Tuke's Trips: The China Series has begun

Hey Guys,

Happy Monday!

Hope you had a great weekend.

Mine was enlightening and filled with surprises. A surprise Bridal Shower, A surprise Send Off Party and I got a New & Better Smartphone as a surprise from my Dad. Someone gave it to him sometime last month and I was jubilating that it will mine but he said he wants it. I was looking through Kitchen Butterfly's Instagram page at 3am on Sunday morning and was impressed when she said she uses her phone for all her pictures. I was thinking to myself, choi, this is the same phone my dad has chilling in his cupboard. I fell asleep and got woken up by the phone, isn't that a Great Testimony :)


This is the second part of the China Series, check out the first part here.

Before going to China, I bought some books to help me understand their culture and language better. I put this picture on Instagram on my First day there, 198 weeks ago, the urge to travel is doing me, I'm looking forward to my next trip :)

I arrived at the Shanghai Pudong airport on the 23rd of June and realised I was the only black person on my flight. The signboards were in Chinese Characters and I was soooo scared. I had never been to a country where the signboards were in a different language.

My university organised a Bus to take us from the Shanghai airport to Ningbo, where the Campus is. Elise was one of the first friends I made.

Yummy Coffee Cafe was the spot where we had our first meal in China.

We then went back to our rooms where I skyped my friends & family, unpacked and prepared myself for what was to come.

The tuck shop on Campus sold International Brands with Chinese Characters.

I wonder why these chip brands don't have a Universal colour to represent flavours.

E.G. Salt & Vinegar for Walkers is in a Green pack but Salt & Vinegar for Pringles is in a Blue pack.

We went back to Yummy Coffee cafe in the evening for a welcome dinner with the other students.

There was so much food.

I learnt to use chopsticks by fire by force.

Looking at these pictures makes me hungry, the food was legitimately delicious.

We were introduced to our teachers too.

As you can see, they were very free, open, eccentric and down to earth :)

The next day we were taken to the city for breakfast.

Egg boiled in tea is a popular delicacy but I didn't try it.

I no bold reach that side, didn't try the custard-y, oat-y, tapioca-y dishes either.

I found this umbrella storage system really interesting & unique.

I like the fact that there is a key so no one can steal your umbrella when the weather is dodgy.

Don't you think this will be a welcome addition to your School/Office?

I really can't remember what any of the characters mean, Asian Languages aren't easy mehn.

I loved the Ice Cream trucks and they were particularly useful later on in the trip when we had to climb loads of stairs to reach the top of a Buddhist mountain.

The weather in the first week was pretty wet, which we didn't expect.

It became warmer and hotter by the second week though.

The basketball court was pretty popular among the guy's, I probably only went there once or twice. I think I played tennis once too.

Have you been to any country where English isn't the main language, which one?
There are at least 4 more parts to this China series, hope you're enjoying it so far!