wuss yet fuss

Lately I've put on some office weight which doesn't bother me at all. I've been chubby since I could remember. I wish I lived in the Tang dynasty because it's said that plump women back then were very popular and I could be a dream girl.^^

My friend told me that he was leaving Shenzhen and was making a farewell video. I understand. This city is regarded as my home but I also feel like steering clear of everything here for a while and explore something new in somewhere else. Explore how and where to? It's a question but someone mentioned Au Pair jobs. I might give it some thoughts.

This time last year I was having fun with D in Beijing. We were a happy couple and secretly I thought that we'd spend the rest of our lives together. But now, we're ocean apart and unlikely to meet up in the future. It was devastating but I'm moving on. How many things would change in one year? I have no idea.

However, I do realize that I've really been spoiling myself lately - went for an exam without any revision, had whatever food I wanted, terminated my internship and booked my flights to travel without informing anyone. These actions might have unintended consequences that will make my life strange, difficult but interesting. But I'll keep going and trust myself.

"We don't know the future but what we do now is a part of the future" - it's what my dear friend Amanda said to me. It always stuns me that we could actually make good friends via Internet. I'm visiting Shanghai again in December and gonna crash at Sharon's place who I met on Friendfeed. In fact I've made quite a few friends on that site and we even pulled off a gifts swaping not long ago.


中文ffer礼物漂流 ----

http://friendfeed.com/chinese-ff-swaps
http://www.flickr.com/photos/yogarrr/sets/72157625053512214/show/

Back from Blogger's Block

FYI, I haven't blogged in English for a long while. As you may recognize later, my English is quite rusty now. :P

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This time last year, I was in Beijing. After that I visited Shanghai, Nanjing and my hometown Lianyungang. It sounds like a crazy vacation. But just a few days ago, I came back from Yunnan. I feel lucky to get the chance to explore this much. My trip to Yunnan lasted more than two weeks and I left my footprints in Kunming, Dali, Lijiang, Shangri-La and Sipsongpannna.

Travelling in Yunnan could easily wear you out, because transferring between different cities usually take you 5-8 hours (either by train or coach). Before I set foot on Yunnan, people kept telling me that Yunnan was "ruined" and commercialized by the local government. I thought I was well prepared to deal with it, but still encountered several unpleasant situations in Yunnan. But good thing that all this effort really paid off when I got to the marvelous natural landscapes.

After 24 hours on the train, I arrived in Kunming. But later I took another train to Dali, without staying over night. Dali is called Dali Bai Nationality Autonomous Prefecture in full name. As its name says, it's run by people of Bai minority. But in Yunnan, few local minority people do business. So the business industry there is mostly dominated by people of Han nationality or those "Hanifized' native people.

(Erhai, Dali)

After crashing Dali, I headed for Lijiang which is a must-go in Yunnan.That was my first time visiting Lijiang, later I went back and stayed for three days. Lijiang is famous for its ancient town and Jade Dragon Snow Mountain. The latter one is undoubtedly worth visiting.

(Lijiang Ancient Town)

(Jade Dragon Snow Mountain)

Shangri-La belongs to Yunnan but it also lies in the Tibet zone. I was worried about getting AHAD but I only got a little headache and that was all. But I didn't explore too much there except the Pudacuo National Park.

(Pudacuo National Park)

I'm under the impression that Sipsongpannna was boring too me. Maybe it's because the weather there is similar to it in Shenzhen. Plus I didn't meet any interesting people there.

(Sipsongpannna)

writing up on Nanjing

After saying farewell to Shanghai,I made my way to Nanjing.I lived at the hostel which was located at Fuzimiao Temple and Qinhuai River.The Nanjing dialect is also beyond me,but I didn't encounter too much.When it comes to hotels or inns,Nanjing is definitely a traveller friendly city as they don't charge very much.Other than that,the transportation is very convenient there.Much less Nanjing is fairly a small city.Looking it back,I feel it's a shame that I didn't visit a single university in Nanjing.I'm so gonna do it next time.

(The hostel I stayed at.)

(Qinhuai River - better visit it at night,because the river is actually not clean and clear.^^)

Nanjing used to be the capital of the ancient China and of China in the Republican Period.As what Nazi did to Jewish,the Japanese made a outrageous massacre in Nanjing back in 1937.In order to push down all these resentment,the city emblem of Nanjing once was an mythical animal Pi Xiu(貔貅).

As what I wrote above,Nanjing played an important role back in the Republican Period.It can somehow explain why there's a Sun Yat-sen Mausoleum in Nanjing.Well,it may seem to you that there are ‘Sun Yat-sen Mausoleums’or 'Zhongshan Roads' in every city of China mainland,or even Taiwai,but this one in Nanjing is literally the most authentic.

It figures that this mausoleum is totally a commercialized tourist attraction,but I still have something to say - the admission ticket is way too expensive,not to mention that you basically just do some hiking there.(Good thing that I got in without paying any money because I found that 'back door'."Yay me"!)

Another memorial for the ROC - Yuhuatai Martyrs Park.

 

 

Before I went to Nanjing,the place I wanted to visit most was The Nanjing Massacre Memorial Hall.One day ahead of taking my departure,I got the chance to realize my dream.So there I standed,right in front of the solemn construction and vivid statues.Formal feeling came to you instantly.I didn't take any photos inside though.

 

 

 

Forgive but not forget.I'll always pray for world peace.

writing up on Shanghai

Beijing is worth visiting and blogging.You could write millions of posts about every detail.In other words,Beijing is somewhat not bloggable because you could never pack it up in one or several posts.So let's move on to next station - Shanghai.

- Beijing -

- Shanghai -

"Nothing is so necessary for travelers as languages."I can't quite remember where I picked up this sentence but it spoke my mind when I arrived in Shanghai.It was the first time I realized how hard it could be for those Northern Chinese who first came to Guangdong and encountered jiggly Cantonese.Yea,I have to admit I couldn't understand a word when talked to local Shanghai citizens.It's a shame that I didn't pick some dialect from them.

Three days are too short for me to go through this big city.But I'd like to be outspoken about what I saw.The first one is,Shanghaiers are not so hospitable as Beijingers.I don't know whether it's because the language(I mean,I asked them in Putonghua and they didn't speak it well,so the conversation was disfunctional),but I could feel it in their eyes that "screw you".

As we know,specialties of Shanghai are not popular,even the local people would agree with it.But I reckon there's a reason for it - Shanghaiers put apparel first.Young people are dressy in Shanghai and Beijing but Beijingers also spend time and money on food.I come up with this expressionto discribe Shanghai girls and guys which is "pockets are cleaner than faces",if you know what I mean.But well, everyone has eccentricities and I did focus on their good qualities and minimize my annoyance at their odd ones.I appreciate Shanghai for its history,elegant old buildings and its local yet influential fashion style.

write up on Beijing (2)

It's not a tourist guidance blog,so I'm not listing out those do's And don'ts on my trip in Beijing.And if you're interested,all the places of interest are googleable.So,I'll just put my pictures here.


Peking University

I wasn't allowed to enter the campus last time I visited it.But this time,it was totally open and I could even rent a bike there.Other than that,different kinds of souvenir were available,say poker of Peking University.^^

National Centre for the Performing Arts

 (Bad weather still.)

the Great Hall of the People

(Advanced security check.)

(Very Communist.hehe)