Dear Mr President (no, not the Pink song)

Nihao!

Welcome to my latest blog, all the way from my little one bedroom apartment in Beijing.  First let me apologise for the gap between blogs.  I have been way too busy living life than writing about it (mmm, might have to remember that phrase and use it again).  Let me just say that I could show you the photos of what I have been up to, but that would spoil the magic of telling you. Mind you, if you are following me on Facebook, you might have seen the evidence (except of course the picture of me dancing on a table at a bar to a Beatles cover band.  That photo has been confiscated by the secret police for having way too much fun in China!).

Let's get down to the business at hand.  Sunday 9th June 2013 marked my one year anniversary of coming to China to start this wonderful adventure.  I can remember the day I arrived after a 6 hour flight from Kuala Lumpur, only to discover one of my suitcases was damaged, and the driver sent to pick me up at the airport was not there.  Welcome to China!

And here I am one year later...and I'm still here.

So, it got me thinking, what should I write on my blog to mark my one year anniversary in China?  Answer questions from my adoring public?  Well, did that for 6 month anniversary.  Post pictures of me with that famous "selfie" Chinese pose?  Did it.  Write a 1000 word essay on communism, and what makes it work?  Boring!

Then it hit me.  Why don't I write a letter to head honcho/big cheese/top dog/paramount leader, President of the People's Republic of China, Mr Xi Jinping, thanking him for making my stay in China so, what's the words, blog worthy!  So, blog fans, here it is - my letter to President Xi.

(Please take this for what it is, a bit of fun.  I am simply using sarcasm to express a few of the frustrations of living in China.  This is no way a dig at the people of China, everyone  I have met is kind, gracious, friendly, and more importantly,  tolerant of expats)  

2013, June 13

Mr Xi Jinping

c/- Zhongnanhai

Beijing, China

Dear Mr President,

First, let me thank you for taking the time to read my letter.  I am sure you get many letters from foreigners living in Beijing, and I appreciate you taking time away from running such an enormous country - both in terms of population and geography - to read my letter.

I am from Australia, and have just marked my one year anniversary living in China.  I thought to commemorate this occasion, I would write to you personally, thanking you for allowing me to stay in your country, and also to comment on a few things I enjoy about life in China.

As I mentioned I come from Australia, a country where the sky is so blue every day,  it gets a bit tiring (unless of course you live in Melbourne).  I mean, can you imagine waking up to the same blue sky day after day after day.  Boring!  That is what makes Beijing so exciting.  You wake up one day, blue sky.  The next, such a thick layer of smog that you can almost taste it.  And last week, when it rained and the smog was so thick, it had a special "burny" quality to it.  Oh, and don't worry about my umbrella that melted, it was getting old anyway.  

The one thing I love about air travel in China is the amount of time I get to relax, stretch my legs, and sit on a plane on the tarmac at Beijing airport not going anywhere.  I mean, let's face it, other countries just get you onto the plane, and before you know it you're in the air and on your way to your destination.  Not in China.  You get on the plane, then sit there for 45 minutes before the plane moves.  It's a great opportunity to catch up on the phone conversations that everyone around me is having while we sit and relax.

I do love how a large amount of people who travel by plane cannot bear to hang up the phone when it's time to take off.  I mean, I enjoy hearing the slightly elevated volume of 200 people talking on their phones.  It gives me practice in understanding the language.  And it's the same 200 people who again turn on their phone as soon as the nose wheel touches the runway when we arrive at our destination, desperately wanting to finish that conversation with friend or family. I mean, that is special.

And speaking of phones, some people in China have great mobile phone etiquette, and this is obviously something that comes from up high.  I've always been fascinated by people who look at where they are walking, with their heads held high.  I mean, what is there to see.  Some people in China have got it right.  Look down and watch the movie on your smart phone, or finish writing that text message while you are walking.  It's called multi tasking, and I love a bit of multi tasking.  And don't worry about people like me who run into you.  It just gives me practice in saying "sorry" in Mandarin.  Practice I so desperately need.  

