China Romance
All About China => Your trip to China => Topic started by: Irishman on January 19, 2011, 08:55:14 pm
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As many of you guys will know, i've been to China a good few times in the last couple of years, this will be my sixth trip in about two years and probably my last until next Chinese New Year.
I fly out of Dublin on Wednesday next, arriving Thursday afternoon in Hong Kong take the train to GZ and will be reunited at last with my qin ai de, my lao po, for the last time, we wont be apart again :)
This time there will be no tearful goodbyes at the airport - those totally suck, I'd be a liar if I said it gets easier, it doesn't. She will be coming back with me to Ireland.
I'll be about two and half weeks in China over the New year in Guangzhou which seems almost like a second home now at this stage. We'll spend most evenings with Sunny's parents for dinner and have a lot of other stuff to get arranged.
We are also looking forward to meeting up with Dave (Bee964) over the New Year period and having a few obligatory dumplings !!
Then she comes to Ireland and my life as a single guy comes to an end :D
I've booked another 4 weeks here, after we get back, off work, so hopefully she will be well adjusted and settled by the time I have to go to work hopefully, I'm certainly going to try to make it as comfortable a transition as possible.
So I guess its coming to the end of one road in one respect and starting down a new one in another respect. I will do my best to rise to the challenge, i know she is the one for me, no matter what challenges we meet i am sure we can climb over and be better for it. My two sisters are super excited to have another sister in the family and I'm certain Sunny will be made feel very welcome here.
I'm hugely grateful to the guys that have been here for me from the very beginning Facebook days, frankly without you I'd probably be alone and sad this new year instead of full of joy and happiness. This journey sure isn't for quitters, it takes patience, bravery and a willingness to embrace a totally different culture to what most of us ill have experienced in the west. I once read that Chinese women are steel wrapped in cotton and that's the best description I've read. Beautiful and womanly outside, and incredibly strong , loyal, wonderful inside..worth every minute spent trying to win their heart!
Heres to turning a new page, and raising my glass to those who have gotten me this far and to encourage those just starting on the journey, it may be a long one but its one worth taking :)
More updates to follow over the next few weeks..
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6 Trips in 2 years, well I beat you there as I have also already done 6 trips in 2 years. But you win were it counts - keeping your wife with you when you return home. I wish you the best on this last voyage and a fantastic new year celebration.
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Enjoy every minute mate. I am hoping that Xia will be able to come back to Australia with me all be it for only 3 months (tourist visa) after my trip 12 FEB - 25 MAR. Will be in Guangzhou for a day but about the 14 FEB to put in tourist visa application at the Australian Consulate and to get a single paper that the marriage office wants but from in China. So might be able to arrange some sort of meeting even if it is for a plate of dumplings. Will have more concrete plans in the coming weeks.
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So the Irish drama will come to an end and a new Book will be opened for you and Sunny ... but sad :'( to say ... your old friends will stay the same ??? .
We can now say , instead of sitting down in front of the CP with a Glass of Wine writing .. we can have one with our LaoPo next to us .
May also be happy/wonderful day's ahead for you both . Congratulations !!!
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Irishman have a safe trip And a good time.I wish you and Sunny a long and happy life together.May your home always be filled with joy and happiness.
Somebody once asked me.How to make one of these types of relationships work.Thiere is no big secrete.Just remember your wife is from a different country.With different customs and its own culture.You need to remember this.When you are dealing with life's little emergencies.It also takes allot of patience and time.and the ability to not get caught up in the little things.If It isn't life or death.Or the end of humanity as we know it.It probably isn't worth arguing about.And remember to try to see whatever it is from your wife's point of view.She is the one who left everything behind she ever knew.Just to be with you.If you can do that.And not get wrapped up inside your head.And start over thinking this.You and Sunny will do very good.
Thiere is going to be some adjustment issues for both you and Sunny.Don't let it get out of hand.If you need help or need a question answered.You know where we are at.
Maxx
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Hey Irishman,
Hope everything goes well and you do lose your single status... or should we start calling you Irish-husband? :)
Good lucky my friend.
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Well it seems it's the end of a chapter in the book of life and time to open a new one. It seems like this took forever? but then again seems like just yesterday when the Irishman made his appearance. Best of everything to you both.
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how goes the song go "when Irish Eyes Are Smiliing - Smiling the ywill be a wide as Dublin Town hall very soon
Willy
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OK I am jealous. No really Ronan I am very happy for you.
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It's been a long journey for you, but I am glad to see it coming to such a happy ending. Enjoy your trip over. Have a great time, and don't forget to keep us updated about your trip...they are always entertaining.
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And thanks to you, Irish, for getting this site up and running ... thereby helping many guys directly & indirectly. And a big thanks to Martin. Without Martin's Facebook start, none of us would have ever met online or in person.
Have a great trip !
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Have a great trip Ronan , I hope Sunny has been learning English with an Irish accent ha ha , we will now keep on reading about your latest exploits , regards Sujuan and Robert .
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Have a great trip Irishman. Best luck for the future.
