Hainan Island (Sanya) So, last but by no means least, my most recent trip was to Sanya on the south coast of Hainan Island. Hainan is quite a large island, with 2 main cities of Sanya in the south & Haikou in the north. It's a bit like China's Isle of Wight, only slightly more tropical ! It's a very popular holiday destination during spring festival due to its warm climate all year round, especially for well-to-do families from the north (ie Beijing) who go ...

Hangzhou Right, so, the second part of my travels took me to Hangzhou in Zhejiang province, along the east coast. Hangzhou and other cities, such as nearby Ningbo and Suzhou are all a stone's throw away from Shanghai, needless to say they're all busy, bustling, prosperous cities. Tuesday morning (after arriving back in Pingxiang on the Monday) I caught the train from Pingxiang to Hangzhou south station. Luckily, the Changsha to Shanghai train stops at both Pingx...

Hong Kong So, Spring festival for me started with my family coming to Pingxiang on Dec 31st for 3 days before we went to Hong Kong on Jan 3rd. I think if they were to describe Pingxiang in 1 word it would be 'Interesting'..I took them to all the hotspots - town and Wal-Mart, Goose Park, the Tea house and the college where they saw my apartment etc. They also met Bob (my boss), Andy (one of the co-teachers) as well as Brian, Taz and Jorvik so it was really nice t...

Spring Festival 2012: Harri does Hong Kong, Hangzhou & Hainan (island) :) ! Greetings everyone & Happy New Year, or Xin Nian Hao ! The tail end of December and most of January so far have been v.busy for me, as it's Spring festival or Chinese New Year time over here at the moment, which is similar to Christmas in that it's a busy, hectic time for the shops, getting things organised and especially travel. It's also like Xmas in that once people have trave...

It's Christmaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaas :D ! Well, I know I'm writing this on Boxing Day so it's a day late but it's still the Crimbo season! On Christmas Eve, Brian, Taz and I went to our friend Jorvik's house for his work's christmas party. Bit odd that it took place OUTSIDE in front of his house, yes in December, as the chinese people here are finding it very cold but, there was a bonfire too so when that got going it was nice & toasty! The party was very nice ...