新年快乐: Chinese New Year in China

Way back in November, I wrote a blogpost on that FOMO feeling, mentioning how I was dealing with being away from home during times I normally have some kind of routine or tradition - like Bonfire night and Christmas. Chinese New Year is another annual event that I ought to have mentioned because every year, I get together with my family and we dine like kings (Dad splashes out on lobster - yum!). We exchange red envelopes filled with lucky money. We burn incense, joss paper and ghost money to send to our ancestors in the afterlife (a tradition I personally think is great. I love the concept that we're looking after our family members, even after they're gone). It's just yet another time of the year where I spend quality time with my family, something that feels a little rare these days as we grow up and develop different life priorities.

This year, the prospect of spending Chinese New Year out of the UK and in actual China was both exciting and sad for me. Of course, I didn't want to be away from my family. Like Christmas, this would be the first time I'd ever been away from home for Chinese New Year. But on the other hand, I was also really keen to see how people in China actually celebrate it - see how it might/ might not be different. I'd managed to organise with my Dad to stay with my Aunt (his older sister - so my 大姑) in Shenzhen over Chinese New Year. It was a great compromise as I was still technically spending it with family - albeit family I had only ever met a couple times in my life.

一。Chinese Family Tree

For some background, I actually come from a huge family. My Dad alone has five sisters and two brothers (I think) and my Mum has at least three sisters and two brothers (that I've met). Add to this several cousins on both sides of the family, and even some second cousins, my family tree is quite complex (don't even get me started on the few adopted and step siblings my Mum has). To sum up, I have a huge family, a good portion of which I have never even met before in my life. Whilst the majority of my Mum and Dad's siblings also moved to the UK 30 years ago, I have some relatives dotted around in Canada and China too.

Even more complicated is that in the Chinese language, each member of your family has a specific name according to what position and age they are in relation to your parents. Just take a look at this video on The Complicated Chinese Family Tree to understand. So if I did manage to meet everyone in my family, I'd have a hell of a job trying to remember what term to address them as... This is all just context as over the course of Chinese New Year, I met an entire side of my family for the first time ever, but how I refer to them might get a tad confusing. Please bear with me...

二。First time family meetings

I arrived in Guangzhou after my two weeks in Vietnam and was picked up by my older cousin, son of the Aunt who I organised to stay with. We should also bear in mind that not only was I a little nervous about meeting an entire side of my family I hadn't met before, but the language barrier was still an issue. My family in Southern China speak Cantonese, of which I'm a little familiar with having grown up hearing it. But since coming to China to learn Mandarin, the one thing I've been trying my best to do is 'unlearn' Cantonese so that I don't refer back to it as I learn the more widely used dialect. When my cousin came to pick me up, I suddenly had rack my brain to bring back the broken Cantonese I knew in order to communicate with him. It's safe to say that I can speak a strange and confusing mix of Cantonese, Mandarin and English. It's what I'm going to refer to as full blown 'Chinglish' (why doesn't LinkedIn have that as a language skill option?).

We drove a couple hours out of Guangzhou to make a short visit to an older cousin I had actually known from when I was growing up in the UK. My 表哥 (Older male cousin, my father's other sister's son) had moved back to China quite some years ago so I hadn't seen him in a long while. Luckily his English was decent enough for me to have a conversation with him. The best thing about this short but sweet visit was that I got to meet his 3 year old daughter and adorable new 8 month old son. There was something about the fact that not even any of my family back in the UK had met this little fella that made it all a bit more special.

Meeting adorable new additions to the family

Before we set off to drive a few more hours out of Guangzhou and into Shenzhen where my Aunt lived, my Dad gave my cousins a quick call, insisting I got taken to see my Great Uncle who lived just down the road. It was quite trippy to see how differently they lived. They had an open plan kitchen connected to an open air dining space that spilled out into the main street. In the corner on the back of a parked motor bike was a thatched cage with a chicken casually perched inside. In the distance, I could hear hens clucking away...

I was quickly ushered by my English speaking cousin toward a den at the back of the house where my Great Uncle was gambling with a load of other men. With a quick, "This is Asang's daughter from the UK", a little wave, I was rushed back to the kitchen/ dining area and introduced to what felt like a million other family members. When I asked my older cousin what I was to call everyone, he simply said, "Just say cousin - even I'm not sure what to call them". We stayed for some tea before making the long drive to Shenzhen but needless to say, my head was spinning a little at having met several relatives I didn't know existed before.

三。Shenzhen 

In Shenzhen, I spent most of my time with the family of the older cousin who picked me up including his wife and two kids - Daniel aged 10 and Janice aged 8. The more time I spent with my Southern Chinese family, the more Cantonese came flooding back to me. In actuality, I still think my Cantonese is a little better than my Mandarin - but it's still sketchy all the same. One thing I found quite amazing about this side of the family was their ability to switch in and out of Mandarin and Cantonese when they spoke. It's something I'd love to be able to do one day!

Unfortunately, the kids didn't know Cantonese. The Guangzhou Cantonese dialect is also referred to as 白话 (bai hua) and I guess I assumed that most, if not all Southern Chinese people would know it too.  Despite living in Southern China, perhaps for this generation of kids, knowing how to speak Mandarin fluently is seen as more important. It did mean communicating with my young second cousins was limited.

"我不懂白话 (I don't understand Cantonese)”, Daniel would tell me any time I tried to talk to him.

Daniel, aged 10, doing some English homework

Although we couldn't actually speak much, I was a massive fan of Daniel. He was so endearingly sweet, often giving me hugs and urging me to play games with him (I let him win at some numbers game I didn't really understand... despite the fact there was an English instruction manual). If I think back to when I was his age, I certainly wouldn't have been so friendly to a complete stranger cousin I didn't know and couldn't even speak with. When the family found out I teach English for a living in China, I was asked to help Daniel with the part of his English homework he found most difficult. He was tasked with writing a sizeable paragraph about his family members. What you can't see in the photo above is that he was writing about his Grandmother who was "fat and like cooking" and his Dad who was "short and like swim”*... Indeed, I was a massive fan of Daniel.

