Nanhai Park is in Dong He in Baotou. Dong He is just one part of Baotou and lies to the east. It can be reached from Qingshan and Kunqu Districts by cathing the No. 10 or No. 5 bus. It's about a 30 minute fast trip from Qingshan and a little longer from Kunqu.Now although we don't know and don't care why this dragon was in the water, we were interested to travel over to this little island you see in the next photo. We were only interested until we saw the boat ride prices! We live here and earn Chinese rmb. We are too poor to spend that sort of money. As I am often heard to say to Chinese who want me to spend up big' 'Hey! I am a foreigner. I am not Chinese! I am not rich!'
On June 6th 2011, after weeks and weeks of frustration at not being able to synchronize our schedules with the weather, Helen (The Ukrainian with the American Accent) and I finally got a day off together - and the weather was perfect. We finally made our way out to Nanhai Park in Dong He in Baotou.
Dong He is just one part of Baotou and lies to the east. It can be reached from Qingshan and Kunqu Districts by catching the No. 10 or No. 5 bus. It's about a 30 minute fast trip from Qingshan and a little longer from Kunqu. Helen lives in Dong He and I live in Kunqu.
At 9.15am I was on the bus at Kunqu and telephoned Helen to expect me in an hour, and true to my word, one hour later I arrived, but thanks to miscommunication, I got off at the Terminus at the Baotou East Station instead of the stop before.
One we finally met up, we had to work out how to get to the park. I asked some street cleaners and they told us to take the 133 from the station, or the No. 18 from the cross street before the station. We entered the cross street and discovered that we could take either bus. We caught the No 18 for the two stop journey. I could see from the sign at the bus stop that there were only two stops left on that route, but as we didn't know where we were going, it seemed prudent to take the bus.
Anyway, we travel for a few minutes and then the conductor tells us to get off and walk down the laneway to the entrance of the park. We along with others got off, and yet others remained on board. We didn't question this oddity. Instead, we followed the laneway to the Entrance of the park.
The laneway
The Entrance
At the Entrance we paid the 20 rmb fee and proceeded immediately to the W.C. (Hey! it had been 90 minutes since I left home and I am old!) With that business over and done with, we headed to the water front where we saw the tightrope walkers.
No need for a net!
It was dragon boat festival, and so there were dragon boat races. This is a fascinating festival about which I know nothing, so go look it up yourself.
The waterfront area in front of the entrance is quite nice and as you can see from the next photograph (taken from the other side of a water fountain) there is plenty to see along the foreshore of this lake - which may or may not run into the Yellow River - go look it up for yourself!
The foreshore is quite lengthy, and as we discovered later on the bus ride back from the Yellow River bridge (said journey having been taken because we were lost), we did not go as far as we could have. The reason for that was that up to the point where we saw the dragon swimming across the lake, we had walked some distance; were quite hot; had plans to travel back to Kunqu to see another water feature; but mostly because we were stupid and did not know that had we walked a little further through what looked like a deserted area, there was actually a beachfront.
And you thought that dragons were not real!
If you look at the photograph you will see a discrepancy in the water. That is the result of cutting out the middle section of the photo. I didn't want the photograph to be too large.
Now although we don't know and don't care why this dragon was in the water, we were interested to travel over to this little island you see in the next photo. We were interested until we saw the boat ride prices! Forget it! We live here and earn Chinese rmb. We are too poor to spend that sort of money. As I am often heard to say to Chinese who want me to spend up big' 'Hey! I am a foreigner. I am not Chinese! I am not rich!'
There was actually a bridge at one time going over to a land connection to that island, but it had long since been disassembled. (Probably to make a boat crossing lucrative business!)
In addition to the dragon boats racing all round the place, there were a couple of speed boats and some older Chinese ferries. Which reminds me - Just after we arrived we ran into two rather tall - I mean bloody tall Chinese guys wearing what must have been some sort of sports costumes of the tight lycra variety that leaves nothing to the imagination. They confronted us to say their 'Hello's' and Helen and I just looked at each other, telepathically communicating with the eyes and smiles: "Bloody hell! Will you look at the package on that guy?"