It's also great that your government gainfully employs 50,000 people in your censorship department.  More countries should follow your lead and help the economy in a similar manner. I mean, what would those 50,000 people do if it wasn't for the censorship of the countries internet and media.  It makes me happy that I am living in a country that has their finger on the pulse - and the button.  You should be very proud of your censors.  The other night I was watching CNN, and the presenter didn't even get the word "Tiananmen" out before the screen went black.  Please pass on my congratulations for a job well done.

Finally, I want to thank you for helping with  a serious health issue I have had now for most of my life.  Ever since I can remember, I have had this tendency to react at the sound of a car horn, either to look in the direction of the horn, or to stop where I am to avoid being potentially struck by traffic. The overuse of the car horn in China has now made me immune to the sound of the car horn.  In fact, on a recent visit back to Australia, I was reminded of the annoyance of the car horn after one was used to warn me that I was about to get run over.  Thank you for making me immune to such an annoying device, and to potentially save me from severe neck injuries associated with whipping your head around to see a potential danger.

I appreciate you taking the time to read my letter, and my reasons that I find China such an interesting country.  It is such an amazing country, deep with culture, that I have decided to stay here for a further 12 months to continue this adventure.

Kind Regards,

Barry Keohane

PS:  As much as I enjoy the public holidays, is it possible to take a vote at the next party meeting to remove the fact we have to work on the weekend before and/or after public holidays.  I mean, you must hate working on a Sunday?

The "selfie"

For people who know me, I am pretty slack when it comes to taking photos of my travels.  For some reason, I never think to get the camera out and squeeze off a few snaps.  Hey, I lived in Bangkok for a year, and have about 30 photo to show for it.

So, since moving to China, I am trying to change my habits and take lots of photos.  Of course, these days it's easier as the iphone has a reasonably good camera, so I don't have to rummage through my bag to find my camera.

I was going through my collection of China photos the other day, and I realised something - I am turning Chinese.  How do I know this?  I am taking far too many photos of myself, what the world has renamed as the"selfie".  One of the things I noticed when I first moved to China was the amount of time the Chinese, especially girls/young women, spend taking selfies.  You look through the photos on QQ (Chinese instant messaging) or Weibo (another social media site) and most of them are selfies.  How did this happen to me?  Is it something they put in the rice that makes you do this?  How have I not realised what I am doing?

Anyway, after getting over the initial shock of what I have been subconsciously doing these last 11 months, I decided to dedicate this blog entry to a collection of selfies I have taken since arriving in China.

This is one of the first selfies I took, aboard a fast train from Tianjin to Nanjing.  As I have mentioned before, train travel is one of the things they do well in China.  Efficient, always on time - and fast!  Well, that's if you take the fast train.

The photo on the right is my first visit to the bank to transfer money back to Australia.  They make it so difficult, it takes a whole day.  First stop, the tax office (20 minute taxi ride one way) to pick up proof I have paid tax.  Next, I have to take my passport, contract, tax certificate, endorsed salary slips, and my first born into the bank.  On this day, I made the mistake of going in at 2pm - and waited 3 hours!  Now I wait until the next day, and line up at 8:30 in the morning!


I am writing this blog from my hotel in Changchun. The last time I was in Changchun was in late December, when the temperature got down to -35 degrees!  I took this photo at the subway in Beijing as I was going to the airport to catch my flight.  As you can see, I am rugged up and so looking forward to spending 36 hours in -35 degree weather.  Thank god for central heating!

One of the lessons I learnt from travelling in China, is never arrange to arrive back in Beijing during peak hour.  I made the mistake once, coming back from Tianjin via fast train.  To get from the fast train station to home, I have to take the subway.  You can't get the full experience from looking at this photo, but let's just say that when you have luggage and a backpack, and you and 20 million Chinese are trying to squeeze in the train, it's not very comfortable.


OK, the next series of selfies were taken at various airports in China.  I travel by plane to 6 of the 7 cities I visit regularly, so I spend alot of time in airports.  The bad thing - most of the flights are usually delayed.  The good thing - I'm still thinking of a good thing.

