Tag: China

Hong Kong Highlights

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Hong Kong is a busy, dizzying city. We stayed in Kowloon, which was both crazy and brilliant. Coming from mainland China, one of the first differences we noticed is how expensive the city is. You realise this when you are forced to pay £20 for the smallest room possible in a hostel (and if you’re lucky you’ll get a window!). Aside from that, alcohol is expensive in bars and you may need to wander a bit to find some cheap eats. Getting around is fairly cheap if you get yourself an Octopus card, and a lot of the things to see …

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Tranquiltiy and Adventure in Xingping

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If you’ve ever had a 20 RMB note, you’ll have seen the gorgeous karst mountains and the Li river that roams in the South West of China. The location on the note is in a small village called Xingping. On most days, the small village is home to lots of tourists, taking lots of photos with their 20 RMB note and enjoying boat rides down the river, looking in awe at the surroundings. It really is a spectacular sight. However, my favourite part of Xingping wasn’t the place where we match up our note with the river and mountains. There are parts …

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Kowloon, Hong Kong: Busy, Bustling, and Burning my Money

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Stepping off the plane to 18 degrees after leaving Hangzhou and its bitter winter chill was blissful. My flight was delayed so it was getting late but I managed to swiftly get through boarder control, pick up my bag, and get on the City bus before midnight.  As the bus rocked up at my stop near Mong Kok station, I was amazed looking outside. It didn’t look like 12:30am. It seemed more like the middle of the afternoon: restaurants full, people chatting, and people walking down the street. I met Mitch, who had arrived earlier, and it was then that …

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A Happy New Year in Huangshan

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We wanted to hit the ground running with travelling in 2016, so on 1st January Mitch and I headed west of Hangzhou to the town of Tunxi. Nestled in the south of Anhui Province, it’s a great base to explore the surrounding area. Our plan was to visit Mount Huangshan (the Yellow Mountain) on the Saturday, but if the weather wasn’t right there are plenty of other places within easy access of Tunxi to explore. Thankfully, the weather was wonderful! We arrived on Friday evening and found our hostel, located in a very swish, more modern area of town with coffee …

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Our Chinese Christmas

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My previous post was a universal Christmas Card to you all. Now I shall tell you how we spent our Chinese Christmas. On Christmas Eve the Chinese English teachers at my school invited me out for coffee and cake in the afternoon which was really kind. Talking to them all outside of school was really relaxing and I felt like I got to know them a bit more. They treated me to a smoothie and very nice Belgium waffle. The head of English even bought me a Christmas present: reindeer gloves!

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To everyone: Merry Christmas

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  To everyone, MERRY CHRISTMAS. Wishing you a happy and peaceful Christmas. I hope this year has been a good one for you all. I hope you’ve made the most of it, taken chances, and picked yourself up after any bad times. This year I’ve realised what taking chances can mean; it leads you to places you never imagined. I wish you and your family a most wonderful festive season. Love and peace, Helen xxx

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