OMG ! What a city !!! It looks a bit like New York but smaller. With all those skycrapers, who're so big, you think you're inside when you're walking on the avenues. The Starbucks on every corner of every street, the busy people, ... This morning we planned to go to the Victoria Peak but we only got there this afternoon. The reason for that was that we had to walk in a street full of boutiques with watches for Dad and Arthur and dresses for Mum, Justine, Lola and me ... ! We decided to have a shoppingmorning (or afternoon) during our stay here. I look forward to it ! But when we went to the tram which would bring us to The Peak my mood changed. I have had a really bad night (HELLO, my bed was maybe 40 cm on 2m) and I was so tired. So when I saw all the people yelling, pushing and pulling at the entrance of the tramstation I prefered to do something else. Nevertheless I went with my family 'cause they said we would have an amazing view on Hong Kong city. They were right !!! We saw the skycrapers, the avenues, the jungle, the mountains and the harbour ... It was great ! Then we decided to walked down The Peak through the jungle instead of taking the tram ... that was also amazing and peacefull (but very hot and humide !) we were almost alone to follow this way down, really beautifull ! When we arrived at the hotel at about 6pm we went to the swimmingpool on the roof, it's ont the 38 th level ! We had a swim with the beautifull view of a sunset on HK ! Love this city !!! Camille
Hi Belgium, Oef, today was so good and yesterday so bad ! I'll begin with yesterday ... I slept verry well and I woke up at 9 o'clock 'cause Lola came in our room She told me Arthur was ill and had to vomit ... I immediately went to his room to see if he was okay. He wasn't ... I think I never saw him so pale ! But after drinking som Cola he felt better so we decided to go and visit a Tibetan temple. Everything went well but after half an our he became livid and vomited again. Poor Arthur ! Daddy went back to the hotel with him and Justine, Lola, Mum and me went visiting that temple. It was beautiful but I was thinking of Arthur the whole time. Fortunately my brother felt better after a bit of sleeping and we went to the airport to go to Sanya. But then I became ill ! I vomited at Kunming (we had a stop there), tree times in the airplane and some times later again ... I really felt miserable ! When we finally arrived at Sanya and wanted to pick up our luggage we saw that one was missing ... Fortunately its the one with the dirty clothes ... But we think we really lost it because we're always moving ... Dad made already a few calls to the airport but they didn't find it yet ... Luckely the hotel here in Sanya is amazing ! When I saw my bed, I laid down and immediately fell asleep. Today I heard that there were two beds missing so my parents couldn't sleep, the hotel first didn't want to give them 2 extra beds and they had to stay awake till 01:30 o'clock ! (then suddenly to boys came with the 2 extra beds ...) But today was amazing, even when we were on a diet (Mum thinks we wer ill 'cause everything is so fatty here) The hotel is great and we have a giant pool !!! I think that the only thing we've done today was sleeping, swimming and sunbathing. Arthur and I feel better after a relaxing day but now Daddy feels a little sick ... We really hope he won't get ill to !!!! Love Camille
Today its Mum that takes over, our little journalist takes one day off
To come back on the history of our cheater, were in a guesthouse in the old town Shuhe and were very happy with that, less people , nicer than Lijiang and cheaper !!!
Yesterday we rented bikes to visit the area, it was really nice !
Today we are leaving the Yunnan province Well really miss this people here.They are so nice, friendly, interesting, Every day we met people who came to talk with us. They just want to know who we are, where we come from, what weve already visited in China In the restaurants they come and offer us a drink,bring out a toast, wish a us a happy, healty long life and always tell us that were such a happy family !