During the recent QingMing holiday (tomb sweeping), I decided to try somewhere different, and flew to Beihai.  Beihai is in Guangxi province right down near Vietnam.  It is warm and humid in Beihai.  Felt just like Kuala Lumpur.  This photo is standing by the sea with my hotel in the background.  Nothing great about Beihai - it was just nice to get out of the Beijing cold for a few days.



The St Patricks Day Irish Ball is one of the biggest social events of the year in Beijing, so a group of us got 2 tables and decided to party like it was 1999.  Only problem was I was suffering from food poisoning, and wasn't 100%.  I think I only had 2 or 3 beers and a shot of whiskey.  Let's just say it didn't help the food poisoning.  But I scrubbed up OK!

The last photo pretty much sums up the last few months in Beijing.  I can't remember what summer was like, but winter and now spring has produced some of the most polluted days since I have been here.  They measure the PM 2.5 particles in the air (particles that can get into your lungs) on a scale of 1 to 500. In January, it got to 728!  So, I bought a mask.  I used to laugh at people who wore masks, and now I am one of them.  It is one of the real low points of living in China.  I heard the other night that 700,000 people a year die from pollution related illness.  It seems rather high, but afterall China has 1.3 billion people - so maybe not that high.


Well, there you have it.  A quick blog dedicated to the "selfie".  It's as Chinese as Chairman Mao and MSG. As I said, right now I am in Changchun for 2 days of music research.  It may not sound that special, but Changchun is pretty close to the border of North Korea.  So if anything kicks off, let's hope that South Korea don't over shoot.

Zaijian!

The silver fox gets the silver!

Ni hao! Huanying wo de blog (This means welcome to my blog, except I don't know the Chinese word for blog)

If you've been playing along at home, and following my Chinese adventure via my blog/facebook/twitter rants, you will realise that I have now been living in China for 10 months!  And this month, due to all my travel within China, I notched up my 40,000th kilometre with Air China.  You know what that means? The silver fox is now a silver frequent flyer! Woohoo!

This has inspired me to write my latest blog entry.  After all the flights to the many cities I work, I thought I would share with you what air travel is like in China.  Seriously, I am hoping that someone in the Ministry for On Time Departures (I am sure there is such a place in China) will read this.  

For those who have come in late, let me recap the story so far:

1.  I am from Australia, and live in Beijing

2.  I travel alot inside mainland China.

3.  I work in radio, teaching local Chinese how to do world class, format radio

3.  Apparently, according to my Chinese teacher, I now know between 700 and 1000 chinese words (this has no relevance to the story.  I just wanted to brag!)

4.  I like reading, eating out, and long walks on the beach (just in case there are any single girls interested)

The Airport

I think I have now been through about 12 airports in China.  They are generally big, scary places and are generally pretty busy.  Hey, with 1.3 billion people, everywhere is busy!  In some of the airports queues are non existent when checking in.  It's every man for himself.  I learned very quickly the benefits of a strategically placed elbow.  Don't get me wrong, not all Chinese push in, but you need to be aware of your surroundings.  If your attention wanders, 1000 Chinese will jump the queue in front of you.

I recently went to Beihai (south China, near Vietnam), for some R&R, and took this photo of the check in area.  Probably the quietest I will ever see an airport during my time here.

Security, as you can imagine, is very strict at all airports.  You have to show your boarding pass and passport at security, then your bags get scanned, and of course you get patted down.  And EVERYONE gets the pat down.  Usually it's just a brush over your clothes with the scanner, and some light patting.  However, in Xi'an, it's a little more thorough.  Let's just say that normally when I get that sort of attention, I have to buy the girl dinner first.

The Inevitable Delay

The first flight I took in China, which from memory I think was to Changchun in the northeast, we boarded the plane on time, then sat there for an hour before the plane took off.  The reason? "Due to air traffic congestion".  This has now become my least favourite saying in China, because pretty much 90% of the flights I have taken have been delayed due to air traffic congestion.  It's also a very sneaky tactic by the airlines.  If they make you wait inside the terminal, then they have to provide you with food, drinks etc.  

Coming back from Beihai yesterday, the incoming plane was delayed, so of course the flight back to Beijing was delayed.  Watching the clock and waiting.  I think I spend too much time doing that at airports.

