Qingdao....pickpocketing, peeps and plenty of pijiu

I am currently on the train on my way back from Qingdao, a sea side city close enough to Cangzhou that I thought a short trip to the coast would be the best idea after some intense uni and considering it's summer holidays! What started out as a brilliant idea  was a near disaster. The rain and misty weather I could handle, the disappointing beaches I could handle, the initial lack of any humans seeming remotely cool I could handle, the lack of fun activities in the city I could handle, it was the violation of being pick-pocketed - losing all my money, train tickets and credit cards that was the biggest disappointment and could have ruined my brilliant idea altogether. But alas,  Qingdao came through with me and this is my tale of a seaside city in China!

The beauty of summer holidays where I am in China is the ability to consolidate my classes and get away for a bit! Teaching is easy, uni is great due to the abundance of time I have to concentrate on it and I love my city! Downside - NO FOREIGNERS! So my little trips away act as my little bursts of social interaction and so far it has been a successful adventure each and every time meeting great people and having crazy adventures. So I packed up my gear and toddled off to the beach for four days!

Travelling solo has it's absolute ups and absolute downs if you don't meet great people! I arrived at Qingdao full of expectancy for a full hostel and an abundance of adventure-seeking travellers. On first sight, a Brit in my dorm who turned out to never leave his room and few stragglers in the downstairs bar that weren't interested in any small talk. So I parked myself down with my laptop and guide book and figured out what I was going to do in this town. I hadn't done much research as I had been super busy with study. That kept me occupied until I got talking to the old eccentric German, Chinese speaking man who had many tales to tell about his adventures in China over the last couple of years!

After a while I was done talking all things German man and decided to re-locate myself and finalise some assessments that needed to be handed in. And enjoy my free Tsingtao beer. (Oh, I forgot to mention Qingdao is the home of the famous  Chinese beer - Tsingtao which is the other attraction and reason for visiting Qingdao)  Enter Brian, and American, a  new dorm buddy and fellow solo traveller. Brian planted himself down across from me with a beer and we proceeded to fill each other in on our lives, travels and plans - the usual! Enter Peter , a young Chinese (actually a local from my town) and keen to practice his English. We all decided we should venture out for some dinner and sightseeing around Qingdao!

Dinner! After a gigantic circle around the neighbouring streets we finally made it pretty much back to our hostel to a nearby seafood restaurant (Qingdao is also famed for it's seafood). Ordering dinner consisted of finding the yummiest looking fish swimming around and watching as the waitress smashed it on the ground several times (in the entrance way) weighed it and asked for our preparation preferences. Needless to say, it tasted very fresh! Haha! Oh, the shocks of China continue…four months in!

Dinner was great and complete with a beer in a bag! Yep, that's right. On the street at every second step there is kegs with beer and plastic bags. Beer in a bag! Less than classy but so cheap! 2¥ which equates to about $0.30 for 1/2 a litre. AWESOME! It was great having Peter tag along, it is always handy to have a little Chinese guide when you are new to a place.

After a BIG sleep in the next day and some breakfast (less than impressive), and coffee (less than impressive). Brian and I had think about what we wanted to do for the day and decided on a trip to the beach on the east side of town where it is supposed to be that much nicer. Good intentions, but it didn't quite work out that way. We ventured down to the Pier to check it out….amongst the throngs of people were small time food  vendors and  illegal jewellery hawkers (who freaked out once they saw the police turn up. It is amazing how quick they can get rid of the evidence). We made our way down to where we though the bus would be passing a few monkeys! Yes! Monkeys, on leashes with a guy forcing them to do tricks or risk punishment. It was quite sad but I couldn't help watching. It was just awful! The beach was horrible! The algae was too much! The entire surf of the beach was filled with algae about 5 metres back from the shoreline and people were actually swimming in it! Aghh! The rubbish of course was monumental and I was so sad to see nature being treated in such a way! It made me want to get out my protest banner.

We finally found the bus and jumped on - very cramped and very hot. I fished out my 2¥ for my bus ticket and popped my money purse back in the front pocket of my bag! The kind old lady next to me motioned to me to make sure my bag was zipped shut which I did and left it at that. 10 minutes later…my bag is unzipped and it's gone. I just couldn't believe it! Considering how close I was standing next to Brian and that we were near the exit where people would be looking, I couldn' t believe someone had managed to open my bag and take my money, tickets and c/c! Devastating! I think I have been too lucky and taken it for granted hey.

