Another spontaneous trip. I was having a coffee in Hong Kong and suddently felt like going to China. It’s quite easy to get the China visa in Hong Kong, plenty of agencies will handle the whole process for a reasonable fee.
On my last trip I went to Yangshuo in Guilin to do some Tai Chi and Qi Gong. I also visited Shanghai.
Entering China is a bit nerve wracking. I had the same feeling entering Russia when I worked there back in 2007. The nerves come from visiting a country with a more authoritarian state. I can also get nervous in countries where I can’t speak the language and pick up on the nuances of a situation.
Despite these nerves, my experience in China has always been positive.
I found a good Qi Gong teacher in Shenzhen who speaks English. The Qi Gong teacher I had in Yangshuo had limited Enlgish, which wasn’t helped by a propensity to tell complicated stories as he taught.
Years of office work, electronic screens and critical deadlines are pretty hard for the body and soul. Qi Gong has been one of the most effective practices I’ve found to re-energise the system.
I was taking a look through some pictures of my last trip to China (2014).
Guilin
Guilin is highly recognisable for it’s famous landscape which is made up of many karst hills.
Out in the countryside in Guilin I saw quite a lot of these little two stroke engine’d trucks. I saw similar engines being used by the hill tribe farmers in Laos in the past.
Yangshuo in Guilin is a bit of a party town in the countryside. The main pedestrian street is full of brightly coloured stores and restaurants.
Shanghai
It’s exciting to go back to China again!
7 replies on “Qi Gong trip to Shenzhen”
Wow! Your photos are stunning! They’re so dramatic. I’m looking forward to seeing new ones from your current trip! : )
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Hi Afrily, thank you so much, really kind, I didn’t get such a nice complement for a long time 😆 – hopefully I can get some more nice pics to post soon !
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Great China photos.
The secret to China is time. It’s so vast and the culture so different it takes a long time to get acclimatized and even more to begin to see it. My advice is, explore one small area well, and listen to the heart of the people. It’s my second home. I spent 4 years in China, 3 in Taiwan,, and 8 in Hong Kong I love it and have many close friends among the people yet I’ve barely touched the surface. One thing to note is you don’t see the old folks there in walkers and wheelchairs, rather doing morning Tai Chi or other exercise, ballroom dancing in the evening and thinking nothing of climbing 9 flights of stair at 70 plus. I think they have something to teach us.
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Hi Claire, thank you for your fantastic comment. Some great tips ill keep in mind for my approach to being here. When I was last in Thailand I had talked with a friend how able bodied old people there are vs. UK, even small details like the old buses don’t have special rails or lower down to let old people get on, it means they get more daily exercise just going about day to day things! Nice to hear from you 🙂
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Shenzhen’s a city we had not been though Mel spent 4 years in China! But then China is a continent sized nation and so many places to touch!
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I think Shenzhen will be interesting as it’s not a typical tourist or traveller destination. Ill be sure to take photos and write something. Just arrived an hour ago (trying to beat the expected typhoon), first impressions; lots of seriously massive and quite new hotels , 1st two shops I saw were Louis Vuitton and Cartier – Modern China ! 😮
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Take an umbrella with you, the rains are coming.
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