China

A Night at the Beijing Opera

Steve2 Comments

I’ve only been to the Opera twice in my life. The first time was 40 years ago, as a teenager, when our family neighbour invited me to see Rigoletto at the Sydney Opera House. Our neighbour Tom, was very aware of my interest in music and generously took me to Sydney to introduce me to the Operatic form. My second Opera experience occurred in Beijing last week, when our hosts, Wei and Karin, invited Anne and I to join them, and their friend Alfy, to enjoy Bellini’s “Norma”, on the occasion of their 27th wedding anniversary.

Heading out to the Opera
Heading out to the Opera

I’m glad we accepted the invitation. Attending the Opera in Beijing brings with it three distinct Continue reading →

Inside the 中国小花 China Little Flower Orphanage, Beijing

Anne6 Comments
IMG_3439
One of the bedrooms

In Beijing we are staying with Wei and Karin.  Wei, a pediatric surgeon, planned to visit an orphanage and I was keen to accompany him.  The book I am writing, currently called Not Forgotten, is the life story of a woman who was in an orphanage in Australia from 2-10 years old, so I have developed an interest in orphanages and how they operate.

Even though Wei told me that the children we would meet were the most severely handicapped, I still had a naive view that we would be seeing some cute, chubby faced adorable Chinese babies who would be smiling and gurgling at me, but that was not to be.

When we arrived at China Little Flower Orphanage we were greeted by Lily, the administrator, and asked to Continue reading →

We deserve an Olympic medal

Steve5 Comments

beijing-cube-fireworksWho remembers those amazing pictures, beamed all around the world in August 2008, when the Beijing Summer Olympics were opened from the spectacular Bird’s Nest Stadium?…………….

Interestingly,  the actual opening ceremony commenced at 8pm, on the 8th day of the 8th month, in 2008.P1090211 In Chinese culture, the number 8 is quite auspicious, being associated with prosperity and confidence. 91,000 specftators filled the stadium on that night, a relatively small number of people, considering 21.5 million people currently live in Beijing.

P1090234Whilst I wasn’t amongst the 91,000 present at the Birds Nest on that night, Anne and I paid the Olympic Stadium and Aquatic Centre (the Water Cube)  a visit during our Beijing sojourn. So why would we deserve an Olympic medal for following the mainstream tourist pathway?    Simple answer…….we rode bikes to get there along some Continue reading →

Spoilt for World Heritage choice in Beijing

Anne4 Comments

P1090096You’d think that as seasoned travellers we would have a bit of an itinerary worked out for each place we plan to visit and be prepared for our time there before we arrive.  Well that’s not really how we operate. Our style is much more to look at TripAdvisor or the Lonely Planet Guide the night before, or maybe on the plane to our destination, and get some ideas about what we should see.

P1090102Consequently, we arrived in Beijing to see Karin and Wei with minimal understanding of the amazing choices that would be offered to us.   Beijing has seven Word Heritage Sites, putting it right up there with Rome and Paris.

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To stop us dithering about which ones to see, our hosts directed us to start our sightseeing with the Forbidden City and follow it the next day with the Temple of Heaven.  One advantage of our laissez faire style of travel is that we Continue reading →

A serene introduction to the cacophony of China

Anne6 Comments


P1080889We flew into Guilin, China in the evening and were taken by car, along a four-lane highway with minimal traffic, to Yangshou. The Yangshou Village Retreat was along a dark, quiet country road and we retired for the night, lulled to sleep by the sound of frogs croaking, in a surprisingly palatial room decorated in classic French style.

P1080876The morning greeted us with a stupendous view of the mysterious karst peaks and we grabbed bikes to explore the countryside. We rode past old men ploughing the fields with bullock’s, small children playing and women carrying buckets of water to the garden.

P1080877The road was quiet and we were seldom interrupted by the friendly toot of a passing motorbike. We sat on the banks of the Li River watching empty tour boats glide up the river. A serene first morning in China. Continue reading →