Back in class...

Well the holiday cannot last forever. Classes returned today (oh yeah by the way, I'm back in HK!!) which is both a sad and a good thing. Sad because I have to do some work but good because I'm not spending as much. The crappy computer system is finally letting me sign onto classes and so far I have enrolled in eight classes (I tried nine but it wouldn't let me) but I will cut this down to about five over the next few weeks.

Today was great for another reason since I got to meet a whole bunch of new exchange students. Not that I'm ditching the people that have already left (really...I'm not) but life goes on...

Also Tony never got a new roommate so he has converted his room into a mahjong den. I'm still yet to win a game...its like chess, you need to formulate your stategy early and try and work out what the others are doing but it's all good fun.

See you,
Matt

Grettings from Shanxi

Hey all,

Well once again the Shenzhen-Guangzhou leg of my China trip has skrewed me over. This time I tried to take the train (as it headed to the ultra modern Guangzhou East station where I hoped to get my connection to Taiyuan) but it ended up being delayed for two hours. By the time I got to Guangzhou the train had already been fully booked leaving me stranded for the night.

I was about to give up and head back to HK when I came across a line of 'travel help desks' just outside the station which all sold train tickets, plain tickets and hotels. Agaist my better judgement I approched one that looked like it spoke a little English to see if they could get me a ticket. She said she would try as she had many 'connections'. After half a dozen phone calls she admitted defeat but said she could get me an airfare for the next morning for arouns 1100RMB. She said this was about 70% of the normal price. I don't know if this was true or not but I paid anyway as I did not want to spend a whole day in horrible Guangzhou waiting for another train.

Anyway after paying the money I went with one of her daughters to get the ticket. It what was one of the most dodgest experiences I walked with her to some random hotel, walked passed reception, went up the elevator and through some random karoke bar and into this back room travel agency where I got the ticket (thank god it looked official otherwise I don't know what I would have done!)

Well it all turned out alright and I got here in the end. And it is absolutely freezing!!!!!

Enjoy the warmer climes!
Matt

Heading back to China

Sorry. I have been terribly distracted this last few days trying to deal with the redtape of HK immigration. Now this has been sorted out I am heading back to China again. This time I am visiting Shangxi prefecture in the north which promises to be f***** cold (not to mention a 36 hour train ride). I plan to visit some friends from Australia and it should be good to catch up.

Will write again soon.

Matt

Damn the internet and hello from China

Well the Taiwan earthquake continues to stuff me around. In case you haven't heard there was an earthquake in Taiwan about two weeks ago. It was fairly minor...except for the fact that it distroyed three of the four underwater internet cables which runs across the Pacific. At the moment they are STILL fixing it.

As a result its really hard to access non-Chinese websites (I only managed to access this website today) and still can't access all my email adresses. DAGH!!!

Anyway I'm at this random little town called Menghai in southern Yunnan province near the border with Burma. I should be back in Hong Kong a little earlier then expected (the 16th) but I will be trevelling back into the PRC as soon as I can get an extension on my Hong Kong student visa.

Yunnan province has been great. I have visted the 'ancient' and 'cultural' towns of Lijhang and Dali which were really cool (both in temperature and fun) but were both completely overrun with Chinese tourists...you know the ones, they travel around in swarms following someone waving a little flag...you see them in Australia as well. Some of them have little matching hats which are really cute...

Anyway the 'minority' culture that the people come to see have been essentially lost in these cities. All they do is put on little dancing displays and sell cheap crafty stuff to the tourists. Cheap or not, some of the art was fantastic. Too bad it was too big to send home.

As well as visiting these two cities we treked through the spectacualar Tiger Leeping Gorge which is at the base of the Yangtze river. The hike was fairly tough since we were carrying all of our stuff but the scenery was worth it.

At the moment I am in the far south of the province in a region called Xishangbanna which is VERY DIFFERENT from the rest of China. Its almost like being in Thailand and feels so much like South-East Asia. Once again the region is very beautiful but unfortunently very poor. And the toilets...we won't go there.

Anyway I will post again when I get back to HK as well as adding a few photos.

Until then take care!!

Matt