite its recent popularity, it is more
than spacious enough for its visitors. South China's <strong>Dong'ao Island</strong>,
less than an hour from Zhuhai by boat, is a good bit more removed from
the city, and is one of Guangdong's island paradises, with emerald
greenery, three large beaches and a proximity to many other island
retreats."<br />
<br />
All very nice beaches I'm sure, but there's a problem.<br />
<br />
What this list and all the other lists like it do is mention the most famous beaches in lieu of the best ones.<br />
<br />
Take example number six. Gulangyu Island, Xiamen.<br />
<br />
Yes, there are beaches on Gulangyu but they are small, crowded and surrounded by expensive hotels and restaurants, designed to rip off travelers. They also look out to docklands and are set right next to a power station, not what I would consider a top national beach. Meanwhile on Xiamen's main island you'll find longer, cheaper, more beautiful, cleaner, less crowded beaches with a backdrop of green hills and forests stretching on for as far as the eye can see. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-e8PaPGICCPg/VORK8JE4R-I/AAAAAAAAA3M/RMfQa1kYm0c/s1600/Gulangyu%2Bbeaches%2Bfrom%2Bthe%2Bair.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-e8PaPGICCPg/VORK8JE4R-I/AAAAAAAAA3M/RMfQa1kYm0c/s1600/Gulangyu%2Bbeaches%2Bfrom%2Bthe%2Bair.jpg" height="188" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Island at the top center of the picture is Gulangyu, the beaches face south to a dockland area while in the top left of the picture you can see a power plant. The island itself might be a little tropical paradise, but its surrounds aren't. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uFUNLbcI98M/VORNDb0SjHI/AAAAAAAAA3Y/_Ss8NS4iAco/s1600/Xiamen%2Bfor%2Bthe%2Bair.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uFUNLbcI98M/VORNDb0SjHI/AAAAAAAAA3Y/_Ss8NS4iAco/s1600/Xiamen%2Bfor%2Bthe%2Bair.jpg" height="188" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This beach on Xiamen Island by comparison is over 5km long, is nestled under green mountains and looks towards the largely green Jinmen Island, Administered by Taipei. What could be more fun? </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So what a great surprise it was to find this long, golden delightful beach when all I was expecting were the tiddlers of Gulangyu. <br />
<br />
I do hope the publishers of these online lists try a little harder to find the real best beaches of wherever before they start making superlative top ten lists. I don't know if my beach is up there in the top ten, so I wont label it as such, just a surprise beach from me.<br />
<br />
End of semi rant.<br />
<br />
Here's some funny pictures of brides to be having their photos taken on on the long beaches of Xiamen.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cqu0LO4V5eg/VORR46xziwI/AAAAAAAAA3o/vUDVH4SUdVk/s1600/IMG_1008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cqu0LO4V5eg/VORR46xziwI/AAAAAAAAA3o/vUDVH4SUdVk/s1600/IMG_1008.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wedding Photo in Xiamen</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XzrJ7Ljhxn4/VORR652yrVI/AAAAAAAAA3w/cfp6vXApdVo/s1600/IMG_1016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XzrJ7Ljhxn4/VORR652yrVI/AAAAAAAAA3w/cfp6vXApdVo/s1600/IMG_1016.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Four Brides to be having their wedding photos taken in Xiamen</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gjkSAsy3QkU/VORR-JsGybI/AAAAAAAAA34/SDai26an86k/s1600/IMG_1019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-gjkSAsy3QkU/VORR-JsGybI/AAAAAAAAA34/SDai26an86k/s1600/IMG_1019.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Chinese have invented a new tradition of spending ludicrous amounts of money on having badly taken wedding photos taken in scenic locations to put in hilarious and corny wedding albums. I even have one of my own! Mine cost £200 but some cost up to £10,000!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904942379152454742.post-75882690840156740002015-02-18T06:26:00.000+00:002015-02-18T06:26:59.960+00:00Zhong Shan Lu - XiamenZhong Shan Lu is Xiamen's Oxford Street, plush, fancy, full of tourist tat, fancy looking and astonishingly, worth a visit, even from a grumpy, anti shopping for fun, misery guts like me.<br />
<br />
Located in the south west of Xiamen, Zhong Shan Lu is named after the great Sun Zhong Shan, a revolutionary who helped overthrow the Qing dynasty and form the Republic of China. Despite being a member of the Kuomintang, he is revered thorough the Peoples Republic as a great teacher of the two greatest leaders of China, Jiang Jie Shi and my old buddy Mao Ze Dong. Common people were at the heart of his decision making. So it was easy for the Communists as well as the Nationalists to claim linage from him.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w9c3BL486s4/VOQvIFbnWgI/AAAAAAAAA20/FeQWNgK1pJ4/s1600/Zhong%2BShan%2BLu%2BXiamen.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w9c3BL486s4/VOQvIFbnWgI/AAAAAAAAA20/FeQWNgK1pJ4/s1600/Zhong%2BShan%2BLu%2BXiamen.JPG" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Philosopher Coco Wang with her parents in Zhong Shan Lu, Xiamen</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Hence all the roads and the odd city named after him in China! <br />
<br />
Go to Zhong Shan Lu if you like expensive boutiques round the corner from sprawling alleyways of street food markets and foot fish biting salons on every corner.<br />
<br />
Warning, if you are fat you may find the alleyways off Zhong Shan Lu difficult to navigate, some of the gaps between the buildings are as little as 40cm wide, making Zhong Shan Lu, all the more tolerable for those who dislike shopping.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QjxGO7RqSzQ/VOQv1NT39uI/AAAAAAAAA28/Ss8o1Ylp8Ck/s1600/IMG_0557.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QjxGO7RqSzQ/VOQv1NT39uI/AAAAAAAAA28/Ss8o1Ylp8Ck/s1600/IMG_0557.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The ugly side of Chinese Culture. Sham Medicine made from dried Sea Horses widely available on Xiamen's Zhong Shan Lu. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
One tip. If you go to Zhong Shan Lu, look out for big mall developments and lion dancers. They will give you free 10rmb vouchers for a Taiwanese food hall. I got at least twenty. <br />
<br />
<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904942379152454742.post-41965566762211727332015-02-17T08:29:00.000+00:002015-02-17T08:29:43.942+00:00Serious Travel Article 21: The Island of Gulangyu, Xiamen, Fujian
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Squeezed in line at
a crowded ferry terminal in Xiamen, I waited with my wife Coco and
her parents to board the ferry to Gulangyu Island, just off the
coast. All the ferries were packed, ours no exception, so I hashed a
plan.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Get on and run to
the back, don't sit down, stand at the edge, the near corner, don't
wait for each other, just go to that point. I'd organized war plans
with my friends on seat unallocated Easyjet and Ryanair flights, this
was going to be easy.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
It was.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Two minutes later we
occupied the best places at the back of the ferry, with the best
panoramic views across the bay of the islands and the city. </div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SA1ZOmtUJ04/VOL2cWOq7qI/AAAAAAAAA14/10Z87xz7zx8/s1600/Gulangyu%2BFerry%2BXiamen.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SA1ZOmtUJ04/VOL2cWOq7qI/AAAAAAAAA14/10Z87xz7zx8/s1600/Gulangyu%2BFerry%2BXiamen.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Xiamen to Gulangyu Island ferry, returning in the morning, hence the lack of crowds</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Gulangyu Island is
Xiamen's top, must see tourist attraction. The tour guide on the
ferry said Gulangyu was a special, the island had been the centre of
Amoy (back when Xiamen was called Amoy) and, due to China's defeat to
the British Empire and the subsequent Treaty of Nanking, became a
Treaty Port. This meant it became internationalized and administered
by various colonial powers. Britain was predominant, and as such
British Indian Sikh Police were drafted in to control the population.
The Sikhs have long gone, but to this day, Gulangyu is dotted with
Victorian buildings grand and miniature alike.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
From the boat, the
island looked pretty and serene, with low lying, pastel coloured
colonial buildings scattered around and palm trees lining the white
sands. I couldn’t wait to dock. As if pouncing on the excitement of
the passengers, the crew of our vessel began hawking a box of
Gulangyu postcards for the low low price of twenty yuan, around two
pounds. Coco was tempted but I managed to dissuade her. Her parents
were also hypnotized by the sales pitch just before we arrived, but I
told them it wasn't worth it. </div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hq9ou_q2ow8/VOL3SL6AnGI/AAAAAAAAA2A/c9xUDFVOB00/s1600/Gulangyu%2Bisland.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hq9ou_q2ow8/VOL3SL6AnGI/AAAAAAAAA2A/c9xUDFVOB00/s1600/Gulangyu%2Bisland.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gulangyu Island, Xiamen, Fujian, China</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The crew had said
“once you disembark you'll never get another chance to buy these
postcards”. Most of our fellow passengers succumbed and parted with
their twenty yuan. As soon as we stepped foot on the dock, a hawker
offered the same set of postcards for just 10 yuan. My father in law
was sold. He soon regretted it as the next offered it for seven, then
five, then finally three yuan.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
He stomped around
for a while, angry about being cheated while the rest of us got our
bearings. China's one and only piano museum was the hot attraction on
the tourist trail but it seemed beyond boring for those with no
interest in pianos. It was another boiling day in Fujian Province so
we decided to get an ice cool drink in one of the beach side cafés.
Sitting down on a bench we looked at the menu, 40 yuan for a coconut
with a straw, 30 yuan for a coke. It seemed the whole island was run
to rip off visitors. We settled for water for 5 yuan a bottle and
began to explore the interior of the island. Alleyways straddled the
island like and irregular spiders web but wiggling like the roots of
the giant durian trees whose bowling ball sized stinking fruit proved
both a fascination and a mortal danger to gawking tourists. </div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ru09H1BPVnI/VOL36CVCTHI/AAAAAAAAA2I/3qFD_HKqLqI/s1600/IMG_1197.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ru09H1BPVnI/VOL36CVCTHI/AAAAAAAAA2I/3qFD_HKqLqI/s1600/IMG_1197.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Durians hanging dangerously in the trees overhead</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Hanging high at an
impossibly steep angle was Sunlight Rock, the highest point on
Gulangyu. It was the island's sore thumb sticking out at it's centre
and I wanted to climb up. But as I squinted at the scorching rock,
and the traffic jam of people in the single track path climbing up
it, moving slowly without an iota of shade, I decided against it. On
a forty degree day, it would be mad for a blonde haired European to
stand in line on an exposed rock, high above the tree line, even with
all the sunscreen in the world. </div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6NIentYIDP8/VOL4t2eGYeI/AAAAAAAAA2Q/9HRm4KODMng/s1600/IMG_1202.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6NIentYIDP8/VOL4t2eGYeI/AAAAAAAAA2Q/9HRm4KODMng/s1600/IMG_1202.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sunlight rock, poking his head above the trees on Gulangyu Island</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Plodding on past the
rock we discovered a local, not hell bent on rinsing the tourists for
all their worldly goods. She had a little hut and was selling great
big rice starch dumplings, 2 yuan for one. We bought 10 and made them
out lunch, delicious carrot and veggie rice starch dumplings. The
dumplings in southern China were a lot nicer than the flour boiled
salt packets of the north. They were subtle and fragrant. They made
me want to live in Xiamen, were I could gobble them everyday and be
free of smog.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The only free museum
on the island is the one dedicated to Zheng Chengong (Koxinga). Set
in a large Victorian mansion, it details Koxinga's rise to prominence
and power as commander in the late Ming Dynasty, fighting against
the Manchurians for hegemony over China and then fighting and beating
the Dutch in Taiwan, making Taiwan a haven for Ming Dynasty
loyalists. Taiwan seems to have become a haven for ousted Chinese
political dynasties. Of course in the museum, Koxinga was revered as
an anti imperialist who kicked the Dutch out of Chinese Taiwan,
omitting the fact that the aboriginal Taiwanese hardly considered
their island part of greater China, and only switched allegiances
upon Koxinga's invasion due to their dislike of Dutch compulsory
education.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LF82kPN3zJM/VOL6BRwW2yI/AAAAAAAAA2c/g1aOXhRSUIU/s1600/IMG_1218.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LF82kPN3zJM/VOL6BRwW2yI/AAAAAAAAA2c/g1aOXhRSUIU/s1600/IMG_1218.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Great Sino-Japanese Warrior and Commander Zheng Chengong, also know as Koxinga</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
It also failed to
mention that Koxinga was born in Japan, and was half Japanese. I
decided to remember that fact whenever a brainwashed Chinese person
began to tell me how much they hated Japan…. a common topic.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
The day became more
and more crowded the closer to the north of the island we got. The
north of the island, directly opposite the main island of Xiamen is
filled with tourist tat shops, restaurants and even a McDonald's. The
problem was everything was so jammed full, sardine style with
tourists, you could hardly move, let alone get a seat in the Mango
Ice Cream shop. After an hour of being squeezed, we returned to the
mainland, in what felt like a pilchard tin where you had enough room
to spin a cat abuser.
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
Gulangyu Island is
expensive, pretty, but not massively so, mildly interesting and
considering I visited out of season, hugely over stuffed with far too
many people. </div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7lCJv8sdQQ0/VOL6lXNvZ_I/AAAAAAAAA2k/lCTh9glGkjQ/s1600/IMG_1234.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7lCJv8sdQQ0/VOL6lXNvZ_I/AAAAAAAAA2k/lCTh9glGkjQ/s1600/IMG_1234.JPG" height="212" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Illegal Turtles, Coral, Ivory and other Dead Animal products are on sale in Gulangyu. The merchant Chased me out of his shop and tried to steal my camera after taking this photo. I good enough reason to publish it to make the world aware of the Illegal sale of protected animals on Gulangyu Island, Xiamen. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
On the return
voyage, I overheard one of my fellow pilchards say, “Gulangyu is
far too crowded, I'm never coming here again, next year the
Maldives”.</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="line-height: 100%; margin-bottom: 0cm;">
I think I'll take
his advice.