I mention this only because - Hell he had a big package - and while wearing such attire in the west might not raise anyone's eyebrows, the sight was completely immodest by Chinese Standards. They really stood out in the crowd in more ways than one and I have not yet adopted the Chinese habit of ignoring politness - so I didn't take a photo.
Empty on this trip.
In the photo further up, taken from the water fountain, you can see in the distance a white building. The photo of these two ferries (I'm biting my tongue here folks! - and I restrained from saying 'other'), was taken from in front of the white building. We were too busy talking for me to think about taken a photo of it up close. It was actually a large paddle boat type of thing that apparently was no longer useful for sailing, and had been turned into a restaurant.
Having decided not to go to the island and being too stupid to see the beach, we headed back to the entrance and crossed the street to head back up the laneway to catch the bus back. On the way back I stopped to take this next photo, at which point a young Chinese couple stopped to chat with us. The guy could not speak English, and Helen and I refrained from mentioning that I could speak Chinese. That only lasted until this young lady who is studying English at the Baotou Medical College got stuck while discussing this building. Then Helen turned to me and asked me what she meant. The building will be public apartments. Changes your mind slightly about the poor Chinese doesn't it.
Apartments for rent - Soon!
Of course the neighbourhood is not quite yet what it will be in the future, for across the road are the more common variety of Chinese country homes.
Country living suits me fine!
I mentioned that the young Chinese lady studies at the Baotou Medical Center, and on the (not lost) journey back to Kunqu, I managed to get a reasonable shot from the moving bus, of the entrance to that college.
Baotou Medical College - where you can study anything at all apparently!
After leaving the Chinese couple, we followed the laneway back to the point where we had originally embarked, and as there were no observable bus stops, we turned left (which was correct) and followed the street up to the main intersection. This is where we were when we saw the little girl with the crutchless nickers, the photo of which you can see at Magic City. It is also the place where you can see the 'Moonshine' Man, and read about Helen's refusal to be photographed.
When we got to the intersection we saw Buses Numbered 133 and 132 travelling in each direction, but had no idea which direction to take (I can't read Chinese). I couldn't remember travelling on the high road/low road section of road to our right, and figured that our bus had come from the other direction and that that was the way to go back to where we started.
We actually checked with a lady on the street and it appeared that I was correct. We could go 'that' direction on the 133 back to the station or go 'this' direction back near the station on the Number 18. So, we opted to play it safe and go back on the bus we knew. So where was the bus stop? We couldn't find it. We walked a little further and then noted that at the far end of the street to our left, was the entrance to the park. Mmm? We had walked a circle so to speak.
Finally saw the bus stop and caught the bus. Now that sign indicated that there were only two stops left, so I was reassured that I was in the right place, but unfortunately, the arrow which indicates the direction of bus travel, was missing. Once we had travelled 6 bus stops or so, I began to get the suspicious feeling that we were going in the wrong direction. That was confusing, because when we got on the original bus, there were only two stops left on that route.
But of course we are just stupid foreigners. Had we been Chinese, we would have known that the No 18 does two different routes. One fare, following designated bus stops, finishes on the mainroad at the 'T' junction with the street in which the park is located, and another fare covers a trip out to the Yellow River Bridge. Stops for that trip are made obvious by the throwing up hands to indicate that the person wants to catch the bus, or by yelling at the driver to stop.
Well at any rate we had a lovely trip through the countryside; arrived at a dead end; saw a bus opposite filled with people, and politely went over and hopped on that and went back to where we got on (at which point the conductor asked us for another fare!)
Arriving safely back at a location known to us, we switched buses and headed off toward Kunqu. On the way however it was decided to stop off in the Qingshan District to view the recently completed water fountain there. You can see some photos of that in the photo of the day section at Magic City. On the way back I managed to get this one and only good shot of something I would love to shoot from just the right angle.