Of course, one of the many benefits of spending alot of time waiting in airports is you get to do a lot of people watching.  Waiting yesterday at Beihai airport, this guy sat opposite me.  No, his pants were not too short, he just decided he would hitch them up.  More comfortable obviously.

Carry On Luggage

Most airlines around the world, especially Australia, are fairly strict when it comes to the size of your carry on luggage.  Not in China.  There seems to be no limit to how many carry on pieces you can bring.  And sometimes, they don't even fit into the over head locker.  I learned very quickly that if you want to get some space in the overhead locker, you need to get on the plane early.  If you're the last one on, it's very hard to find some space.  Yesterday, I watched a guy try and squeeze a rather large box into the overhead locker (in addition to the bag he had already thrown in there).  Just as I took this photo, it squeezed in.  Obviously didn't contain any priceless Ming vases.

The food

I have a confession to make. I don't mind airline food.  Yep, there, I said it.  Of course I wouldn't eat it everyday, but most airline food is bearable and I have never had any problems with it.  The problem with flying Air China is their lack of imagination, or maybe it's the customers lack of imagination.  As I said, I have now racked up 40,000km's on Air China, so I am drawing on a pretty good sample size.  It comes down to this, there is a choice A) Beef with rice, B) Chicken with rice, C) Pork with Rice, or Beef, Chicken or Pork with noodles.  There is usually only 2 choices per flight, and it's normally with rice.  OK, I know I am living in China and rice is the main food, but surely every now and then they can surprise the customers.  Yesterday coming back from Beihai - pork with rice, or chicken with rice.  And by time they got to me, chicken was gone. And after trying the pork, I know why.

A few other interesting pieces from my travels:

- Everytime the plane hits a bump, however small, the flight attendant will come on and say "we are experience some turbulence.  Please remain seated."  On one 2 hour flight, I counted them saying it 8 times

- God help me if they allow people to use mobile phones on planes.  Let's just say that being without a phone for a period of time, some Chinese have withdrawal symptoms.

- If planes allowed people to go out on the wing and smoke, however dangerous, some Chinese men would take the risk.

As interesting and as quirky as I find travelling in another country, the bottom line is I do feel safe.  With the amount of security (they have a very conspicuous air marshall that is on every plane) and regulations from the government, plus the number of planes actually flying all over China, it's probably one of the safest places to fly.

And what benefits do I get from being a Silver flyer? I'm still waiting to find out, but I am pretty sure I will still  only get a choice of beef or chicken...with rice.

  

The heat is.....off!

Hello bloggees (being my new term for people who read blogs).  Welcome to my latest blog entry, all the way from Beijing China.  It has been 2 months since my last confessi....I mean blog entry.  Things have been a little bit crazy over the last couple of months.  Let me quickly bring you up to date.

Chinese New Year has come and gone, and I spent 2 weeks back in Australia during the start of February - a few days in Perth, and the rest of the time back with mum and dad in Picton.  It's probably appropriate that I compare my new home town to my old home town (for those that don't know Picton, or Beijing for that matter).  Beijing, where I currently call home has a population of 20 million people.  I have walked down streets in Beijing for the 9 months I have been here, and not met anyone I know.  Picton has a population of 3,000 people.  I was home for 5 minutes, went into the town, and heard my name yelled across the street.  Got to love small towns!

I arrived back in Beijing mid February to enjoy the last few weeks of winter.  I have to admit that as much as I thought I could handle winter, it was harder than I thought.  Bitterly cold days, heavy pollution, having to put on 3 layers of clothes to pop out and get some milk. Give me Australian seasons any day.

This is a photo of me travelling to Changchun, where the temperature got to -35 degrees!  You can see how excited I am to be travelling to such a cold place.  

It was a crazy week after arriving back in Beijing.  For those that don't know, mum broke her hip and had to be hospitalised for a few weeks.  Through the joys of social media, I found out what happened before mum and dad had a chance to tell me.  Got to love Facebook!  The good news is mum is back at home now, recovering well.  