And YES we are ! We really enjoy this whole month together,it will be difficult to go home
Hi Belgium, Do you remember when I told you some days ago that our guide woul'd better be honest ? Well he wasn't . mum checked the price of our boat trip at the hotel and it wasn't 150Y but 126 Y each person and Lola didn't had to pay ! Mum was so mad ( actually everybody was but my mother the most ) We decided to send a mail to our agency to tell them that our guide was cheating us and dad would talk to him when he was waiting for his tip (the one he wouldn't get !) But when were in the car to go to Lichang our guide asked us the phonenumber of our hotel in Lichang. he made a lot of calls and than he told us with a smile that we hadn't booked there. But that wasn't possible 'cause Dad had a written confirmation that we booked 3 rooms ! My father called Booking.com, they confirmed that the booking was O.K. and they double -checked with the hotel. People there told staff had changed and that they had lost our booking. Of course we didn't believe that ! What we think is that our guide cancelled our rooms so he could bring us to a hotel of one of his friends where he could get some money !!! We told him that he wasn't allowed anymore to make any phonecalls and that Booking.com will fix it for us. The stupid idiot seemed a little shocked that he wasn't smart enough to cheat us again. AND YOU KNOW WHAT HE HAS DONE WHEN WE WERE FINALLY AT OUR HOTEL ???? He gave a document to Daddy to evaluate his services !!!! Dad said that he'd better don't give that evaluation 'cause the only answer he would give to those questions was that he was a cheater, there was no service at all and he better take his 'kliks & klaks' and go home !
,
Camille
P.S. Here is the song Arthur, Justine, Lola & I made on the way ... (melody: aan de oevers van de Dijle)
Aan de oevers van de Mekong (x2) Zat verscholen in de rijst (x2) 'n clochard van eerste klasse (x2) die van ons teveel geld eist (x2)
Maar onze lieve moeder (x2) Die had dat wel snel door (x2) Die kerel is gepest (x2) 't is een geldwolf door en door (x2)
Een schots en scheve neus (x2) dat zal hem wel deugd doen (x2) castratie zonder verdoving (x2) Alles voor deze oen (x2)
En die'n clochard van eerste klasse (x2) gaat gaan blèten bij z'n moeder (x2) met z'n lèllek smurfenstem (x2) ja 't is ne vreje loeder (x2)
Hello everyone, After a lot of travelling, today we had a relaxing day. The hotel we stay in for 2 nights is magnificient ! It's situated in a ricefield and you have a fantastic view over the mountains. The hotel itself is and old chinese 'Bai minority' house built in a square. It's nice because the rooms are luxurious but still traditional. Rightnow I am on the terras looking at the sunset. It is so beautiful here ! I'd like to stay some days more. Today I woke up and I tought that someone was taking a shower. After a few seconds I realised that it wasn't the shower who made that noise but the rain ! OMG I've never heard it raining like that hard ! But yeah, what do you expect when it's the moussoon in Southern China ! At breakfast we had a nice surprise: there was Western food !!! We all ate and ate and ate ! I think that it's about two weeks ago we have had a "normal" breakfast. I was so happy to see yoghurt, pancakes, cake, bread and eggs at the buffet ! Only the Nutella was missing ! Afther eating we wanted to go and walk a bit in the village. But when we saw the weather we decided to stay at the hotel ( I'm not sure you would want to walk when it's raining so hard you can't hear each other speaking ...) Lola, Arthur, Justine and me discovered a TV-room with boxes full of movies: Heaven on earth afther days without phone, TV or radio . It wan't raining that hard anymore when our film was over so we decided to have lunch in the village. We bought a kind of foccacia on the street and ate it on the square. It didn't look so good but the tste wasn't bad at all ! Some grandparents came to us with their baby granddaughter and put her in our arms to make some pictures. That little girl seemed shocked to see so big noses, haha ! They were laughing when they saw her face and later her dad came to us with icecream to thank us ! They are really generous here ! But the icecream was different from ours in Belgium. it didn't taste like vanilla but like soya-vanilla-yohurt ! Different but good ! On the way back we saw a hairdresser and I asked if I may cut my hair here. It was just a joke but I actually did it ! We went back to the hotel so Mum could take her camera and then Lola and I had a haircut ... Risky but the result is beautiful ! (and cheap, whe paid 1 each )
I have to admit that the days in China aren't always chill and relaxing. And that's defenitely the case today. We had to wake up at 7 O'clock so we could leave the hotel at 9 am. Yesterday our guide Michael told us we couldn't have breakfast there and he gave us a box plenty of food. But surprise, surprise: it wasn't the breakfast we expected. No bread (or noodles if we wanted to started the day like Chinese do) but Oreo's! You know: those black coockies with wite cream in it. Well after a breakfast of oreo's, apples and milk (in my case water) our new guide brought us to New Dali City. I think it would have been nicer if it wasn't raining... But even when we're wet, it was funny to see the local Veldstraat. All the shops were located in little, old , Chinese houses and you could see people in traditional clothes shopping. We surprised the guide a little, I think 'cause we weren't the typical tourists he was used to : We didn't buy souvenirs in his friend's shop, we didn't really like the restaurant where we ate our lunch ( it was a western restaurant, but hello, when we're in China we wan't to eat local things ) and we asked many questions ( he couldn't even answer half of them) The only really great thing we've done today was seeing the local way to fish. Mister Zhao, our guide, brought us to a lake where we took a boat. When we were on the water, we followed a fishing boat and we could enjoy our own private fishingshow . people there use cormorants; those are big birds, to fish. They first of all put a rope around the cormorant's neck so it cannot eat the fish and then they release it in the water. When the birds catch a fish , they come back to the boat and give it to their master. As reward they get som little fish to eat. It was fantastic to see that ! It is pretty sad that that's the only great thing we've done today ... But there is somthing weird in the whole story: for all the things we've done yet Arthur and Lola didn't had to pay and now it was 150 Y each person. We also didn't had to pay at a ticket office but just to our guide. We don't really trust him so tomorrow mum's gonna check the prise of that boat trip. He'd better be honest ...