(*Of course, as an English teacher, I did help him correct his grammar)

四。Celebrating New Year

The traditions I have at home and some that people in China observe are slightly different. The whole get together with your family, have a big meal, exchange lucky red envelops, clean your house tradition remains the same. Some other traditions that people in China practise more strictly include buying and wearing completely new clothes to see the New Year in. Having returned back to China with very few clothes, I was very happy to go shopping for some new threads. My older cousin was insistent that he paid for everything, which I felt very grateful for.

Another tradition that I can certainly get on board with is the whole setting off firecrackers and fireworks thing. It's not an exaggeration but China feels like it's in the midst of World War III with the sound of firecrackers and fireworks exploding almost constantly at all times of the day.

Living in London, or in fact the UK in general, I know this kind of thing wouldn't go down well at all. After dinner, we took the kids outside on the main street with a big black bin liner full of assorted fireworks, sparklers and firecrackers. I don't think I've ever actually set off fireworks myself before so the whole thing had me feeling like a big kid. We stayed outside for about two hours just setting off mini fireworks into the neighbourhood. I might be 23 but I still thought it was really great fun. Secretly, I felt real inner joy when I had to light up the fireworks instead of my younger cousins... for safety reasons of course.

Firestarters

五。Happy Valley, Shenzhen

I only spent a few days with my family as I was heading to Guangzhou to meet back up with Beth to celebrate her birthday. On one of my last days, my older cousin and their family decided they must take me "to go play", so we headed to a theme park called Happy Valley. 

I haven't been to a theme park since I was about 16, so it was great to be back in one. The only odd thing was that none of the adults we went with actually fancied going on any of the rides, even though they paid the entrance fee. They also decided I must be chaperoned in the queues. You can imagine that the queues in China for anything are always long due to the sheer number of people. I ended up waiting over an hour for one ride, so in a strange way, I admired one of my older cousins for deciding to wait in a queue with me so I wasn't alone despite the fact he wouldn't be riding with me. 

Anyway, sure, this year's Chinese New Year was different and great in many ways, I do have to admit I still missed being home with my family, eating the food that my Dad so wonderfully prepares every year, guessing who will be the first to crack and open up the lucky red envelopes to see how much money we were given by our siblings.

Being sent countless photos of the feast and group pictures from my siblings didn't help much either but if there's one thing I know I'm massively grateful for - it's my family, wherever they are in the world.

A New Year's Family Photo (minus Mum)

Left to Right: Peter (little brother), Dad, Nan, Philip (older brother) and Jenny (older sister)

Do you glow for Ho?: 2 Weeks in Vietnam

In terms of my heritage, I often tell people the abridged version of my family background. For one, it becomes a little confusing for some when they try to figure out where in Asia I'm actually from and two, some of the details aren't even that clear to me either. As a result, it's easy for me to just say that my parents are from Guangdong Province in Southern China and this makes sense because rather than knowing Mandarin, I'm more familiar with Cantonese. In actual fact, both my parents were born in Vietnam and grew up in farming communities. Where exactly? I'm not sure. The details of how they immigrated to the UK? I'm a bit hazy on that too (perhaps something to address in later blog post). Ultimately though, I come from a Chinese family who grew up on a farm in Vietnam but according to my Dad, my great great Granddad has roots somewhere in Southern China.

When given the amount of time off I was for Spring Festival, something instantly drew me to Vietnam. It was probably a subconscious thing. As well as discovering more about my 'Chineseness' by moving to China for a year, part of me wanted to visit the country my parents grew up in too. I didn't know much about Vietnam and actually, I didn't do much research or planning for the trip at all. For those of you who know me well, you'll agree that for me, this is quite out of character. Despite not knowing a great deal about the country or what there was to do there, I spent 14 days blitzing through Vietnam with some fellow ELAs, beginning in Ho Chi Minh and ending up in Hanoi.

Perhaps one of the first things to mention is that the trip didn't get off to the best of starts. Above, we see a photo of me with my carefully packed rucksack - full of optimism and excitement for all the travelling I was about to embark on. Packing for almost two months worth of travelling was a tad stressful. In terms of clothes, I wanted to be prepared for all types of weather. China would be considerably cooler than Vietnam, so I needed a mix of both warm clothing, as well as beach appropriate wear. Having left Dali and flown to Kunming, where I would take another flight to Guangzhou before a final leg to Ho Chi Minh City (that's right - three flights in one day), I went from gorgeous sunny weather in Dali to snow in Kunming. In Guangzhou, it had even snowed for the first time in ten years. The unexpected snow caused Kunming airport to go into complete disarray with flights being cancelled and delayed all over the place. I should have taken this as bad omen but I somehow managed to get a slightly delayed flight to Guangzhou in time to catch my connecting flight to Ho Chi Minh. I counted myself lucky but that's pretty much where my luck ran out. 

Unfortunately, my backpack didn't quite make it to Vietnam with me and instead got sucked into some kind of airport black hole courtesy of China Southern Airlines. And sorry for the spoiler, but I wasn't reunited with my things at any point during the trip. I still haven't actually recovered it and have just come to terms with the fact that I will probably never will. It's not a massive deal. It was mostly clothes in my bag - all of which are replaceable. I am however peeved that an old film camera my parents used to take photos of me and my siblings when were young is in some unknown place - the sentimental value of which cannot be compensated for...

I'd like to say that not having my belongings didn't make a difference to this leg of my travels, but I have to admit I didn't ever feel 100% myself without my clothes. It's not that I'm a particularly materialistic, vain, fashionista type of person, but I do like to put effort into looking well put together. Not having basic things like a change of clothes or even underwear wasn't ideal and it definitely effected the way I experienced the trip to the extent that I didn't actually take many photos. All in all, Vietnam got off to a very inconvenient and uncomfortable start but I was determined to make the most of my time there, so here are the highlights*:

*Note: This is a lengthy post but if you're only interested in what I got up to in individual places, I'll be covering Ho Chi Minh City, Da Lat, Hoi An, Hanoi and Sapa if you want to skip sections..

一。Ho Chi Minh City

Between overcoming the loss of my things and scouring markets for new clothes to wear, we enjoyed the hotter weather in Ho Chi Minh and did a lot of visits to various museums.