I frantically started looking for it in people's hands, on the floor to no avail. Trying to talk to someone was a disaster - I could only motion something was taken. A young girl who spoke English came to my rescue and helped explain to the ticket inspection girl and the bus driver what had happened! It all happened so fast but the bus came to a stand still and we all sat there sweating up a storm unti l the police came which the driver had kindly called!

The police: I didn't really see the point in wasting my time with the police - I was never going to get my cash back. But I suppose the more awareness that is raised about tourists  being targets helps the next one. And a police report wouldn't go astray for insurance. It is actually a very unusual situation. The chinese aren't known for this type of behaviour. They are generally an honest people. But we are tourists and we were in a very tourist area so whoever was seeking an opportune moment found it. The police were lovely. We had to wait for an interpreter but it was all good. We spent a couple of hours going through the details, translations etc. In the meantime I set my mum onto cancelling my cards, I set my boss onto finding someone that she knows to help me out. The whole time I was fine. These things happen and I was so lucky that I had Brian with me - at least to get a bus ticket home. It would have been a nightmare!

The cops gave us a free ride home which was awesome and in the meantime my boss had organised for a friend of a friend to bring me money. We ducked out for some lunch - so hungry by this stage and made it back in time for Shi Shi's contact to rock up with 2000¥ and a whole bag of food! Man, talk about my faith being restored. This lady didn't speak a word of English, didn't know me or my boss but I was in need and she was there so fast! The Chinese can be so amazingly generous. It was a quick turn around - going from feeling so violated to so blessed. It took all the stress away and meant I could enjoy the rest of my time in Qingdao. And that I did.

Brian had his own dilemmas. He had bought a bus ticket from a private company on the side of the road and was supposed to take the bus to Shanghai. Lucky for him he had called prior to going to find them. They weren't going any more! Ah! He spent a good two hours running around trying to find them and get his money back before eventually doing so. So turns out he was staying longer! While he was off doing that I was talking to another world traveller (literally had been everywhere - TWICE) getting some tips about India. He was 40, living in China, learning Chinese and doing business on line! Good deal! But after an hour or so of all about me world traveller I had had enough again and luckily he was off to meet someone for dinner.

Enter, Hannah, my new roomie. A German travelling with her brother and sister. Germans that I usually come across are very stand offish . But Hannah was keen for a chat and some tips about Qingdao. Brian and I were heading off for dinner and they happened to come to the same spot…here the formation of our crew began!

Enter Danny (UK), Cecilia (Sweden), Andreas (Sweden), Peter (US) and the crew just kept getting bigger! Banding together to avoid crazy drunk chinese men who were up for a good old chin wag in Chinglish, we bonded over a few beers and tales of China oh and politics…of course! I am finding that politics seems to be the conversation of choice when your with a crew repping the western world!!

The night began to wind down after we were kicked out of the roadside establishment and enter Peter 2 (US). He and a mate had just turned up and made the final members of the Qingdao expat crew!

The next couple of days consisted of beer (pijiu)! Touring the brewery with beer tasting, hanging out on Beer St drinking beer (There was torrential rain so I had we had to pass the time productively right?) and having more beers on our arrival back home! Not to mention amazing food!! Ah! I cannot even tell you how amazing the food in China is! I am loving it!!

Once again! Sad to say goodbye! I really hate saying goodbye to all these awesome people I meet! But a few email addresses and facebook adds later it was time for me to return home while the others continued on with their journey. An early morning rise and a 4 hr train ride and I was back in Cangzhou to face the reality of work and study again! Haha! Ah, I really have it hard hey! Hehe!

The whole time I was away I was completely unaware of my apparent visa problems that have me making plan B,C and D in case I can't come back! I can't get the visa I need to come and go as I please so I will just have to play it by ear and hope I get a happy visa processing officer happy to determine my fate in my favour and let me back into China after India! But if not, there is always the rest of this big wide world! So I am excited about the unknown yet, hoping and praying my very well laid out plans can still be achieved!

So after a crazy week with sightings of a naked man with one shoe, a day time prostitute with a full blown mullet, a baby peeing on the floor of KFC,  a fish being killed on the floor in front of me, watching trained monkeys be threatened with whipping, losing my voice (unable to teach) and  being robbed - I am happy to report that I am safely back in Cangzhou and anticipating my next adventure….which is….Hong Kong….again…..in 1 weeks time….I will report back then! Over and out!

Love to you all!

HJ xx

Ode to the Great One...The Great Wall!

