Official blog of Liuzhou's biggest social meetup and language exchange; our aim is to bring together the local and foreign communities in the city. We get together every Sunday evening to chat, practice different languages, have a drink and make new friends. We also organise regular special events.
If you're interested in attending, please get in touch and we'll give you the details you need to join in. Email: guangxier@gmail.com
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帆船 - Sailing
One of the great things about Liuzhou Meet & Learn is the variety of people that get involved; not just in terms of nationality (though we have members from nearly 20 different countries) but in terms of people's backgrounds, employment and interests. One of our members is a sailing fanatic and president of the local sailing club, allowing us the opportunity to go sailing on the 柳江 Liujiang river as it winds it's way through Liuzhou.
Following a late decision to get out on the water, due to an earlier thunderstorm, we made our way to the riverside at 3:30pm. Though the rain had moved on, the high winds remained and, coupled with decent cloud cover, made for perfect sailing conditions.
This being China, where they aren't huge on health and safety, we got just two pieces of advice before setting off: 1) the boat can't capsize, so don't worry; 2) keep your head lower than the bottom of the sail. Right, off we go!
All in all, it was a fantastic afternoon with the high winds making for great sailing and really high speeds. It's a real privilege to be able to do activities such as this and we're lucky to have members with such great connections! If you fancy joining in future activities, email us and we'll let you know how to get involved.
Whilst Brits tend towards pubs and bars for their evening socialising, the locals in Liuzhou go to the 烧烤 BBQ to chat and drink late into the night. These restaurants are on roadsides throughout the city and, given the great weather in summer here, provide the best opportunity for some al fresco dining with Chinese characteristics. By all means go to the BBQ for your main meal but many locals, after having dinner at home or elsewhere, descend on these restaurants for 宵夜, which roughly translates as a "midnight snack". Sitting outside on benches or yellow plastic chairs, you'll see dozens of tables packed with people eating 烤鱼 BBQ fish, 串 skewers of meat and veg, 炒米粉 fried rice noodles and other specialities. As well as the regular BBQ stalls, there are also some speciality places, including our favourite Mongolian style restaurant which serves up the most amazing lamb legs and ribs. Sitting in 30 degree heat at 11pm, eating amazing food, drinking cold, cheap, wate
To welcome everyone back from the winter vacation in February, we put our cooking skills to the test, ate far too much and, as far as I'm aware, avoided giving each other food poisoning. The Chinese are obsessed with food and, if you spend much time in the country, you'll find yourself following suit. We certainly have. The food was as varied in its origins as the chefs themselves, ranging from a Denver omelette, fishcakes, fried rice, steak, quiche, sushi, popcorn chicken and the biggest 粽子 (a type of glutinous rice dumpling) I've ever seen! There were also the obligatory 番茄炒蛋 tomato with scrambled eggs and 可乐鸡翅 cola chicken wings; the two dishes that always make an appearance as all 1.4 billion Chinese are able to cook them. I was amazed at the culinary skills on display, even from those who claimed not to know what they were doing. This is an event that we'll definitely hold again, especially when the weather improves and we can make use of one of the man
Undoubtedly the biggest week of the year in China is nearly over, and the year of the pig is upon us. Here's a short update on how we've been celebrating... There are a lot of misconceptions about how China does Chinese New Year, often exemplified by confused visitors to Beijing and other big cities wondering why there's nobody there and why anything of interest has shut up shop for the week. "But where are all the fireworks and dragon dances", they cry forlornly into the empty void. Unlike our new year celebrations in the west, this is very much a family affair and, owing to the movement of people from the countryside to cities during the last 30 years, the need to spend time with family explains the mass exodus from urban centres as everyone heads back to their 老家 family home in the village. We were very lucky to be invited by friends we know through Liuzhou Meet & Learn to celebrate with their families. So we headed off, accompanied by unseasonably
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