Blue sky days
Recently Beijing had a full week of truly blue skies – amazing! Blue sky days bring hope to the grey days. Blue sky days are a reminder that grey is not the way life should be.
Back into the swing of Beijing
China welcomed me back with the smell of pollution, as always, and just one day in I could feel the changes in my sinuses and my breathing. Also, I kept wanting to say the Khmer word for thank you. I have never defaulted to Khmer before!
So I joined a scooter gang…
For months the other youth leaders have talked about how I need to get a scooter so we could be a scooter gang. A week ago, on a beautiful day, we all had a meeting closer to town and rode together – it was the inaugural ride of the Shunyi Pandas!
Spring fling in Beijing
After 9 years the weather in China still surprises me. At least I’m no longer surprised being surprised. My first few years I was constantly shocked by how quickly the weather changed. The temperature, but also the light.
A graphic illustration
While I’ve already written about the bad air in Beijing lately, I compared the air quality I recorded in Oct/Nov ’12 with January’s air. I am thankful for my air purifier, but horrified by how this must be affecting an entire generation of Chinese.
Winter Wonderland
It’s been a wintery, Christmassy week in Beijing. I had plans to shop with friends at the Christmas market and snow falling all day added to the Christmassy mood. Some plastic display trees had fake snow, others were covered in REAL snow!
Cold, hungry, and flying away
It is definitely winter in Beijing now. As I walked home just now it was was -9 (16 F). The forecast MAXIMUM tomorrow is -2 (29 F). While I may call one of Australia’s coldest cities home, it is still Australia, and nothing like the cold of Beijing.
Autumn in Beijing – a lovely kind of crazy
Autumn is my favourite time of year in Beijing. It’s crazybusy but I enjoy it! We have great weather, get a holiday (helps the weather), and we have our annual youth camps. We had over 200 people from at least 15 countries (5 continents).
October Holiday in Beijing
The first week of October is a holiday in China. Flags go up everywhere, red and yellow flower arrangements brighten every complex, and almost the whole country goes on holiday. Great weather adds to the festive feel.
Snow in March!
I woke this morning to find a layer of wet, white snow on everything. Last night’s rain turned to snow around 11pm as the temperature dropped. Gotta love snow after a week of warm weather (warm meaning tops of 12 or so several days in a row). The drive to church was so pretty! The…
Cold and Cab Stories
Hey everyone, This isn’t a regular update email. Instead, it’s some China storytelling! I was reminded recently that one of the most popular updates I ever sent out was the “Water Stories” of last summer (July 2009). So I’ve been on the look out for some stories to tell you – so here goes! Cold…
March Update
Hi everyone, I’ve been meaning to send an update for… well, ages. I kept thinking I’d wait til I had photos organised to send along but… yeah, not so good with that. But I’ve picked a few randoms – hope you like them. So after I got back from Australia, Amanda and Andrew headed home,…
Stories From Tanya 