My June Holidays

Chung Guo Zi Li                                                                                                                                

I spent my June  holidays from 5 June to 25 Jun 2011, in Taiwan, China and HK with my brother, parents and grand parents.  The entire trip was 20 days. It was my first encounter with real Chinese culture of different countries. It was an enriching experience for me to learn about different Chinese communities  and the way they speak the Chinese language. In Taiwan, they like to use “sze ah”to end the sentence whilst in China, the people like to use “mei she” to express it is OK.

In Taiwan, we visited the Fisherman’s Wharf  just across from  Dan Shui in Northern TAIPEI. In the city, we visited Taipei  101 and also the famous Palace Museum, where I  learn about the Chinese civilisation. It  also showcase the  treasures from the various Chinese dynasties e.g Ming Dynasty..  such  as the Jade Cabbage.

From Taiwan, we crossed over to China’s Quan Zhou where I visited my ancestor shrine /hall and learnt about the history of our Ding clan which has its roots in Tan Tay.  I am the 25^th generation and it first started in 1251. And till now 2011 it has a  760 ancestral history.

Then we went on to visit Xiamen, Xiamen University ..also the beautiful island of Gulangyi- with so many attractive shopfronts like our conservation shophouses  with multi-racial crowds like  Orchard Road. The most outstanding feature is the statue of hero  Zhen Chen Kong standing 15.6 m and build from 621 huge white granite stones  standing at the island.

Then we take the night train to Ji An, I slept in the train cubicle beds like in Star Cruise. From Ji an, we also explored the mountain springs and spas in An Fu - Wu Gong Shan as well as Jing Gang Shan, which is the  birth place of the Communist party in 1921. This year is their 90^th anniversary celebrations so it was very exciting. We spent several days in Jing Gang Shan and took the cable cars over the waterfalls and forests, also went to the peak to  enjoy  the splendid mountainous ranges like Huang Yang Jie where a famous battle was fought between the Nationalist and Communist. The state museum in Jing Gang Shan also capture the entire history of the birth of Chinese Communist Party  until the beginning of Modern China.  The entire Jiong Gang shan  has become a popular tourist district and we also do some shopping at Tien Jie.

For a change from city life, we travelled to  the farms near Kan Zhou  in Ma Jia Shi to enjoy village life. We spent several days fishing in the ponds, looking at pigs, and stayed in  the simple house of our relatives who are farmers.  They are very friendly and hospitable to us.  Along Gan River, I saw  the fisherman using Commorants to catch fishes.

Then we travelled to  Shenzhen and took the MTR to Hong Kong. It was tiring moving from place to place with several luggages. HK is very crowded and squeezy but the MTR is very convenient. Our Hotel L  in Island South overlook and has a  full mountain view of the Victoria Peak. I enjoyed the special tram ride up the slope  to the Victoria Peak- and see the whole HK city landscape of skyscrapers. We also visited the Wax Museum, and at last, I can have a picture with Albert Einstein’s wax  look a like.

It was a fruitful and meaningful trip for me as I try to speak mandarin, read Chinese road names and try to understand  the culture of our Chinese friends in Taiwan, China and HK  to appreciate much more than what I see on TV.