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Will be in Guangzhou for a day but about the 14 FEB to put in tourist visa application at the Australian Consulate and to get a single paper that the marriage office wants but from in China. So might be able to arrange some sort of meeting even if it is for a plate of dumplings. Will have more concrete plans in the coming weeks.
If you get some free time on the 14th of february I would be interested in meeting you Jason. Should I send you a PM with contact information?
Dave C
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Best of luck to you Irishman! I will be looking forward to meeting you there. I hope you two have a long happy life together. ;)
Dave C
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Looking forward to it already Dave!
Flying out there on Wednesday, really starting to get excited now, going to be hard to concentrate in work Monday and Tuesday :)
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Very happy for you and your bride Irishman, A lot of us here are a little jealous of you to finally be with your loved one, I, and many more have the long road ahead of us, I thank you for your imput in to my love story so far and i will never loose sight of the prize.
Have a great trip and a safe journey .
Regards from MinYing and John.
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If you get some free time on the 14th of february I would be interested in meeting you Jason. Should I send you a PM with contact information?
Sure mate send a PM and we can try and work something out. I am sure I will have some free time for some dumplings.
Sorry for the hijack.
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I would hate to be travelling in China in the next few weeks.
They say even more Chinese will be travelling over the holiday period than ever before. Over 300 million travelled to their homelands last year and then back again!
Willy
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I'm happy for you Irish.. I know what you are talking about.. I'm still happy as a child on a Christmas day and have been that for over a year now.. ;) ;) ;) ;D ;D
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In GZ now chilling out in the hotel. Sunny looked lovelier than ever when I met her at the end of the long journey to Guangzhou.
It is so wonderful to be with her again, especially since this time there will be no tears at the airport this time.
Its great to see the mandarin trees outside everywhere again for the New Year festival, this time though accompanied by cute bunny rabbits everywhere :D
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Speaking of 'rabbits' ... they're delicious. We brought lots of fresh rabbit last year in Kaiping ... 35 RMB for a 1/2 side. Alas, the Chinese tend to boil it with herbs as opposed to North American style rabbit stew.
I wonder if the Chinese will avoid rabbit meat now since it's the Year of the Rabbit ??? Good or bad luck ???
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I wonder if the Chinese will avoid rabbit meat now since it's the Year of the Rabbit ??? Good or bad luck ???
Qing say's .. No ! She herself never ate Rabbit and I try'd it ones ( german style ) no thanks .. too many Bones with each mouth-full .
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They do sell rabbit in the chinese supermarkets around here. Not sure how the chinese cook it here, but I have seen it braised in a few of the restaurants. Haven't tried to cook it myself.
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Good to hear your back in China Ronan - even better to see that your not wasting time posting on here when you have a lovely wife with you who you have not set eyes on for a long time.
willy
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Glad to hear you arrived safely, and are back with Sunny. Have a great trip, and enjoy the Spring Festival.
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Just a quick post, saw this store yesterday and thought it reminded me of another one :o
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Today Sunny and I are going to Baiyun mountain with Dave (Bee964) and LingLing for the afternoon and then a meal afterwords which should be great fun. Her self is busy washing her hair right now in honor of this event so i get a few minutes to post and catch up here.
Looking forward meeting Dave and not doubt there will a shortage of dumplings soon in Guangzhou :)
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Have a blast Irishman...say hi to Dave for me, and ask him why he isn't posting details of his trip...some of us have waited a long time for this. heehee
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Yeah he's not that Beeesy
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Yesterday Sunny and me spend the day with Dave(Bee) and the lovely LingLing.
We walked to the top of Baiyun mountain which was quite a long walk but the weather was great and though it was a long and hard trail it was worth it for the magnificent views at the top.
With aching muscles afterward LingLing drove us to a great restaurant where we had the obligatory tasty dumplings.
Dave insisted on trying the "private place meat pie" but I drew the line at the "big bone rod" dish !!!
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After that we went to get a traditional Chinese Foot massage which was great.
A wonderful day and fantastic to meet another brother from the forum.
I only had my camera phone so all the group photos are on Dave's camera, hopefully he will post up some later.
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Martin,
I have been a little busy here. You could say busy as a BEE! Also had to wait for 4 days to get my luggage. I am still trying to decide but I think it will be a new thread for this trip.
Irishman,
It was a great day yesterday. I hope that LingLing and I can see the fireworks with you and Sunny.
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Nice Picture Guy's . Always great for Member's to meet up this way .
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I agree with Arnold. Fantastic pictures, and glad you guys were able to meet up.
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Great picture.
Irish ... I see that you have to carry the knapsack [ with a water bottle ] which I did everyday in Kaiping ... hahaha.
Have you guys tried the Chinese foot massage ??? ... where tiny fishes nibble/eat the dried skin from your feet ??? My sister tried it in Taishan. She said it felt funny but it was relaxing.
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Hey Chong,
I haven't tried it, but I've been warned against it. They tried bringing it here in Canada after seeing it in Asia, but there was a concern as the fish are capable of passing along infections from whatever feet they have consumed the dead skin from.
I think it's necessary to carry a backpack whereever you go when travelling. Mine was loaded with water and an umbrella which I used every day. :(
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Yes I'm chief bag carrier. i feel so privileged! There was fruit and nuts in that bag too! As well as a towel Sunny insisted on bringing to dry my back with as her mother told her to make sure i didn't get sick!!!
