Huizhou Tourgroup

I've always been amused by giant Asian tour groups - you know the ones where the tour guide walks around with a brightly- colored flag. 2 weekends ago, I got to be a part of one! Kai, a friend from Xinjiang, set up a 2 day 1 night tour to Huizhou, a 2 hr drive away from Shenzhen. Food, transportation, and 5-star hotel (actually 3.5-4 stars by American standards) all cost a total of 200rmb (28usd).

I quickly found out you get what you pay for, since we spent most of our time either on the bus, or waiting around. I can't blame them since it rained really hard, and it was so dirt cheap. We got to go to the beach (essentially a body of water, nothing too special), a golf resort (which was decently nice), a park, and hot springs (where we got to spend only 3 hrs).

It was great hanging out with friends though, and it was a lot of fun just being part of a Chinese tour group. However, I think in the future, I'll spring for a nicer trip that costs a bit more than 28usd.

 
These are the friends I was traveling with. 2 are friends that work in my office building. We spent a lot of time taking funny pictures, playing cards, and drinking beer.

 
We ended up staying at a golf resort, which was actually really nice. I suspect that the tour group may have worked out a deal with the golf resort so we could stay there for free so we could check out the place. It looked like they were trying to sell property, but it was very subtle - not like those Wyndam timeshare deals where you have to sit through a long presentation and such.

 
The more parks I go to, the bigger they seem to get. Parks are a huge thing here, and there are always tons of people.

 
The park had a bunch of little islands and a huge lake. I guess if you want more real estate, you gotta make more land. This is how they do it a few feet at a time!

New Apartment!

So I realize it's been a while since I've updated my blog, and my last blog entry was hardly an entry. My excuse is that I've been busy looking for a new apartment. I spent this last weekend moving in and buying stuff from Ikea (yes there is an Ikea here, and it is exactly the same as any other Ikea, except with tons of Chinese people). Oh, and it has 1rmb (0.14usd) frozen yogurt cones! Who can't spare 1rmb!

I moved 4 buildings over within the same complex, because the garden and the location of this complex is awesome, so I still have the same garden from my old place, and it's still only a 15 minute walk door to door from home to the office.

The place has 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, nice big living room, storage closet, and excellent balcony. Somehow, I got the master bedroom! My other two roommates are Xian Wu (Stanford MSME 2007, and Paul Yoo one of Xian's friends from NY). At some point soon, we will have a housewarming, and you'll get to see pictures of them.


Check out the wood floors!


Here's our dining room.


Here is my bedroom. It faces in and has an awesome view of the garden. Usually, I wake up to lots of sun and birds (or my alarm).


Here's a better view of the garden.


In case you're curious, this is the layout of the place.


Boxed in red is my 2nd floor apartment. That's actually my room your looking at.

There are lots of other things to be done, like set up Internet and buy some shelves. However, for the most part, I'm settled in and it feels great!