</div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904942379152454742.post-28151147128211769472015-02-16T11:47:00.001+00:002015-02-16T11:47:35.217+00:00Travel tip of the day: How to get free accomodation anywhere in the world. I'm about to tell you about a fantastic new website I've found. It will cut the cost of your travels massively and you don't need to house swap. It's called <a href="https://trampolinn.com//c/?refc=SO23992" target="_blank">trampolinn</a>, let me explain how it works.<br />
<br />
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<br />
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<br />
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<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-F8AQEHF76Ow/VOHYSsoWfAI/AAAAAAAAA1o/r-uUn58Srtg/s1600/Thai%2Bvilla.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-F8AQEHF76Ow/VOHYSsoWfAI/AAAAAAAAA1o/r-uUn58Srtg/s1600/Thai%2Bvilla.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Thai Villa, the type you could stay in for free with this travel tip.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
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<br />
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<br />
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<br />
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<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe width="320" height="266" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://ytimg.googleusercontent.com/vi/ichqQqOTeuI/0.jpg" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/ichqQqOTeuI?feature=player_embedded" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://trampolinn.com//c/?refc=SO23992" target="_blank">Here's the link to Trampolinn once again for you. Click on this sentence. </a><br />
<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904942379152454742.post-45640827158794833432015-02-15T13:41:00.000+00:002015-02-15T13:41:55.489+00:00The Fawlty Towers of ChinaClearly this Ziyouren Theme Inn receptionist needs to take a course in customer relations.<br />
<br />
<br />
Asking for directions.<br />
<br />
(I've named the awful receptionist Basilette)<br />
<br />
My Wife: Excuse me, which bus can we take to the Botanical Gardens?<br />
<br />
Basilette: How is it possible you don't knoow how to get there? It's so easy! Are you stupid or what?<br />
<br />
My Wife: Oh, thanks for your help.<br />
<br />
<br />
The next day as I pass reception. In English this time.<br />
<br />
Basilette: Give me your number!<br />
<br />
Me: Pardon.<br />
<br />
Basilette: Number!!!<br />
<br />
Me: I'm sorry, I'm just going out, is there a problem?<br />
<br />
Basilette: You give me number now! (She was now shouting)<br />
<br />
Me: 301<br />
<br />
Basilette: What?<br />
<br />
Me: I'm in room 301<br />
<br />
Basilette: Phone number!<br />
<br />
Me: Why?<br />
<br />
Basilette: For contacting you.<br />
<br />
Me: Why?<br />
<br />
Basilette: No why. Give me.<br />
<br />
Me: No why, no phone number.<br />
<br />
The grumpy which scowled as I walked off ignoring her shouts. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tcdd3ZlcGpQ/VOChm2gaHdI/AAAAAAAAA1Y/ogMgMCYPF0M/s1600/ziyouren%2Btheme%2Binn.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tcdd3ZlcGpQ/VOChm2gaHdI/AAAAAAAAA1Y/ogMgMCYPF0M/s1600/ziyouren%2Btheme%2Binn.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Ziyouren Theme Inn,Xiamen. Dirty rooms and rude staff, truly, the Fawlty Towers of China</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904942379152454742.post-70570692634521466942015-02-15T13:15:00.000+00:002015-02-15T13:15:01.349+00:00Serious Travel Article 20: Xiamen Botanical GardensAfter the filth and broken glass of <a href="http://sammysgenericblog.blogspot.jp/2014/08/serious-travel-article-18-tropical.html" target="_blank">Xiaodeng Island, Fujian</a>, Coco and I, with Parents-in-law in tow struggled back towards civilization. This meant busing it to Xiamen. <br />
<br />
For those of you that don't know about Xiamen (formerly Amoy), it's a bizarre anomaly, just off the south east coast of China. Situated on a not so small, round island is a city unique in China. It's nice. I've visited dozens of Chinese cities and not enjoyed being in any of them. Most are overcrowded, polluted, busy Beijing/Sim City crammed with expensive cars and people glued to screens. (Just like you right now!). Xiamen conversely of more like if all the great things about China made a little baby with Australia. It's on a green happy island surrounded by wide golden beaches, it's clean, hot, busy in an enjoyable way rather than overwhelming, it's dotted with parks, mountains, forests and green spaces. Mango juice runs like flowing water and the Republic of China (Taiwan's Jinmen) is only a stones throw away. It also has black swans and red dirt.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ek31s5Xz65Y/VOCSkt5nczI/AAAAAAAAAzw/c4BFFs5h7WE/s1600/IMG_0616.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ek31s5Xz65Y/VOCSkt5nczI/AAAAAAAAAzw/c4BFFs5h7WE/s1600/IMG_0616.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Black Swans in Xiamen</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Sitting in the mountains overlooking Xiamen University and Xiamen's South East shore Xiamen Botanical Gardens is one of Xiamen's prime tourist attractions. Coco asked the hostel receptionist how to get there and recieved the following reply.<br />
<br />
"How is it possible you don't know how to get there? Are you stupid or what?"<br />
<br />
Being only our second day in Xiamen it was hardly Coco's fault she didn't know where the bus stop was. I guess in her job as a hostel receptionist, our lady didn't run into many tourists. I repeated the question in my strict lecturer tone (only ever used on arseholes) and got a straight answer. <br />
<br />
The bus sped along the scenic coast road and up into the forested hills, twisting and turning along the wilderness highway. It wasn't long before it felt like you were no longer in a city but a tropical jungle. After around 7 minutes and 16.3 seconds of driving through the forest, we were dumped, alone, outside the East Gate of the Botanical Gardens. My parents in law discovered, to their horror that the gardens were not free! It cost 40rmb for entry! Less for students and pensioners but still! After much argument, they decided it was too expensive and would rather waste the day by sitting on the hotel bed and watching TV. Not for the first time on the trip. You can lead a horse to water.....<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BLSohif64kc/VOCT4q9mWSI/AAAAAAAAAz8/cm4bbR1PyT0/s1600/IMG_0740.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BLSohif64kc/VOCT4q9mWSI/AAAAAAAAAz8/cm4bbR1PyT0/s1600/IMG_0740.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The footbridge just outside the east gate of Xiamen Botanical Gardens</td></tr>
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I got in with my Swansea University student card (still valid thanks to a missing expiry date), Coco performed a similar trick and we were on our way. Once we were through the east gate, we found out that the park itself was still an hours walk away. It was hot and sweaty. We'd come to tropical Xiamen in the middle of summer against all wisdom. The journey was steep and exhausting, but worth it because we were treated to a hike through the forest, overlooking some of Xiamen's most stunning stretches of coastline. Our path crossed gorges, went past lakes, was crossed by spiders webs and perched itself at the edge of cliffs. By the time we reached the beginning of the Botanical Gardens, we were knackered.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C4584uevxU4/VOCVTiktnlI/AAAAAAAAA0Q/KJF3zDwieA8/s1600/IMG_0767.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C4584uevxU4/VOCVTiktnlI/AAAAAAAAA0Q/KJF3zDwieA8/s1600/IMG_0767.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coco Wang checking out the view on the way to Xiamen Botanical Gardens from the East Gate</td></tr>
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I come from west London, and I've spent many a school trip and odd afternoon at Kew Gardens but I've also been pretty bored there. Xiamen Botanical Gardens isn't like Kew, it's better. It's bigger for one point, at least it feels bigger, the whole thing is snuggled in between the hills, it's a hike from one location to the next, it feels like your trecking through the green Aussie bush. We skipped the war exhibit and headed straight for the desert zone. We got lost on the way, and found ourselves walking through a zigzagging tunnel of foliage.<br />
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When we did find the desert zone, it was a vast wasteland of cacti, with a huge glasshouse at its far edge. It was filled with interesting desert flora, and even had a plastic camel which you could take your photo with if you could elbow your way past the crowd of excited tourists.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-okbQeXaqDXU/VOCWUPmkFXI/AAAAAAAAA0c/_BNyI1XpHhs/s1600/IMG_0862.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-okbQeXaqDXU/VOCWUPmkFXI/AAAAAAAAA0c/_BNyI1XpHhs/s1600/IMG_0862.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The desert zone of the Xiamen Botanical Gardens, as shown here by Coco Wang</td></tr>
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Behind the glass house was a steep slope leading up. My kind of path. I rushed to the top, scrambling over rock faces to find myself alone at the top of one of Dongping Mountain's many peaks with a 360 degree panoramic view of Xiamen City. It's worth a trip to Xiamen Botanical Gardens just to climb the mountain behind the desert zone.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MZcpUUMUBmY/VOCXrYAsZoI/AAAAAAAAA0o/GlAqoHrOS3g/s1600/IMG_0890.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-MZcpUUMUBmY/VOCXrYAsZoI/AAAAAAAAA0o/GlAqoHrOS3g/s1600/IMG_0890.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The city of Xiamen from Dongping Mountain</td></tr>
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On the way to the tropical area we got lost again but this time found an unused, high pressure hose near a little Taoist grotto. We put all our electronics in a plastic bag and squirted ourselves silly. At the bottom of the hill was a working Buddhist monastery. It was well past lunchtime and I was hungry, many of the monks at the monastery were eating in a canteen area, I rushed over to buy some food, but I was told it was for the monks only. Feeling embarrassed, I bought some ice creams from the tourist kiosk and shared them with Coco. We toured the magnificent monastery, overlooking the city ice creams in hand before trying once more to find the rainforest zone.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-omCGxAsyZc0/VOCZFqdjI1I/AAAAAAAAA00/tRA4__J22Jg/s1600/IMG_0835.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-omCGxAsyZc0/VOCZFqdjI1I/AAAAAAAAA00/tRA4__J22Jg/s1600/IMG_0835.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hundreds of Buddhist statues outside the monastery </td></tr>
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On the way back up the hill we once more refreshed ourselves with the high pressure hose, but this time received some discerning looks from passers by. The tropical zone was in a small valley with a river running down the center, dammed as it cascaded down causing pools to form on each level up. In the pools were stepping stones crisscrossing the water. Water Lillie's covered much of the surface, and one came up right next to the stepping stone path. It was half complete, unlike all the other perfect circles. It was as if it has been torn apart. Just then a lady stopped at the half Lilly pad, squatted down, tore off a little bit and wandered on. I guess that was why. Didn't their mother ever tell them "don't do that, there wouldn't be any _____ left if everyone did that!"<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V7mIXnJLAGE/VOCaDS_riSI/AAAAAAAAA1A/CIGyT40CAAA/s1600/IMG_0961.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-V7mIXnJLAGE/VOCaDS_riSI/AAAAAAAAA1A/CIGyT40CAAA/s1600/IMG_0961.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stepping Stones in Xiamen Botanical Garden's Tropical Zone</td></tr>
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Judging by Coco's mum who used the Yellow River as a giant dump on our visit there, I guess many mums would encourage that sort of mindless, selfish, short sighted, destructive, uncivilized behavior. In fact the Chinese government has been spending huge amounts of money and advertising space trying to promote the "civilized society", and going by a growing minority of my university students, its working. They seem disgusted when one of their classmates blows their nose on the classroom floor. <br />
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When I saw a kid killing all the animals and destroying all the foliage with his parents looking on and laughing, in the tropical zone, we decided to call it a day, but not before I loudly shouted "Disgusting Kidd" in English at the offenders. They clearly understood and stopped him immediately. <br />
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We walked down to the lake at the foot of the gardens and posed with Deng Xiaoping's tree. By then, Coco and I had been walking all morning and through the hottest part of the afternoon, covering a distance of over 10km (to give you an idea of just how big Xiamen Botanical Gardens really is). Even though there was so much more we hadn't seen, we left the gardens to put are feet up in a McDonald's on Zhongshan Lu. (Don't worry we didn't buy anything, in China, McDonald's and KFC's are used frequently as public resting areas).<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kFG4S104vw0/VOCa96spSkI/AAAAAAAAA1I/emlXcNg6ILk/s1600/IMG_0967.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kFG4S104vw0/VOCa96spSkI/AAAAAAAAA1I/emlXcNg6ILk/s1600/IMG_0967.JPG" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sammy Corfield standing next to Deng Xiaoping's tree in Xiamen Botanical Gardens. Yes, I know I just referred to myself in 3rd person, it's for Google related reasons okay! </td></tr>
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The Xiamen Botanical Gardens is a treasure on an already magical island. Visiting wont make you miss for 40rmb. It's better than slobbing out in a hotel room, watching Jeremy Clarkson on top gear. (What my parents in law were watching when we got back). Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904942379152454742.post-90299092134830657522015-02-15T04:16:00.000+00:002015-02-15T06:14:36.362+00:00Earn $10,000 a month at home by playing the international banking system! Learn the secret free here! I've discovered the secret to instant riches! With no skill and no effort, you too can rake in up to Ten Thousand Dollars every month with my foolproof system!<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q0w8AM94jW0/VOAa5xI1qzI/AAAAAAAAAzQ/EpSifPuHRTY/s1600/Elon_Musk.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-q0w8AM94jW0/VOAa5xI1qzI/AAAAAAAAAzQ/EpSifPuHRTY/s1600/Elon_Musk.jpg" height="141" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"I followed Sammy's system for years and now I'm a billionaire!" - Elon Musk</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LAGNxkFDnOQ/VOAa9bUiUZI/AAAAAAAAAzY/-x0E4duAJQI/s1600/cristiano%2Bronaldo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LAGNxkFDnOQ/VOAa9bUiUZI/AAAAAAAAAzY/-x0E4duAJQI/s1600/cristiano%2Bronaldo.jpg" height="243" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Amazing, it really works, I earn more money by doing nothing now than I ever dreamed I would!" - Cristiano Ronaldo</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4abnXV3V6Ug/VOAa_HoTE4I/AAAAAAAAAzg/xztJCqnbHS8/s1600/Carlos%2BSlim.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4abnXV3V6Ug/VOAa_HoTE4I/AAAAAAAAAzg/xztJCqnbHS8/s1600/Carlos%2BSlim.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Thanks Sammy for helping me make so much money, by doing nothing at all!" - Carlos Slim</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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It seemed too good to be true didn't it? Oh well, back to work for you! But why not check out the rest of my Travel Blog for fascinating insights about traveling the world! Real insights, not like this silly article!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://sammysgenericblog.blogspot.de/p/blog-page.html" target="_blank">Here's my list of serious travel articles! I promise you wont regret it! </a><br />
<br />