One place I would highly recommend for a visit is the War Remnants Museum. Sam and I arrived about an hour before it was due to close but I wish we spent more time there. On the top floor is an incredibly moving photo exhibition showcasing amazing photos of everyday people who have suffered from the atrocities of the Vietnam War. When it comes to things like this, I guess it's really difficult to present them in any kind of objective way. A portion of the exhibition is named "Historical Truths" and doesn't veil any kind of balanced attitude towards American soldiers during the war. But the photos on show really speak for themselves. International photographers like Goro Nakamura emotively capture the after effects of the use of Agent Orange on Vietnamese children and families. The exhibition is deeply moving, if not quite depressing. I was left not really knowing what to think or feel but I was glad I visited this exhibition and would recommend that anyone making a stop in Ho Chi Minh also pay a visit.

On another afternoon, we did a half day tour to the Cu Chi Tunnels where we learnt more about guerilla warfare and the tactics of the Vietcong during the Vietnam War. Seeing the different types of brutal traps used was especially intriguing. We even got to try out squeezing ourselves through the underground tunnels, which was way more difficult than the tunnels we'd crawled in Seoul at Christmas (do not recommend if you're claustrophobic). The Cu Chi Tunnels trip is of course very tourist-y, but if you want to get out of the hot crowded city for an afternoon and learn a bit about some history, it's pretty decent.

二。Da Lat

Possibly my favourite stop during my time in Vietnam, Da Lat was great to visit to get out of the hot and busy city and forget about my lost luggage.

We spent the first afternoon exploring the markets in the centre of the main town for more clothes and a pair of practical trainers. I don't think I've ever been so stressed out shopping before. When I buy clothes, I don't tend to make impulsive decisions. If I like something, I'll mull it over for a few days before I return to a store. If it's still there when I come back, I take it as a sign of fate and make my purchase. Being forced to make shopping decisions out of sheer necessity was a stressful ordeal for me.

Sporting clothes you'd never see me wearing otherwise - Tropical print three quarter length bottoms and fake Sketchers #SoFashion

Added to the stress of decision making was the urge to barter with people running the stalls. 'Never pay full price' is a piece of advice I was given before coming to Vietnam. The trouble is that as soon as shop keepers find out you speak English, the price is hiked up and in the battle of who will give in to a negotiated price, Vietnamese shopkeepers are hard to budge (in my experience). Eventually, after some panic buys, I ended up with a new set of fake Sketcher trainers for around £11 and some jazzy (albeit out of character for me) tropical print bottoms amongst other things. Queue looking a little ridiculous for the rest of Vietnam!

Mr Peace explaining about the significance of the flower trade during Tet Festival in Vietnam

Beside looking different to my normal self, our time in Da Lat was actually quite fun. This is Mr Peace, an absolute legend. If there was any reason why Da Lat was so memorable, it was because of him. We stayed at Mr Peace's Backpacker Hostel and took his 'Secret Tour'. I won't go into too much detail - the whole appeal of taking this tour is that no one passes on any information about what you actually get up to on the tour. Essentially you end up riding around on mopeds (or on the back of a motorcycle in my case) all around Da Lat. Mr Peace takes you to specially selected spots in and around the city and uses his local knowledge to give you a good run down on Da Lat and Vietnam more widely.

Stopping for weasel coffee with a view

Charging around Da Lat via motorbike

To spare some boring details, whilst everyone else rode on their own mopeds, I ended up on the secret tour using an 'easy rider' which is essentially someone who drives a motorbike whilst you play passenger in the back. Now I look back on it, this was without doubt the best option for me as someone who doesn't even have a drivers license and isn't too familiar with the rules of the road, isn't that confident riding a bike and would have almost certainly have had an accident on the busy Vietnamese roads.

My driver, called Mountain, was always very sweet. He plucked a flower from a passing field to decorate my helmet with and always insisted on securing my helmet for me before we took to the roads. Even with his limited English, he tended to point out really obvious things we drove passed. "Coffee!", "Flower!", "Chicken!", I always found it amusing. On the back of his motorbike, I was able to take in all the scenery without worrying and it gave me some time to forget about my shaky start in Vietnam and really start to enjoy myself.

Sunset in Da Lat

I cannot stress what a character Mr Peace was - he's a bit of a nut but just super sassy and absolutely hilarious. He runs his hostel alongside his wife Strawberry and adorable baby daughter, Lauren who is absolutely not afraid of meeting and playing with all the travellers who end up at the hostel. Anyone looking for a backpacker friendly place to stay in Da Lat should definitely check him out.

Da Lat itself is great too. A little reminiscent of a UK seaside town, it made a really good contrast to the heaving traffic and bustling city life we experienced in HCM. It's easy to get a little lost on the winding roads, but there is something so unfussy about this little city that makes it a good stop if you find somewhere like Ho Chi Minh a bit intense.

三。Hoi An

After several more overnight buses, a couple brief stops in the beachy but touristy Nha Trang and a rainy pit stop in Hue, we made it to Hoi An.

I was actually a really big fan of Hoi An too. There's lots to explore in the main town; local food markets, tailors and the like. The night markets are beautifully lit up with lanterns too, a speciality of Hoi An. You can find locals and tourists setting off candle lit lanterns into the river canals at night, so overall, there's a real charming vibe to Hoi An. Prior to coming to Vietnam, I was told that you could source pints of beer at a cost cheaper than a bottle of water - this was true of Hoi An where you could get 'local beer' for as little as 5000VND (15p!). Ideal.

At the hostel I stayed at in Dali, I spoke to another traveller about what to do in Vietnam and he recommended a visit to the Marble Mountains. So on one of the days, we decided to ride around on a moped down to the Marble Mountains and took a little detour to the beaches of Da Nang. The 'Marble Mountains' are not so much mountains as they are tall mounds, but for a small ticket fee, you can climb to the highest viewpoints to see the surrounding landscape of Da Nang and visit some peaceful temples along the way. You can also check out some of the inner caves and grottoes with Buddhist carvings. There's one in particular that makes you feel like you've just stepped onto the set of an Indiana Jones movie, with just a few cracks in the ceiling of the cave to let in a few beams of light. It all would have been serene and peaceful were it not for a large group of Korean tourists who we found rather amusing for their photo posing and loud "oohs" and "ahhs" everywhere we went.
As for the beaches of Da Nang, they appeared far less busy than An Bang beach, located closer to the main town of Hoi An. Maybe it was the fact that it was Tet Festival, but Da Nang was pretty deserted and there wasn't much of a tourist vibe - which was great considering that Hoi An felt a lot like that otherwise.

