Beijing

Hey Everyone,

In our previous video we touched the topic of the destinations we will be visiting in China. So super excited, as the days move closer and closer together our patience reduces and nerves start to kick in.  (In a good way XD)

Our destination route 

Although we are traveling on the Eastern route which is warmer then the rest of China, we will still get to see snow and that is a huge deal for us.  Living in Dubai we don't have seasons, our weather stays HOT for 10/12 months and we get to enjoy only two months of "winter"- which is still around 20 degrees in Celsius. 

First city that we touched base on is Beijing, the most popular city for all tourists. Its popularity mostly comes from The Great Wall Of China. But did you know there are other sites that one can see that are just as breath taking as The Great Wall. Places Like the Forbidden City, Tianamen Square, Summer Palace and the beautiful Temple of Heaven.

Tianamen Square

Forbidden City

Summer Palace

Temple of Heaven

After seeing the pictures, we just wish there was a teleportation device to take us to all that beauty. Whats your favorite? Mena still wants the Wall and Tia dreams of the Summer Palace.

Karaoke Time

Hey Everyone,

After the battle of hiccups we could finally continue our discussion on karaoke. Its the most beloved leisure activity in China. People celebrate birthdays, meetings, promotions and weddings there- okay maybe not weddings but its huge. Its not surprising as to why. You can be a star for a day, with your own wardrobe, accessorize, food, photographers and an audience. 

After a long and hard day you can go there and just yell from the top of your lungs-healthy way of releasing tension. In China there are building dedicated to karaoke. Who cares about your singing ability, its sound proof anyways.

Now if you are like Tia, who is tone deaf, then maybe dancing is your thing. There are various types of clubs available in China, from hotel clubs to shady alley clubs, there are glitz and glamour and costume banaza clubs. In the popular tourist cities like Shanghai, Beijing and Guangzhou night clubs are pretty much the same to any Western dance bar which is exactly similar to Dubai's night club scene. 

Verdict-If you are going to China, venture out to the local hide away spots and find yourself emerged in a new experience- I know that's our plan =)

Bathroom Theft

Hello Everyone,

This week we gained a new appreciation for our life. If you are considering backpacking, or experiencing the non touristy places of China-be WARNED.

We all get those emergencies, when you just need to go, on thing to keep in mind when you will need to go in China is that you will go in a hole. 

Yes, in Chine majority of the toilets are squat and they don't have tissues, so a friendly advice "BRING YOUR OWN TISSUES, SOAP AND/OR SANITIZER OR BOTH".  It will definitely be a challenge for us to try to balance ourselves and our bags while trying to hide from others view because sometimes there is no DOOR.

 ***We would like to apologize for the poor quality of the videos, there are problems with double compression, we will get it fixed soon.***

In a miracle and twisted sense we then proceeded to talk about food and culture of food in China. there are many interesting dishes offered in China some that are very foreign to our concept of what food is. none the less, they will be devoured, though some might be a challenge.

Chicken feet-definitely will be a challenge to eat.

The Art of Chopsticks

If you have never watched anime, read manga or have never seen a movie that reflects chopstick etiquette please keep in mind the two important rules. First and most important rule is: NEVER stick your chopsticks in the bowl- "that's a big NO NO. Why? Well it reminds people of funerals, and thats not an appetizing seen.

Second rule is don't point your chopsticks at someone, there are so many reasons as to why, the main one being is that its RUDE. This also means dont talk with your chopsticks, as in gesticulate which us foreigners tend to do.

The main point to remember is no matter of your skills of using chopsticks, do try to eat with them. if you are bad you will entertain someone, if you are good you will amaze someone. So enjoy you meals with chopsticks =)

See you guys soon

Chinese Festivals

Hello Everyone!!!

            Welcome to our blog, where we will discuss all about China for our preparation for our trip. =) We are Mena and Tia two students from Dubai endeavoring on our new adventure for a “trip across the world” sort of speak. Tia is not a big backpack girl and highly accident prone, and I Mena don’t like to live on the streets or not have my shower, thus we scrapped up all our money that we earned from various under paid jobs and decided to travel with the support of Hunters Tourism Firm (a Chinese firm means local support)  that provides all that we need such as visa, medical insurance, and concierge service for a fair fee…and no headache which is great for lazy people like us XD

           This week in our YouTube videos we looked into the various festivals that China holds. To Tia’s amazement they hold 24 festivals some of which are the Plum Blossom Festival  held in February which shows off the plum blossom garden and no surprise that under such a sweet smell and beauty people get married.

       The next festival that we would love to see however might not get the chance is the Longqine Gorge Ice and Snow Festival. For people that are stuck in Mordor for 10 out of 12 months anything that reminds us of nature and seasons especially winter makes us sway like a crazy fan girl for her idol. Basically this festival shows off ice sculpture of different shapes, people, animals including mythological creatures such as dragons- RAAAAAWWWR

            The third of many festivals is the famous Lantern Festival- no matter who you are there is a high possibility that you have watched either Mulan or Rapunzel or maybe even both. Even though Rapunzel isn’t Chinese-yes we know, there is still a good scene of the lantern festival….and from our source from the Hunter Tourism it’s even more beautiful than that of the cartoon. Now that is when people should be getting married.  During the festival people perform the lion dance which is believed to scare off evil spirits and warm their hearts and bellies with delicious Yuanxia which is soup that is sweet stuffed dumplings made with glutinous rice flour-I know sound wired but look at how it looks….can you say YAMMMY 

                                                                        The Legend of the Lantern Festival

Long ago monsters inhabited our world, in order to survive people killed the beasts (Obviously man) however one day a bird from heaven got lost and came to our sinful world, one of the hunters thought the bird was one of the monsters and killed it. Heavens emperor got angry for killing its pet and ordered his soldiers to burn this petty world. The daughter of the powerful emperor secretly came down to our world to warn the humans.  In order to survive people decided to fool the heavens emperor by lighting up the sky with lanterns and fireworks for three days between 14-16^th of Feb.  On the 15^th the emperor looked down and saw the sky bright red with yells and screams that he thought were of torture and was satisfied with his punishment.