Yes! A Real UFO - or the new sports stadium! Take your pick.
We got off the bus to take photos of the fountain and then walked through Laodong park on our way up to MacDonalds in Qingshan, where we ran into a Dutch family killing a few hours before a plane flight. After a quick lunch, we headed off to the west side of the City up at Kunqu to look at the water feature up there. I have often been there but the one and only time Helen tried to go there, the directions given her proved fruitless. And so it was that I took her on a guided tour of the area, a few photographs of which may be found in the May 26, 2011 POD at Magic City.
I mentioned in the most recent POD section that we encountered an obnoxious, disgusting, abusive Chinese teenager who decided (although we were nowhere near him) to abuse us in English with four lettered language.
This incident took place as we were leaving the park up at Kunqu. We had had a drink and some ice cream in a kiosk, and then headed up to the side street to make our way back to the main road from whence we could take our respective buses home.
Near the steps we ascended to the road, there were a group of a dozen boys. They didn't speak to us and we didn't speak to them. We were busy talking to each other. When we got about 15 metres past them, this loud voice started yelling, telling us in four lettered English what we could do with ourselves. I spun around and yelled in Chinese: 'Is this language Chinese Culture is it?' and then I yelled in English: 'You can go 'F..' yourself too!'
I saw one of the boys step forward and start to tell the boy off, which was just as well cause Helen wanted to go back and rip his head off!
I mention this incident because it is so totally 'not normal' in China, but then Inner Mongolia is not a normal place. It is a place where the minority groups have come to resent (to put it politely) the Han Chinese. Was this boy an Ethnic lad? Who knows! But one thing that is for sure, this type of behaviour is not the norm in China, because between the dictates of the government and Chinese traditional culture, such behaviour is unacceptable.
This of course to the politically correct anti-Chinese government ideologues is itself unacceptable. People have their rights to do and say what they like. If China were immediately to become a democratic country, there would be no restraining the violence that might erupt for many reasons, including that from simply obnoxious people.
Compare China with Western Countries! This is a far safer place to live. I mean that most sincerely! The P.C. ideologues on the one hand want to liberate the Chinese people from the oppression of the Communist government, while on the other, want to impose laws and regulations with reasonable regularity, upon their own kin who were raised to believe in democracy. Such Hypocrisy!
China is not as poor as you might think! Not as repressed as you might believe! And certainly not so stupid as to want to exchange their current peaceful lives for the violence and repression found in democratic countries.
Here endeth the lesson!
I hope you enjoyed the photos and the little story that went with it.
With the official greetings over, we were presented with a variety of performances from local artists and international guests, including an American man and his family. This family presented a narrative from a Gospel about the birth of Jesus, and then went on to present some musical renditions of Christmas Carols. Another foreigner, who performed a Chinese fan dance, was Helen, a Ukrainian with an American Accent. She is also an English teacher in Dong He District Baotou. We chatted for a little while at the end of the night. The other performances included an Arabian - Chinese dance performed by a group of girls balancing rice bowls while they gyrated around the place. They were all young and beautiful and adept in their craft
My 'less than trusting' Chinese friends (currently scattered far and wide throughout China), are not so excited. They tell me that not only are private schools well known for their abuse of and cheating both foreign and National teachers, but one should not trust a Chinese boss to keep his word. While in fact no one has actually informed me that I will be paid overtime, the provision is in my contract and I don't see how it can be 'forgotten'. I doubt that the franchisee could ever have become such an illustrious business woman (She has businesses in China and in Canada) had she not been an ethical manager
Parks and Gardens in Inner Mongolia: Expats Watering Hole: International Visitors to Baotou have a lot to see within the city. Ba Yi Park is Located in Kunqu District Baotou City Inner Mongolia which is in the west of the City. It occupies a block in the middle of Minzu Xi Lu (East), Gangtie Dajie (North), Linyin Lu (West), and Qingnian Lu (South). In the West it is located on the last intersection (Gangtie Dajie and Linyin Lu - Northwest Entry) before the Underground Mall, the Walking Street and the Baobai and Victory Hall Shopping Plazas.