One evening we ate at a restaurant called Morning Glory. By this point, we'd been more than content with cheap but delicious bowls of pho and had also taken a liking to the local speciality of Cao Lau (beef noodles). But for one night, decided to splash out a bit on our meal and Morning Glory was pretty glorious. We'd fallen in love with a dish featuring smoked eggplant and minced pork. I'd genuinely go back to Hoi An for more of it. In terms of food though, it's pretty easy to eat well in Vietnam on a shoestring budget. Bowls of pho are always cheap and freshly made. There was one occasion in Hoi An when we were slightly tricked into eating at a backstreet restaurant, enticed by a local saying there was a happy hour (there wasn't). But in the end, we didn't mind. The cao lau was worth it.

四。Hanoi

Compared to Ho Chi Minh, I think I much preferred Hanoi as a city. Although heading from South to North, we'd gone from hot to colder weather, Hanoi had far more character and actually, I preferred the cooler temperatures in the busy city.

Egg coffee

Here, we met back up with Tom who had been flying solo in Vietnam after we departed at Ho Chi Minh. Together we took a free walking tour of Hanoi, got taken to St Joseph's Cathedral, Turtle Lake and whipped through the street markets. We ended the tour with an egg coffee, one of the stranger things I've drunk in my life. Essentially, it's like a shot of espresso topped with a really sweet egg meringue/ scrambled egg foam. I can't say I hated it but it's not the kind of thing you could drink every day.

We spent one afternoon at the Museum of Ethnology which houses exhibitions and artefacts from the 54 officially recognised ethnic groups in Vietnam. From ethnic dress to videos of ceremonial practices, cooking utensils to writing books, the museum is great if you're quite into anthropology. After telling the others about my ever so slightly confusing origins story, it was here that Tom decided to devise a scientific method to find out whether I did indeed have any Vietnamese in my blood. At each section presenting a new ethnic group, he'd ask how I felt about the artefacts on show and whether I felt any affinity to them. He'd compare the photographs with my face. He monitored whether I developed some sort of 'glow' in front of the pieces. Results of Tom's scientific method? Inconclusive.

One morning we got an early start to get to the Ho Chi Minh Mausoleum. Here, you line up in a long, meandering queue for a quick glimpse of the embalmed body of the former President. Again, it's one of the stranger things I did in Vietnam. It's an odd experience. Having studied the Vietnam War at GCSE, you're never forced to think about what the people you're learning about actually look like in real life, so it was all quite surreal to say the least. Ho Chi Minh's body, although waxy looking under the special dimmed yellow lighting, seemed serene but he also was a lot smaller physically than you'd imagine. Another thing you don't really consider is how revered Ho Chi Minh is to Vietnamese locals. Just ahead of us in the queue were women who wept as they saw the body, expressing their thanks to this heroic leader. I couldn't imagine ever having the same kind of reaction to the Queen of Britain, let alone any leader of any country. Needless to say, as with Tom's scientific experiment the day before, I didn't quite glow for Ho either.

A blurry photo of my banh mi because I was too keen to start eating it

There's no way I could write a Vietnam blog post without mentioning my new found love of Vietnamese Banh Mi. They're a bit like Subway sandwiches - except they taste a hundred times better! After French colonisation, Vietnam kept some of the French foodie influence in terms of baguettes. Banh mi sandwiches use delicious, airy baguettes filled with crunchy carrots, cucumbers, cold cuts of sliced pork (or whatever meat you fancy), drizzled in a sweet and sour sauce. Other versions we tried included paté which also come highly recommended if you want to try out a different kind of banh mi.

When we were in Hanoi, we found ourselves forever craving them, and pretty much getting one at every opportunity (the boys at a record 4 banh mi's in one day). We even spent an hour after sitting in a local beer house, drinking beer and playing cards actively hunting down a cart that sold some. Needless to say we were pretty gutted to find out no one sells them after a certain time in the evening and sadly returned to our hostels with banh mi-less dampened spirits. Determinedly, Sam beelined for Banh Mi 25 the following morning because he'd read some good reviews about the place. It's an indistinct looking stall but clearly very popular. There seemed to be a constant queue of people pulling up on their mopeds, patiently waiting for their hand crafted banh mi's. We weren't left disappointed either. It definitely made up for the lack of banh mi the night before.

Maybe we fell in love with banh mi in Vietnam because bread in China is a bit crap. Either the texture is oddly crumbly and dry, or it tastes a tad sweeter than it ought to (pass me the Warburtons!), but truly, banh mi's are a thing of beauty. I'm certain wouldn't be able to locate a banh mi sandwich in China, but I'm putting it on the top of my list to hunt down when I get back to London in the summer!

六。Sapa

Village locals trekking the muddy rice terraces

In the final few days of our time in Vietnam, Sam and I went for a village stay in Sapa, a few hours outside of Hanoi. We'd signed up for a trek amongst the rice terraces and an 'authentic' homestay with someone in the village. Admittedly, this was another point where I felt like proper planning would have done us some good. Not really considering the time of year, the rice terraces were out of season and the trek was incredibly muddy. The weather wasn't ideal and I was left longing for the hot weather of the South.

There was a group of around ten of us who had signed up for the same village stay. Along with some local village people as guides, we trekked for a few hours up and down muddy paths and along water bogged rice terraces. The village women were really friendly, asking in their limited English how old we were, about our families and in turn, telling us about their children and siblings. When you needed a helping hand, they were there to assist you and prevent you from falling over in the mud. It was only when we nearly approached the lunch spot that the tone of the conversation took a turn.

"You'll be going for lunch just there and I will go back to my home to eat. Before I go, maybe you could help me by buying something?".

I don't know why I didn't see it coming. The friendliness was too good to be true and soon we were all bombarded with requests to buy souvenirs in return for their assistance through the mud. I can't lie - I felt a bit cheated and naive because I didn't see it coming. And worse, I felt really guilty for not wanting to buy any of the needless scarves, stitched purses or jewellery they were requesting extortionate prices for. It wasn't a case of saying apologetically but firmly, no. Their persistence made the air turn sour and awkward. Their sales technique needed work because the longer it went on, the more I was convinced I didn't want to buy a thing. 