<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904942379152454742.post-81019612732081048432015-02-13T14:42:00.000+00:002015-02-13T14:51:13.823+00:00Serious Travel Article 19: From Zhengzhou to Qingdao on the slow sleeper train. Part 2This is part 2! For part 1, please click here: <a href="http://sammysgenericblog.blogspot.jp/2014/01/from-zhengzhou-to-qingdao-on-slow.html" target="_blank">Qingdao Part 1</a> <br />
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Coco (my girlfriend) and I arrived at the station after work. Class at Zhengzhou NDI (New Dynamic Institute) finished at 8pm, the train departed at 10. With only three clear days off, we had to maximize travel time. That also meant work started an two hours after the train was due to arrive upon our return.<br />
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But that wasn't for four days. An eternity away. Since coming to China I'd been stuck at NDI, with no possibility of travel, so I was excited. The journey started the moment we set foot on the train.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Cb36ftLYeJM/VN3_9ww0OFI/AAAAAAAAAxo/wxnglj8a2Zw/s1600/IMAG0037.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Cb36ftLYeJM/VN3_9ww0OFI/AAAAAAAAAxo/wxnglj8a2Zw/s1600/IMAG0037.jpg" height="191" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Smog of Zhengzhou. </td></tr>
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Chaos engulfed the sleeper carriage with people jostling for position and shoving limitless baggage into limited space. Somehow everything calmed after around ten minutes after leaving Zhengzhou, the luggage was still and the passengers were busy munching. Chinese train travel is an excuse for a feast.<br />
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I asked a fellow traveler why the Chinese ate so much on train journeys. He looked surprised.<br />
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"We don't eat a lot on trains", he muttered, almost defensively.<br />
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I pointed out the ongoing banquet all around us.<br />
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"Oh, I didn't notice, it's normal."<br />
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The conversation went on. The closest I got to an answer was, "what else would you do on a train?"<br />
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Coco and I climbed up to our top bunks, high above the feast. It felt enclosed and away from the bustling carriage. We fell asleep in our gently shafting private room. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r0ExdX7k3Mo/VN4BSUTEuLI/AAAAAAAAAx0/VGGPR7Tiiz8/s1600/hard%2Bsleeper%2Btrain%2Btop%2Bbunk%2Bview.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-r0ExdX7k3Mo/VN4BSUTEuLI/AAAAAAAAAx0/VGGPR7Tiiz8/s1600/hard%2Bsleeper%2Btrain%2Btop%2Bbunk%2Bview.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The view from the top bunk in hard sleeper class, China. Image courtesy of travel photo report. I'm using some third party images today as my two hard drives broke. At the same time! Would you bloody believe it! </td></tr>
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I woke up an hour before we were due to arrive. I could see factories, highways and tower blocks out of the window. It was the industrial Qingdao I'd feared. Kilometers of toxic manufacturing polluting the sea and sky. And this was still far from the city proper. I felt nothing but dread.<br />
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The urban nightmare continued until just before Qingdao station. The station itself however was a cheerful colonial gift from the Germans. As it happens, central Qingdao is littered with fun and cheerful gifts from the old bugger himself, Kaiser Wilhelm II. From old European style terraced housing to a grand Neo Romanesque Cathedral. Considering the Germans only remained in Qingdao for 16 years, the legacy they left behind is remarkable.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-edWc3qZAPTw/VN4DP8x_SUI/AAAAAAAAAyA/3r66g1IPzCY/s1600/qingdao%2Brailway%2Bstation.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-edWc3qZAPTw/VN4DP8x_SUI/AAAAAAAAAyA/3r66g1IPzCY/s1600/qingdao%2Brailway%2Bstation.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Qingdao Railway Station, a gift from the Germans.</td></tr>
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We made our way from the city center to our hostel, a strange little place with big white fluffy dogs, housed in an old disused observatory. It sat atop sea hill, next to a little park. As I sat and took in the view of the city I was amazed at how small the city was. According to Wikipedia, Qingdo had an urban population of almost six million. Where were they all? What lay before me wasn't the center of a world beating mega city, but a quaint, sino-germanic sea side town, with a modest cluster of skyscrapers. China has villages with more towers. Clearly the real city was off somewhere else, and that was fine by me, I was happy in the old town center, thoughtfully set aside for tourists by the city government. I had no intention of leaving this pleasant relic.<br />
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We dumped our bags in the hotel room and shot down onto the the coast road, riding the bus. From the bus, you could see the city divided into geographical quadrants, each quadrant was bordered by a seemingly impenetrable mess of forest upon steep rocky slopes. The peaks gradually building up. Higher and higher towards Laoshan, with city between each one. Our hostel was atop the smallest and first of these peaks. All these foothills made the city seem smaller, it was as if the city finished at the peak, making you feel comfortable and snug in an otherwise unfathomably gargantuan metropolis. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dnDo1Acs-CU/VN4Km8c5fBI/AAAAAAAAAyo/mTfN0db0g5U/s1600/coco%2Bqingdao%2Bhills.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dnDo1Acs-CU/VN4Km8c5fBI/AAAAAAAAAyo/mTfN0db0g5U/s1600/coco%2Bqingdao%2Bhills.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Parks and forested hills compartmentalize Qingdao into manageable sections. As Coco demonstrates.</td></tr>
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From the coastal bus, you could see the southern shore of Qingdao city was dotted with little coves, most of which sheltered a beach, with golden sands and few people. The hot sun made the blue water sparkle. With all the greenery, the German villas, blue sky and forested mountain ranges, it was easy to forget you were in industrial northern China. But this was a great day, the wind was blowing from the east, blowing away all the toxic smog back inland, leaving coastal dwellers with uninterrupted blue skies and fresh clean sea air.<br />
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The bus however was not air-conditioned, it was crowded and sweaty. Coco and I spotted a cove with a long golden beach and decided to get off and get in. Crossing the road and accessing the beach proved confusing. we resorted to the<a href="http://sammysgenericblog.blogspot.jp/2012/12/travel-tip-of-day-how-to-cross-road-in.html" target="_blank"> human shield tactic</a> to cross the road but once across found ourselves in a bewildering underground concrete labyrinth. It resembled a secure secret nuclear facility, safe from enemy radar, or at least, I thought it probably did. The only difference between it and my imaginary nuclear lab was all the empty shop spaces making everything look monotonous. Only one shop was fitted out, a restaurant, serving, cheap, hearty but probably awful food. A Chinese version of one of those greasy spoons serving all day full English breakfasts on the Costa Del Sol. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7KK4o9SLHng/VN4HA8O50UI/AAAAAAAAAyU/6IFI99vSCl4/s1600/No.1-bathing-beach-qingdao.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7KK4o9SLHng/VN4HA8O50UI/AAAAAAAAAyU/6IFI99vSCl4/s1600/No.1-bathing-beach-qingdao.jpg" height="156" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The number 1 bathing beach, Qingdao</td></tr>
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We found our way out of the the concrete maze and emerged on the beach. It was a hot Chinese April day. The blazing sun beat down hard on the beach. In the shade the temperature was 37c, but there was no shade on this beach. This being April, the sandy shore was deserted. The Chinese are stubborn, habitual people who cling to their traditional seasonal beliefs and rituals. In June, July and August the beaches are rammed because that's summer, summer is hot and that's when you go swimming at the beach. March, April and May are Spring, that's time for going to the park, climbing mountains and going sightseeing, Especially May, never travel in China around Mayday. It didn't matter that it was baking hot, April, was not an appropriate month for swimming. In fact, it's slightly more complex than I'm making out. The Chinese traditional calender is lunar, not solar, so the seasons are based on the lunar calender, for that reason I was once told I was crazy for wearing shorts in late August, as it was now Autumn and I was risking catching a cold by doing so.<br />
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Note: If you travel to northern or central China in March, the weather can be variable, it could be 35c one day and 15c the next. Clearly on a hot day, you'd dress comfortably, but prepare yourself. Everyone else will still be in hats, gloves, coats and thermals, because it's March. No matter the temperature. It's worth a trip to China just to observe.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mpcGWwOw4Xw/VN4ISYetYaI/AAAAAAAAAyc/flvXl0bBDFI/s1600/wrap%2Bup%2Bwarm%2Bin%2Bchina.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-mpcGWwOw4Xw/VN4ISYetYaI/AAAAAAAAAyc/flvXl0bBDFI/s1600/wrap%2Bup%2Bwarm%2Bin%2Bchina.jpg" height="188" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wrap up warm in March and April, no matter how hot it is!</td></tr>
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Back to Qingdao:<br />
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The beach was so scorching that we threw traditional Chinese seasonal caution to the wind and sploshed into the sea. It was cool and refreshing on a hot day. Coco and I spent the next few hours bobbing on the wavelets and enjoying being.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Zu1SIZC2Q2M/VN4LVyjnxrI/AAAAAAAAAyw/uvJar5miaCQ/s1600/coco%2Bin%2Bqingdao%2Bsea.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Zu1SIZC2Q2M/VN4LVyjnxrI/AAAAAAAAAyw/uvJar5miaCQ/s1600/coco%2Bin%2Bqingdao%2Bsea.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coco in the Sea in Qingdao.</td></tr>
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As the sun stepped off its midday podium, we regrew our land legs and headed back to the old town center to explore. We headed down from our little hill, down steep narrow alleyways which reminded me of those in Kefalonia and past the exceedingly Germanic looking St Michael's Cathedral which sits at the edge of the old town center and onto Zhongshan Lu. In Xiamen, Zhongshan Lu is an impressive monument to the bloodsport of shopping. In Qingdao, it is not. Zhongshan Lu is just winding land, sided by tourist tat outlets and the same generic brands you might find down any other street in China. Not worth visiting but the the rows of old terraced housing adjacent to Zhongshan Lu that could make an old Brit a little homesick.<br />
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Beyond Zhongshan Lu are a series of alleyways and piazzas dedicated to seafood. Stalls, cafes, restaurants and funny old traders sold a whopping variety of dead, and soon to be dead, marine life. As Coco fulfilled her wildest, most indulgent seafood desires, I grabbed a whirly ice cream and a large fries from the McDonald's and met Coco back in seafood land. Coco told me the seafood wasn't that great, it looked better than it tasted. I was just happy dipping my extra salty fried in my whirly plain vanilla ice cream. (I dare you to try it).<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Y4q5Zofbp9A/VN4MK4nOKBI/AAAAAAAAAy4/5uPKE-b5bcw/s1600/german%2Btower%2Bqingdao.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Y4q5Zofbp9A/VN4MK4nOKBI/AAAAAAAAAy4/5uPKE-b5bcw/s1600/german%2Btower%2Bqingdao.jpg" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A strange German Tower at the top of an Alleyway in Central Qingdao</td></tr>
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After dinner we ambled down to the waterfront, drinking a Tsingtao (Romanised Mandarin for Qingdao) (Thank god for Pinyin!) along the way. Another one of Germany's little presents for Qingdao was the Germania Brewery which later became known as Tsingtao. No wonder Chinese lager tastes so good, they learned from the Germans!<br />
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(Rant: Please Ignore) <br />
I wont be happy until Carling, Carlsberg, Budwiser, Stella Artois, Fosters and all those other rubbish mass produced cheap lager companies are bankrupted by Tsingtao, Snow, Harbin, NAALE, Cheerday and Kingstar. The Chinese know a thing or two on how to mass produce cheap beer and keep it tasting good. <br />
(Rant over: Thank you for Ignoring)<br />
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We sat down on the promenade and looked out at the dark horizon, and the twinkling lights of ships shifting across the black ocean. Then we noticed something odd. Every two or three minutes a herd of tourists would rush past as the followed a tour guide with a certain coloured flag. The tourists would all have matching hats the same colour as the flag. We say blue groups, red, green, purple, yellow and pink. They seemed tired and were always in a hurry. We asked one lady where she was from and how long they were staying in Qingdao.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8nq4UNAdsAg/VN4MzOg4i9I/AAAAAAAAAzA/8kZXunUSU1A/s1600/qingdao%2Bat%2Bnight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8nq4UNAdsAg/VN4MzOg4i9I/AAAAAAAAAzA/8kZXunUSU1A/s1600/qingdao%2Bat%2Bnight.jpg" height="180" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Qingdao at night</td></tr>
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She said she was in Qingdao for only one day, then onto Yantai, Weihai, Weifang and Jinan before being transported back to Sichuan with the rest of her coach tour. It sounded exhausting, all that sightseeing. You'd probably need a holiday after all that. She wasn't amused when I said that.<br />
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Before we knew it, our time in Qingdao was at an end, we piled back on the chaotic train and this time took food for the banquet. Cherries, lychees, red bean pancakes and crisps. We left Qingdao refreshed despite only being there for three days, my only regret is that we didn't have time to climb Laoshan.<br />
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Despite my prejudice, I enjoyed my time in Qingdao and want to return one day. Don't be put off by the colossal metropolis. Qingdao is the perfect Chinese beach break, just not in the summer.<br />
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For Part 1: Click Here: <a href="http://sammysgenericblog.blogspot.jp/2014/01/from-zhengzhou-to-qingdao-on-slow.html" target="_blank">Zhengzhou to Qingdao on the Slow Sleeper train Part 1 </a>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904942379152454742.post-57035978454930709532015-02-10T16:26:00.001+00:002015-02-10T16:26:34.034+00:00I'm BackAfter six months of becoming a TV show host and working two other full(ish) time jobs simultaneously, eighty hours a week with no day off, my life has finally settled down again. And with a new stable VPN, here's hoping, I'll never be blocked again!<br />
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So for the forseeable future I'll be able to keep all my reader happy with regular posts all the time! And yes, reader was supposed to be in the singular form. And yes, pedantic sod, I also noticed the error in grammar. It was intentional.<br />
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As a reward for reading this post, only really meant to incentivize me to keep blogging, here's a funny picture. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-D6XrhCL4b10/VNovdBoBCOI/AAAAAAAAAxY/khkd19ln7do/s1600/FUNNY%2BENGLISH%2BSIGN%2BCHINA.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-D6XrhCL4b10/VNovdBoBCOI/AAAAAAAAAxY/khkd19ln7do/s1600/FUNNY%2BENGLISH%2BSIGN%2BCHINA.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In China, Baidu English (Chinese translated into English with the help of search engine Baidu) is everywhere. I thought this one was particularly funny. </td></tr>
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<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904942379152454742.post-44140464907794429722014-11-03T14:17:00.000+00:002014-11-03T14:17:50.526+00:00A Brief Guide to a Stag Weekend in Barcelona<style><style>@font-face {