Expats in Baotou City: Where to Eat in Baotou: The Seven Pizza bar is located on the 1st floor (western description). It is located just one block from the Main Road Gangtie Dajie and LinYin Road. That intersection also forms the North West Gate to Ba Yi Park. It's not an Up market Joint, and nor is it one of those places where the Chinese stare at the foreigner like he is a monkey in a zoo. It's a 'home away from home' place for foreigners.
Nanhai Park is in Dong He in Baotou. Dong He is just one part of Baotou and lies to the east. It can be reached from Qingshan and Kunqu Districts by cathing the No. 10 or No. 5 bus. It's about a 30 minute fast trip from Qingshan and a little longer from Kunqu.Now although we don't know and don't care why this dragon was in the water, we were interested to travel over to this little island you see in the next photo. We were only interested until we saw the boat ride prices! We live here and earn Chinese rmb. We are too poor to spend that sort of money. As I am often heard to say to Chinese who want me to spend up big' 'Hey! I am a foreigner. I am not Chinese! I am not rich!'
I have spent most Chinese New Years in the villages of Heng Ji and Fengkou in Hong Hu city in Hubei. Last New Year I was in Australia and now I am in Baotou. I have to admit that I prefer to watch the fireworks in the dark countryside, but it has nevertheless been an interesting experience tonight.
For those who regularly follow my adventures in China, it may come as a surprise to know that I have returned to work in Baotou in Inner Mongolia. For those who don't follow my adventures, the reason that some people would be surprised to hear that I have returned to Baotou is related to the rather serious events that occurred last May.
Not long before I left Baotou in early 2010, my friend Arnold (Chaolu) took me for a visit to his home village and gave me a look at some local scenery. I could probably tell a story about our trip, but it would mainly involve the difficulties encountered with Chinese Transport. Therefore there is no real story here, just a glimpse of the area out past Lin He, northwest of Baotou. Chaolu has for years taken foreigners on private tours of the grasslands but is now in the process of establishing a tour company called "Tournmg" (Tour Nei Menggu)
As I skirted Mr. Gao to assist Miss Mae, Mr. Wu the EET Baotou office manager - he's tall, powerful and huge - began powerfully kicking Mae in the ribs and stomach, all the while screaming obscenities at her in Chinese. The Female American Teacher threw herself onto Mr. Wu and I grabbed Miss Mae and rushed her outside away from the commotion.
Such is the game playing that goes on in China, but in this case, the games are being played my a Norwegian and a Taiwanese. When you the foreigner, are having fun in Shanghai this year, please remember that while Hu Jintao is making great strides to make China a harmonious society, with government officials doing their work honestly and with transparency, there are always those people in China, who, because of their money or some personal power, seek not only to control Chinese and foreigner alike, but to punish them if they do not willingly agree to be slaves.
Although EET Baotou is not legally entitled to have foreign teachers, schools 'legally' require release papers and letters of recommendation from unregistered schools. Perhaps M/S Cui's claims to have influential friends in the police and education departments is no simple boast.
11pm, I was sitting in my little room updating articles for my website. My door was open, (to allow ventilation), and I could hear someone in the hallway jabbering away on their mobile phone. Then I heard a noise at my door, and looked up. Standing in the doorway was a middle-aged Chinese woman, in pink flannel pajamas staring at me. I looked at her; she looked at me. Before I could say anything, she said: 'Oh! You are a foreigner!'
Within an hour of arrival in Baotou, I was off to work for EET. At the time I arrived at EET, we had 3 staff - Sabrina, myself, and Mae (a lovely lady who speaks no English - we do have fun communicating when no one else is around). From June 26th (my contract started July 1st) I was waking up everyday at my usual time of 6:30am. I would leave for the office at 8:50am; return to my room for an hour at lunchtime, and return to the office for the afternoon. After work, (although I was never sure when work actually finished) we would go to all manner of hotels to meet all manner of people that were either personal friends of Sabrina's or people that we as a business are going to be doing business with. Most nights I got home around 10pm and 'worse for wear'.
