A small farm in China. 2016 While walking around the farm, I came across an old woman sitting by her door. I think she was sewing something. Her house was made of bricks and a greyish building material. It had corrugated tin roofs and timber doors and windows. Apparently her sons went out to find... Continue Reading →
A small town in Henan. 2016 In my first meal with the Liu brothers, I introduced myself and we talked a little bit before starting to eat. The baijiu drinking started along too. Soon the conversations became warmer. The laughters got louder. I started feeling like I met some long lost friends and was getting... Continue Reading →
A small town in Henan. 2016 I was staying at the elder Mr Liu's farm. The first meal there was in his huge hall with big sofas, a large coffee table and with walls decorated with Chinese nationalistic propaganda posters. Both the Liu brothers sat with me and offered me a really big welcome meal.... Continue Reading →
Shanghai. Feb 2013 It was Chinese New Year time in Shanghai. We bought some fireworks and lit them up in our front yard. My Chinese nanny helped me to buy them and also taught us how to use them else we wouldn't have a clue. We had a great time that evening trying out different... Continue Reading →
Beijing. Feb, 2016 There were some fireworks on the eve of the Chinese New Year in Beijing in 2016 but nothing compared to what happens in Shenyang. The usual tourist attractions such as the Forbidden City, Tiannamen Square etc were more crowded because of tourists from other provinces. All shops, supermarkets, shopping centres, cinemas, pharmacies... Continue Reading →
Henan, 2015 We took some group photos together on the last days of my farm stay and said farewell to Mr Liu and his family. I was very fortunate to have had the opportunity to spend the Chinese New Year with them in the farm. Although language was a barrier in some instances, I cannot... Continue Reading →
This is Mr. Liu, the patriarch of the Liu family I was staying with during my farm stay. He was a nice, quiet and soft spoken man. One early morning, I went for a walk outside the farm house and saw him standing in front of his fields looking into the horizon. It seems he... Continue Reading →
You can't talk about living life in China if you don't talk about baijiu. According to Wikipaedia, "Baijiu is the world's bestselling liquor, with 10.8 billion litters sold in 2018, more than whisky, vodka, gin, rum and tequila combined". The Chinese drink beer or baijiu or sometimes together, according to which province they are from... Continue Reading →
Henan, 2015 During lunch and in between sips of baijiu which had 40% alcohol, the two sons of Mr Liu decided to play a Chinese drinking game. It was a game played with your hands where you hide some fingers and the other person has to guess the numbers. It was something like that. The... Continue Reading →
Henan, 2015 About twenty relatives arrived at Mr Liu's farm house to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Some of them were from the same farm but others arrived from other cities. I felt very fortunate and honoured to be included into their annual reunion gathering. They cooked a huge amount of food for the festive... Continue Reading →