国庆节 - National Day

Famous for being the busiest travel week of the year, when foreign residents who've spent any period of time in China will tell you to stay at home to avoid the crowds, 国庆节 National Day, or 黄金周 Golden Week, is a public holiday where seemingly the entire country leaves their villages and crowds into the cities and popular travel destinations.

I experienced the holiday last year and, as such, decided to stay in Liuzhou this time, to avoid (not entirely successfully) being jostled and gawped at by tens of thousands of farmers. Besides, one of our members at Liuzhou Meet & Learn has some connections within the local tourism department and wanted some foreign volunteers to be taken around the city to attend the various events taking place. So, four members from our group set off to be photographed doing everything from walking around, to eating noodles, to being force fed tea by members of the local ethnic minority groups.

One thing that is so seductive about living in a smaller city in China is how special you're made to feel all the time, just by virtue of being foreign. The simple act of being able to use chopsticks, or stutter out a few words of badly pronounced Chinese, produces gasps of amazement from those not used to seeing foreign faces. So, in this light, it might make a bit more sense that the four of us appeared on local TV from the opening ceremony of a food event, ostensibly because we were eating noodles.

The following day, we were treated to amazing trips to an arts centre in a converted factory, where we saw local children working together to make an enormous group painting, and a nearby scenic area, (君武森林公园 Junwu Forest Park) where we were treated to traditional songs and dances by members of the local 侗族 Dong and 苗族 Miao minorities. We also participated in a 百家宴, literally 'hundred family feast', where everyone eats food prepared by local families together at huge tables. Just to see these great events would be an honour, but we were welcomed as special guests, given the best seats in the house and treated with a reverence that made me feel kind of guilty.

Once again, the benefits of being in this kind of social group, and getting to know such a wide range of people, foreign and local, can't be stated enough. If you're in Liuzhou, whether it's for a visit or to stay longer, contact us via email and get involved.

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烧烤 - BBQ

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...

礼拜六的聚会－ Saturday Night Meetup

Ephesians 5:18 says: "and do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the spirit." If you've ever been drinking in China, you'll likely doubt the word of god here and agree that it's best to stay away from the spirits - they're almost certainly fake! Actually, and as if you needed another excuse to hit the beers, remember that wine in China is generally fake as well. I'm not sure where I was going with that quote. Anyway, founded around 4 months ago, Liuzhou Meet & Learn has quickly become the biggest and liveliest social event in Liuzhou. Whilst definitely not debaucherous, there are certainly some drinks to be had every Saturday night at our regular meeting. We have over 30 attendees every week, and a total membership of nearly 100 people, ready to meet new local and foreign friends, to share their language, their thoughts and more. When we first arrived in the city, we found there wasn't really an opportunity f...

Potluck Lunch

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...

Liuzhou Meet & Learn

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