It's just something to be wary of if you ever head to Sapa or village homestays of a similar trip. Tourism of this kind is clearly lucrative for village locals and tourists like us looking for an 'authentic' experience are just opportunities to make a quick buck. In hindsight, I'd rethink doing a trip like this again in future. It's not to say that it isn't worth doing but from a personal point of view, the trip to Sapa was far from 'authentic'. It would take more than seeing locals in ethnic dress and modest meals at a homestay to convince me otherwise. There was even wifi at the place we stayed!

 (Photo stolen from Sam) Us with our sweet Sapa guide and muddy rented wellies

Our 'trek' in Sapa wasn't really what we expected but it was made better by our guide, who was incredibly sweet. Although she couldn't read or write, her spoken English was actually pretty good. She was always willing to answer any questions (Sam asked her random ones like her feelings towards Ho Chi Minh...) with a smile on her face. I was pretty bowled over that she was only 18 years old but already a mother of an 18 month old baby and a wife since she was 14. Such a different life!

It wasn't all bad. We spent our evenings huddled round fires and even found a decent cabin bar called Lucky Daisy's Bamboo Bar. By this point, we had already decided to embrace the fact that Sapa wasn't quite the real deal village experience so we were happy to sit in this cosy bar with hot chocolates and mulled wine (much to the disapproval of our homestay host who issued us with a 9pm curfew..). We even spoke to one of the owners who was originally from Hanoi. She married a Dutch man and together they decided to set up Lucky Daisy's (also a homestay) in Sapa after realising that in villages like Sapa, tourists still seek home comforts in terms of food and beverage. It was really interesting to talk to the owner about how they are treated by other locals. She admitted that there was always a feeling of hostility and even jealousy from other homestay owners. She told us that sadly, other locals would often lie to the tourists staying with them, spreading rumours that the owners of Lucky Daisy's were crazed, weapon holding people who were dangerous to be around and that they also owned a rabid dog. Bottom line was that out of jealousy, tourists staying at other homestays were told to avoid the bar at all costs. I found the whole story quite sad but I can vouch for Lucky Daisy's. It's a good little hideaway with friendly staff - no rabid dog in sight.

Apologies for the lengthy post but congratulations if you managed to read it through to the end without getting bored! Vietnam was certainly eventful but for all it's ups and downs, I was really happy to get back to Mainland China and back to something familiar. I arrived back in Guangzhou and was ready to celebrate my first ever Chinese New Year away from my immediate family.

Dali daze

As with many people I've spoken to since, Dali in Yunnan Province is probably my favourite place I've visited in China so far. I decided to alter my original plans to be in Kunming longer and head to Dali for a few days after a little advice from some people back in Tianjin. I'm so glad I followed their suggestion because I absolutely fell in love with the place. It's a stunning little city just a four hour train ride from Kunming. I would highly recommend for everyone visiting China to go to at least once.

Poppy and I took an early train and coincidently booked onto the same train as another British Council ELA I knew. It was really great to catch up with Will and hear all about his time teaching in Jiujiang. Even better was that he was about to embark on a pretty random 20 day trek in the mountains of Yunnan with his own personal sherpa who coincidently didn't speak a word of English. If ever I thought I was being adventurous, Will completely blew me out of the water. Again, it was moments like this that made me feel like its a small world after all. What were the chances that in a country as huge as China, we'd be booked onto the exact same train? 

一。Cangshan Mountain

Poppy and I took it easy on our first night in Dali. We ventured to a nearby dumpling restaurant and the lovely lady chef let us make our own dinner and help out making dumplings. We were also charmed by a lovely little girl who practised her English on us and began reeling off some lines she memorised really well. She proceeded to tell us that her name was Daisy, that she was 10 years old and that she was a happy girl. 

The following day, we decided to do a little hike on Cangshan Mountain - surrounded by nature, the fresh smell of Yunnan pine and the odd waterfall. With a summit at over 4000 metres, we were unable to see the very top of the mountain veiled by thick cloud. Visitors can reach one of the highest peaks via chairlift but due to weather (apparently it'd been snowing the night before), this wasn't an option for us. We settled for a hike about halfway up the mountain instead.

I found the sight of these sticks at the base of the mountain paths quite curious. Poppy said she'd been told that Chinese people will often leave sticks to prop up the base of mountains to keep them more stable. It's such a strange concept but actually I think it's quite nice to believe that you're helping keep the mountains upright. This made the various signs along the mountain which urged visitors to "beware of falling rocks" and to "run fast" in the case of rock fall quite amusing.

We walked along the Cloud Pass, a 13km path along the middle of the mountain. The path itself meanders a great deal. One minute you're over looking the city with stunning uninterrupted views, another you're tucked away underneath rock overhang wondering how on earth gravity isn't causing this monstrous mountain to come crashing down.

There were so many moments where I would just stop dead in my tracks and just have my breath taken away by how stunning the views were from Cangshan. The skies were clear, the air was fresh. These are things that I took for granted back home. Before moving to China, I never really considered what the air quality would be like, nor did I think about the fact that seeing a blue sky is actually considered lucky back in Tianjin. In this part of Western China, away from factories or constant road traffic, Dali was just beautiful because you can actually see it clearly. I don't think I ever really understood what it meant to 'drink air', but being so high up on Cangshan, you really can!

Dali is just unbelievably picturesque from Cangshan, truly like something from a postcard.

二。Ancient Town

The hostel we were staying in was based within the Ancient Town walls, making it incredibly convenient to explore. Dali has a reputation for being a bit bohemian and hippie. I'd even go as far as to say it's quite hipster (although the vibe isn't as imposing or contrived as the word might suggest). For all of it's crafty stores and independent coffee shops which still maintain the original architecture of old Dali, you're never left with a lack of places to explore within the city walls. Listen to the music that echoes out of local venues, sample the unusual tastes of rose pastries, browse the beautiful patterned clothes on store racks. The Ancient Town host so many little gems.

City wall archways

Maybe one of the best things is that Dali is incredibly charming. It is touristy but it still feels unspoilt. The tourism there isn't intense as it is in other Chinese cities I've visited. It almost feels as if this is still a cool Chinese secret that people are yet to find out about and see as a commercial tourist opportunity. Personally, I hope that it remains that way - although maybe that'll be hard if I don't stop singing Dali's praises...