It is quite amazing to see how such young children are already programmed to study and learn, but the frustrating thing has been their reluctance to actually speak English.When they ask me questions in Chinese, I tell them to ask in English. It doesn't matter how many times I give them the English translation, they persist in speaking Chinese
The interesting thing about the ride is that as the train leaves each station, a uniformed attendant salutes the departing train. At night, people dance, talk, roller scate etc. An Island blocks the view to the ocean. The sculpture of the boy is urinating
Arriving at the Hotel at 7 pm, we booked in to once again find ourselves faced with a room with one queen sized bed in it. Again we insisted and received a twin room. We stayed at the JinHui hotel which you can find listed at www.ctrip.com. It is located at LuoHu (lor - who) and is 2 minutes walk from the cargo vehicle border crossing into Xiang Gang (Hong Kong).
The Hong Kong Hotel was located in a back street, about 10 minutes from the Bund. We spent two days in the area before taking the train to HangZhou, where we spent a couple of days exploring 'West Lake'; and visiting "Shaoxing" about which I have already written at Magic City. The photos contained in this file are nothing spectacular, but for those who have never been to Shanghai, or never been to China, they might offer some insights.
After years of living in China, I finally got around to organizing a trip to Tibet. I was due to pay for the trip at the End of June and I was to go in October during the Chinese National Holiday. If you have been wondering why the Chinese Government put a ban on foreigners going to Tibet, then now you know the reason. It was to stop me! Alleyways and Streets are more narrow than the canals in Xitang Town ZheJiang. Once we cleared the bars it quieted down. Now this is where I point out why the title of this article has 'Clown' in it.
Mingxing's company had booked him into the upmarket Kempinski Hotel in Wuxi and he organized and paid for one extra day so that we could go sightseeing. There are two photos in Part one that relate to the Kempinski Hotel Room, but this photo is of the lavish foyer of the Hotel as taken from the first floor landing above the coffee shop. Whilst the Big Buddha is the 'centerpiece' so to speak, the real spectacular is to be found in the Cultural Museum. This place is one helluva spectacular place inside. It sits directly opposite the replica of the Potala Palace, and when you enter you are required to put coverings over your shoes. I suspect that the real reason is to cut down on the cleaning bill. This place was crowded and all those people shuffling along wearing shoe protectors gave the marble floor a really high sheen.
The Fairy Island on the Lake Taihu. which used to be called the Three-Mount Island, is a group of well-known islands and islets in the famou s scenic spot of Lake Taihu.it lies in the lake, and is 2. 0 kilometers away from the Turtle Head Peninsual, which is in the northeast shore. The entire islands are made up of the islets such as Daji, Xiaoji, Dongya, Xiya, with a total area of 12 hectares. (From a Sign at Taihu.)
Beijing
(Note: Chiara Braccagni's articles are in both English and Italian)
A una di queste chiamate, ci fermiamo a fianco a una coppia di giovani. Non solo i due incauti avevano diversi sacchetti, ma portavano con sé anche una torta. Dopo varie discussioni con la bigliettaia perché la torta nel pulmino proprio non ci stava, provano ad aprire il finestrino e a passarla alla ragazza seduta di fronte a Justine. Visto che non riuscivano a spostare il vetro, sporgendomi, faccio alla bigliettaia: "Lo faccia passare da qui" (okkei, va bene, ho detto solo "da qui", il resto della frase era sottinteso!). Io, anima ingenua, credevo che una volta saliti i due giovani avrebbero trovato il modo di riprendersi la torta. E invece no! Mi sono fatta una decina di chilometri di strada sterrata con una torta gelato sulle ginocchia! E giusto per renderla ancora più precaria, era una torta a due piani con complesse decorazioni, tra cui un drago giallo con occhi e baffi di cioccolata. Avevo il terrore di spetasciarla. A questo punto, però, ridevamo da non riuscire più a respirare.
