Harbin; Land of ice and snow (part 2)

 After walking for miles and taking on the subway system, I arrived at the main event, the whole reason I am here, THE INTERNATIONAL ICE AND SNOW FESTIVAL. The area is so big that I could see it from the plane when I landed. A huge area of bright lights and colours. 

Entry was easy, the usual chaos of tickets and bag scans, then you enter into a huge area covered in snow, which sounds obvious, but the rest of the city was suspiciously without snow. Immediately, you are faced with buildings and monuments in a beautiful but eerie blue colour. Ice Blue, you could say. 

The sculptures ranged in height and style. 

I was incredibly lucky in that the weather really wasn't that cold, for the most part, a balmy -12 to -15, but as was the case in Beijing and Qingdao, a dry cold. Enough socks, and you were fine. 

A trip to the ice festival had been on my list for many years, and I am thrilled to have finally made it. 

Another one off the bucket list. 

Harbin; land of ice and snow. Part 1 (Jan 2026)

A bucket list destination. Harbin's Ice Festival. 

With my current school being a public school, we have to follow the public school semester plan, which includes 3 days of exams the first week of January. Also, as this is a Chinese public school, foreign teachers are not allowed on campus (No, we don't understand either) so off to Harbin I went. I was well prepared for the cold but was still a little nervous at how uncomfortable it could get. 

I landed late, got a taxi to the hotel and crashed for the night. The next morning I set off wandering in the vague direction of the river. 

First stop was St Sophia's Cathedral, which turned out to be a 10-minute walk from where I was staying. From here, I continued in the direction of Central street which at one point was the longest pedestrian shopping street at a whopping 1.4km. If this is still the case, I have no idea, but it led straight to the river and my first experience of an ice sheet. 

This was my first time being on a frozen river, especially one that is covered with cars pulling people on rubber rings, shopping stalls and alarmingly a BBQ. I got completely distracted by the cracks in the ice and how thick it was, and just how cold the water underneath would be. Given the huge number of people ice skating and wandering around, I was convinced of the ice's strength, but it's still a little difficult to forget that it is only ice under you. 

From the river, I took the cable car across to Sun Island Snow Sculpture Park. From the cable car, the scale of the river activities is impressive. 

A short ride later, I arrived at the sculpture park. 

The park was a disorganised mess of people wandering about, with the occasional shuttle bus. I still think I went to the wrong place, but I saw a few huge snow sculptures and "ice art", not really sure what to call it, pictured above. 

From here, I made my way on a packed subway to the Ice Festival itself. 

Qingdao Christmas 2025

Christmas in a public school is a non-starter. We were forbidden to even say the word, let alone celebrate or teach it in any way. Such a shame. We were, however, entitled to a day off somewhere to celebrate a festival of our choosing, so we took a vote and went for Boxing day making Xmas a long weekend. 

Knowing nothing was going to be going on here, I flew back to Qingdao to see a few people and finally get some decent sushi. 

First stop was obviously 九龙, a Qindgao staple and the best squid I have ever eaten. I met Anna and Kelly for our required catch-up and inevitable school complaining session followed by a chilly but lovely walk around the old town. 

Several hours later, we parted ways and I headed in the direction of my very swanky hotel. 

The following day, after a few hours in SAW, I met my Chinese teacher in my favourite sushi place in China. A place I have been raving about for years but she has never tried. 

Immediately off to a win with the food, we walked around the corner to a small but quaint bar to visit Mario and 豆片儿 the dog. 

On the way meeting some old students who looked so confused but were pleased to see me.

I returned to Hangzhou tired but well fed and happy to have caught up with so many people. 

Nine treasures (九宝) in Nanjing. (Oct 2025)

As it turned out, we had half days for the sports day, so I immediately changed my train to get to Nanjing in the afternoon, not the evening. An hour and a half train journey later, and I was on holiday. Granted, only a weekend, but I'll take what I can get. 

I met up with Sandy and Chris eventually, after a missed train and a lot of traffic, in a fantastic Japanese BBQ place before the show. During this time, realised it had been 5 years since the last time we were in the same place. A scary revelation. 

A fantastic meal and a few beers, and we were off to the show! Sandy somehow called someone to turn up on their bike and drive his car to the next place. Magic! 

Nerves were a little tight as we thought we would miss the show, but a speedy car exit, and we arrived just in time. 

A fantastic night was had by all!!!

Goodbye Qingdao, Hello Hangzhou (Summer 2025)

Ellen snapped this and I love it! 

Sean's last night

Me and my witches (plus their boys). 

One final meal with the Menaul survivors. 

The least scary vikings. 

Yantai, the land of whales. (Dragon boat Festival 2025)

A 10 minute walk from my hotel was the 'walk of whales', a truly stunning series of sculptures. 

After 15 years in China, I have finally seen a dragon boat.

Yantai Yoma Music festival: Dragon Boat Festival 2025.

This was an impulsive 'why the hell not' trip that ended up being one of the most surprising and enjoyable weekends. 

Dragon boat festival rolled around, and given the logistically difficult nature of Qingdao, I had nothing planned. Pete and I were chatting on the way to sushi, and he mentioned a festival in a nearby city at which a new discovery favourite band of mine (and an old one of his) were playing. 