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">Barcelona is the capital of Catalonia, Spain’s most north-eastern region. The city is a mecca for fiesta, and with just under 8 million visitors a year it boasts the title of third most visited city in all of Europe. The runways of the El Prat airport, as well as the slightly further Reus and Girona airports, can be reached in 2 hours from London. Budget airlines such as <a href="http://www.ryanair.com/en/cheap-flights/?price=550&limit=15&offset=0&from=STN&to=&out-date-start=2014-10-16&out-date-end=2015-06-13&in-date-start=2014-10-16&in-date-end=2014-12-17&roundtrip=0&min-trip=3&max-trip=7&view=map">Ryanair</a> and <a href="http://www.easyjet.com/en/routemap">EasyJet</a> have hundreds of flights both to and from these airports every single weekend, and with enough luck and planning these can often be booked for around €100 return (Approx. £80). </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />Most visitors to Barcelona start off their stay atop the famous strip known as Las Ramblas. This stretching pedestrian causeway leads you from Plaça Catalunya, the border between the old and new city, right down to the city’s monster yacht parking lot, or as it is officially known Port Vell. Despite its notoriety Las Ramblas is an area for stags to avoid like the plague! Flooded with overpriced pubs, sneaky pickpockets, and currency exchange shops, that like the thieves prey on the thousands of tourists, this is an area that serves no use to the lads, day or night. </span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-z7nuoCZbjrE/VFeNu8Pf1pI/AAAAAAAAAsg/cL4ZV7mYeEA/s1600/Barcelona%2Bbeach.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-z7nuoCZbjrE/VFeNu8Pf1pI/AAAAAAAAAsg/cL4ZV7mYeEA/s1600/Barcelona%2Bbeach.jpg" height="83" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A sunny beach in Barcelona</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">A block to the right, a block to the left, and you can literally see the city change before your eyes. From the trendy cocktail bars and tiny tapas hangouts of the El Born community, to the 300 year old absinthe bars, and scruffy taverns of the Raval neighbourhood, Barcelona has flavours for every taste bud. Rather than losing yourselves amidst the 3,000+ bars in this city it can be a smart idea to hire a rep, a local expert, who will guide you throughout your vacation. These reps not only show you the best bars and pubs in the city, but if they are worth their salt, they should be able to get you some freebies, including VIP entrances, and drinks. Companies such as Pissup Tours offer reps who are on call 24/7 throughout your stay. Best of all their consultation prior to booking is free, so they can save some major time and stress when planning a <a href="http://www.pissup.com/barcelona/">stag do Barcelona</a>.</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />The heart and soul of this city’s proud Catalan inhabitants, lies within the walls of the Camp Nou stadium, home to the infamous FC Barcelona, Spain’s most credited football club. With nearly 40 games a season, a stag do planned around their <a href="http://www.fcbarcelona.com/football/first-team/calendar">schedule</a> is bound to be a sure-fire success. Tours of the stadium, including the dressing rooms, and museum, are also available seven days a week, excluding game days. Book these tickets in advance, as both of these activities are extremely popular!</span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />Far outside the stadium walls lie the sun-soaked beaches of Port Olimpic. Created for the city’s 1992 Olympic Games, these man-made beaches are just a stone’s throw from the city centre. The golden sand lines the outskirts of the Barceloneta community, home to the city’s best sangria and seafood. It is here you can spend your days sweating out the previous night’s sins, and washing it all away with a dip in the temperate waters of the Mediterranean. Beers and sangria at the various chirunguitos (beach bars) are a great start to an afternoon in Barcelona, although the food at these same bars should be avoided. A bike tour between these bars speeds up the drinking, and a public catamaran party along the coast is a great way to transition yourselves into the city’s decadent nightlife.<span style="color: black;"> </span></span></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ezJjIVY2uqs/VFeOAe9dsGI/AAAAAAAAAso/SJvoqS6ALkc/s1600/beer%2Bon%2Bthe%2Bbeach%2Bbarcelona.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ezJjIVY2uqs/VFeOAe9dsGI/AAAAAAAAAso/SJvoqS6ALkc/s1600/beer%2Bon%2Bthe%2Bbeach%2Bbarcelona.jpg" height="212" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beer by the Sea in Barcelona</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: black;"></span><span></span><br />The nightlife in Barcelona starts late, very late. It is not uncommon to enter one of the many beachside clubs of the Port Olimpic before 1:00 AM, to find you are the only patrons on the dance floor. Entrance to these clubs is between €15 and €20, although as mentioned previously, reps should be able to wipe this charge and send you in for free. Starting late means ending late too, most clubs along the water will not kick you out until 6:00 AM. Stumbling out of the club you will be greeted by a long line of <a href="http://www.taxi-barcelona.es/indexen.html">taxis</a>, this is your best transport option in the city. They are highly regulated, and very honest in what they charge. A taxi ride home also saves you from the prowling thieves who look specifically for tipsy foreigners with loose pockets. </span></span><span style="font-family: Georgia,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br />Barcelona is a world class city with its own individuality, and there is a reason it continues to be one of the most popular destinations for that last weekend of freedom! Pack up your bags (don’t forget the sunscreen) and come discover for yourself!</span></span></div>
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<style>@font-face {
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}p.p0 { margin: 0pt; font-size: 10.5pt; font-family: "Times New Roman"; }p.p16 { margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Calibri"; }div.Section0 { page: Section0; }</style><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri'; font-size: 11.0000pt; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"></span><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Calibri'; font-size: 11.0000pt; mso-spacerun: 'yes';"></span>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904942379152454742.post-51805070843616562972014-08-09T15:01:00.001+01:002014-08-17T05:41:14.615+01:00Serious Travel Article 18: Tropical Island of Broken Glass, Xiaodeng Island (Fujian, China)I was determined to escape the overpopulated mess and grime of mainland China. I booked a hotel room on a remote island in Fujian province. About two hours north of Xiamen Airport (as remote as it gets on China's east coast).<br />
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Surely none of the usual hordes would have braved the exorbitant taxi ride to an unknown location. So obscure that even the taxi driver had to step out to ask for directions. As well as a perilous caterpillar electro-buggy ride to the dock and a 500m walk along the concrete jetty in forty degree heat to arrive at a pontoon beside a flotilla of poorly maintained motor boats. No one would have risked life and limb jumping upon said boats, bouncing from one to the next, luggage in hand with sea below, and standing in the blazing sun for an hour as we sailed to an unknown island in the Taiwan Straight.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yZxbYe3ZMwY/U-YiVpu3HGI/AAAAAAAAAqs/4PfZpSdcd28/s1600/IMG_0192.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yZxbYe3ZMwY/U-YiVpu3HGI/AAAAAAAAAqs/4PfZpSdcd28/s1600/IMG_0192.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The dock on Dadenghaidao, the only way to get to the remote island of Xiaodenghaidao</td></tr>
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Of course I was wrong. The boat was crammed, with people clinging to the sides. No life jackets or safety instructions. Luckily no waves either.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BQjEE-Exsvg/U-YjHF84OcI/AAAAAAAAAq0/T9GIaPEzm4E/s1600/IMG_0194.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-BQjEE-Exsvg/U-YjHF84OcI/AAAAAAAAAq0/T9GIaPEzm4E/s1600/IMG_0194.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The floating pontoon, in front of a six boat flotilla which you must clamber over, luggage in hand to get to Xiaodeng Island. Fujian China. </td></tr>
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From a distance, the island was a rocky green gem, with a layer of golden sand protecting it from the choppy blue waters. All around the sleepy green isle were shipping hubs, oil refineries, salt marshes, mud flats, piles of dredged silt and dredgers dredging that silt. An ominous sign perhaps but I maintained my optimism. The other side of the island had to be better!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-l-uJzkYGym4/U-YkAE2yerI/AAAAAAAAAq8/GZxqRvxfoeM/s1600/IMG_0431.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-l-uJzkYGym4/U-YkAE2yerI/AAAAAAAAAq8/GZxqRvxfoeM/s1600/IMG_0431.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sea off Dadeng Island on our way to Xiaodeng Island. Piles of sand, dredged from the seabed behind white plastic floats in the water. </td></tr>
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As we pulled into port and clambered over another line of moribund boats and onto the baking concrete harbour wall, I noticed the golden sand beside the harbour was strewn with trash of all descriptions. Not to worry, just the beach next to a working port.<br />
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We took another electro caterpillar buggy through the village on Xiao Deng Hai Dao to our hotel, passing old fashioned wooden temples and houses on the way, all complete with boat shaped rooves, dragons and shoulder spikes pointing up to the sky. <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GTolXaIAhds/U-YkpKZijpI/AAAAAAAAArE/9tA90xxoGFg/s1600/IMG_0231.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GTolXaIAhds/U-YkpKZijpI/AAAAAAAAArE/9tA90xxoGFg/s1600/IMG_0231.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An electro caterpillar buggy on Xiaodeng Island. I decided it had similar proportions to a caterpillar so named it as such. </td></tr>
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We were greeted by an old man and his wife who told us there was no breakfast or dinner to be bought on the island. Fine, I thought. I'll live off packaged cakes and bananas. <br />
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My travelling companions were less impressed. No breakfast! No dinner! Whatever shall we do! I'm not doing anything if I don't have my breakfast!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xN1PPsomxW0/U-YpOdGvBNI/AAAAAAAAAsI/rL2HSCej760/s1600/IMG_0366.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-xN1PPsomxW0/U-YpOdGvBNI/AAAAAAAAAsI/rL2HSCej760/s1600/IMG_0366.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Strawberry are good for you! (Note the grammar). My strawberry and banana bread kept me going on Xiaodeng Island. </td></tr>
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After hours of whining and complaining we found a restaurant for lunch, serving fish and rice. Too expensive! Shouted my companions, my wife's parents, who are used to low village prices, never having experienced the island inflation effect.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-thnydyUG3n8/U-YlTrkNc4I/AAAAAAAAArM/AZK_RzSHwVs/s1600/IMG_0222.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-thnydyUG3n8/U-YlTrkNc4I/AAAAAAAAArM/AZK_RzSHwVs/s1600/IMG_0222.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fish waiting to be killed in Fujian, China. I'd rather have a banana. </td></tr>
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After yet more hours of marching around looking for a cheaper restaurant, we came back to the fish and rice café we'd left hours earlier. Spending over £10 for a meal for four people. Goodness me!<br />
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As they ate, I ran with my towel to the island's main swimming beach over half a mile away. The beach was removed from the village so I expected clean sand.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9j4NtcPdzwo/U-YlrJaNoaI/AAAAAAAAArU/hGBnVXrxe5o/s1600/IMG_0233.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9j4NtcPdzwo/U-YlrJaNoaI/AAAAAAAAArU/hGBnVXrxe5o/s1600/IMG_0233.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The warm golden sand of Xiaodeng Island, Fujian, China. Littered with sharp shards of glass. </td></tr>
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The beach was long (for a small rocky island) and uncrowded. The beach was backed up by forest, making it green and lush. Four huge rings lay in the gently lapping water and in the distance you could see another green gem and the Taiwanese island of Kinmen (Jinmen).<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XxGTsthvERY/U-YmSzPtr3I/AAAAAAAAArg/U3hLUaIzyBE/s1600/IMG_0284.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XxGTsthvERY/U-YmSzPtr3I/AAAAAAAAArg/U3hLUaIzyBE/s1600/IMG_0284.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The distant Kinmen Island, owned by The Republic of China (Taiwan) as seen from Xiaodeng Island in the People's Republic of China (Mainland China). Confused? </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I was hot and bothered but not hungry. I wrapped my towel around the trunk of a palm tree, took my flip flops off and ran barefoot into the warm sea swimming to the rocks a hundred meters offshore. I looked around to see an idyllic beach scene, golden clean sand surrounded by palm trees, complete with beach huts and a glistening blue sea. The warm sun completed the cliché and I swam back in a cheery mood. As I stepped ashore I noticed a green twinkle in the sand. I picked it up. A shard of newly broken glass. I noticed another. Then another.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HM1lEvisTuI/U-YnlBSdmgI/AAAAAAAAArs/abi6BVAVK48/s1600/IMG_0244.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HM1lEvisTuI/U-YnlBSdmgI/AAAAAAAAArs/abi6BVAVK48/s1600/IMG_0244.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What a lovely twinkly green beach!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Before I knew it I found myself immersed by bits of sharp broken glass wedged into the clean sand. I'd heard someone complain about cutting themselves, now I knew why. I stepped carefully from then on and was delighted to slip back into my flip flops. <br />
<br />
After cleaning up dozens of shards I returned to my wife and her parents, who were startled I still wasn't hungry. (I can always do without fish).<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GQ9tBcy40RQ/U-Yn88VT4VI/AAAAAAAAAr0/8vd21j0hDqo/s1600/IMG_0337.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-GQ9tBcy40RQ/U-Yn88VT4VI/AAAAAAAAAr0/8vd21j0hDqo/s1600/IMG_0337.JPG" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The ancient houses of Xiaodeng Island, with philosopher, Coco Wang, in the foreground. Fujian, China. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The island is dotted with antique houses and temples inbetween the garish villas rich villagers have constructed. Sacred Buddhist shrines are kept superbly, decorated with dazzling bright colours and pictures. If the villagers and tourists treated their island the way they treat their holy sites, the island would be a tropical paradise and tourist magnet. It's obscurity derives from the way everyone uses the island as a dump with litter everywhere and glass mixed with filth along the beaches. It's telling that I spent most of my time cleaning up glass from the beach and telling locals off for littering. Although I doubt I made any difference.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1ajMZVFp_Zg/U-YojU9qmDI/AAAAAAAAAsA/Frf9UUF1nao/s1600/IMG_0338.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1ajMZVFp_Zg/U-YojU9qmDI/AAAAAAAAAsA/Frf9UUF1nao/s1600/IMG_0338.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Traditional Fujian Houses on Xiaodeng Island, Southern China. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
We left the island a day early to escape the filth, and headed for the tropical island city of Xiamen (Amoy). Never go to Xiao Deng Hai Dao. <br />
<br />
