So, every May myself and Beryl celebrate May Day by jumping on a plane and going on a 5 day holiday. In ’09 we went to Luoyang, In ’10 we went to Qingdao and last year we headed to Urumiqi in Xinjiang province. Xinjiang is the most north-westerly province in China. It borders lots of countries including Russia, Mongolia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India. 45% of the population are also Uyghur. A minority of Turkish-speaking Chinese who are mostly Sunni Muslims. The whole area is a totally different side of China. Here are some photos from our holiday…

This is a snap of my god-daughter taken last year in April. She’s so cute! Her English name is Flora. There are some more photos here.

  
So, back in April of last year I convinced Michael to buy a bike and join me on some bike rides. I love riding my bike, but it gets a bit boring on your own when you’re out for 4-5 hours. The hills to the south of Weinan have some challenging roads with steep inclines. That’s part of the reason why I rarely take my big camera with me, and instead choose to use my cell phone camera (which sucks, thanks HTC!)

  
So, those familiar with the blog will know about Beitang Primary School. It’s the primary school that I teach at when I’m not teaching at Aston. Chinese primary schools are very different to their western counter parts. Firstly as the left-most photo shows. There are a lot of students. A lot. Each grade has 7-8 classes. Each class has 60-70 students. And that’s “small” class-sizes. Beitang is one of the best primary schools, it’s “proud” of that class size. Anyway, there are 6 grades in primary school, so conservatively thats 6*7*60 … more than 2,500 students! My primary school (Hayes Meadow Primary School, represent!) The other two pictures also highlight differences, read on for more…

“KTV”? Karaoke TeleVision. Well, it’s just what the Chinese call “Karaoke.” It’s a huge past-time here. Some people take it very seriously too. I, personally, can’t sing for toffee so I usually refrain. Plus the beer is usually over-priced and over-watered. Anyway, occasionally for various festivals or holidays the owner of our school, Max, invites all the employees of the school out for a meal. On this occasion, lots of baijiu was consumed so someone thought it would be a good idea to follow up the meal with a trip to a KTV bar…

In addition to last week’s blog post with photos from Lantern Festival, I dug out this video which helps to convey the atmosphere. Just listen to those fireworks!

So, after wrapping shooting of mine and Beryl’s post-engagement photos, we all headed to BBQ street for some much needed food and drink. Camera still in hand, I took some snaps. Above you can see oil being liberally applied with a paint brush…You’ll either have to trust me that it tastes great, or come out here and try for yourself…

Two blog posts in 24hrs!!! Get in! So far this is like all good new year’s resolutions: starts great…then… well, lets see how often you all are going to the gym in a few weeks, shall we? Anyway… back to the matter at hand. Lantern festival! It’s a festival that takes place 15 days after Chinese New Year and… well, I’m sure Wikipedia can tell you the boring stuff. These days people just set off LOADS of fireworks. It’s like bonfire night (if you’re in the UK) or the 4th of July (if you’re in the states) combined with new years. After a few hours of Lantern Festival, you have a good idea what it must have been like in Baghdad, circa 2003…

So, back in March it was “Spring Festival” or as it’s more commonly known in the west; “Chinese New Year.” It is no doubt the biggest and most important holiday on the Chinese calendar, a time of year when everyone heads home to undertake several traditions and be with the family they probably haven’t seen all year. It’s like Christmas, New Years, Thanksgiving and your birthday all rolled into one. Long time readers will remember this from last year. Those with rusty memories can check out last years blog post; here. But, let’s get on with this year’s…

Couple portrait photography is pretty big in China. Usually after getting engaged, after getting married and after having a baby, portrait photos are taken. Anyway, me and B decided it was time to get our post-engagement shots done. Most people would head to a studio and throw down some money, but… I had lots of ideas, and I had the help of my good friend Winfred, we headed to the newly finished Chao Yang Park in Weinan and came away with these photos…