三。Xizhou Village

Along the huge Er Hai Lake that Dali is nested on are a tonne of villages you can visit via bike. As we've heard from my Xi'an post, my cycling abilities aren't the best. Knowing that I'd be heading to Vietnam (a motorcyclist's paradise) after Dali, I thought there would be no better time to try my luck on an e-bike to ride around the lake. Turns out, e-bikes are harder to ride than they look. I could never quite find the sweet spot on the accelerator that made you go at a decent speed. As someone who wouldn't describe themselves as a road safe cyclist, even the lady who rented the bikes out to us had reservations and suggested we give the bike back. The good news was that the villages are also easily reachable by public buses, so off we went to Xizhou.

Xizhou baba cooked on an open charcoal 'oven'

Much like the Ancient Town, Xizhou has it's own charming quirks - local people hanging colourful tie-dyed fabrics for sale, traditional Bai ethnic architecture and winding alleys to get lost in. Our helpful hostel receptionist told us we must try the local delicacy of 'Xizhou baba', which she likened to a pizza. Not directly comparable, 'Xizhou baba' is like a doughy flatbread cooked on open charcoal ovens and filled with either pork for a savoury option or red bean paste for a sweet choice. Naturally, I opted for both...

Street graffiti

Xizhou was full of little surprises. A random turning took us to a paddy field, vividly green with farmers working away. Back down another alleyway, we stumbled across some Chinese graffiti art. For those looking for a bit more of an 'off-the-beaten-track- type experience of Dali, Xizhou is a good place to visit.

四。Erhai Lake

Just a short tuk tuk ride away from Xizhou, we sped along to get a close up view of Erhai Lake.

It's easy to forget you're in China when you're by Erhai Lake because it's not your typical 'Chinese' scenery. It's hard to put into words just how beautiful Dali is, but photos speak for themselves...

五。Chinese Coldplay

Just when we thought we'd explored every corner of the Ancient Town, Dali threw us another surprise on our last night. A few nights before, we'd enjoyed some live music at a local bar - a hippie looking expat armed with a Spanish guitar playing smooth covers of Blackstreet's No Diggity and Sinatra's Fly Me To The Moon (quite the repertoire). Our impressions of the music scene in Dali were incredibly positive but on our final night, we stumbled across a strobe light filled street with pumping music. I didn't really know where to look. To my left, a pair of young Chinese dancer girls dressed in identical outfits which appeared to be a cross between cowboy fancy dress outfit and traditional Chinese cheongsam. To my right, another performance by some Chinese acoustic artist, trying to wrestle away attention from passersby. What did catch my eye was Chinese Coldplay singing a rock version of Yellow. China just continues to surprise me in all the best ways...

I feel like I only scratched the surface of Dali but from what I did experience, it's got to be one of my favourite places in China so far. I know that I absolutely have to head back to Yunnan Province and see even more at some point. Until then, Dali!

All aboard for Kunming

The next stop on my Spring Festival travels was Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province. In terms of distance, a flight from Chengdu to Kunming would only take about an hour and half. But in times like that, you gotta think – where’s the fun in that? Rather than go for convenience and speed, Beth and I decided to take our first ever sleeper train in China which would take 22 hours in total. Of course, there was a risk we’d suffer from cabin fever and/ or complete boredom but we were pleasantly surprised at how fun the sleeper train was.

一．22 hours

Soft sleeper train luxuries

We chose a train journey that would arrive in Kunming early the following day so as not to waste a day of our travels. We could also feasibly sleep through the night and kill a few hours that way too. Sleeper train tickets come in different standards. You can go for a dirt cheap standing ticket, a hard seat, a hard sleeper or soft sleeper. Seeing as we would be on the move for almost a day, we opted for a soft sleeper ticket and the train journey was actually incredibly comfortable. The main difference between a soft and hard sleeper is certainly comfort. Hard sleeper cabins accommodate 6 passengers with three bunks (top, middle and bottom) on either side, whereas a soft sleeper accommodate 4 passengers in a relatively more spacious cabin. We were provided with duvets and pillows. Our ‘cabin mates’ were also very friendly, often offering us snacks and trying to chat to us.

I don’t know what it is about moving vehicles but the dull motion of a moving train or car often makes me feel sleepy, whether I really am or not. Much like the lazy pandas we saw at the zoo in Chengdu, Beth and I catnapped an awful lot during the 22 hour journey. When I wasn’t sleeping, I was able to write some postcards, do some reading and even write my Harbin blogpost. The long train journey was great to do some of the things I never tend to find time to do.

Dining cart 

When it was time for dinner, one of our cabin mates told us the on-train dining carriage was open to serve passengers. The train guards seemed highly intrigued and amused by Beth and I wanting to order food. By this point, I've pretty much mastered how to tell people that I am indeed (as they rightly assume) Chinese but that I was born in London and therefore my Chinese isn't so great.

“我是中国人，但我来自伦敦所以，我的中文不好”

The trouble with this sentence is that people will either assume I know no Chinese or are incredibly confused that I seem to speak a little. In any case, the train guards assumed the former and decided the best way to communicate what was on the menu to us was via – wait for it… emojis.

Now, I know how to say pork in Chinese. I also know how to read the characters on a menu but I did found it absolutely hilarious that the guard decided to show me the pig emoji to ask if we approved of this as an alternative to chicken which we originally asked for. A swift nod of agreement from us and the food, although not appearing appetising, arrived and was surprising really decent. All in all, the 22 hour train journey was one which I'd happily do again. Shelling out a little extra for a soft sleeper was certainly worth it.

二. Yunnan Cheese

Speaking of food, the one things I did a lot of during Spring Festival was eat everything in sight. I'm always keen to try out local delicacies wherever I go. The great thing about China is that every city has it's own type of food or dish that it's famous for, and with a country as vast and diverse as China, there's always something new to try. I can't speak highly enough of Yunnan cheese - it's a must eat if you find yourself in Yunnan Province.

If there's anything I "miss" from back home, maybe it's the quality of dairy products. I was once told by someone I met when I first arrived in China that many people here are lactose intolerant, which might explain why things like cheese isn't a big thing here like it is back home. Whilst there is definitely a culture of drinking milk for breakfast in China, I've always found the quality and taste of it never as satisfying as back in the UK so I find my diet lacks in dairy compared to before.