<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904942379152454742.post-91917973056643324282014-08-09T09:47:00.000+01:002015-02-18T11:49:48.697+00:00How to sneak into first class, flying around the world. How to get free first class treatment while jetting around the world? A question asked by many but answered by few. Stop reading if you're looking for a foolproof method. <br />
<br />
This method is NOT foolproof and has only worked for me a few times. Persistence is key, don't be put off if it doesn’t work the first time. <br />
<br />
<br />
Before I delve into my foolish method. I want to discuss the morality of doing this. Sneaking into the first class zone of a cabin and claiming the first class treatment when you have only paid for an economy class ticket seems rather low, doesn't it? That said, you wouldn't feel the same guilt when asking for a free upgrade, no is there any ill feeling when bloggers suggest free methods of traveling or staying. This method will not exclude a paying passenger from first or business class. It will also not cost the airline any more money as leftover food and drinks are usually tossed, sometimes donated and occasionally pilfered by airline staff. So in reality, the only loser if you succeed will be an orphan given an economy bag of peanuts rather than a premium bag. So, no I reject claims this method is immoral or illegal.<br />
<br />
If you still feel bad, don't do it. <br />
<br />
Back to the method.<br />
<br />
This method only works on smaller aircraft. Don't try it on a jumbo jet or an A380. It will only work if you have to walk past the first or business class seats on your way to economy class.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zKLUU81HrpA/U-XfNO_NCRI/AAAAAAAAAqU/QYVGjw77jjI/s1600/China-Southern-Airlines-A380-Business-Class-Cabin-Service.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zKLUU81HrpA/U-XfNO_NCRI/AAAAAAAAAqU/QYVGjw77jjI/s1600/China-Southern-Airlines-A380-Business-Class-Cabin-Service.jpg" height="204" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Business class on China Southern Airlines. Much like the area I've snuck into. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Step 1: Try to get seats towards the front of the cabin. If things go wrong, you might be able to salvage your mission with seats just behind first or business class. Make sure you don't order any special meals.<br />
<br />
Step 2: Make sure you are one of the last to board the aircraft. Let the others push, shove and queue up while you relax at the gate. If you are ferried to the aircraft by a little bus, let everyone else on first.<br />
<br />
Step 3: Walk confidently onto the aircraft, if you spot any free seats in first class, sit down (carefully concealing your economy class ticket in the depths of your jeans/handbag). <br />
<br />
Step 4: Enjoy the high life! Just relax and don't act suspicious.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--2kF_-tAArQ/U-XfjyTjnwI/AAAAAAAAAqc/-zTZXOdj0D0/s1600/china+eastern+airlines+business+class.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--2kF_-tAArQ/U-XfjyTjnwI/AAAAAAAAAqc/-zTZXOdj0D0/s1600/china+eastern+airlines+business+class.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Business class on China Eastern Airlines. Another airline I've managed to pull this off on. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
If you wimp out at the last moment and don't take that empty seat, don't go back in a flutter as the steward might help you and remember your economy status. Continue to your real seat, at the front of economy.<br />
<br />
After the plane has taken off, but before the cabin staff have been released, quickly dash to the empty seat.<br />
<br />
What can go wrong:<br />
<br />
No empty seats. Nothing you can do, try again next time.<br />
<br />
Ticket owner takes his vacant seat. Apologise, feign error, find another empty seat or go to your own. This shouldn’t happen if you make sure you're the last on though. <br />
<br />
Get caught by cabin staff. Apologise, feign error and go to your economy seat. Try again next time.<br />
<br />
The passenger next door objects to you pouncing on his spare seat. Don't argue, just act silly, confusing a 45c for a 14c, "ditzy old me!".<br />
<br />
It sounds too easy right? The key is confidence.<br />
<br />
Key rule: If you get caught out, don't make a fuss. you just sat in the wrong seat. "I thought economy class had gotten better since I last flew! I'm sorry, where am I supposed to sit? Over there? Thank you." <br />
<br />
If it works for you, congratulations! It's worked for me a few times now. I've lived the fancy life for a few hours, now its your turn! Good luck!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904942379152454742.post-67811045656156363872014-08-09T08:02:00.000+01:002014-08-17T06:18:14.349+01:00How to get dirt cheap hotel rooms in ChinaHostel Bookers is better than Hostel World. Travelling around Europe on the cheap taught me that. More choice, no booking fees. Simple.<br />
<br />
Even though it's been years since my days travelling around Europe and a yonk since I've been anywhere close to Australia, my loyalty to Hostel Bookers has remained firm during my travels around China.But after using Hostel Bookers to pay over the odds to stay at quirky but charming hostel in Qingdao, my wife warned me against being ripped off next time.<br />
<br />
She introduced me to the top Chinese travel site, Ctrip which now has an English language version. I was sceptical to say the least. I told her Ctrip was just a site inexperienced Chinese travellers use because they've never heard of anything else.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vQMbQmV3l8I/U-XGoDBXglI/AAAAAAAAAqE/zraPliMy1g4/s1600/stuttgart+youth+hostel+.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vQMbQmV3l8I/U-XGoDBXglI/AAAAAAAAAqE/zraPliMy1g4/s1600/stuttgart+youth+hostel+.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The amazing youth hostel overlooking the city of Stuttgart. Booked through Hostel Bookers for £10 (not sure how many Euros) a night, including breakfast. It remains the best hotel/hostel I have EVER stayed in (including 5 star hotels). </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
What a stupid thing to say.<br />
<br />
Whereas Hostel Bookers charges per person, Ctrip charges per night, per room and sets a limit to how many you can cram in, slashing prices.<br />
<br />
With Ctrip, I paid 128RMB for 4 people per night. 32rmb (£3.20) per person to stay in a private en-suite room. The cheapest bed on Hostel bookers was 106rmb per person in a dorm with 8 beds. <br />
<br />
Ctrip offers the same info, photos and maps you'd get with hostel bookers but gives you a great choice, listing hundreds of hotels and hostels in a Chinese city where Hotel Bookers or Hostel World might only list a dozen. This is because Ctrip allows hotels to register on the Chinese Language site using Chinese, and translates the information into English manually, allowing thousands more hotels in China to advertise to English speakers. With Ctrip, international visitors can get the same dirt low prices enjoyed by Chinese travellers. <br />
<br />
Ctrip also allows you to book without creating an account making booking extra speedy.<br />
<br />
In China, I won't be using Hostel Bookers again. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904942379152454742.post-55685078978528329712014-07-22T05:36:00.000+01:002014-07-22T07:38:50.101+01:00Serious Travel Article 17: Voyage to the Yellow River (And sneaking past the guards)Since coming to Zhengzhou, a few miles south of the great Yellow River; I've found my contact with the great waterway to be almost non existent. My experiences of the river were limited to being chased by a stray guard dog over a dry, cold riverbed and yelling at my wife's mother when she used the river as dustbin as we drove over a bridge.<br />
<br />
Unsatisfied with my riverside adventures, I told myself, "one day, I'll get on that Yellow River" bus.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-266djaixofE/U83jhHeP0EI/AAAAAAAAAn0/zdGn4U70HbI/s1600/IMG_0013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-266djaixofE/U83jhHeP0EI/AAAAAAAAAn0/zdGn4U70HbI/s1600/IMG_0013.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Zhengzhou Yellow River Market. Not near the Yellow River and soon to be demolished.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
That day came when a government official probed my school and I had to lie low for a few days and wait for brown envelopes to be sent out.<br />
<br />
I spent five minutes sweltering by the side of the road in the 8am heat before the air conditioned long distance bus came. It was almost empty, I perched myself on my favourite seat, facing sideways at the front, turning my head to look along the oncoming road. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CMyHghhi03s/U83j25LLo2I/AAAAAAAAAn8/hxqHLe_HI3c/s1600/IMG_0022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CMyHghhi03s/U83j25LLo2I/AAAAAAAAAn8/hxqHLe_HI3c/s1600/IMG_0022.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is what bus stops in Zhengzhou look like</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
Zhengzhou's inner city turns to semi-suburbs when you go north of the third ring road with the tower blocks becoming sparse and the buildings growing older and decrepit. The suburbs are have a quality of ugliness and grime that the inner city lacks, a throwback to China's poorer past.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2c3q4IdzgSY/U83kRckH3wI/AAAAAAAAAoE/3lHRV4gALyg/s1600/IMG_0025.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2c3q4IdzgSY/U83kRckH3wI/AAAAAAAAAoE/3lHRV4gALyg/s1600/IMG_0025.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A less dense Zhengzhou, outside the third ring road.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
As you get past the outer ring of deprivation you stumble upon the future. New developments, golf courses, highways, theme parks and Spanish style villas litter the side of the road, all in various stages of development.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VWwB-fla7-s/U83kk2cBBEI/AAAAAAAAAoM/V-FUSWn3Co0/s1600/IMG_0032.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VWwB-fla7-s/U83kk2cBBEI/AAAAAAAAAoM/V-FUSWn3Co0/s1600/IMG_0032.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Spanish style development peeping it's head out of the bushes north of Zhengzhou, China</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-406VU73zikA/U83lKv0NRqI/AAAAAAAAAoY/LOP9mQ4GQE8/s1600/IMG_0037.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-406VU73zikA/U83lKv0NRqI/AAAAAAAAAoY/LOP9mQ4GQE8/s1600/IMG_0037.JPG" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The entrance to a new golf village north of Zhengzhou, close to the Yellow River in China.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
We then pulled up beside a rustic tourist train painted British racing green and I was thrown off the bus. It was now 10am and the heat was stifling. I guessed the Yellow River was nearby because the air felt fresher. As I continued along the road to where I thought the River was, I noticed a sign for tickets and a queue. Not a good sign, I thought.<br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kKHbsPfz0nQ/U83lySQcL8I/AAAAAAAAAoc/X-OFxKD1gls/s1600/IMG_0040.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-kKHbsPfz0nQ/U83lySQcL8I/AAAAAAAAAoc/X-OFxKD1gls/s1600/IMG_0040.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The entrance to the Yellow River Scenic Area National Park in Zhengzhou. Tickets cost 60RMB.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Not wanting to pay just to see a dirty old river. I took a side path into one of the forested hills surrounding the road thinking I might be able to beat the guards. It was only a few meters parallel to the road. It wasn't difficult for them to stop me, but I was determined to get in for free! <br />
<br />
I trudged around the corner, away from the main road and into a shady village. The main square had three roads (so it was a triangle I guess) shooting out of it. I walked down the one leading back to the river, past towering relics to the Maoist past in the form of some old workers apartments, seemingly built to last. Unusual in China.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iM-m6W3H9MU/U83mNgp1UhI/AAAAAAAAAok/jKIJb1Y2V5Y/s1600/IMG_0042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iM-m6W3H9MU/U83mNgp1UhI/AAAAAAAAAok/jKIJb1Y2V5Y/s1600/IMG_0042.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Village Triangle. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
I kept going expecting soon to see the river but once again I was stopped.<br />
<br />
"What's going on", I protested.<br />
"Do you have a ticket?" Asked the guard with just a village street behind him.<br />
"No, I don't want to go to the park, I'm just visiting the village", I lied.<br />
"You can't go past this point without a ticket",<br />
"But I've got no money",<br />
"That's your problem".<br />
<br />
Growing ever more annoyed I questioned him on why some old women walked passed his little checkpoint unchallenged.<br />
<br />
"Villagers don't need a ticket".<br />
"How do you know I'm not a villager? That's my house over there!"<br />
<br />
He stared at me, a foreigner in shorts and with a tourist camera around my neck, before lighting a cigarette and laughing.<br />
<br />
I took his photo and gave up, stomping off the other way.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vBwgBJiJP3E/U83mgx6YjCI/AAAAAAAAAos/FK1_XePtOog/s1600/IMG_0044.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vBwgBJiJP3E/U83mgx6YjCI/AAAAAAAAAos/FK1_XePtOog/s1600/IMG_0044.JPG" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The smoking guard who wouldn’t let me through </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
I passed the village triangle once more with retired folks staring at me. I felt out of place in this newly zenoxiac village.<br />
<br />
I walked up a path into the forested hills, surrounded by mansions and caves and guarded by vicious German shepherds, thankfully on ropes. It led nowhere.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XmXOSpa9RjQ/U83m4F_LAtI/AAAAAAAAAo0/WZJq5j7ZgA0/s1600/IMG_0053.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XmXOSpa9RjQ/U83m4F_LAtI/AAAAAAAAAo0/WZJq5j7ZgA0/s1600/IMG_0053.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A mad dog, photographed by an Englishman. Out in the midday sun. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
I was almost about to give up my fare evading quest when I noticed a flight of stairs leading up the hill. I was now at least a mile away from the river, so despite the overgrowth, it was my last chance to sneak in. Climbing the stairs covered me with sweat. My sun cream was dripping down my face and stinging my eyes.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-R1niJGlLt94/U83na5EAGWI/AAAAAAAAApA/oIh20BqQnzc/s1600/IMG_0054.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-R1niJGlLt94/U83na5EAGWI/AAAAAAAAApA/oIh20BqQnzc/s1600/IMG_0054.JPG" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Can you spot the stairs going up the hill?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
The stairs led to an abandoned bunker. I climbed up onto the roof and was blown away by how green the hills now looked but was still unable to glimpse the river.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JMyiv6w_Xqs/U83nsm4lroI/AAAAAAAAApI/eBKGCtt0NhM/s1600/IMG_0057.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-JMyiv6w_Xqs/U83nsm4lroI/AAAAAAAAApI/eBKGCtt0NhM/s1600/IMG_0057.JPG" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Bunker at the top of the hill. Goodness knows what it really was. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
There were no more steps now up the hill but there was a seldom trodden path of dirt running up the hill at a fifty degree angle with trees at the side. Using the vegetation to pull myself up, I somehow scaled the hill with no regard of how I might get back down.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qrhDaZBS5es/U83n_8EJYnI/AAAAAAAAApQ/SRLJKoJCvMY/s1600/IMG_0062.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qrhDaZBS5es/U83n_8EJYnI/AAAAAAAAApQ/SRLJKoJCvMY/s1600/IMG_0062.JPG" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The dirt path up the hill</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