Storie dalla Cina in italiano: Dal momento che Shijiazhuang non è proprio il paradiso del turista, una volta cambiato il biglietto e anticipata la partenza (per andare sul sicuro avevo comprato un biglietto sul tardino, non si sa mai di aspettare un bus una vita e mezza, perdersi nella campagna e rimanere bloccati a Shijiazhuang!), l'unica attività a mia disposizione era il sopralluogo a uno dei centri commerciali della piazza della stazione (unico negozio degno di nota il supermercato, ho preso certe cialde al sesamo buonissime da sgranocchiare al rientro)
Sabato sera, in un locale di Pechino, ho conosciuto una ragazza cinese, Sophie. Lei e un amico scattavano alcune fotografie al gruppo live. Era molto gentile e dopo un po' di conversazione ha invitato me e le due ragazze che mi accompagnavano a visitare un nuovo quartiere artistico di Pechino. Abbiamo subito accettato con piacere
Built in 1406-1420, The Imperial Palace, popularly known as the Forbidden City, was the permanent residence of the Emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It's buildings are divided into two parts. The front part, or the 'outer court', consists of Tai He Dian Hall, Zhong He Dian Hall and Bao He Dian Hall, which are taken as it's main body, plus Wen Hua Dian Hall and Wu Ying Dian Hall, which are taken as it's two wings, Where the Emperor held important ceremonies
From the airport one may take the fast train into Hong Kong, or as the Chinese say, 'You can just......'. The trouble with that is, unless you can read Chinese, or have someone with you to guide you, you can't just do anything. I found it very confusing and wasted a lot of time trying to find my way OUT of the airport and onto the train, but having finally accomplished that, when I arrived at the final destination, I had no idea where I was, or where to go, or who to speak to, for, although Hong Kong was under the control of the British for so long, no one seemed to be able to speak English
Built in 1406, The Imperial Palace, popularly known as the Forbidden City, was the permanent residence of the Emperors of the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It's buildings are divided into two parts
Definition: King's Calendar Chronological Research
The Premise: Between the 5th and 3rd centuries BCE (but continuing down to at least 104 BCE), Sectarian redactors transcribed the legitimate 'solar year' chronological records of Israel and Judah, into an artificial form, with listed years as each comprised of 12 months of 4 weeks of 7 days, or 336 days per year, thus creating a 13th artificial year where 12 solar years existed.
When the Synchronous Chronological Data provided in the Books of Kings and Chronicles for the Divided Kingdom Period are measured in years of 336 days, the synchronisms actually align. [Refer to Appendix 5. to see how it synchronises the Divided Kingdom Period]
About the KingsCalendar Publisher
R.P.BenDedek is the owner and Editor of KingsCalendar.com which was originally set up to publicize his research results into the Chronology of Ancient Israel. Those results were published under the title: 'The King's Calendar: The Secret of Qumran'.
Whilst there have been many attempts to solve the chronological riddle of the Bible's synchronisms of reigns of the kings of Israel and Judah and their synchronism with other Ancient Near Eastern Nations, no other research is based on a simple mathematical formula which could, if it is incorrect, be disproved easily. To date, no one has been able to dismiss the mathematical results of this research.
Free to air Academic articles set forth Apologetics for and results of his discovery of an "artificial chronological scheme" running through the Bible, Josephus, the Damascus Documents of the Dead Sea Scrolls, and Seder Olam Rabbah.
During the current economic downturn, this book has been drastically reduced in price but will eventually rise as the economy improves.
Check the Chapter Precis Page to see details of each chapter and to gain access to the Four Free to Air Chapters
R.P. BenDedek writes social commentaries and photographic 'Stories from China' both at KingsCalendar, and as a contributing columnist at Magic City Morning Star News in Maine USA.
(He has been teaching Conversational English in China since 2003 and currently (2013) is teaching in Suzhou City Jiangsu Province.)
