Living and Teaching Abroad

Jing Jin City and the Hyatt Regency.

In the last five months we have visited the Jing Jin city 3 times. When we visit we always stay at the Hyatt Regency. I originally heard of Jing Jin, one of the famous Chinese Ghost cities through a friend. I had read about Ghost cities before and was very curious. I couldn't wait to actually go and visit one. What I was not expecting was a real hidden gem, the Hyatt Regency Jing Jin city. See their website here.

One of the large vacant villas.

Empty apartment blocks at the golf course.

Rows and rows of empty shops.

 Inside of of the empty villas.

 

Jing Jin City is situated between Tianjin and Beijing. It is about an hour out of Beijing. There is no public transport of any sort to the city. The city was built with big expectations. Over 3000 luxury villa were built, A luxury hotel, the Hyatt Regency, A golf course, other hotels, hot springs, colleges, shops and a school.

 

It is thought one of the main reasons that the city remains unoccupied is that it is to far from both Tianjin and Beijing for commuting and the size of the houses available would be too large for retirees.  There is not enough residences to support local businesses and people won't buy homes there because there are no amenities.

We have enjoyed cycling around the city looking at all the empty houses and shops that litter the place.

The Hyatt looks very impressive from the road.

 

Having seen the city once you might question why we would continue to go back. The answer is the Hyatt.  They Hyatt was built originally to service the city of Jing Jin however with the lack of occupation it now has another purpose, a peaceful retreat for those who want to get away from hectic city life in Beijing and Tianjin.

It is incredibly quiet and peaceful there. Even staying over Chinese New year, which was a rather busy time for the hotel, I opened up my balcony door and stood out and listened... not a sound. You can read my short trip advisor review here.

Another reason we return is the attentive staff and fabulous food. Because of the Hotels location you are stuck there apart from going for a walk or cycle around the city itself. This has never been an issue for us as they offer so much to do. Also it is worth noting that they use the term city but town would be more appropriate.

Camp Hyatt, the children club has fantastic facilities.

Camp Hyatt offer a supervised kids club. They have little chef classes, a pottery studio, art and crafts lessons, pool, x box, and an array of indoor activities for children of all ages including a soft play area. My children are never bored.

Pottery room.

Children's movie theatre.

The ice skating rink.

The hotel itself has great facilities such as: a bowling alley, squash courts, a badminton court, bike rental, swimming pool, Jacuzzis and steam rooms. They have 4 different options in restaurants. Also something I would recommend is their hot springs.

This visit we sat in hot springs with snow on the ground, it was fabulous, we got a private spring and had Chinese tea and fruit delivered to us.

 

Tea at the springs.

The hot springs.

 

The glasshouse is where Breakfast and evening meals on weekends is served.

Breakfast is a real treat. Their breakfast quiche is worth a mention. There is plenty of fresh bread and pastries to choose from. A great selection of Chinese items and of course the western fry up.

The Hyatt burger is a tasty treat.

 

There is extensive grounds to wonder round. There is an old-world charm in the grounds which I love and could spend days roaming around.

Amico Cafe- Tianjin China.

There is a lovely little restaurant in the basement of our local shopping centre, Aqua City called Amico cafe. I discovered it a couple of months back and now it has become a bit of a regular haunt. Originally I thought it was a Muslim restaurant and assumed it would be serving the typical Muslim Chinese food, however on closer inspection I discovered it was in effect a pizza joint.

They have two locations in the city, Aqua and Nanjing Lu. They will also deliver and have free wifi.

They menu is good, in english and reasonably priced.

It is always really busy here and today was no exception with about 30 people queing up outside waiting to get a table. They have a couple of wait staff with a good level of english and service has alway been prompt and accurate.

 They also serve wine and beer here, we recommend the spicy black pepper beef pizza and the tuna and corn salad.

A Chinese New Year gathering.

This week we got an invitation to a Chinese New Year party that was being organised by the management company of the compound we live in. With such strong wording we felt we had to go along. So we got up early on Sunday morning and made our way over to the clubhouse.

When we arrived we were quickly ushered into a large room that was buzzing with people. We were immediately grabbed by the English speaking hosts and shown to each of the stations. At the first one there was a man doing traditional Chinese writing on red banners for hanging on your door. The one we were give says good luck.

Making the good luck banners for CNY.