There was little shade at the top of the hill, and the burning sun meant I couldn’t stay to appreciate the view for much longer. The Yellow River lay below me, brown and mostly empty, and strewn with bridges making it altogether less impressive. The disapointment of the river was matched by my pride at scaling this impossibly steep hill and the view of the temple covered peaks in the distance.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6v5fNitqIf8/U83oUsLIClI/AAAAAAAAApY/pyMBX7clETc/s1600/IMG_0071.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-6v5fNitqIf8/U83oUsLIClI/AAAAAAAAApY/pyMBX7clETc/s1600/IMG_0071.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The disappointing Yellow river, a brown strip in the distance. Zhengzhou, Henan.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CuP9TpFFbvA/U83ouRaJxPI/AAAAAAAAApg/CPtPuLgp6f8/s1600/IMG_0067.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-CuP9TpFFbvA/U83ouRaJxPI/AAAAAAAAApg/CPtPuLgp6f8/s1600/IMG_0067.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The beginning of the Yellow River Hills</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
I saw the path ahead of me meandered deep into the forested hills, and you could have spent a week camping here, but I had to teach class.<br />
<br />
I slid down the hill covering myself in dirt, and scratching my arms as I used them to grab onto plants to slow me down.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oDTwwlzbOTM/U83o-ChxQHI/AAAAAAAAApo/rzBqCL74bns/s1600/IMG_0077.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-oDTwwlzbOTM/U83o-ChxQHI/AAAAAAAAApo/rzBqCL74bns/s1600/IMG_0077.JPG" height="320" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The bum sliding route down.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
The sweat turned the dry dusty dirt into mud as it settled on my exposed skin and by the time I'd returned to the village I was brown.<br />
<br />
When I went into the village shop to buy some more drinks, I asked if there was a tap I could use in the village, the shop owner sat me down, brought me a basin of water and gave me a towel. They could have easily tried to cheat me, but they were nothing but generous and altruistic.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XGNVwIJJH8s/U83pKx8sKTI/AAAAAAAAApw/J8kUAUvPRF8/s1600/IMG_0082.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XGNVwIJJH8s/U83pKx8sKTI/AAAAAAAAApw/J8kUAUvPRF8/s1600/IMG_0082.JPG" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The lovely shop who helped me clean myself up. If you ever visit the Yellow River Scenic Area National Park, please go there and buy lots of things. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
I'm glad I didn't pay 60RMB to get into the Yellow River Scenic Area National Park, going the other way is much more fun. <br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904942379152454742.post-42025758112926428322014-06-25T14:47:00.000+01:002014-06-25T14:47:17.621+01:00What's it like teaching English and living in China?This evening I received this email: <br />
<br />
<div>
Hi Sammy</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Interesting blog about the online TEFL course. I have a question about working in China though. I have been reading different blogs and am still confused. I saw an offer via TEFL Express to teach English in China. The offer looked pretty good and the pay is as well. I have never been to China and do not speak Chinese. How difficult is it to settle there? Also, if I rent a flat what is the average price one might pay? How are the students, are they eager to learn? I love working with younger children and although I am not a teacher by profession I can teach and have experience working with younger children. I love travelling but am not too confident about China, it just seems way out of my league. I am sure once I get there I will love it. I am just a little uncertain right now about the move. It is soooo far away from where I live. Sorry about all the questions. Hope to hear from you soon. Just so you know I am pretty boring too!<br />
<br />
<br />
Thank you Much! <br />
Gees<br />
<br />
I answer publicly, because I imagine Gees isn't alone in asking these questions and I hope my answer will help many people in the same situation.<br />
<br />
Dear Gees,<br />
<br />
Thanks for your email, I'm glad someone is actually reading through this gibberish I write.<br />
<br />
Settling in China really depends on the situation you find yourself in when you arrive. In most cases you will be at the mercy of the private training school sponsoring your visa. Expect poor organisation and planning. Expect no or few arrangements to be made for you prior to your arrival and expect your school to consider settling you as a big hassle which is probably too much bother. If you come to teach at a university or state school things will probably be a little better with accommodation provided and people on hand to help you settle.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0TWzn4YTaPI/U6rOL_5Y0_I/AAAAAAAAAnI/QCqfxwLiEhk/s1600/IMG_5468.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0TWzn4YTaPI/U6rOL_5Y0_I/AAAAAAAAAnI/QCqfxwLiEhk/s1600/IMG_5468.JPG" height="320" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Coco Wang, teacher at my school Xuelite delivering a speech to university students</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
If however you work for a private school or company, you'll probably be given an allowance for hosing, in this case, expect to be ripped off by landlords and expect little help from your school who just want to house to ASAP rather than find a really good deal for you. If you want your school to help you, be firm with them and set them some demands when you begin house-hunting, if you are patient and clear about what you want with your school they will bend over backwards for you. I learned this the hard way and ended up paying through the nose for an oversized shoebox.<br />
<br />
Rents in my city, Zhengzhou are pretty low, but cities will vary in price. If you want a two bedroom apartment of reasonable size here, expect to pay 1000 - 1500 RMB for an older property or 1500 - 2500 RMB for a new property depending on furnishing ect. Zhengzhou is a lower second tier city, Wuhan, a higher second tier city would be a little more while first tier cities like Shenzhen or Beijing would be considerably higher. I wouldn’t recommend living in a first tier city if you want a true Chinese experience as there are so many foreigners in these places, it's easy to get caught up in the ex-pat bubble and miss out on wht China has to offer.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-o_drv9Q6FLc/U6rQmIUuW9I/AAAAAAAAAnQ/JrQ0prbc2UY/s1600/IMG_6387.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-o_drv9Q6FLc/U6rQmIUuW9I/AAAAAAAAAnQ/JrQ0prbc2UY/s1600/IMG_6387.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The boring Zhengzhou skyline, looking south from Nongye Road</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
As for settling, the language can be pretty overwhelming, not something you can pick up with little effort. (One of my colleagues came to China three years ago, got married to a Chinese woman who speaks no English, lives with his parents in law, who speak no English and has a half Chinese baby, yet despite the immersion and clear need to learn, speaks only a handful of words due to sheer laziness) Lots of people will want to practice English with you, try to find real Chinese friends, there are some amazing people in China, you just need to find them.<br />
<br />
The first few weeks will be tough, you'll get no training from your school and teaching will initially take a lot of planning and you might have few friends. This is the time to explore as much as you can and get people to talk to you. You'll make lots of new friends by sitting alone in street food restaurants, just stick out those first few weeks and you'll be fine.<br />
<br />
I didn't sleep the first few nights I came to China, thinking I'd made the stupidest mistake of my life but after a few weeks I made friends and settled well. I almost gave up and came home only for my passport to get stuck in an office causing me to miss my flight. I'm glad I did though as in the next two years I became a university lecturer, started a business empire (fingers crossed) and got married. My advice to you is come to China and persist. Amazing things can happen here.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9IrV65qrdWI/U6rSOvesUwI/AAAAAAAAAnc/qT_nFvw-lNU/s1600/IMG_6469.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9IrV65qrdWI/U6rSOvesUwI/AAAAAAAAAnc/qT_nFvw-lNU/s1600/IMG_6469.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Henan Superstar Coco Wang at Zhengzhou Manhattan. That's right, there is a place in Zhengzhou China called Manhattan. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Students are great fun and the young ones are very eager to learn. Loads of kids love learning English and love their lessons, especially if you make them fun like I try to do. As they get older, China's energy draining education system kicks in and the kids get so bogged down in homework, their drive to learn is sapped. They are still well behaved but by middle school and high school, much of the passion is gone and only the special ones still have drive. By university, they are just beginning to rediscover the fun and creativity that high school pounded out of them and university students can sometimes be keen, but the best and brightest students are the under 12s. <br />
<br />
If you can, work at a state school or university as private training institutions will work you like a horse. If you want to travel, you can forget it if you work for a private company unless you pull an extended sickie (as I did on three occasions). Travelling by train is simple enough but you may need help buying a ticket, get a Chinese friend to buy a ticket with you or write down instructions on a piece of paper. Hotels are pretty easy to book with the help of Baidu Translate which to self respecting receptionist will be without.<br />
<br />
If you have an ounce of common sense you'll be fine travelling in China, it's very safe and the majority of people will be happy to help you.<br />
<br />
Come to China, it's certainly an experience.<br />
<br />
I hope you dont mind me publishing my reply as a blog post.<br />
<br />
All the best,<br />
<br />
Sammy Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904942379152454742.post-37865429470803946952014-06-21T14:28:00.000+01:002014-06-21T14:28:16.859+01:00TEFL Express: Have they gotten any better?
<style type="text/css">P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; direction: ltr; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); }P.western { font-family: "Liberation Serif","MS PMincho",serif; font-size: 12pt; }P.cjk { font-family: "WenQuanYi Micro Hei","MS Mincho"; font-size: 12pt; }P.ctl { font-family: "Lohit Hindi","MS Mincho"; font-size: 12pt; }A:link { color: rgb(0, 0, 255); }</style>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
TEFL Essentials course.
The 150 hour video based TEFL Express course.
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Where's my email? It
said they were going to send me a verification email! Where the
bloody hell is it?
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I'd just finished
registering at <span style="color: blue;"><u><a href="http://www.teflexpress.co.uk/pages/TEFL_Courses">TEFL
Express</a></u></span> when everything went wrong. My hotmail
account, always suspicious of my VPN had blocked me from my email
account once again. Logging on to the hotmail website, I once again
had to tell Microsoft of my ghostly online identity, essential to
getting over the Chinese firewall and onto the real web. I fished out
my TEFL Express confirmation out of the junk and was on my way. </div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yaxg4HFJOyo/U6WHOx6c1WI/AAAAAAAAAms/f0H-iafdr3A/s1600/iStock_000019717325XSmall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yaxg4HFJOyo/U6WHOx6c1WI/AAAAAAAAAms/f0H-iafdr3A/s1600/iStock_000019717325XSmall.jpg" height="211" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The look on your face when you find TEFL Express' welcome email in the junk</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I had done a TEFL
Express course back in the groupon days in order to get a job at a
Chinese University and wrote a review. Now I was back to see how it
had changed.
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The first thing I saw
as I logged on to the TEFL Express virtual campus page was a great
big timer, ticking down from two hours at the top of the screen. It
filled me with fear. I thought I had 150 hours. It's the <span style="color: blue;"><u><a href="http://www.teflexpress.co.uk/coursedetail/150_hour_TEFL_Essentials_Course">150
hour essential course</a></u></span> isn't it? I've only got two
hours left? How can I stop the ticking time bomb?
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
As much as the time
bomb at the top of the page concerned me (I later found out it was a
security feature designed to keep your info secure on public
computers), I decided to nose as much as I could around the site. I
noticed a button saying live chat. Having always been responsible,
just like if I had been in a lift or a plane cockpit, I decided to
push it.
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Being in China, I
always use my VPN when using the internet. And although the TEFL
Express website works without one, for those living in China and
planning to take the course, a VPN is recommended.
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
After experimenting
with the live chat and faffing around with some tabs, I began to
explore the site in earnest.</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>The Course Itself:</b></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
First module, classroom
management. I clicked on the link, a popup emerged with a snazzy
loader, a spinning orange circle counting its way to 100% (after a
minute or two stuck on 99%).
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
It's clear from the
outset that the course is extensive and rich in content. I was
greeted by a very serious looking Northern Irish lady who seems to be
my video teacher. The course starts off very simply but gradually
becomes more and more difficult and I was soon swimming through
theory. I've got two years of teaching experience but I had to listen
very closely in order to pass the timed exam. </div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W2zEASZHvDY/U6WHQDmGN_I/AAAAAAAAAm0/ArFSoBFm1lk/s1600/teacher+and+class.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W2zEASZHvDY/U6WHQDmGN_I/AAAAAAAAAm0/ArFSoBFm1lk/s1600/teacher+and+class.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A serious looking teacher looking serious but fun. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The theory is no doubt
useful for anyone wanting to teach without any experience in a
foreign country and would no doubt help anyone pass a CELTA exam.
It's also worth mentioning that all TEFL Express courses are fully
accredited by <span style="color: blue;"><u><a href="http://www.teflexpress.co.uk/accreditation.php">ACCREDITAT</a></u></span>,
and they also offer <span style="color: blue;"><u><a href="http://www.teflexpress.co.uk/celtaCoursedetail/CELTA">CELTA</a></u></span>
training in London, Moscow, Hanoi & Beijing if you want to take
the course offline and into the real world.
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
One of my concerns last
time I used TEFL express was that the course I chose had no practical
side. I would learn all the theory but I wouldn’t see it applied in
a classroom setting. To be fair, as an online only course this would
be difficult to achieve logistically, but this time, the 150hr TEFL
Essentials Course comes complete with real teachers notes about
problems in the classroom, how they pop up and how to resolve them as
well as testimonials from students about how they feel during class
and how teachers affect their studies. </div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Y1uDrVQUOq8/U6WHREYGd2I/AAAAAAAAAm8/9ok82JmowLc/s1600/TEFL_Express_Course_Platform.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Y1uDrVQUOq8/U6WHREYGd2I/AAAAAAAAAm8/9ok82JmowLc/s1600/TEFL_Express_Course_Platform.png" height="190" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">What the TEFL Express 150hr Essentials course actually looks like</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The course also
includes a video series of a TEFL teacher teaching a group of adult
students from various countries, showing the theory that has just
been learned applied in practice. This is helpful for anyone worried
about how to use what they learn in a real classroom setting,
although classroom hours are essential to progressing as a teacher. I
also like how the teacher makes quite a few basic mistakes, eliciting
TEFL Express students to shout at the screen, I found myself shouting
a few times which is testament to how much I had just learned from
the theory.
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Would I buy the TEFL
Express course again?
