Howdy Everyone!
Some people have been complaining that its been a long time since my last email, so you can blame them for this. I'm not sure if I told you but I moved into a new apartment a couple of months ago with an English guy, former EF colleague, and drinking buddy, Tom. Our apartment is very nice, just a few minutes walk from the CBD where the tallest building in Guangzhou is, which can be seen from my bedroom window. We like on the 12th floor in a small complex overlooking a swimming pool and a small tropical garden with a fish pond. We have three bedrooms, the guest bedroom is constantly occupied by two girls, Vivian and Lucky, who have all but moved into our house.
As our apartment is quite big, we often host parties and as a result have many decorations hanging up like the giant spiderwebs and spiders which I stole from our school's Halloween party. Now we are preparing for a Christmas or New Year's party so we have been busy putting up a Christmas tree, fairy lights, tinsel etc. All of these things and so much more can all be found at a giant wholesale market a few stops away on the metro. Everything stylish or tacky, festive or plain is all there. Scary masks, Santa outfits, fake snow, flowers, toys, household decorations, candles, pictures, wall hangings, etc, loads of stuff that we have in the cheap shops in the UK is all made and sold right here. I brought an all-body gorilla costume complete with mask, hands and feet for less than 15 pounds and I wore it to work's Halloween party. It was great fun scaring people on the metro, as people in China have never seen such a thing as a crazy man dressed in a gorilla costume chasing strangers down the escalators, but eventually the security guards came and asked me to remove the head. Security guards have visited our apartment on a couple of occasions when we have had parties as there seems to be some sort of law whereby you are not allowed to play music after 11pm, and they even brought the police with them on one occasion, not that the music was particularly loud, but then again, this is China!
I have just got back from travelling around Yunnan province. I went with Queenie to Shangarila which was very beautiful town surrounded by snow-capped mountains which we climbed in a cable car. The Chinese people on are tour were so excited to see the snow (the first time for some of them), that when it started snowing they made the bus driver stop so they could all get off and take pictures of the sky! We visited some minority villages and saw some traditional dancing and ate some strange food, a lot of it was meat on these over sized bones and a strange disgusting tea. We also visited Kunming (the capital of the province), and the most beautiful, bluest lake I have ever seen. The most amazing part of the trip was a visit to Lijang, a very traditional town with ancient Chinese style architecture, complete with the obligatory red paper lantern, and no building over two stories high. At the centre of the town is a large water-mill and a small river with many streams originating from it, and weeping willows either side of the river. At night the old town transforms itself into a very cool nightlife spot. Many interesting bars line the small stream and people sit on the windowsills with their feet dangling down from the second floor, singing and drinking the night away. Other people move from shop to shop buying interesting handicrafts, floating paper lanterns and candles down the streams or just simply standing under the willow trees watching all the merriment and singing from the bars above.
Now I'm back in Guangzhou finalizing the Christmas preparations and doing some last minute shopping for tomorrow. Tomorrow I will go with my girlfriend Queenie and some of the teachers from EF to an Irish bar for a traditional Christmas dinner and drinks, then it will be time to start making the plans for New Year, and my birthday. Talking of which, its not too late to make the post for my birthday - January 3rd!!! Or for any Chinese new year gifts you'd like to send - (February 7th).
So keep in touch (address is below), or send me an email over the Christmas period.
Merry Christmas and a VERY drunken New Year!
Lots of Love
Phil x
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