wo shi zhong guo ren

ahhh... the wonders of china... where could i start??? somehow english seems to fail me right now.. so let's switch languages!! wo3 zai4 hai3 nan2 dao3 xiang3 shou4 le4 shen1 huo2 zhong1 de4 xiao2 zhuan3 lie4 dian3. ping2 shi2 bu4 zhong4 shi4 zhong1 guo2 ren2 de4 wo3 zhe4 ci4 da4 kai1 le4 yan3 jie4.... zhe4 shi4 yi4 xie1 wo3 zai4 zhong1 guo2 zuo4 dao4 de4 guan1 jian1 dong1 xi1:

1. jiang3 hua2 yu3

2. he1 cha2

3. chi1 chai4

4. kan4 qing1 qi4

5. jie1 chu4 dao4 fo2 jiao4 he2 dao4 jiao4 de4 wen2 hua4

6. qu4 le4 mu3 qing1 de4 jia1 xiang1

7. shai4 hei1 pi2 fu1

8. chi1 ming2 fu4 qi2 shi2 de4 hai3 nan2 ji1

yup... was a real eye opener for me... drank lots of tea and realised the mysterious wonders of chinese medicine. caught a cold from over-working in singapore before flying off for hainan and it was worsened with the really little sleep that we got from the first few days of the group-touring cos we had 630am starts and our days ended around midnight... so yeah. was quite miserable and irritable for the first few days... then we went round to this cha2 guan3 and had some of this
苦丁茶 (Ku ding cha (Foliun Ilicis Latifoliae)) .. xian1 ku3 hou4 yan2.... our tour guide (who really liked me btw...) said that it'll really help my cold and asked them to brew it a little stronger. and it's miraculously cured my runny nose and i felt soo much better from just 2 cups of it!!! i was soo much better the next day! this is a trademark tea of hainan dao. it grows on trees that reach between 20-30m high, and can only be found in 2 places in china : the sichuan province and hainan dao. it used to be used as a medicine and everyone should find out more about it by clicking on it!!

so yes. other than finding out the holistic goodness of tcm, i also visited my mom's village in wen chang village. it was amaazing. the village people were all so nice and friendly and their skins were so dark and rough from farming and working. they prepared a marvellous lunch for us as well, together with the famous wenchang ji. yes.. famous hainanese chicken. yeah. also visited the place where my grandfather took off for singapore from. my great grandfather was the captain of a chinese junk that took people to singapore.. it was quite an experience.. to be standing on the spot where, almost a century ago, my ancestors made their epic journey to singapore... all the struggles our forefathers went through to bring us to where we are today.. i've never truly felt the weight of that famous chinese line till now.

i was also reading a commentary on the chinese communist party (ccp) during the trip and it's made me, unprecedentedly, understand the strife of the chinese under communist rule. also, i've just discovered that china has more than 5000 years of history!!! that's even before roman civilisation!!!!!!! (ok, you may make fun of me cos i'm slow...) and and and... i've become a zhen1 zhu1 expert!! i can now tell you all there is to know about pearls and how to distinguish a real from a fake! did you guys know that empress cixi was the woman who owned the most no. of pearls in the history of mankind??? she may even be the woman who ate the most no. of pearls as well!!! yesh. and i'm on my way there to beat her record cos i acquired 2 more pairs of pearl earrings, a pearl bracelet and a pearl pendant!!!!!! thankew daddy! heee...

oh OH... and i finally threw away my white slippers.. i'm sure all of you who know me well would be well-aqcquianted with my white slippers.. i wear them like 80% of the time... it was about time to say goodbye to flip-flop-dress-downingness-and-associated-laziness.. although they've been with me to beaches in australia, thailand as well as china... not to mention east coast park of course!! yesh. i left them behind and bought a pair of heels from china! they're very chinese and remind of me a chinese woman - fair, elegant, reticent and slim. i'm calling her china. (yes, i name my shoes) pictures will be up in due time!!!!

what else did i get up to? oh yes... gen1 qing1 qi4 men2 liao2 tian1. yups.. some of my mom's distant relatives in hainan work as pe teachers in the schools there. and their kids are absolutely brilliant. were shown round lots around hainan dao... buildings in china are... in 2 apt words : long2 zhong4. they've got so much space in hainan that they can build the biggest and most magnificient structures and roads. and the chinese do love their greenery and gardens and water.

so all in all, i'm a convert. wo men dou shi zhong guo ren. hahaha.. we have got so much to learn from chinese history, medicine, culture and their way of life... 3 pots of ku ding cha this morning and now i'm off to san4 san4 bu4. heh...