tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20081491115298246082020-02-29T00:19:54.336-05:00This blog will share cultural and historical notes on China and some other visited Asian countries. It is my way of sharing the Asian experience of my husband and I, with our friends and family, and whoever else could be interested in this fascinating country.Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04976043850936149656noreply@blogger.comBlogger62125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2008149111529824608.post-86859303491787406852008-06-18T02:29:00.005-04:002008-12-11T09:32:26.491-05:00

I know... I am so sorry I did not write any more stories about China for a while. I would still like to. There are so many things I did not discuss yet: the nice Shikumen houses in Shanghai, the Hakka round houses we visited in a day trip from Xiamen, the wonderful karaoke with our friends Mark and Tina, when we even sang the Canadian hymn! And more...But I am been so busy trying to tell

Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04976043850936149656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2008149111529824608.post-79683874867649143102008-04-10T20:31:00.007-04:002008-12-11T09:32:26.894-05:00

That was a little treasure in the middle of a wonderful day. A few seconds of being transported – it seemed – in another world. On that warm day of spring in Fujian province, I actually witnessed a moment which I thought only belonged to historic books and novels. It was the parade of a traditional Chinese wedding, and a glimpse at the palanquin of the bride. And I could imagine the rest of that

Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04976043850936149656noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2008149111529824608.post-17183192291801259572008-04-05T13:43:00.005-04:002008-12-11T09:32:27.090-05:00

As per popular demand, I have loaded some photos from our expedition to Spratly... more photos than you've ever seen from me! You can see them on our radio expedition website N1URSpratly, but I made sure that a number of them were not "radio stuff"!The only thing you won't see is the famous "shark" and the cool sight of divers floating under us, while we were snorkeling! Too bad I did not have

Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04976043850936149656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2008149111529824608.post-77138514484268308452008-03-31T08:07:00.007-04:002008-12-11T09:32:27.337-05:00

We are flying back home. Long, long trip back home (5 flights over 36 hours from Spratly to Kota Kinabalu to Taipei, Los Angeles, New York and Burlington, VT).And while I am flying half around the world (it seems), I hear that one of my friends from Vermont, Ariana, is in Kyrgyzstan, in Central Asia, for a very exotic trip it seems - from horse backriding to skiing to cooking... Quite exotic

Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04976043850936149656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2008149111529824608.post-35833480241153450342008-03-26T23:53:00.005-04:002008-12-11T09:32:27.566-05:00

Here in Layang, Layang, Spratly this week, we truly feel like the odd couple. Everyone here is a diver. One American even asked us - very surprised - "How is it possible?! You are here in one of the top diving spots in the world and you don't realize it?!". Well, we answered: "You are here in one of the most desired remote locations for amateur radio and you don't know it!!".It must be true

Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04976043850936149656noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2008149111529824608.post-53157956127866280452008-03-24T20:41:00.001-04:002008-03-24T20:46:34.047-04:00

I am not an expert on Chinese politics nor the Tibet situation and for that reason I have never touched on political subjects in this blog. The closest I got to discussing politics was when I touched on the fact that young Chinese people never seem to discuss Mao time. So, I won’t do it more today than I have before. What I am sharing here is how we felt last week, when trying to get news about

Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04976043850936149656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2008149111529824608.post-81988442785864465652008-03-23T01:00:00.006-04:002008-12-11T09:32:27.810-05:00

After an overnight in KK, we flew to Layang, Layang, a Malaysian Spratly island yesterday morning. One-hour flight to reach this tiny island in the middle of the South China Sea. It is actually a circular reef with the island at the tip of it. Unfortunately I cannot show you photos before we leave because it is forbidden to upload and download photos here at the resort. It is also forbidden to

Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04976043850936149656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2008149111529824608.post-24526985647140136062008-03-20T19:26:00.003-04:002008-12-11T09:32:28.009-05:00

This is where we have lived for the past 7 months (well, 5 months really if we substract the traveling as our expat friends here point out). I will miss Xiamen, China and soon Asia, with all the great people we met, the great places we saw. But for now, our adventure is not quite finished. We are heading for Spratly in 1h30! We will report on our adventure there, may be with no photos for now if

Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04976043850936149656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2008149111529824608.post-18082381707786693912008-03-18T06:12:00.003-04:002008-12-11T09:32:28.467-05:00

In Xiamen, most sidewalks are tiled. I am not sure if it is the case in other Chinese cities, but it is definitely very common here. And some of the tiles (like the yellow ones on the photo) are actually soft, like made of rubber. I always wondered why. So yesterday night, as we were walking home with our Chinese friend Wayne (after some beers to celebrate Saint-Patrick's day with some expats, at

Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04976043850936149656noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2008149111529824608.post-42682118762645997152008-03-12T00:52:00.008-04:002008-12-11T09:32:28.864-05:00

I remember hearing about Chinese women with bound feet when I was young. I thought it was a legend. Probably, Chinese women simply had small feet and they had tight shoes. What a surprise when I realized that it was far from being a legend... There are still some old women with bound feet in 21st century's China... There is an unbelievable photo of them in "Marco Polo: a photographer's Journey"

Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04976043850936149656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2008149111529824608.post-54608184293399372372008-03-06T08:39:00.008-05:002008-12-11T09:32:29.369-05:00

Yep... I am going to add another star on my map of Asia in a couple of weeks. And that will definitely be a very special one. I hope you will be reading this blog then. I am going to be right in the middle of nothing else than... the South China Sea. I know… it sounds very exciting… I have been way too lucky this year with my travels! I am going to have to settle down after these great 7 months

Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04976043850936149656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2008149111529824608.post-20040148410079219092008-03-01T06:02:00.007-05:002008-12-11T09:32:29.730-05:00

My friend Ann took that photo in a flea market in Beijing. Interesting subject... and quite shocking to see that there was a time when even self-criticism (as you can see with 2 of these little sculptures) was the subject of decorative ceramics. Well, I don't think that Chinese people care anymore about Mao. I have not heard one Chinese person mention his name. Not surprising...I am sure they got

Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04976043850936149656noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2008149111529824608.post-73728004863238165092008-02-27T21:19:00.006-05:002008-12-11T09:32:30.215-05:00

Last night was a rainy evening in Xiamen. But it was also the night when we finally went and wandered throughout the great displays of lanterns not far from our apartment.Indeed for the past month we have observed construction of large and colorful displays on the little flat and probably artificial island in the middle of the (artificial?) lake on Xiamen island – including two huge dragons with

Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04976043850936149656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2008149111529824608.post-69863526209020654782008-02-18T18:39:00.011-05:002008-12-11T09:32:30.702-05:00

Fascinating people… whom we have met in the past few months. There is something truly fascinating about being in places like China and meeting all sorts of people with intriguing life stories to share. And may be they truly have more interesting stories, or may be – and very simply – we just take the time to listen to their stories. In Canada and in the US, of course we would not talk to a

Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04976043850936149656noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2008149111529824608.post-63004388502593498562008-02-09T09:07:00.001-05:002008-12-11T09:32:30.985-05:00

Or may be I should say “the year of the mouse”, like I read in a China Daily newspaper’s article (sounds “friendlier”, no?). In any case, the “year of the rat” is everywhere around us… to my great surprise. The phenomenon is probably nothing different than any other year, but it is definitely something new and surprising for me, living the experience of my first Chinese New Year.Of course, I have

Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04976043850936149656noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2008149111529824608.post-54785054717442705652008-01-30T23:34:00.000-05:002008-12-11T09:32:31.459-05:00

We watched a really interesting program on the Discovery channel two nights ago on how Beijing is getting ready for the Olympic Games. It was fascinating. It interviewed some experts who summarized traditions and symbolism in Chinese architecture, a lot of the things I had read here and there before. They discussed the symbols of the square representing the earth and the circle representing the

Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04976043850936149656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2008149111529824608.post-44466617153599618692008-01-27T03:03:00.000-05:002008-12-11T09:32:31.872-05:00