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div class="western" style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
It's certainly a lot
better than it was a few years ago, it's detailed, more difficult,
richer when it comes to content and offers practical help. The
certificate is also enough to get you a job here in <span style="color: blue;"><u><a href="http://www.teflexpress.co.uk/JobsDetail.php?idd=106">China</a></u></span>,
so if I was a newbie, preparing to travel the world by teaching
English as a second language, yes, I would choose TEFL Express again. </div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904942379152454742.post-640846115107170732014-05-29T11:58:00.000+01:002014-06-03T13:16:01.917+01:00Dr Beau Webber on why Manston Airport could be a successful and important airport for the South East of EnglandEarlier today, I posted an article on <a href="http://sammysgenericblog.blogspot.jp/2014/05/manston-death-of-airport.html" target="_blank">the travesty going on at Manston Airport </a>an a rather clever scientist affected by the closure posted some of the most articulate, thoughtful and persuasive arguments on why Manston should continue as an airport. Rather than languishing at the bottom of a list of comments, I thought they would be better served as their own post. Dr Webber has kindly agreed.<br />
<style type="text/css">P { margin-bottom: 0.08in; }A:link { }</style>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Dear Sammy, I thank you for such a
coherent and well discussed summary of the plight of Manston Airport,
Kent. <br />
<br />
OK you asked for it. I have lots to say on why I and my
micro-SME scientific research company and the "Save Manston
Airport" group believe that Manston Airport could be a
successful and important airport for the South East of England, if
just, as you say, it were just managed and advertised as it should
be.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GjIcP1QbZHM/U4chTrxjTHI/AAAAAAAAAl8/JG_EF_Vg-q8/s1600/road+links+at+manston+airport.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GjIcP1QbZHM/U4chTrxjTHI/AAAAAAAAAl8/JG_EF_Vg-q8/s1600/road+links+at+manston+airport.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Excellent uncongested road links at Manston</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
<b>First :</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
There is now an official Thanet
District Council petition to help keep Manston<br />
Airport as an
operating airport - please sign it for a chance to reduce Heathrow
and Gatwick flights and the need for new runways
:<br />
http://democracy.thanet.gov.uk/mgEPetitionDisplay.aspx?id=67<br />
<br />
Where
shall I start? Loss of jobs and additional costs on local
businesses:<br />
<br />
It is not just the 140 direct job losses by Ann
Gloag's employees, but the ancillary knock-on effect in local
businesses total about 700, including a small aviation firm that has
been booted out of its 50 year leased premises.<br />
<br />
Take my
micro-SME firm, as small as it comes - the additional £100 to £200
additional cost of each journey across the South of England to
Gatwick or Heathrow becomes significant over the year, not to mention
the effectively day lost from the coal-face of the business by the
travel time. It was 10 minutes from my research laboratory to Manston
Airport, plus 30 minutes check-in time (mostly spent with a hot
drink) - including published check-in times, via the M25 from
Canterbury to Gatwick and onto the plane is about 4 hours, and to be
prudent, to Heathrow is about 6 hours. And of course nearly as much
for the return journey. Often requiring an over-night stay in a hotel
to ensure catching an early flight. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GhMrmUQnF6w/U4cQQPBmEPI/AAAAAAAAAlM/ycgO0I-tBvg/s1600/Manston+from+the+air.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GhMrmUQnF6w/U4cQQPBmEPI/AAAAAAAAAlM/ycgO0I-tBvg/s1600/Manston+from+the+air.jpg" height="226" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The sixth longest civilian runway in the UK at Manston Airport</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
<b>Manston History:</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
Manston was started for the
first-world war.<br />
In the second world-war, Prime Minister Winston
Churchill was honorary air commodore for 615 Fighter Squadron, and
paid them a visit at RAF Manston, Kent, UK, on 25 September 1941.
<br />
<br />
But on Thursday 15th May 2014 it was shut by the current
owner. Airport operations ceased at 5pm. We hear that airport
operating equipment is already being sold off, and there will be a
further auction in days. Offers of the full asking price have, it is
reported, been rejected by the current owner. We believe the
intention is to dig up the runway, demolish the airport buildings,
and build houses. A "Garden City" is being touted - where
are the jobs for these people ? Thanet is already an area of
"significant socio-economic deprivation".</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8otJ5XYHqaE/U4cQuDpRFwI/AAAAAAAAAlU/1U4P7_0EFFg/s1600/old+view+of+manston+airport.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-8otJ5XYHqaE/U4cQuDpRFwI/AAAAAAAAAlU/1U4P7_0EFFg/s1600/old+view+of+manston+airport.gif" height="260" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Manston from the air a few years ago</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
<b>OK,
next, why should people fly from Manston - surely it has been shown
to not be a popular airport?</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
My next thesis is high-lighted by a
visit to the nearly city of Maidstone, by the leader of the "Save
Manston Airport" group - the commonest response by the good
people of Maidstone : "What Manston Airport ?".<br />
<br />
This
is no surprise to me - the only reason I knew that KLM had started
flights to Schiphol Hub in Amsterdam, was I was driving past the
airport perimeter daily, and there was a banner on the fence !<br />
Well
we have in a short space of time flown to the USA and elsewhere a
number of times via Manston and Schiphol. When Ann Gloag announced
her "closure consultation", visitors and directors of my
company had 8 European and long-haul flights booked via Manston, not
all of which were able to take place. And I have already had to do an
additional European journey via Gatwick. The KLM passenger use of
Manston was successful and growing - we suspect that this is why Ann
Gloag asked KLM to leave as soon as she did.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>So for whom does it make sense to
use Manston Airport ? </b>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Well surprisingly my web data mining
has given us extensive evidence that the highly efficient nature of
Manston Airport means that you can be as far away from Manston as any
of the 13 Category-A mainline stations in London, or on the junction
9 roundabout on the M23, at the Gatwick Airport boundary, and you
will still be quicker to fly from Manston Airport than either
Heathrow or Gatwick Airports.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-naAE2UIXPaM/U4cU-_sUbVI/AAAAAAAAAls/rrqEZQGXpy4/s1600/Kent+London+MSE+vs+London+heathrow+by_Car_3D_ccb.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-naAE2UIXPaM/U4cU-_sUbVI/AAAAAAAAAls/rrqEZQGXpy4/s1600/Kent+London+MSE+vs+London+heathrow+by_Car_3D_ccb.png" height="231" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kent Travel Times, Manston vs Heathrow by car</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
See this pdf document on the "Save
Manston Airport" group's Facebook site :<br />
Manston Airport Kent
has major travel advantages – v2b.pdf</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
https://www.facebook.com/groups/616428761764523/645012062239526/<br />
We
have even conducted an on-road and "virtual flight"
validation of these timings
:<br />
<a href="http://www.facebook.com/events/580892218698984/">www.facebook.com/events/580892218698984/</a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
Manston Airport has excellent HS1
high-speed rail links 8 minutes away by taxi from Ramsgate station to
Ashford International and Central London (to be further upgraded this
Autumn), and dual-carriageway roads from Manston Airport boundary
fence across Kent and into Central London.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
</div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-J1g-UiPrePQ/U4cSGkq78zI/AAAAAAAAAlg/jSrIHurlCX4/s1600/high+speed+1+kent+manston.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-J1g-UiPrePQ/U4cSGkq78zI/AAAAAAAAAlg/jSrIHurlCX4/s1600/high+speed+1+kent+manston.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The fastest trains in the UK can help you get to Manston</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
<b>So why is this
not more generally appreciated? </b>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
No one has been told! Where is the
advertising on the tube and train-lines to the other London Airports
? How many travel agencies in the South East even know of Manston
Airport ? - Again and again people have to tell their travel agencies
about Manston.<br />
<br />
But also, the Davies Commission refused to
consider Manston Airport in its report on future air traffic for
London airports :<br />
The Airports Commission have stated, when I sent
them these population/travel time figures : <br />
"The Commission
noted that some people living in North Kent valued the role that the
Airport played in supporting regional connectivity, but noted a
number of significant challenges, such as relatively poor surface
transport links and a large distance from significant population,
which rendered any significantly expanded role for the airport
implausible."<br />
And later :<br />
"… has identified three
options it will take forward for further development, as well as more
work to allow it to understand the viability of a Thames Estuary
option. The Commission is focussed on analysing these three
short-listed options and the feasibility of a Thames Estuary option
and does not intend to revisit previous
decisions."<br />
airports.enquiries@airports.gsi.gov.uk <br />
<br />
<b>Why
is Manston Airport not included in this discussion of London Airports
?<br />More urgently :<br />Why close Manston Airport at a time of
expansion plans for Heathrow and Gatwick ?</b><br />
<br />
Kent County
Council recommends that there should be better utilisation of
regional airport capacity in the South East; Manston has the
potential to accommodate up to 5 to 6 million passengers per
annum.<br />
<br />
Manston Airport also has an enviable record for cargo
handling, with no stacking on airport approach, and full loads of
perishable cargo unloaded and on the road, and the aircraft back in
the air, within 80 minutes of landing. Establishing small package
freight to adjacent airport hubs for global express packages is an
important goal of the air-operations company that has offered the
full asking price of £7million, for Manston.<br />
<br />
Over 15,000
people have signed a petition in support of Manston Airport which has
been a remarkably fast, efficient, friendly and convenient airport to
use, and to work at.
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
OK, that is was the appeal to logic,
now for something different :<br />
<br />
To Heathrow, Gatwick and
Stansted Airports :<br />
“Give us your tired (who have walked too far
from check-in to gate to plane to baggage pickup) , <br />
your poor
(who have paid as much to park - or to catch the train across England
- as for their flight), <br />
Your huddled masses of stacked planes
yearning for a free slot in which to land, <br />
The wretched refuse of
your teeming sky and overloaded runways. <br />
Send these, the
homeless, tempest-tossed and diverted planes, to us at Manston
Airport: <br />
We lift our lamp beside the White Cliffs of the Dover
Straights.”<br />
<br />
Dr. Beau Webber - May, 2014, with apologies to
Emma Lazarus. <br />
<br />
Manston Dreaming<br />
The people were sent
home<br />
The planes flew away<br />
All fell silent<br />
<br />
In an office
far away, predators scheme and plot<br />
Shiver and drool in
anticipation of the kill<br />
<br />
And at midnight, an unfamiliar sound
drifts across the airfield on the cool night air.....<br />
<br />
A spirit
sleeping<br />
and dreaming of our return<br />
by Jennifer
Maidman<br />
http://youtu.be/OImU9GJLXd8 <br />
Annie Whitehead of Penguin
Cafe Orchestra on Trombone.<br />
<br />
And again, please sign the
official Thanet District Council petition to help keep Manston
Airport as an operating airport
:<br />
http://democracy.thanet.gov.uk/mgEPetitionDisplay.aspx?id=67<br />
<br />
Article by Dr.
Beau Webber<br />
Lab-Tools Ltd., Canterbury &
Ramsgate<br />
<a href="http://www.lab-tools.com/" target="_blank">www.Lab-Tools.com </a></div>
<div id="stcpDiv" style="left: -1988px; position: absolute; top: -1999px;">
Dear Sammy, I thank you for such a coherent and well discussed summary of the plight of Manston Airport, Kent. <br />
<br />
OK
you asked for it. I have lots to say on why I and my micro-SME
scientific research company and the "Save Manston Airport" group believe
that Manston Airport could be a successful and important airport for
the South East of England, if just, as you say, it were just managed and
advertised as it should be.<br />
<br />
First :<br />
There is now an official Thanet District Council petition to help keep Manston<br />
Airport
as an operating airport - please sign it for a chance to reduce
Heathrow and Gatwick flights and the need for new runways :<br />
http://democracy.thanet.gov.uk/mgEPetitionDisplay.aspx?id=67<br />
<br />
Where shall I start ? Loss of jobs and additional costs on local businesses:<br />
<br />
It
is not just the 140 direct job losses by Ann Gloag's employees, but the
ancillary knock-on effect in local businesses total about 700,
including a small aviation firm that has been booted out of its 50 year
leased premises.<br />
<br />
Take my micro-SME firm, as small as it comes -
the additional £100 to £200 additional cost of each journey across the
South of England to Gatwick or Heathrow becomes significant over the
year, not to mention the effectively day lost from the coal-face of the
business by the travel time. It was 10 minutes from my research
laboratory to Manston Airport, plus 30 minutes check-in time (mostly
spent with a hot drink) - including published check-in times, via the
M25 from Canterbury to Gatwick and onto the plane is about 4 hours, and
to be prudent, to Heathrow is about 6 hours. And of course nearly as
much for the return journey. Often requiring an over-night stay in a
hotel to ensure catching an early flight.<br />
<br />
Manston History :<br />
Manston was started for the first-world war.<br />
In
the second world-war, Prime Minister Winston Churchill was honorary air
commodore for 615 Fighter Squadron, and paid them a visit at RAF
Manston, Kent, UK, on 25 September 1941. <br />
<br />
But on Thursday 15th
May 2014 it was shut by the current owner. Airport operations ceased at
5pm. We hear that airport operating equipment is already being sold off,
and there will be a further auction in days. Offers of the full asking
price have, it is reported, been rejected by the current owner. We
believe the intention is to dig up the runway, demolish the airport
buildings, and build houses. A "Garden City" is being touted - where are
the jobs for these people ? Thanet is already an area of "significant
socio-economic deprivation".<br />
<br />
OK, next, why should people fly from Manston - surely it has been shewn to not be a popular airport ?<br />
My
next thesis is high-lighted by a visit to the nearly city of Maidtone,
by the leader of the "Save Manston Airport" group - the commonest
response by the good people of Maidstone : "What Manston Airport ?".<br />
<br />
This
is no surprise to me - the only reason I knew that KLM had started
flights to Schiphol Hub in Amsterdam, was I was driving past the airport
perimeter daily, and there was a banner on the fence !<br />
Well we have
in a short space of time flown to the USA and elsewhere a number of
times via Manston and Schiphol. When Ann Gloag announced her "closure
consultation", visitors and directors of my company had 8 European and
long-haul flights booked via Manston, not all of which were able to take
place. And I have already had to do an additional European journey via
Gatwick. The KLM passenger use of Manston was successful and growing -
we suspect that this is why Ann Gloag asked KLM to leave as soon as she
did. - See more at:
http://sammysgenericblog.blogspot.jp/2014/05/manston-death-of-airport.html#sthash.P2TKJEpb.dpuf</div>
<div id="stcpDiv" style="left: -1988px; position: absolute; top: -1999px;">
Dear Sammy, I thank you for such a coherent and well discussed summary of the plight of Manston Airport, Kent. <br />
<br />
OK
you asked for it. I have lots to say on why I and my micro-SME
scientific research company and the "Save Manston Airport" group believe
that Manston Airport could be a successful and important airport for
the South East of England, if just, as you say, it were just managed and
advertised as it should be.<br />
<br />
First :<br />
There is now an official Thanet District Council petition to help keep Manston<br />
Airport
as an operating airport - please sign it for a chance to reduce
Heathrow and Gatwick flights and the need for new runways :<br />
http://democracy.thanet.gov.uk/mgEPetitionDisplay.aspx?id=67<br />
<br />
