My dear followers,
Six months passed by SO fast! I still can’t believe that my time here in Zhuhai will soon come to an end. So I think now is the time to think back about what good and bad things happened to me during my stay here in China.

I never in my life travelled as much as I did this last semester. I have been to Beijing, Harbin, Guangzhou, Sakura Valley and Xinfeng, Shenzhen, Guilin, Zhongshan, Chengdu, Shanghai, Seoul, Macao (yes, both not China :P), Hohhot, Wailingding Island, Inner Mongolia’s Grasslands and Desert, Xi’an and Xiamen. All this would not have been possible without my parents’ support and InternChina giving me the possibility to organize some of these trips for our interns. Cheers for that!

All of these places have their charm. In the following I will shortly summarize what’s special about them:

Beijing – A modern city with a big core of history, full of places to visit where you should spend at least a week to see most of this amazing city – the Hutongs, the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace and much more. But most important: The Great Wall!

Harbin – The best time to visit Harbin is in winter. I was there in the beginning of February and we had -30°C. But this cold makes Harbin’s world known ‘Ice Festival’ possible. You can find ice and snow sculptures all over the city and then there is the huge ice world where you can see fantastic duplicates of some of the world’s most famous buildings made of ice and illuminated from the inside.

Guangzhou – China’s third biggest city. It is very modern and surprisingly calm for its size. You will not find too many tourists here as this city doesn’t invite too much for sightseeing. From Zhuhai it only takes 1 hour by train to get there and costs 70RMB. I love to go shopping and partying there. Also they have a Mr. X about which you might have read in my blog about Shanghai.

Sakura Valley – Sakura Valley actually only consists of many different kinds of cherry trees. It’s important that you go there when they are in bloom.

Xinfeng – The nature around Xinfeng is great. So many mountains to climb!

Shenzhen – Most electrical devices come from this city. Bordering Hong Kong, this is the best place to purchase such products. I bought myself a tablet there for example. They have a nice mangrove forest and a very nice harbor with a Korean Restaurant which is definitely worth a visit.

Guilin – The 20RMB-mountains. In Guilin you meet many tourists for one particular reason:  its breathtaking nature and scenic views! A must do here is bamboo rafting.

Zhongshan – 40 minutes by train from Zhuhai. We went there to visit two Chinese friends. As it is just a normal small city there is not too much to see here but they have a nice pagoda, a ferries wheel and a restaurant which is slowly turning.

Chengdu – Sichuan’s capital with the spiciest food in China and amazing nature and very old temples in the area around it.

Shanghai – China’s most international city. Being here doesn’t make you feel foreign at all. Apart from the old town some must sees are the Bund and the Skylines from both sides of the river (to see the new side go to ‘Bar Rouge’!). There is not much history in this city but a lot of fancy places to visit.

Seoul – South Korea’s capital and the home of my heart. If you have a double entry Visa and you need a place to visit outside of China I recommend Seoul. Free Wifi everywhere with the fastest internet in the world, very good world known cosmetics, huge (underground) shopping malls with the latest fashion, awesome food and beautiful and kind people.

Macau – Gamblers look out. This city overtook Las Vegas with their turnover! From Zhuhai you can just walk across the border within 20 minutes. It was a Portuguese colony once which you can recognize when you see the black and white mosaic on the walk paths and the colorful tiles on the houses. The emblem of this city, which by the way doesn’t belong to China, is a church. After a fire only the front is left over.

Hohhot – Inner Mongolia’s capital. You can find a number of mosques here and it is a good base to travel to the grasslands and desert from.

Wailingding Island – One of the 146 islands surrounding Zhuhai with a romantic charm.

Xi’an – A city you should visit when you are in China! A lot of history is here and still there were not too many tourists when I was there. The terracotta warriors are a 2 hour bus ride away and Mount Huashan, the father of the Chinese mountains, is waiting 1 hour away. I would recommend visiting it! Probably my favorite holiday-city in China.

Xiamen – Ranked China’s most livable city in 2002 and I totally agree!  This city has some interesting place; long white beaches, an island, good food and it is very new and clean. Maybe I’ll get the chance to return there and stay for a year or two…

Next to those journeys I learned a lot about Chinese culture, studied the language enough to order food ‘without meat’ and met many new people from all over the world. Unfortunately I already had to say goodbye to many of them but like a wise man once said: “It’s not ‘goodbye’, it’s ‘see you’!”.

There is one person who came into my life in an early stage of my time here in Zhuhai and I think without him I wouldn’t have made it  through some problems that crossed by path so easily. This ‘Thank you!’ goes to you, Anton!

Luckily he is a person to whom I don’t have to say goodbye. Rumor has it I am returning to Zhuhai in September… 😉

So as a wise man once said, it’s not ‘goodbye’, it’s

‘See you’,

Gianna aka Gini aka 吉娜

Apply now and explore China!