It was time to hit the road again, and spent some time in Nanchang, Shanghai, Nanjing and Hefei.  One of the great things about travelling is not just visiting some amazing cities, but also working with the local teams and enjoying the many different cuisines throughout China.  In my stop in Nanjing, we went out to an Oyster themed restaurant where they serve many different types of oysters.  The attached photo is oysters covered in grilled cheese.  Not bad.  

These were Chinese oysters (I can't remember exactly where from), but they were very tasty.  There were garlic, curry and many other styles.  Between 6 of us, I think we had about 25 oysters.  It took me a while to explain to the locals the word aphrodisaic. 

The photo on the left is where we went after the Oyster restaurant.  It was a club in the 1912 district of Nanjing called "Enzo's".  Lots of tables (which is wise to book), a DJ (but no where to dance), and a drink menu that included a champagne package valued at RMB 30,000 (about AUD5,000).  Let's just say we went for the cheaper option.  In the photo is night DJ LuKai, Program Manager Summer, our new marketing manager Rheece, and me.

Next stop was Hefei, where we planned to attend a client party for about 150 clients. One thing about being in a foreign country that I am very careful about is eating, and making sure that food is prepared properly etc.  I have been here almost 10 months, and it was Friday where I finally got caught out.  Not sure how, or where, or what, but I obviously ate something that made the following 24 hours very interesting.  Let's just say I was very glad to make it onto the plane the next morning.

During winter, Beijing is centrally heated.  The government says when they will turn it on, and they say when they will turn it off (which was yesterday, hence the title of this blog).  It takes a lot of energy to centrally heat a city of 20 million people, so as you can imagine, this would generate alot of pollution.  In fact, it produces a bloody lot of pollution.  There is a scale that records the pollution from 0 (clean), to 500 (stay inside/unhealthy).  One day in January, it got to 738! So, when I returned to Beijing after my trip, the office girls decided to distribute face masks.  Not sure how much they keep out, but even if it's 50% it will be my new fashion accessory next winter.

So, that brings me pretty much up to date.  Oh, except the St Patricks Day Irish ball which was on Saturday night.  One of the biggest social events of the year in Beijing, and we had 2 tables with 20 people (there was 700 people all up).  I was still getting over food poisoning, so wasn't 100%, but still had a great night.  The food was good, the band so-so, but great company!  The attached photo shows me with friends Will and Andy (notice Andy and I have the same bowties, especially made for a few of us).

This week is in Beijing, and next week on the road again to one of my favourite places - Xi'an.  Thanks for taking the time to share my adventure and reading my blog.  Don't forget.  Tell you friends!  It is still an incredible ride, and it keeps getting better.   I can't believe that in a few months I will rack up 1 year in China.

Zaijian! Bring on spring!

Lost in Translation

Where has the last month gone?  I can't believe it's been over a month since I wrote my last blog entry, and it took a reminder from my mum to write another entry (thanks mum!).

For those who have been following the journey so far, a quick update of the last month.  Xmas was a strange experience and not simply the fact that I was away from family and friends, but because in China, Xmas is simply another work day.  So I went to work! OK, I went to work in the morning then I had a 3 hour lunch with a friend, then left early to go to dinner, so there wasn't much work done.

Here is a photo of Xmas night dinner.  It was like a gathering of the United Nations - Singapore, Canada, Australia, USA, UK, Russia and Ireland.  And a big turkey dinner! Boxing day (my birthday) was another work day.  Again, went to work, had lunch with the boss, then went home early and a quiet drink with the neighbours at a local.  I was coming down with a cold, so it was a very quiet night.  Home by 8:30!

Let's skip to New Years Eve, and was I was introduced to a new NYE custom.  A group of us were invited to a Spanish restaurant by our friend Gina (I hope you're reading this Gina!) to celebrate the New Year - Spanish style.  What happens at midnight is you eat 12 grapes - 1 grape each strike of midnight.  And you are supposed to make a wish for each grape.  Have you ever tried to eat 12 grapes in 12 seconds?  And as you can see by the photo, my grapes were not exactly small, so I failed.  Next time I'm going to request smaller grapes.  But it was a great night, which finished for me at 4am.

