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...

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If you ask a young person in China what they're doing after class, they might tell you they're going to 吃鸡 or "eat chicken" - contrary to what you might be thinking, this actually means they're going to be playing video games, such as Crossfire or PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds (PUBG), which are huge among Chinese gamers. Counter Strike (CS) was one of the first shooting games to get a foothold here and, around the same time, real life shooting games such as paintball, BB shooting or laser quest also became popular. The Chinese call these physical games 真人CS or "Real Person CS". Played in small arenas, often in underground spaces such as disused car parks, the experience is like being part of a real life video game. After visiting last month, we knew that this had to become a regular event for Liuzhou Meet & Learn. This time, we took three teams of six players. The format is simple: like a squad based Battle Royale video game (the Chinese c...

啤酒在中国－ Beer in China

Summers in Guangxi are long and hot so you're going to need to keep your fluids up; beer is scientifically proven to be the best way to do this. Besides, spirits and wine are best avoided in Chinese bars and I highly recommend staying away from the local poison of choice, 白酒 white alcohol, the taste of which could generously be described as somewhere between vodka and paint stripper. So here's a quick guide about what to drink when you're in Liuzhou... As well as better known Chinese mass produced beers such as 青岛 Qingdao and 雪花 Snow, the most popular brand in Liuzhou is 漓泉啤酒 LiQ Beer from nearby Guilin. They have a few types available, including 漓泉1998 and 漓泉新1代纯生, which are their premier offerings. The 1998 variety appears to celebrate a visit to the province 20 years ago by ex US president Bill Clinton and includes a patently false quote from the man himself (I'm fairly sure Clinton didn't speak Chinglish). Whilst the taste is definitely not on a par wit...

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