A little overdue but I had to tell you all about the Great Wall!

Mao Zedong said...."He who has not climbed the Great Wall is not a true man."
Looks like I'm now officially a true man! Alright!

It's a very surreal experience to think I am in a country bigger than my own and on the weekends I can just hop to other side if I so wish! I have been doing a lot of travel this way…2 days here…3 days there etc. I have a couple of little adventures coming up as it is summer holidays and it is a chance to consolidate my classes to a couple of days and get away for some more china experiences! I feel really lucky this way! Not many foreign teachers in China would be able to do what I am doing!

My last little stint away was just to do check out this little thing called the Great Wall! Haha! Let me tell you it was great! I dig anything to do with history and old history at that, so the Great Wall was a special experience.

My friend Martha and I coordinated schedules so we could do it together! Luckily the take off point was Beijing so we both met there in an awesome little hangout! Beijing have a heap of these old ally ways called 'hutongs' - they are banned from all things commercial so there is a lot of cute little boutiques and eateries without being OVERLY tourist orientated…although still so. We stayed at Beijing Downtown Backpackers. Great hostel. I really loved it - great amenities and friendly staff.  They also ran this tour to the great wall. The part we were going to was 3 hours outside of Beijing so void of the mass tourist crowds. However, a very bumpy ride indeed with some less than pleasant toilet stops! :)

So after arriving very late on Monday night to meet Marth who had been there all day, we grabbed some dinner and a few drinks and talked our way to 1:30am when we finally made it home to the hostel. Our wake up time was 6:30 so so much for getting rested up for our big walk!

We woke up early - not much to do as it certainly wasn't going to be any beauty pageant (unfortunate for the photos haha). Took a little walk, got some free brekky, complete with COFFEE!!!, and waited for our bus. Quite an odd bunch we were but ready to see the wall in all it's glory!

We ended up picking up a couple of young guys who were also travelling and checking out China and the three hour drive passed super fast as we shared humorous antics about our experiences in China. And then there we were! At the foothill of the Great Wall and what???? Oh no, I forgot my sunnies! Boo! Lucky for the myriad of vendors that were there to rip me off for a cheap pair! I bargained well for sure but I didn't choose to well cause they really didn't end up even fitting my head and would slide off. So I didn't end up wearing them anyway!

The hike was 6km! Up and down…up and down…up and down! A friend of mine kindly pointed out (from Australia, over text)  that that would be just a stroll and my efforts weren't impressive! Well I have the pics to prove it! Some parts I felt like spider man scaling the wall vertically, however not as fast and certainly not as agile! It was definitely tough at some parts but at the very end I decided it really wasn't as hard as what I thought. It certainly gave my granny knees some more wear and tear! I think I will need knee replacements upon my return to Aus! Getting worse and worse!

What made me feel worse about my pathetic efforts were the old ladies who climbed with us! I had one who attached herself to me…of course they wanted to sell you something towards the end, but they didn't mention it for most of the way! My lady was great and very entertaining, telling me how beautiful I was every time we took a pic. She taught me some Chinese as her English wasn't so bad as a result of being with tourists everyday and she was 65! Yep, 65 and climbing faster and more graceful than I was. Trying to help me up every second step. I am just getting used to this kind of thing these days. Anyway, in the end I didn't want any of her cheap souvenirs…so a 20 RMB tip and off she went.

We got back to Beijing eager for some cold beverages and something hearty to eat after our big efforts of the day! It was truly a spectacular sight! Through the panting and puffing and vertical scaling the views were amazing! One side, Inner Mongolia, the other China. And apart from one ugly highway, it was unspoiled views of country side!

We spent the evening in the hutong that we were staying in and chilled on the rooftop with a few cold beers and a nice spot of hookah!

The Great Wall was truly Great!

Love to you all!

Wish you could be here!

And a special shout out to my very special, dear, wonderful and supportive friend Ramona who I know is reading this blog as the devout follower that she is! I miss you so much girl! Can't wait to see you in just over twelve months!! Xx

HJ xx

Big City...Bright Lights...Hong Kong

You know just another week overseas, just another trip away….this time HONG KONG! It was coming up to three months until my intial visa  date was up so it was time to jump a plane and take off to Hong Kong to get a new one and get myself legal! :)


Thoughts of Hong Kong didn't incite much excitement from this little chicken but WOW!! I eat my words! Hong Kong is amazing and I am already planning to go back for my second helping this time next year.