Next we had a look at the paper cutting. The children had a go and we watched a woman produce some excellent cuttings. As a gift she gave us some to take home. I will have to get them framed especially was the dragon and the phoenix.

Lots of excitement around the paper cutting station.

Ríordan has a go at paper cutting.

This woman was very talented and quick.

The finished product.

Receiving a gift of the Dragon and the Phoenix 

The we moved on to the dumplings. At this table the ladies were busily making dumplings. They had three different kinds, pork, shrimp and a sweet one made with sugar. Of course the boys were invited to help, which they loved and of course it wasn't long before Tiarnán was asking if he could eat them. So a huge bowl was cooked and brought out for everyone to try. They were very tasty, especially the pork ones.

The boys helping to make dumplings.

After he ate the first plate of dumplings he asked for more. Delicious. 

The ladies enjoyed making the dumplings.

The final table were making baozi, baizi are normally larger than dumplings. They are steamed buns usually filled with things like meat or red bean. The ladies were very artistic on this table creating all sorts of fun baozi. Again we were given some to sample.

 

Baozi.

Dumplings and baozi ready to be steamed.

After an hour or so going around the different stations and being photographed to within an inch of our lives we decided to call it a day. We thanked everyone for their wonderful hospitality and made our exit. It was a lovely morning and we were very glad we went.

There was lots of hugs before we left.

 

TJ Tex Mex Tianjin

Today we visited a restaurant that was recommended by some friends. We have visited several times and not been disappointed yet. TJ Tex Mex has two outlets. We go to the one in Joy City shopping mall. It's located on the third floor.

We have sampled many different things now on the menu but our favourites are: potato skins, the Texas burger and the spicy chicken burger, although our children love the quesadillas.

The Texas burger

Great potato skins.

Drinks are very reasonably priced as is the food with a double burger and chips costing 65rmb. It is well worth the visit.

Sugar Chips

I noticed a new food kiosk one day in the basement of Aqua City. It is called Sugar. Being someone who absolutely loves chips I had to take a closer look. I must admit I was slightly put off by the name however some of the pictures on the menu board look rather appetising so I decided to give it a go.

They have a rather extensive chip menu.

I decided to go with the bacon and cheese flavour chips, now whereas at home this would mean bacon bits and melted cheese on the chips here it is a little different. For 12rmb, about 1.20GBP I got pretty decent chips in a cardboard cone with a dusting of cheese and bacon flavoured powder. It doesn't sound great however I was very surprised by the taste.

I don't think I would rush back however every now and then it might be worth trying a new flavour. Perhaps powdery of loveapple might be worth a try!

 

Bali-A Christmas holiday.

Villa Matanai 2, A 4 bedroom villa for rent.

 

This year for Christmas instead of traveling back home we decided to go to Bali. We invited my father to join us and we were all very excited about the holiday. I had never been to Bali and really had no idea about what area to stay in. So I decided to look for suitable accommodation first and then check out the area to make sure it was ok. This is a technique I have used many times before and always found it somewhat successful. Using booking.com I found a villa in an area called Jasri. You can check out their limited website here.

This holiday would not suit everyone. It was very quiet and very remote. But it suited us perfectly. The villa had 4 bedrooms and a private  pool. We had a wonderful time in Jasri. You can read my review here.

A beautiful evening looking out to sea.

 

 

Enjoying the private pool.

 

Jasi surf

 

The garden at villa Matanai.

 

We are usually very active people on holiday but for this one I was still working on my masters and we just felt like we really needed a rest. So we took it very easy.

We did fit in a couple of touristy activities though, such as a ride on a submarine and a visit to the water palaces. All in all we had a wonderful time in Jasri. I would definitely not be disappointed if i had to go back there again. However if given the choice I would stay in Candidassa next time or try another sleepy part of the island.

 

 The ancient Village in Candidasa.

 

The water palace at Tirta Ganga.

 

 

This place is well worth the visit. There is a lovely hotel here called Tirta Ayu with a restaurant looking out over the gardens. See their website here. We had dinner here and it was excellent. A little more expensive than some of the local restaurants but still good value for money especially when comparing it with western prices and taking into account the amazing setting.

 

On board the submarine.

You can view their website here. It cost $85 USD per adult and was well worth every penny!

 

Jung water palace. You can read more about it here.

Da Hu Tong and the Zhao Cai Mao.

