The story so far, and what's coming next...

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 make things bigger and better next year.

Of course, we haven't gotten everything right and this has very much been a learning experience for everyone involved. A concern throughout has been that the group might resemble an 英语角 'English Corner' or 英语沙龙 'English Salon', a kind of event that's prevalent throughout China, whereby people meet up to practice speaking English. Famously used by unscrupulous locals to make money, and slimy expats to hit on local girls, it's something we definitely don't want to emulate.

So, as things move onwards and upwards, and to better reflect the social aspect of the group, the Chinese year of the pig will see a new name and a new platform. We want to redirect the focus away from language learning, as successfully fostering better relationships between the local and expat communities will give members a more natural environment for language practice anyway. So, from this point forward, we'll be known as: "Liuzhou Social / 柳州圈" and we're starting a new WeChat Subscription Account to make sure our Chinese members can also view blog posts about the group.

We've also got lots more things planned, from a special event to welcome people back from the New Year holiday, to bigger overnight trips, as well as continuing with the regular meetups. If you're a local, or coming to Liuzhou to live, work or simply visit, we'd love for you to get involved - please get in touch via email. And, in other exciting news, this week will see the opening of our own English training school; we look forward to welcoming enthusiastic teachers into our community so, if you're interested, please send us a message.

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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...

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...

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...

Liuzhou Meet & Learn

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