The culmination of a bunch of islands, beaches, city skyscrapers, lights  like Vegas, beautiful untouched nature in the mountains, foreigners galore, majority of English speakers, no hawking,  spitting, peeing, pushing, western toilets, a good currency exchange from the RMB, tonnes  of tourist attractions, an awesome metro and a clean clean city left me wanting more. The downside - a pending typhoon that meant rain rain rain and more rain and most key attractions shut down. However, it didn't stop me from having an amazing week!


I was there to do official visa business which meant long lines, lots of forms, angry Chinese  consulate workers, blah blah blah and I wasn't really looking forward to the time it would eat out of my trip. But amazingly enough, everyone's horror stories previously foretold turned out to not be mine and it was a successful and pleasant experience. Apart from the sweltering heat and humidity - the line to enter the consulate turned out to be most productive. As soon as I arrived (nice and early to avoid the giant queues) I met an American - a guy from Texas who struck up a conversation with me and didn't stop until the following day!  Both English teachers who have been in China only a  couple of months, we spent the time comparing stories and situations and became fast friends.   Whilst filling out the forms AGAIN that I had previously filled out (just cause they feel like making you do it again), the line zoomed through and I found myself within the air-conditioned consulate building submitting my application and out all within the hour (including line time)!  I was so surprised and over the moon I had a whole extra day to explore!


Mike and I set out for some real coffee!!!  Even in the sweltering heat I couldn't resist and some food! We opted for some sandwhiches! Something I haven't had in so long! I can't wait to get home and get a chicken and salad sandwich with avocado on whole wheat/grain bread - preferably Helgas! Haha! It's amazing the things you crave - so simple!


I really wanted to go check out the beach in Stanley (at the bottom of Hong Kong island) so I figured out the best route and hopped the bus down their. To my disappointment the second we got off the bus it started pouring! No beach for me! But it was a beautiful, scenic ride and ended up being a  great day!


Whilst trying to find a decent beer, a place to sit to avoid the rain, I heard through the crow an almighty "Oi" - Had to be an aussie! It turns out he heard MY booming aussie accent and thought it appropriate to get me over! Their names were Burt and Joyce, late fifties couple and the epitome of everything Australian! We ended up joining them for an afternoon of beers, stories, jokes about America  to the detriment of Mike and a difficult job of translating most of what Burt had to say to Mike! Very humerous! Burt was a laugh a minute! We ended up spending the arvo, the night and the next day with these guys making it quite a  hilarious couple of days!


The hostel was a bunch of fun! There was a neat little crew staying there and each night we had fun playing cards, singing along to the many random songs played on guitar and comparing notes on China (as everyone was in the same boat getting their visas). I met a couple more people and decided I wanted some company up to the big Buddha on one of the Islands so invited along a guy from the Netherlands and a chick from London who was on this mega travelling adventure! It's amazing how much time you can take up just talking about the travelling journeys you have been on and all the crazy experiences!!


I also got to catch up with a lady I met on the plane on my way over from Europe! She is a Hong Kong native and we became fast friends on the plane so we had a little dinner catch up which was so lovely! It's amazing how if you make the effort, you really can make friends all over the world! I have started quite the collection. My friend Martha puts it quite well on a caption to a photo:


"This is my friend Helen, she is from Australia, I am from America, we met in Prague and hang out in China!!


It's such a small world!


So I packed quite a fair bit into my Hong Kong jaunt! There was still so much to do and so much I missed out on because of the typhoon! But all good I will be back to conquer!


The trip back was quite eventful! In true Helen fashion, I made my check in and plane with only minutes to spare! But the plane ended up being delayed so all was ok! Got to make the most of starbucks right next to my check in lounge and enjoy my last indulgence of real coffee for a while!!
After a very turbulent plane ride back into to the capital of my province and because of delays - I missed the  LAST 3 hour shuttle bus back to Cangzhou and was stuck in a city where barely a soul speaks  English and had to figure out how to get to the city centre (an hour away), get a hotel (at midnight) and get back to Cangzhou the next morning! It was a bit of a disaster but all ended up working out as I am here to tell the story - always the way!


Anyway, just another little adventure to add to the novel that my journeys are becoming!


I have been away for 5 months. On one hand it feels like 5 seconds and the other it feels like 5 years!


Only three months left in China would you believe and I will be on my way to Dubai and India after a bit more China travel! Very excited for the next adventure! This time with a backpack and a bit more sense of adventure!


Love to you all! Sorry for not posting for a while! Haha!




HJ xx