Liuzhou Meet & Learn

We're not quite a year in, but the end of the winter break seems like an appropriate time to take stock of what's been achieved since we kicked things off in the spring of 2018, and to announce some changes as we move forward... What began as a fairly impulsive decision to strike out from some of the more unsavoury and negative elements of the expat community here quickly developed into a regular meetup attended by foreigners and locals alike. Weekly attendances rose to around 30 and the busiest events saw more than 40 people turn up - our groupchat membership topped 100! Due to the somewhat unexpected popularity of these events, we branched out into organising BBQs, KTV nights, CS days out and, more recently, overnight trips. This all culminated in the first Liuzhou Meet & Learn Christmas Party, which you can read more about here . This event was hugely oversubscribed, and really well received. It's provided the impetus to continue with what we're doing and m...

As the end of the winter break draws near, we decided to release our inner warrior and shoot some arrows... Global tensions are high at the moment, relationships between super powers increasingly strained - who knows when things will suddenly flare up and tip over into full scale war? After the inevitable apocolypse, we're going to need skills like archery so, ever one to plan for every possible eventuality, I decided Liuzhou Meet & Learn shouldn't leave these kind of things to chance. Like a band of merry men we went to the local archery range for a lesson and some practice.  After a being taught the basics of posture and technique, we got to the shooting and, in a suprising turn of events, we actually weren't that bad at it, definitely more Robin Hood than Friar Tuck. Apart from one member though, who kept hitting my target instead of the one in front of him; but I won't name and shame. *ahem* Isaac. If you're interested in joinin...

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 ...