Last night was incredible here. This time we are staying in a &Days Hotel in Panue which is just outside Guangzhou (used to be a separate city). Setting of firecrackers here is tolerated and boy oh boy do the locals go to town. All evening there was the constant crackle of firecrackers out side building up slowly throughout the day, it was constant then at around 23:45 thing went ballistic!! I don't have the superlatives to describe it! One example - A street a couple of road over from the hotel (we are on the 7th floor so have a pretty good view as the buildings in Panue are not high rise like in GZ central) was crisscrossed lamp post to lamp post with fire crackers, they were going constantly like very loud machine gun for for at least 10 minutes with a grand deafening flash and finale! This was by no means exceptional, across the view all i could see was flashes and hear bangs near and far. Fireworks were shooting off balconies everywhere, the air thick with the smell of burning combustant. Its still going on, to a lesser extent right now as i type this at 23:40 a day later!
This morning we went for brunch at Sunny's folks house and then went pedal boating with her sister.
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Outside every business are the remains of a firework extravaganza which they all set off before opening, these are the remains from firecrackers her parents landlords let off outside their apartment block for good luck! Sunny is holding the New Year red envelopes for her parents and sister as is the tradition here.
We had dinner back with her folk's and then went to see the wonderful GZ new year fireworks with Bee and LingLing which was special in its own right, but I'll let Bee fill you in on that on his post.
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Great update Irishman. Nice to be getting these different updates from guys there for the New Year celebrations. Did you manage to get any sleep with all the noise outside?
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Now that you're a married couple, you have to give out Red Envelopes to every single person and children that you know & meet face-to-face. My wife used to receive 10,000 RMB during Chinese New Year from her boss & family [ 11 Uncles & Aunts in total ]. She and her cousins used to make the rounds of visiting every married couple that they know during this celebration ... hahaha.
Irish ... how much have you guys given out so far ???
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Last couple of days have been a bit of a blur.
About a week back I found myself getting mild stomach cramps which got worse and worse. Sunny brought me to the hospital and the doctor diagnosed an intestinal infection. Sunny said this was in the news at the moment, theres some bug going around Guangzhou. Back home we are under strict instructions to stay away from the doc if we just have a cold for obvious reasons but not here.
The end result is you get the drip in a packed small room, with no aircon full of people sniffling and coughing.
I knew I was going to get a cold, I was appalled that all these people didnt have face masks on as all they were doing doing was spreading their colds everywhere.
Sure enough a couple of days later we were having dinner with one of Sunny's friends and i noticed that my nose started to feel ticklish. I thought it was hay fever initially but it got rapidly worse and soon became obvious it was a cold. Sunny got it too but more mildly - she didn't have the runny nose and difficulty breathing I had, or maybe i just had the "man flu" version :)
Last couple of days have been spent with a pounding headache , leaking nose and horrible cough. This morning finally it seems to be on the way out. We will take it easy though as Sunny's folks are moving apartment in a couple of days and we have to help with that.
We had been really looking forward to visiting Lotus Mountain with Dave and LingLing today but had to call that off as neither of us are up to to anything that energetic yet. Dave , hopefully we can catch up next new year and do it together then, I think we may have the start an annual New Year meetup in Guangzhou to look forward too :)
On Sunday we go back to Ireland and a new chapter begins..
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Hope you both get feeling better. It has been good reading about your trip and I wish you good luck in your new chapter.
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Sorry to hear you've been sick. It sounds exactly like what Peggy has. She is absolutely miserable. So don't think it is the man-flu. From listening to Peggy you would think there is an epidemic going on. I don't understand why but it seems that for every ailment an IV drip is a part of the cure. Can anyone explain it? All I get from Peggy is that is what they do.
Funny thing I told Peggy last night that we do not have many IV drips for cures in America. She said and this is after having 3 in the consecutive days, "I move to America and I never go back to China." I wonder what she will say in 2 weeks when she is better?
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Ronan sorry to hear that you have been a sickie and Shaun sorry to hear about Peggy to , and I hope everybody is now on the mend , Irish better watch it or they might think he has the Asian virus and will isolate him when he arrives in Ireland ha ha .
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We had been really looking forward to visiting Lotus Mountain with Dave and LingLing today but had to call that off as neither of us are up to to anything that energetic yet. Dave , hopefully we can catch up next new year and do it together then, I think we may have the start an annual New Year meetup in Guangzhou to look forward too :)
On Sunday we go back to Ireland and a new chapter begins..
Irishman,
I was really sorry to hear you and Sunny were not feeling well. Ling Ling has been asking about you so I let her read your post. She is sorry to hear you two do not feel well. I hope that you get better soon. If you need some fluids I have some really cold Tsingtao here. I will be praying for you two to have a speedy recovery.
I think that this may indeed become something of an annual event. If so I will be looking forward to seeing you next year, and bring plenty of ear plugs and RMB for an evening of firework fun! I know I will!
By the way, we really missed you two at Lotus mountain.
Dave C