A quick look at tickets, both festival and train, and I decided to go. 

Yantai is often called Qingdao's smaller brother, and it is easy to see why. However, I think it is more of a 'the student has become the master' situation. I loved it! It's a much smaller city, but the people, the food, the weather and the atmosphere were just so much more enjoyable. A real "hidden gem" of Shandong. (More on that later). 

If I am to be honest, I was a little nervous about spending so much time on my own, but I needn't have worried; it was a fantastic set-up. Two stages opposite each other, connected by about 200 meters of food, drink and shopping. The acts were set so there was always something on, but at alternating stages, so if you wanted to see two consecutive acts, you would have to run between the two stages or miss the last/first few minutes of the acts.  I had managed to uncover a set list and was able to plan my day without too many issues. 

Arriving at the location, I was hustled off into a side tent while everyone else just used their ID cards to pass automatic doors. I met what had to be the most bored police officer in the whole arena, as his job was to wait for and greet the foreigners. There were two of us, which led to the most difficult game of Where's Wally. I was immediately a spectacle, a target and an oddity. Luckily, my basic Chinese charmed just about everyone, and I was adopted by dozens of different people over the course of the day. 

I had youtubed a few of the acts before getting there, so I felt a little prepared for which acts I wanted to see when, and which I could miss and get food/drink/a bathroom break. 

I was very fortunate to see two of my recent discoveries that I have fallen deeply in love with. A Mongolian band called 'Nine treasures' or 九宝, as well as a Swiss band called Eluveitie, who are both wonderful! (see below)

九宝

Eluveitie

 Both have a fantastic folky vibe that was so much fun to see on the stage and to be a part of in the crowd. 

At one point, I found myself being squashed up against the barrier and was getting a little uncomfortable. Two very tall and beefy guys noticed and put me next to one of their girlfriends in a "safe zone" created by a wall of people. Our agreement was that whoever was in the safe zone needed to take the pictures and videos. I felt a decent trade for a few minutes of calm in a sea of excited arms and legs. 

I had a fantastic time and met a lot of really lovely people. Would 100% recommend and do it again. 

Qingdao/School Shenanigans 2024-2025

Out of order as this website is not so easy to use with pictures. A collection of the best moments from Qingdao 2024-2025. 

 

World Book Day event. 23rd April 

Dinner with the family. 

Drinks on the floor. 

Working hard, Ground painting

Post Xmas Event relief (and beer)

Attack of the spiders. 

Hanging in HangZhou. March 2025

As luck would have it, Tim and Coin's visit included a stop in Hangzhou to meet her cousin for the weekend, which suited me perfectly. Getting to Kunming is not easy and most of the time, expensive. Also, I was able ot combine the trip with a visit to my new school to sign some paperwork and get some details about the place.

Rainy evenings

I was staying in a pretty decent hotel in the 'old town' pedestrian area of the city, about a 15-minute walk from the lake. It rained on and off the whole weekend, but it made for some pretty and cosy pictures. 

I went and met my new boss, signed a mountain of paperwork and was given a tour of the campus. It looks to be more like KFLS and completely different to what I am doing now, which, in my current frame of mind, can only be a good thing. I will be teaching G10 11 12 a range of essay writing, literature and AP Language and Composition. I have basically been given free rein to teach whatever I fancy, but within reason. I am actually quite excited! 

Because of the weather, I wasn't able to get to explore around the school too much, but after a quick 10-minute explore, I quite liked the vibe. It is different to the manicured shopping centre style I have now and has more of a local feel. Reminded me a lot of Kunming. 

Tim Chris and I at the Lake

Once Tim and Chris arrived, we went for dinner and a few too many drinks and made plans to walk around West Lake the next day. 

Tim and I, Chris behind the camera. 

It was chilly and overcast but pleasant, we walked North to South before getting to the point we were hungry and more importantly thirsty. It is a huge lake and so just walking half of it took us several hours, of course we weren't exactly walking quickly and kept getting distracted by ducks and temples. 

Our shop/bar

After our stroll, we went in search of the first place that came up when I searched "craft beer", which turned out to be less of a bar and more of a shop with a small table. The girl was friendly and even made Chris a fire when he got too cold. We sampled several beers and then went to meet Tim's mates for dinner at a highly rated Italian place.

Italian stairs

 From there we went to a small bar which we were assured was a quiet and chilled place, little did we know it was the owner's birthday and he had gone all out. DJ, buffet, drinks, the works. He is a Filipino guy who got so excited with my rave reviews from the Spring Festival and my drinking red horse. He was a lot of fun and very accommodating. 

In general, I am now looking forward to my move to Hangzhou and am more convinced than ever that I am making the right decision. I just have to make it through the next 11 weeks at work and I am free. 

Beer with the boys in Bangkok: Spring Festival 2025

Park time pre pigeon 

Park time 

 

Caught up with James, and we went to chill in a park near our hotels. 

Also had Sean in town on his never-ending search for the t-shirts and coincidentally Mark, which was nice. 

We did a lot of eating, chatting, drinking and just generally having a very good time. 

Lovely, thanks boys!