A hidden treasure in Beijing! The former residence of princess Hejing, the third daughter of a Qing Emperor. A place you won’t find in the guide books! Oh well, let me rephrase that: a place you won’t find in the main pages on Beijing but somewhere in the list of hotels of some guide books. Our own adventure all started because of two small lines in our DK tourist book on China. The Hejing Fu

Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04976043850936149656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2008149111529824608.post-80326033644463190252008-01-23T04:55:00.000-05:002008-12-11T09:32:32.335-05:00

The Forbidden City is indeed a remarkable place to see. And it is definitely at its best now, with all its recently renovated golden and red painted buildings, and its contrasting white stones, in preparation for the crowd of visitors during the 2008 Olympic Games.For us, while we spent 3 days touring Beijing, it was definitely the highlight of the trip. I would recommend however to go to the

Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04976043850936149656noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2008149111529824608.post-44704215222954798332008-01-20T22:57:00.000-05:002008-12-11T09:32:32.700-05:00

On this Sunday afternoon, I had almost finished writing my next posting on the Forbidden City, when we left with our Taiwanese partner to the Riyuegu Hotsprings. Well, guess what... It was such a unique experience that you will have to wait a few more days to read about the Forbidden City. The hotsprings are not quite as sophisticated as the website would lead you to believe (nope, I did not see

Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04976043850936149656noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2008149111529824608.post-45464118923622497562008-01-14T07:40:00.000-05:002008-12-11T09:32:33.236-05:00

There are books listing the 1000 places to see before you die. And this Christmas, I received a calendar on this theme. So, I started thinking about the places I have seen which I found remarkable. Not easy to select. There are the somewhat obvious ones, and then there are the ones which seduced me even though they were very simple and pretty unknown... A few of these places are in Asia, so I

Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04976043850936149656noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2008149111529824608.post-23375307734932790802008-01-05T18:40:00.000-05:002008-12-11T09:32:33.871-05:00

I have been living in China for 4 months and have wanted to write such a post for at least 3. And the recent discussions in Bali and particularly the reaction to the Canadian position, which is simply that “it wants all countries to be part of an agreement, including developing countries such as China and India”, have made it impossible for me to delay writing about it any longer. China has a

Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04976043850936149656noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2008149111529824608.post-56169993131369612082008-01-04T10:19:00.001-05:002008-12-11T09:32:34.126-05:00

Suzhou is the capital of silk in China, located one and an half hour from Shanghai. There, I visited the renowned Humble Administrator's Garden (from the 16th century) and the very nice water village of Zhouzhuang (the Venice of the East) but even more interesting, a silk factory. Fascinating. I learned a lot there from the legends of silk, to its history and finally its production. There is an

Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04976043850936149656noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2008149111529824608.post-81467140774606660272007-12-30T18:12:00.000-05:002008-12-11T09:32:34.353-05:00

Our trip to Beijing was already two weeks ago, but too much traveling and the Christmas celebrations made it hard for me to have time for my blog! We had such a nice time in Beijing. It is so different from other cities in China, like Xiamen or Shanghai. The history from the Ming and Qing dynasties is so present there... in the historical sites of course but also in the architecture of private

Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04976043850936149656noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2008149111529824608.post-29421355292464381522007-12-13T20:52:00.000-05:002008-12-11T09:32:34.647-05:00

Small open shops, retailers in their shop, selling their merchandise but also living right there, on the street: cooking, eating, drinking tea, watching TV, playing cards or checkers, even doing school homework. That’s real China. And it makes for fascinating photography. For quite some time already, I have meant to take more time to walk the streets to capture such moments. I have not done

Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04976043850936149656noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2008149111529824608.post-73583475778828072452007-12-11T01:38:00.000-05:002008-12-11T09:32:34.967-05:00

Michael Yamashita's photoI just read a few days ago that the Olympic Torch will travel the ancient Silk Road, on its way to Beijing, going through 113 cities in China! Well, I have been here in China too long, or I have been reading too much about traveling through China (China Road, my favorite book or Marco Polo's Travels), or drinking too much Tsing Tao beer, because my immediate thought to

Christinehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04976043850936149656noreply@blogger.com0