Where shall I start ? Loss of jobs and additional costs on local businesses:<br />
<br />
It
is not just the 140 direct job losses by Ann Gloag's employees, but the
ancillary knock-on effect in local businesses total about 700,
including a small aviation firm that has been booted out of its 50 year
leased premises.<br />
<br />
Take my micro-SME firm, as small as it comes -
the additional £100 to £200 additional cost of each journey across the
South of England to Gatwick or Heathrow becomes significant over the
year, not to mention the effectively day lost from the coal-face of the
business by the travel time. It was 10 minutes from my research
laboratory to Manston Airport, plus 30 minutes check-in time (mostly
spent with a hot drink) - including published check-in times, via the
M25 from Canterbury to Gatwick and onto the plane is about 4 hours, and
to be prudent, to Heathrow is about 6 hours. And of course nearly as
much for the return journey. Often requiring an over-night stay in a
hotel to ensure catching an early flight.<br />
<br />
Manston History :<br />
Manston was started for the first-world war.<br />
In
the second world-war, Prime Minister Winston Churchill was honorary air
commodore for 615 Fighter Squadron, and paid them a visit at RAF
Manston, Kent, UK, on 25 September 1941. <br />
<br />
But on Thursday 15th
May 2014 it was shut by the current owner. Airport operations ceased at
5pm. We hear that airport operating equipment is already being sold off,
and there will be a further auction in days. Offers of the full asking
price have, it is reported, been rejected by the current owner. We
believe the intention is to dig up the runway, demolish the airport
buildings, and build houses. A "Garden City" is being touted - where are
the jobs for these people ? Thanet is already an area of "significant
socio-economic deprivation".<br />
<br />
OK, next, why should people fly from Manston - surely it has been shewn to not be a popular airport ?<br />
My
next thesis is high-lighted by a visit to the nearly city of Maidtone,
by the leader of the "Save Manston Airport" group - the commonest
response by the good people of Maidstone : "What Manston Airport ?".<br />
<br />
This
is no surprise to me - the only reason I knew that KLM had started
flights to Schiphol Hub in Amsterdam, was I was driving past the airport
perimeter daily, and there was a banner on the fence !<br />
Well we have
in a short space of time flown to the USA and elsewhere a number of
times via Manston and Schiphol. When Ann Gloag announced her "closure
consultation", visitors and directors of my company had 8 European and
long-haul flights booked via Manston, not all of which were able to take
place. And I have already had to do an additional European journey via
Gatwick. The KLM passenger use of Manston was successful and growing -
we suspect that this is why Ann Gloag asked KLM to leave as soon as she
did. - See more at:
http://sammysgenericblog.blogspot.jp/2014/05/manston-death-of-airport.html#sthash.P2TKJEpb.dpuf</div>
<div id="stcpDiv" style="left: -1988px; position: absolute; top: -1999px;">
Dear Sammy, I thank you for such a coherent and well discussed summary of the plight of Manston Airport, Kent. <br />
<br />
OK
you asked for it. I have lots to say on why I and my micro-SME
scientific research company and the "Save Manston Airport" group believe
that Manston Airport could be a successful and important airport for
the South East of England, if just, as you say, it were just managed and
advertised as it should be.<br />
<br />
First :<br />
There is now an official Thanet District Council petition to help keep Manston<br />
Airport
as an operating airport - please sign it for a chance to reduce
Heathrow and Gatwick flights and the need for new runways :<br />
http://democracy.thanet.gov.uk/mgEPetitionDisplay.aspx?id=67<br />
<br />
Where shall I start ? Loss of jobs and additional costs on local businesses:<br />
<br />
It
is not just the 140 direct job losses by Ann Gloag's employees, but the
ancillary knock-on effect in local businesses total about 700,
including a small aviation firm that has been booted out of its 50 year
leased premises.<br />
<br />
Take my micro-SME firm, as small as it comes -
the additional £100 to £200 additional cost of each journey across the
South of England to Gatwick or Heathrow becomes significant over the
year, not to mention the effectively day lost from the coal-face of the
business by the travel time. It was 10 minutes from my research
laboratory to Manston Airport, plus 30 minutes check-in time (mostly
spent with a hot drink) - including published check-in times, via the
M25 from Canterbury to Gatwick and onto the plane is about 4 hours, and
to be prudent, to Heathrow is about 6 hours. And of course nearly as
much for the return journey. Often requiring an over-night stay in a
hotel to ensure catching an early flight.<br />
<br />
Manston History :<br />
Manston was started for the first-world war.<br />
In
the second world-war, Prime Minister Winston Churchill was honorary air
commodore for 615 Fighter Squadron, and paid them a visit at RAF
Manston, Kent, UK, on 25 September 1941. <br />
<br />
But on Thursday 15th
May 2014 it was shut by the current owner. Airport operations ceased at
5pm. We hear that airport operating equipment is already being sold off,
and there will be a further auction in days. Offers of the full asking
price have, it is reported, been rejected by the current owner. We
believe the intention is to dig up the runway, demolish the airport
buildings, and build houses. A "Garden City" is being touted - where are
the jobs for these people ? Thanet is already an area of "significant
socio-economic deprivation".<br />
<br />
OK, next, why should people fly from Manston - surely it has been shewn to not be a popular airport ?<br />
My
next thesis is high-lighted by a visit to the nearly city of Maidtone,
by the leader of the "Save Manston Airport" group - the commonest
response by the good people of Maidstone : "What Manston Airport ?".<br />
<br />
This
is no surprise to me - the only reason I knew that KLM had started
flights to Schiphol Hub in Amsterdam, was I was driving past the airport
perimeter daily, and there was a banner on the fence !<br />
Well we have
in a short space of time flown to the USA and elsewhere a number of
times via Manston and Schiphol. When Ann Gloag announced her "closure
consultation", visitors and directors of my company had 8 European and
long-haul flights booked via Manston, not all of which were able to take
place. And I have already had to do an additional European journey via
Gatwick. The KLM passenger use of Manston was successful and growing -
we suspect that this is why Ann Gloag asked KLM to leave as soon as she
did. - See more at:
http://sammysgenericblog.blogspot.jp/2014/05/manston-death-of-airport.html#sthash.P2TKJEpb.dpuf</div>
Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904942379152454742.post-11739346917370186042014-05-29T05:52:00.001+01:002014-06-07T14:53:14.705+01:00The Closure of Manston Airport in Kent<div class="moz-text-html" lang="x-western">
<div style="background-color: white; color: black; font-family: HelveticaNeue, Helvetica Neue, Helvetica, Arial, Lucida Grande, Sans-Serif; font-size: 12pt;">
Broadstairs resident Julee Russell kindly wrote this article and I agreed to publish it. Thanks Julee @juleedownunder (follow her on twitter)<br />
<br />
On the sleepy coast of East Kent on the Isle of Thanet to be correct, there has been an airfield in use since 1915.<br />
<br />
It started small with the RAF using it as a flight command centre and training their fighter pilots. and It was perfectly positioned for the defence of Britain during two world wars with its long and wide runway it was perfect for battle damaged planes to land safely. <br />
<div class="">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WLf5gTs9cFI/U4a5NhFle_I/AAAAAAAAAkc/HUcpyliL_3w/s1600/Manston,+aerial+view.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WLf5gTs9cFI/U4a5NhFle_I/AAAAAAAAAkc/HUcpyliL_3w/s1600/Manston,+aerial+view.gif" height="234" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An old view of Manston Airport</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
In fact it was also available to NASA as an emergency landing runway for the space shuttle.<br />
<br />
The RAF moved on in the '90s but Manston wasn't beaten,<br />
<br />
EUjet , Ryan air, and Flybe with a few others I forget their names, did their best to set up budget flights from there, sadly with lack of sufficient advertising and no direct train links , it didn't work out.<br />
<br />
Manston still had a thriving Flight training school , small planes use the airport, emergency landings are frequent . The regular cargo flights, bringing in our exotic flowers and fruits and aid planes would leave from here too and there is also an aeroplane recycling centre! <br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7KPI89gk0N0/U4a5eWTCSeI/AAAAAAAAAkk/jwu7hQ6rSjs/s1600/Concord+at+manston.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7KPI89gk0N0/U4a5eWTCSeI/AAAAAAAAAkk/jwu7hQ6rSjs/s1600/Concord+at+manston.jpg" height="219" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Concorde at Manston Airport</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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Recently British Airways did a bit of training there and its new A380 was seen over the Skies at Manston.<br />
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The Rolling Stones tour jet was painted by a business located at the Airport. We have the RAF museum and the Spitfire and Hurricane museum located on its land too.<br />
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Now to the present day, I discovered Manston when moving to Broadstairs 18 months ago, <br />
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KLM had just set up operations from Kent International airport and things again were looking up .<br />
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I booked my flight to China via Amsterdam, it was a pure delight 15 minutes from home I was checking in, a half hour later I was on the City hopper to Amsterdam, then on to my final destination in China, easy peasy.<br />
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I did the same trip 3 times, I also had a week in Amsterdam fabulous!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9KoSopS7ecc/U4a6JpyDncI/AAAAAAAAAkw/ScsuYJVVlTY/s1600/Manston+link+to+Beijing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9KoSopS7ecc/U4a6JpyDncI/AAAAAAAAAkw/ScsuYJVVlTY/s1600/Manston+link+to+Beijing.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Manston linked Thanet Island to China and the world, a good thing for the economy, surely?</td></tr>
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Manston is perfectly positioned to hop over to the continent...but on the 15th May 2014 the airport was shut down.<br />
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The short story is that the Airport was sold along with its debts to Scottish Business woman /founder of the Stagecoach bus lines for the sum of £1.00</div>
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This woman's name is Anne Gloag.<br />
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There have been rumours flying around that Thanet District Council have had secret talks with Golag about turning the area into a huge housing estate , other stories tell of bribes and backhanders as on almost the same day that Manston was closed, Lydd Airport further along the coast on the Romney Marshes was given the go ahead for expansion , Lydd of course is perfectly situated between a military firing range, numerous RSPB natural sites and a bloody great nuclear power station! But then Lydd is owned a Saudi arms dealer and I'm sure his money did the talking.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W-CgDi0x94U/U4a8WVvjSjI/AAAAAAAAAk8/e3uFLebkIFA/s1600/AnaerialviewofDungene.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-W-CgDi0x94U/U4a8WVvjSjI/AAAAAAAAAk8/e3uFLebkIFA/s1600/AnaerialviewofDungene.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look Closely and you might see London-Ashford Airport at Lydd. Right next to Dungeness Nuclear Power Station. Recipe for disaster? </td></tr>
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It used to be so easy to to travel anywhere in the world from my corner of Kent, Now the links have been cut to the outside world we are truly back to Planet Thanet. <br />
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Join our campaign, we are not going quietly! <br />
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#savemanston</div>
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Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5904942379152454742.post-1142711908345568912014-05-29T04:45:00.000+01:002014-06-03T13:11:41.041+01:00Manston: Death of an AirportAs a travel writer, blogger and business owner in China, few things inspire my rancour more than official corruption, backhanders and the rich making unthinkable profits by stripping community assets. The practice is endemic here in China and now seems to be infecting my family's home, Thanet Island in Kent.<br />
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Manston airport, near Ramsgate in Kent is steeped in history, playing a part in two world wars and acting as an emergency spaceport for Nasa's shuttle programme. However continual poor management of the airport left it struggling financially.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tEc3GISfAZ0/U4arjQOCSyI/AAAAAAAAAj8/8R-HprLG1dg/s1600/British+Airways+Manston+Airport.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tEc3GISfAZ0/U4arjQOCSyI/AAAAAAAAAj8/8R-HprLG1dg/s1600/British+Airways+Manston+Airport.jpg" height="218" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Manston's large runway meant it could accommodate the Airbus A380 and was available to NASA as an emergency landing strip for the Space Shuttle. Photo courtesy of Tim Stubbings / Manston Airport</td></tr>
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Despite being in the south east of England, a lack of advertising and a suspect name (Manston, Kent's International Airport, as opposed to something more conventional like London Manston) caused Manston to slip into obscurity.<br />
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However, it clearly had potential. Manston was an important hub for cargo transport as well as boasting daily flights with KLM to Amsterdam, linking Thanet, via Amsterdam to the world. It also sits phenomenally close to HS1, the fastest railway in the UK, which offers an express route from east Kent into central London. Some sort of link up with other forms of transport could have made the airport a convenient alternative for millions of Londoners and helped solve the crisis of air traffic overcrowding over the south east of Britain.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nAyMT2CGX6w/U4asHXdS6lI/AAAAAAAAAkE/nrQ_34isboM/s1600/manston+airport+terminal.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-nAyMT2CGX6w/U4asHXdS6lI/AAAAAAAAAkE/nrQ_34isboM/s1600/manston+airport+terminal.jpg" height="213" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Manston Airport, Branded Badly</td></tr>
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Then came Ann Gloag, a cut-throat Scottish business tycoon who made her millions through Stagecoach. Many welcomed her intervention when she bought the Airport for £1 promising to turn it around, delivering a profit within two years.<br />
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It never happened. Shady meetings with with Thanet District councillors and assurances over housebuilding proved too tempting for Gloag. She announced the airport was to be shut to make way for a "Garden City". Netting Gloag up to £150 million. <br />
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Upon news of the shut down, American firm River Oak offered £7 million to buy the Airport and keep it running, Gloag rejected the offer which would have left her in profit and keep open a vital asset for the people of Thanet. This rejection show she clearly had no intention of running the airport, just using the suggestion of turning it around as the pretence for a great £1 land grab.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WrIIh8oeyjM/U4asYJhsejI/AAAAAAAAAkM/ZOJetVYtbd8/s1600/Ann+Gloag+Manston.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WrIIh8oeyjM/U4asYJhsejI/AAAAAAAAAkM/ZOJetVYtbd8/s1600/Ann+Gloag+Manston.jpg" height="207" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ann Gloag, wants to turn Manston into a housing estate as a legacy for her children and grandchildren, in doing so denying the same thing to hundreds of businesses affected. </td></tr>
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The shut down has destroyed links between Thanet and the wider world and will hurt the local economy. Housing estates are two a penny, airports with the support of the local community in the south east of England are pretty hard to come by.<br />
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Please help stop this land grab and asset strip and force Thanet District Council to order a compulsory purchase of the airport.<br />
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<a href="http://democracy.thanet.gov.uk/mgEPetitionDisplay.aspx?ID=67&RPID=7829130&HPID=7829130&" target="_blank">Click here and sign the petition to Save Manston Airport. </a>Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com20