Yunnan cheese was a great discovery though. Made from goats milk, it can be likened to halloumi in terms of taste and the way it's served (pan-fried). I never thought I'd see the day I'd get my hands on halloumi-esque cheese in China. Maybe it's the fact I've been without cheese for so long, but I thought Yunnan cheese was simply delicious.

三. Dianchi Lake

Wet feet by Dianchi Lake

Kunming is actually located well into the mainland, but a visit to Dianchi Lake and you could mistake it for a coastal city. We were lucky with the weather and took a leisurely stroll around the lake, watching as the tide went in and out.

Strangely enough, one of the reasons people visit the lake is to go and feed flocks of seagulls. There are tonnes of stalls selling huge baguettes and biscuits which locals and tourists hold out towards the lake and allow the seagulls to peck at whilst they get the perfect snapshot on their camera phones. Although this kind of thing would probably seem like a nightmare to some, the seagulls are actually quite tame. None of them seem like the ravenous kind you might find in the UK, always circling the skies waiting to swoop in unannounced to steal food from your hands. It may seem like a bit of an odd tourist attraction, but I guess there is something enjoyable about it.

四. Whizzing down the Western Hills

Ski lift up to the top of the Western Hills

Close by Dianchi Lake are the Western Hills which give amazing panoramic views of the entire city. We took ski lifts to the top of the hills and I have to say, I was completely bowled over by how beautiful the city is from that high. I didn't know much about Kunming before I went but I certainly didn't expect it to be as serene as it was.

There's a saying that if you do not visit the Western Hills, you haven't truly visited Kunming and if you haven't seen the Dragon Gate, you haven't really visted the Western Hills. We had to absolutely blitz the Western Hills though to see the Dragon Gate and still get back to the ski lifts before they closed - so the race was on to see the many temples dotted along the hills, touch the stone Dragon Gate for good luck and make it back in time or else get stuck on the mountain. We made it in good time and even fit in a cheeky ice cream at the end, but given more time, I'd have liked to have explored the Western Hills even more as there are a fair few scenic spots throughout the hills.

五. Yuantong Temple.

Possibly the most peaceful place I've ever been to in my life, Yuantong Temple is the most famous Buddhist temple in Kunming and is certainly a place I recommend to visit in the city. After leaving the temple, I remember feeling a little disorientated that I'd gone from a place so serene back into the hustle and bustle of city roads. The temple is tucked away and once inside, you'd never guess you were within a provincial capital city. It's a great, chilled out way to spend an afternoon because of the massive contrast it provides to Kunming city life.

Monks on a bridge

We watched for a while as the monks performed their daily prayer ceremony, chanting their Buddhist mantras as locals also approached the main hall to join in. If you ever needed an example of how important and thriving Buddhism still is to the daily lives of some people in China, you could certainly find it here. Amongst the main green lake, beautiful pagodas and stone bridges, it was all just incredibly peaceful, which left a really positive lasting impression of Kunming for me.

Chengdu-ing it

Spot the panda

Chengdu - capital of China’s western Sichuan Province and city iconically known for being home to giant pandas and spicy cuisine. Enter Annie and Beth in full tourist mode, seeking to immediately tick these two things off the Chengdu must-do list. I couldn’t possibly come to China without visiting at least once so I made it the first stop on my travels. So, for my first post on my first Spring Festival stop, here are my Chengdu highlights:

一．Hot Pot

The night prior to leaving for Chengdu, I’d spoken to a fellow expat in a bar in Tianjin about the must-do things in the city. His answer: try Sichuan style hot pot. 

Me and Beth about to enjoy hot pot with a new friend

Now, I’m partial to a good hot pot. In the winter climate of Northern China, hot pot is the perfect meal to enjoy to ward off chilly winds but according to this guy at the bar, Sichuan hot pot was (in his words) “melt your face off” spicy.

“First, you think you can take it, and then your lips start to tingle. And then you can’t feel your lips. Then, come the sweats as your tongue feels like it’s about to explode. You’ve probably swallowed one of those sneaky peppercorns as you feel your face about to set on fire.”

Boy, did this guy paint a picture. Now, I’m by no means a spice wuss, but he did scare me a little about the level of spice I might have to face if I tried a genuine Sichuan hot pot. Not enough though – it was one of the first things Beth and I did on our first night in Chengdu. We ventured to Shu JiuXiang Hot Pot Restaurant (蜀九香) in WuHou District near where we were staying. We were assured it was the type of place that stayed open late and offered top notch food.

Having never actually ordered hot pot on our own before, we did a pretty decent job. Our waitress was also pretty helpful with giving us tips on the best combinations for our dipping sauce. We left with full-stomachs but were not quite content with the level of spice we ordered. It wasn’t quite the “melt your face off” experience we were looking for and so the search continued.

On other nights, we tried our hand at spicy noodles yet we were still not satisfied. It was only until our last night when we were taken to a hot pot place upon the experience of a new friend we made on the bus back from Leshan that we got the closest to ‘melting our faces off’. Between us all, we ordered two spice levels of soup base. Sure it was hot but I have to admit I didn’t have tears streaming from my eyes like I thought I might. The food and service was still amazing though and we were even treated to a mini Sichaun Opera mask changing performance which was great fun. I guess the search goes on for a tear-inducing spicy Sichuan hot pot though…

二．People’s Park

On our first full day in Chengdu, our itinerary was entirely open. Maybe it was the chilled out vibe of Chengdu that made us feel quite easy-going about what to do in the city but neither Beth nor I felt like doing anything too strenuous. We spent a good portion of the day in the People’s Park because a guy I was chatting to over Tinder had recommended it as the best place to chill out and grab a relaxing cup of tea at one of the many teahouses.

Obviously I can’t just skip over the fact that I’ve casually dropped in my use of Tinder in this post, but bear with me as I hark back to my summer travels in Japan last year to explain why it’s relevant to mention. I did a solo trip to Japan last summer to visit a good university friend of mine who was, like I am this year, teaching English in Northern Japan. I stayed in a traveller friendly hostel in Tokyo and really enjoyed talking to the stream of backpackers that came and went every day. One guy from Canada particularly stuck out to me though.

“Do you know what’s really good for travelling?” he said. “Tinder.”