The last few weeks it's been back to work (oh, and planning my trip back to Australia on 31st January).  I've spent a few days in Tianjin, 2 weeks in Nanjing, then back to Beijing before flying out to Australia next week.   Everyone in China is getting ready for the Chinese New Year (on the 9th February).  One of the most important days on the Chinese calendar.  Almost everyone goes home to spend time with their family, so it is also one of the biggest travel days of the year, when big cities like Beijing and Shanghai see a mass exodus of people.  Just the thought of moving 1.3 billion people is mind boggling.

Anyway, I don't really have that much more to report so I thought I would share some of my favourite "Lost in Translation" photos that  I have taken in the last 8 months since coming to China.  As I've come to understand, things get translated literally (Eg.  Rocket in Chinese is translated to "fire sword").

 The first was taken at the JinJiang Inn in Guangzhou where I was staying for 3 weeks while preparing for the launch of our latest station.  It didn't taste fierce, in fact it tasted just like it looked - sweet.

This sign is in the lobby of my Mandarin school.  It reminds people that you must go and register when you arrive in China, at the "Pubic Security Bureau".  What exatcly are you registering?

 We held a Digital Music Test in Xi'an back in August, and this sign was at the registration desk.  I think it should have said something like "Sign in here".

 I'm sure I have mentioned it before, but it's common practice for most people in China to spit.  Yep, a good clear of the throat, then hack up on the pavement.  The government even tried to ban it before the 2008 Beijing Olympics.  As you can see by this loosely translated sign "don't spitting at anywhere".  Trust me, no one pays attention to no spitting signs.

One of my new favourite "lost in translation" signs I snapped this week at a food hall in a shopping centre in Nanjing.  I am still yet to work out exactly what it should say, or even what it is.  I think it could be marinated, or stewed - but not urinated.

And finally, this last photo was on the wall of my bathroom at my hotel in Nanchang.  I had to look twice to make sure it said what it said, and definitely a laugh out loud moment.  I'm sorry, but I think I will skip the background music this time.

I was thinking, if you were fluent in Chinese (both reading and writing, and speaking) and good in English, there is an opportunity to work as a sign translator.  Mind you, if someone came in and fixed all these sign, what would I have to post on Facebook every week.

I've never been so cold in my life!!!

As you can see, the title of this blog post needed 3 exclamation points.  Yep, I love a good exclamation point, and the weekend just gone I needed them all when describing just how cold it was.  Not just cold.  Ridiculous cold!  And when I say ridiculous, I mean R-I-D-I-C-U-L-O-U-S! At one point the temperature dropped to -35 degrees!

But I'm getting ahead of myself.  Let me start at the beginning.

If you've been following my China adventure, you may remember that 2 weeks ago I was working in the south of China, in a city called Guangzhou.  The weather was great.  Warm almost everyday, temperature around 28 degrees, and me sitting by the pool while girls in bikinis fed me grapes.  OK, maybe the pool, grapes and women in bikinis is a bit too much - but you get the picture.

Coming back to Beijing was enough of a shock to the system.  When I arrived back home, the temperature was about -2 degrees.  Pffft! -2! Is that all you can throw at me? That I can handle.  But it was nothing compared to what awaited me the next weekend.

David, the Branch Manager at our Changchun station, was throwing a party for about 400 people -  200 clients, and 200 listeners and he sent me an email officially inviting me to take part, first by making a brief presentation and then by presenting some awards. All in the city of Changchun  North-east China, where the forecast for the weekend was from -35 to -27 degrees!

Sorry, what?!

Yep, -35 degrees to -27 degrees (and we're talking celsius here people!).  In a matter of one week, I will have dropped 63 degrees!  I'm not a doctor, but I'm sure that cannot be good for your body.

Once I got over the initial shock of going somewhere where it will be colder than the coldest place I have ever been, first thing I needed to do was go and buy a warmer coat.  Preferably one that covered every inch of my body, and that had a built in heater that kept me at about 20 degrees.  OK, maybe asking too much, but off I went to Yashow market and haggled over the price of a Canadian Goose jacket.  Happy with the price, and the coat, I tried it out in the -5 degrees Beijing had decided to deliver.  Beautiful!  But how would it survive -35?

