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Leaving China

With great sadness I leave China. With that phrase I am putting behind me a unique experience that most

Westerners will never have. My time in China has been full of surprises, some good and some bad but all

fascinating in their own way. I am sure if you have read my journals and trip monologues you have in a small way

experienced China through my eyes. They may have been jaded sometimes in the way I saw certain events or

people (mostly because of preconceived notions I had) but in fact one thing I have discovered to be absolutely

true, you cannot experience China through a book, a picture or even an individual or city. This is a country that

must be experienced with all of your senses. I promised myself when I arrived that I would walk on the Great

Wall of China, visit the Imperial City, see the Terracotta Warriors and maybe if I was lucky get to see the great

Goby Desert. .....and yes i got to do all that. Perhaps I had needed a break from winter and the cold weather of

the North but in fact I have always loved warm weather, palm trees and flowers that bloom all year round. So

shoot me if my choice was to live in short pants. I did get to see the tombs of the Ming and Ching Emperors, walk

the beaches that separate China from Taiwan and those trodden by Cheng Kai Chek (probably spelled it wrong),

floated down one of the mightiest rivers in the world, the Yangtze, visited architecture that was thousands of years

old, seen cities rise out of nothing and a people who I thought were (when I first arrived), die hard Communists

but in fact turned out to be the most dedicated capitalists I have ever seen go through a transformation that took

50 years to happen in the West but in only ten. I am spending the last few days in Fuzhou staying at the

Lakeside Hotel. You won’t believe this but a 5 star hotel and the cost is $40 per night (including a buffet

breakfast). In the West this hotel would cost $200 per night. I am however looking foreword to seeing my family

for Christmas then on to my new position as an IT instructor in the UK. Short pants will have to be packed away

as the weather in Canada and England are not up to warm weather clothing. Perhaps I will have to change my

name from ChinaDan to something more appropriate for my travels……Gulliver 2, LOL. Anyway it has been fun

doing this from China over the last few years but now it is time to move on. I hope you will all stay with me in the

future as my adventures continue. One thing that will come of this for sure, good food at last!!!!!!!!

My Journals

China Pictures