“It’s really good for talking to people about what to do wherever you are.”

I remember rolling my eyes and instantly dismissing his comments. Sure mate. It’s definitely nothing to do with the fact you want to pick up a pretty Japanese girl. Of course you’re “looking for tips”…

I have to take that all back though. I’ve found Tinder a really good source for local knowledge and tips for the best things to do and see in any given city. I’d genuinely recommend it as an alternative to looking up stuff to do on Tripadvisor etc. This little anecdote becomes even more relevant towards the end of this post too but that’s another story. As I said, a Tinder tip I received told us to go to the People’s Park and it was a good choice to make.

The sassiest Chinese dance couple in all of the People’s Park

We really enjoyed standing around in the park watching a herd of ‘dancing aunties’ and old Chinese couples break out the moves in a kind of public park strictly come dancing show. We even got involved at one point in a Chinese Zumba style class (although Beth was far more adept at picking up the moves than I was).

I always find it quite incredible that so many people of the older generation in China are such incredible dancers. They’re just so co-ordinated and perform the dances effortlessly. The old couples did take breaks between some dances to catch their breath, but it was also very sweet to have stood on the side lines and watched as old men invited other women sitting on the edges for another cheeky dance.

I couldn’t take my eyes off one couple in particular though. Both nailed every single move and you could see all the other couples around looking over their shoulders for a brief second as they commanded the floor. The woman in particular with her long, butterfly printed velvet maxi skirt just oozed sass. Talk about dance couple goals.

Yep, enjoyed hot chrysanthemum tea through a straw…

It was a lovely little walk around the park itself. Chengdu was just so chilled. We sat down for some tea in one of the teahouses and spent some time people watching. Locals simply enjoying tea as they read the newspaper. Groups of old men getting worked up over their card games. Families with several generations spending time together, grandmas cuddling their adorable baby grandchildren. Here I also discovered how delicious chrysanthemum tea is. It was a random choice to have made in the first place and I can’t deny that I didn’t get it because I knew it’d look pretty but it’s now become one of my favourite teas. 

(*Note to self:- track some down now you’re back in Tianjin.)

三．Pandas

Day two in Chengdu and we went into full tourist mode when we headed to the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding. We bought some panda ears and wore them pretty much all day. We took a tonne of photos, attempting to get the best selfies with the pandas. It was harder than it sounds because the pandas were for the most part snoozing away and pretty inactive. For the ones that were awake, it was a bit of a battle with all the other Chinese tourists who also wanted photos. But you really can’t complain. Pandas are just too cute, whether they’re asleep or not.

I did enjoy letting my inner biology geek loose too. Reading about genetic diversity and the use of studbooks in one of the little museums reminded me of my school days revising for biology exams. Kiri - if you’re reading this, I’m sure if you were with you, you’d have found some awful biology related joke to tell.

There’s a section of the park dedicated to giving more information about what the pandas eat at the reserve and how it’s prepared. You can even try a sample of panda bread! But for the record, panda bread isn’t that great to eat and you should probably leave it up to them...

So there we have it – another thing ticked off the list must-do in Chengdu list. Although I hadn’t realised it until recently, this was the third time in my life I’ve actively gone out of my way to visit some pandas so it’s not like I got some special feeling seeing them for the first time. But you simply cannot go to Chengdu without paying a visit to the research base. You just gotta Chengdu-it (sporting panda merchandise not compulsory, but highly recommended).

四．Leshan Grand Buddha 

One of the other main tourist attractions in Chengdu is the Leshan Giant Stone Carved Buddha . I hadn’t actually known much about it before actually getting to Chengdu but I do think it’s worth the hour or so bus ride out of the city to go and visit.

 Somehow managing to make my head look a similar size to the Giant Buddha

The Leshan Grand Buddha is the largest stone carved Buddha statue in the world and amazingly, was carved into a cliffside during the Tang Dynasty. From above, the Grand Buddha is indeed impressive but you can't really get the full impact of the statue itself until you reach the bottom. Amongst the swarms of other tourists, you've got to precariously walk down some steep steps to reach the foot of the statue. Then it takes a lot of craning your neck to take it all in.

Smaller than Buddha's little toe

There's something a little off putting about that fact that you're actually a lot smaller than merely one of the toes of the statue (there's something I'd never thought I'd say), but you've got to give it to the monks who decided to complete this project thousands of years ago - if you're going to make a Buddha statue, make it a good one. 

五． Jin Li Street

So there are lots of other key things to see and do in Chengdu including a visit to the giant Chairman Mao monument outside the Sichuan Science Technology Museum, hanging out by Tianfu Square or doing other day trips to visit Emei Shan (the only other thing I wish we had time to do), but my last key highlight was Jin Li Street.

It’s not unlike lots of other pedestrianised streets in major Chinese cities. Feels a bit like traditional Chinese hutongs, is still very touristy as streets are lined with stalls attempting to sell you souvenirs and things you probably don’t need. That said, I still enjoyed the buzz of Jin Li Street in all of its lantern lit glory. It’s easy to get lost in and just take in the chaos amongst the random music that plays from bars and restaurants. It’s also a good place to try out different food from the various stalls. We kept the Chengu panda theme alive with some cream filled panda shaped bao.

Just a quick mention here but as I said earlier in the post, Tinder is a decent tool for a traveller to seek tips about what to do and where to go from people who live locally. I can also say it’s a good tool to discover that it’s, as they say, a small world. Whilst swiping, I unexpectedly came across someone I sort of knew from uni. I literally couldn’t believe it when I came across JKB over Tinder. Despite the perhaps slightly awkward but hilarious circumstances, it encouraged me to get in touch and we managed to organise to go for a quick beer or two by the river on my last night in Chengdu.

JKB is doing amazing things right now cycling around the world. In the space of a year, he’s cycled from the UK to China with the aim of eventually getting to Australia. But there’s no use me telling you about his journey, his website and blog updates do a better job than I ever could. It’s definitely worth checking out for his stories and photos! You can check it out here.

I probably said it out loud a great deal whilst I was there but Chengdu is, much like the pandas we saw lazing around, so freaking chill. It was a good place to begin Spring Festival travels and really ease us in. Next stop though? Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province and what better way to embark on the next part of the journey than taking my first ever sleeper train in China. Total journey time? 22 hours. But more about that next time…