Saturday morning, up at 5:30 and decided to catch the airport express which involved about a 10 minute walk to the station .  Temp = -12 degrees.  As you can see by this photo taken at the subway station, I looked very happy to be going to -35 degrees.  But I felt warm.

Oh, and the train didn't leave until 6:30, but I realised it takes about 10 minutes to get dressed.  5 minutes to do up the bloody zipper on the coat, then put on everything else - scarf, beanie, gloves etc.

Pretty much all of the flights I have been on in China, the planes have been full.  But for some reason, not today.  Strange?!  Why don't people want to fly to Changchun where the weather is cold, and -35?

Once we landed in Changchun (after seeing from the air just how white it was), I could feel the cold walking through the airport.  This was going to be something I will remember for a long time.

I met my assistant Milly ( who flew in from Shanghai) and then we met our driver.  OK, here it comes.  Time to walk outside.  Jacket zipped up.  Scarf on.  Beanie secure.  Gloves fastened.

Walking through the door, the cold just hit me in the face and took my breath away.  It was -22 degrees! The cold reached every inch of my body in a second. Wow, what a feeling.  It felt like when you are exercising in the cold, and breathing in the cold air - but about 100 times worse!

We got to the hotel and checked in.  Lesson 1 when walking on ice.  Beware the black/clear ice.  You know, the real slippery stuff.  I think I almost fell about 5 times, but managed to stop myself.

The day was uneventful.  We went to the office to interview some staff, then back to the hotel and got ready for the big party.  Leaving the hotel (around 5pm) the temperature was -27 degrees.  And sometime over night, it would drop to -35!  Bring it on!

Next 3 hours we were in a theatre (which was surprisingly cold considering they didn't turn on the heat) watching the show put on by the Changchun staff.  My presentation went badly (the PPT didn't work), then I was asked to come up and help the magician, which was also a struggle because I didn't know what he was saying, and he didn't speak English.  I have been learning Mandarin, but I don't yet know the Chinese word for "abracadabra".

After the show finished (around 11pm) we all went off for Karaoke.  Temperature, -32 degrees.  I'm not sure of the lowest temperature I have been in (maybe in the snow fields of NSW), but on the steps of the theatre in Changchun, I was now in the coldest place I have ever been.  The photo on the left is Lio (Branch Manager of Xi'an) and my assistant Milly on the steps of the theatre.  Photo on the right is me, asking myself "what the f*** am I doing here?"

We finished karaoke around 1am, and when we walked outside it was -35 degrees!  Even though I wasn't looking forward to it, and I could not think what -35 degrees could feel like, I did take a moment and thought that this was pretty special.  I'm sure I will get the chance to go back to Changchun during winter next year, but nothing is like your first time.  Right?!

A few things I learned from the weekend:

- Wearing suit pants in -35 degrees is not a great idea.
- If you travel outside with a bottle of water, it will freeze.
- Pizza Hut in China do breakfast (I know, a bit random.  But the bacon and egg sandwich on Sunday morning from Pizza Hut was awesome)
- Taxi drivers don't put the heat on
- No matter how many times you say "geez it's cold", doesn't make it any warmer.

The Chinese - A few observations

Nihao!

Jintian, wo zhu zai Zhongguo liu ge yue le.

Oh sorry, I'm just showing off my Mandarin.  What the above says is that today, I have been in China for 6 months! (well, I hope that's what it says?!).  And what an incredible, amazing, eye opening and mind expanding 6 months it's been.  I knew that coming to China was really going to push me outside my comfort zone, and it's been worth every second.  I feel that, in my first 6 months, I have grown both professionally and personally (no, that doesn't mean I'm getting fat!).  OK, enough of the deep and meaningful stuff.

China is the world's most populous country (just in case you didn't know and you get asked that question at your next trivia night).  I am surrounded by 1.3 billion Chinese,  so I thought I would dedicate this weeks blog to a few observations I've made about the Chinese people (with my tongue firmly planted in my cheek.)

