Beijing

A 24 hour train took us from Guangzhou to Beijing.

The night before our Beijing trip me and Viney went to an 24 hour Uyghur restaurant in Guangzhou.

Facts about Uyghur people:

Most Uyghur people live in the Xinjiang province witch is an autonomous region situated on Chinas western territories. According to Wikipedia the population exceeds 19 million.

The Uyghur culture is influenced by Chinese, Pakistanian, Kazakhstanian, Kyrgystanian, Uzbekistanian, Mongolaian, Turkish and Russian culture. Although the Turcik influences are the most noticeable and the Uyghurs are often referd to as "the Turcik people of Central Asia".

In Xinjian the Buddhist Chinese and the Muslim Uyghurs live side by side and as far as I know there is very little tension between these people.

Uyghur people chillin

Delicious Uyghur food

To the Capital:

Compared to our dormitory beds the trains "hard sleeper" felt like a luxury hotel. Six people share one coupe and me and Viney had the top beds. You would think that the ride was going to be boring and smelly. But boring it was not. As soon as you started walking in the hallways people started asking you question and inviting you in to their compartments. Some of the old guys where drinking so hard that it was like a jungle sometimes, it made you wonder how I keep from going under, huh, huh huh huh. Even though Grandmaster flash wasn't there the train eventually became "Alcofest 2008". On the way back from the water boiler me and Viney where invited to eat our noodles with a Chinese family. We gladly accepted and one thing led to another and before we knew it we had a big piece sausage in our noodles, a piece of salty wood in our mouths and a mini bottle of 56% Chinese vodka in our left hands. An hour later we where all best friends and somehow we had managed to successfully communicate through Vineys "elementary Chinese" workbook. Strangely we never got into politics.

Wo de peng you! I think I'm married to the ladie on my left.

Viney and Ian

Word of advice. Do not visit the Great Wall unrested, hungover and in need of abdomen relief.

Massive line to take the metro in Beijing

Chinese people in downtown Beijing

Have no idea what this was

Management

This is the angriest beetle I have ever met. He was just hating me so much.

Macadium Arcadium

For my journalistic photography class I spent a couple of days in a arcade hall in downtown Macau.

Some pictures from the portfolio:

Afla Alf

One day I wake up and see a note next to me with the words "Afla Alf". Earlier that night I had waken up laughing my hearts out. This is one of the strangest and most fun things I've ever experienced.

Afla Alf; a special way of tap dancing that requires zero enthusiasm. When done correctly a sound much louder than your average tap sound will be produced.

Man Man

Minutes after this picture was taken, Ana the girl responsible for locking in her bedroom key gave me permission to kick her door in. The two dejected lock pickers from Portugal, Michell and Catharina had to admit defeat and leave the scene.

I took a deep breath and with a masculine muay thai front kick the door was shattered into pieces.

My mustache grew three centimeters that day.

Buddy meeting 2.0. Now with fireworks

I liked my buddies. Not the wildest bunch but they always gave me the best insight on the Chinese culture in general and the differences between Chinese people from different regions.

The Canton Fair

With a made up company name and a last minute maid Id-card I requested permission to enter the Canton fair. One week later I received the invitation and was on my way to attend the fair as Ali Shakorian Vice president of aliVSchina.


The Canton fair is the biggest import- export fair in China. Buyers and sellers from all over the world come here to find supplies or business partners. Everything imaginable is being sold. Think of any detail of any product or the product itself and you could probably find it in the Canton fair. A miniature version of this fair is being built in Kalmar and still it is going to be Europe’s biggest exhibition hall for Chinese products. Kalmar is also famous for having a shitty football team.

A thirty minute walk between the exhibition halls is speeded up by moving walkways