Today myself and my youngest went down to our local indoor market. Da Hu Tong is 5 minutes on the E bike from where we live. Da Hu Tong is absolutely huge. There are thousands of little shops and markets.

The electrical section.

Chinese people like to drink hot drinks in winter as some believe cold drinks will make you ill. This vendor keep a selection of hot drinks at the ready with his homemade stove.

 

One could easily spend days wondering around. This market is a very difference experience than those in Beijing and Shanghai which are geared more towards tourists. The first difference is how messy the place is, there is rubbish everywhere and empty produce boxes are just strewn around. You have to be careful where you walk. The next difference is; nobody hassles you. Not once will you be asked to come inside and have a look. It is very much a local market. And finally the produce is very different, you won't find any of those lovely silk cushion covers or knock off designer handbags here, no, you are more likely to enter the underwear section and then move through to the stationery section followed by the detergent or wedding section. Even still it is a great place to visit and I never go home empty handed.

Plenty to see.

 

This is definitely the place to come for New Year decorations.

 

 

Make your own scent. 

 

 

 

 Plenty of cats to choose from.

 

Today was no exception.

After almost 4 years in China, it was time to buy a Zhao Cai Mao. Better known to most as a  beckoning lucky Chinese cat. They are known as Maneki Neko in Japan. These cats are a common sight in Asian restaurants at home but it is only recently that I have noticed them in shops and restaurants here, although that may say more about my observational skills.

I had read that elements of the cat had different meaning so this was going to have to be a well thought out purchase. Seemingly if there left paw is raised they are brining luck with regards people. So business would have this to encourage more customers. If their right paw is raised they are beckoning in good luck and wealth. Which also explains why some of them are money boxes, which we found out when we went to buy one.

Colour also has a role to play. A white cat is to bring good luck, black is to ward off evil and gold is supposed to invite in money.

 

Pleased with his purchase.

 

Obviously this was going to be a big decision...The reality was however that my youngest went into a shop and picked the one he liked. There was a small negotiation between my son and the shopkeeper and we arrived home with our new Zhao Cai Mao.

Home sweet home. 

So I finally have the blog up and running again after almost two years. I have just published a piece on our trip to Xian which was CNY (Chinese new year) 2013. I am blaming my masters for getting in the way and eating up all my free time. As I have finished now I have no excuses. Enjoy the read.

Xi'an

Last month we went to Xi'an for the first time.  It is an absolutly fantastic city with much to do and see. I am posting some of the many photos I took just to give you a flavour of the place.

 

Accomadation.

We stayed in a very unusual apartment. I choose it because my father was visitng and I thought it was novel. I was very glad I did, as it was fantastic. We loved it and would definitly stay there again. Part of this is due to the very reasonable price, part due to the fantastic location and part because of the fabulous owners.

You can check out his website here.

 

The boys are in warrior dress up in the sittingroom of the apartment. They could also pretend to be archeologists and dig up little warriors in the sandpit on the balcony.

Our youngest sitting at the entrance to the kitchen.

One of the large beds, you really need to be into the warriors for this one!

The life size warriors are all over the apartment, sticking out of walls.

The kitchen was fully equiped, including beer in the fridge and warriors coming out of the wall.

 

The owner of these apartments is called Clarence, he also runs a little tour company called taxi-tours. He is very reasonably priced and extremely knowledgable. He has even written a book about the warriors.

The standard hotel transfer from the aiport, (approx 1 hour) costs about 500 RMB, Clarence picked us up for 180 RMB is his comfortable litte minibus.

No trip to Xi'an would be complete without a visit to the warriors, in fact it is why most people go to Xi'an in the first place. We booked a private tour to bring us out there. A driver and guide arrived at our apartment at 8 am and drove us to the site, it took a little over an hour to get there.

As we were traveling over Chinese New Year, there were alot of Chinese tourists there. For us, that means a lot of attention. Hubby carried our youngest on his shoulders so he wouldn't get lost. This also meant he was more clearly visible and they were constantly surrounded by people wanting to shake hands, say hello or get their photo taken with them. I could see our guide was starting to get a little irriated by all this as it was slowing down the whole process.

The farmer who discovered the site was there signing books. You were not allowed to take his photo and they were strict with this. He seemed a little grumpy when we saw him.

You can read more about the Terracota army here. The size is mindblowing.