1.  Spitting

OK, so this is a big generalisation and not all Chinese spit.  But  everyday, no matter where I am, I'm guaranteed to hear the sounds of someone clearing their throat, followed by said person spitting.  I think the Chinese government should invest in the good old fashioned spittoon,  and put them on every street corner.  At least the spitting would be accompanied by the "ding" of the spittoon.  I can already see the next act on China's Got Talent.  A spittoon band!

I Googled the reason why Chinese spit, and really, there was no definitive answer.  Some say it's because of the pollution.  Others say it's because everyone does it.  But I think it is something that will be phased out over time.  It only seems to be the older generations that spits, and the teens and 20 somethings don't seem to have taken up this habit.  Maybe if Justin Bieber did it, they might take it up.

2.  Close Door button

Here's a tip for when you are riding a lift with a Chinese. If you are getting on or off the lift - be quick!  When those doors open you better jump on, or off fast!  The reason?  They love using the "door close" button.  I hesitated getting onto a lift once, and someone pushed the door close button.  The result was the doors started closing as I was walking on, and the door closing on me.  Not a very pleasant experience.  And when you are on the lift with someone, and it stops at a floor, their finger goes straight for the door close button - while the doors are still opening! Run, run for your life!

Be prepared.  Be alert. Don't hesitate!

3.  The food

Every meal I've had with my Chinese colleagues and friends is an experience.  It's part of their culture that they order enough food to ensure there will be some leftovers.  A good host will lose face if the guests eat all the food.  Guaranteed you will have enough food leftover for another meal.  I think the "doggy bag" was created in China, although in some parts of China, doggy bag has another meaning. The hardest part I have found is managing what I eat.  Because pretty much every Chinese meal is a banquet, with dishes constantly being brough out, you lose track of your portion size.  It's very easy to eat too much because you can't get an idea of "what's on YOUR plate", because you are trying all the dishes.  And don't get me started on the variety of food.  That's a whole different blog.

4.  Personal space

I suppose in a country of 1.3 billion people, personal space is a luxury.  I'm constantly fighting for space on the subway, walking down the street, fighting for cabin baggage space on a plan, even checking out of a hotel.  In Australia, you get used to people giving you your own personal space.  We obey the rules.  We don't stand on top of you when you are conducting personal business, like taking money from an ATM.  Not in China.  I was checking out of a hotel once.  I had my passport, my wallet and my credit card on the counter when someone came up and stood right next to me.  Shoulder to shoulder.  I didn't know the Chinese word for "back off", so I sort of shooed him away.  I think he got the message.  

5.  Oldies Flash mobs

I think this is one of my favourite observations so far.  You could be walking anywhere in China - outside a shopping centre, through a park, or just down the street, when suddenly someone will set up a ghetto blaster, start playing music, and begin dancing.  I first saw this outside a shopping centre in Nanjing.  It was simply a group of housewives who began dancing.   My favourite happened in Guangzhou today.  I was walking down from the Dr. Sun Yat Sen memorial when I came across another group.  And this time they were ballroom dancing.  Not  a care in the world.  Like the saying goes, "dance like no one is watching".  There was one woman dancing by herself.  I was afraid to make eye contact with her, because I'm sure dancing with a foreigner would score her some brownie points with her friends.  It's been a while since I've had to dance, so I avoided her gaze and kept walking.

Just a few of my observations during my first 6 months.  I left out driving skills, the abuse of cabin baggage limits, the leaving of doors open in hotel rooms,  the fact I have to get an official receipt for EVERYTHING, or the fascination with small dogs.  Maybe I'll write about those at the 12 month mark.

A quick thank you to everyone who reads and enjoys my blog, and thanks for the feedback.  I would like to write more, but sometimes I just don't have the time.  As I mentioned above, this is an incredible journey and I am learning so much that will set me up for bigger and better roles, once I'm ready.   Sometimes it's hard to believe that this boy from Picton, a little town in NSW with a population of 3,000, is about to launch a radio station in Guangzhou China - population 12 million.  

Zaijian!