Hello everyone, First and last day in Lincang. Today we saw some villages again... One of them has got new houses from the governement winth red roofs. i think they didn't really like the colour because they put some dried grasses on it ! Most of the time our guide brings us to little, local restaurants where we eat our dinner. Yesterday there where some drunk Chinese next to us who came talk with my Dad (nobody understood what they said !) And one of them asked him to go with them to some dancers , we understood that because he made some queer dancemoves . We all laughed and my father said no with a smile. The Chinese seemed a little bit disapointed ... Mamy not ... This country surprises me every single day ! xxx, Camille
This night we stay in a hotel in Lancang. We've seen a lot of strange food today : ears , nose and tongs of pigs, chicken legs , frogs, fish heads, ... You can really see everything on a market in Lancang ! We ate in old ethnic village. We were the first Western people they saw in there restaurant ... So they sang and played guitar for us. And wow , it was so beautiful ! Those people learned to sing in the church ( they are Christian) We've never expected to find Christians in an old ethnic civilisation ... That was really contradictory .... In an other village, the Aka people,dressed me up with a local ceremonial outfit. It was a great honor to be dressed like the woman there. And all those clothes are completely handmade, with a lot of embroidery and pearls on it ! Everyone is so generous there ! When they see some strangers most of the people in Belgium ignore them and here you're treated like a prince ! Love this country so much ... Camille
p.s. pictures are maybe for tomorrow ... We can't get Internet on our pc here ... Only I-pad is working here ! Sorry we're really in an other world here !
Today we've visited a village and we've walked 2 hours amidst the forest and old thee trees and bushes. We saw the one they claim to be the oldest thee tree, over 800 years old. And people still harvest it's leaves. To see that special tree we had to walk in the jungle. It was so beautiful there ! The birds were singing, the butterflies flying and the cigals tsjirping. The village we crossed was nice but not as beautiful as the villages we saw yesterday. But we took some nice pictures of the children who lived there ... The monk of this village look like drunk ... I've never seen something like that , if I didn't know it was a monk, I would thought that he was a rapper or something like that ... Really ! Queer but also interessant day , xxx Camille
This is our first day in Jinghong in the Yunnan Province. We spent one day at Kunming in an awefull hotel (our bed sheeds were dirty, the bathroom was dirty, the floor was extremely dirty, the toilet didn't flush, you could smell the nicotine of all cigarets people smoked in the room, ...) But now we spent our second and last night in a beautiful hotel in Jinghong and everything is going fine. Today we've visited some local villages and we had luncj at a local restaurant there. Both we're amazing !!! In the village we've seen a women with traditional clothes (she went home to put them on just for us , she looked very proud when she showed them) The houses are made of wood and are also old. Jinghong is very close to Burma so everything is totally different. The farmers don't grow rice but rubber, for example. Oh, and also pinapple. We tasted some and it was delicious. The people who live here make their whisky themselves. It's actually maïsalcohol. We were lucky because they where just distillating it, it's amazing to see them doing that ! We even tasted it It's gonna be a shock when we're back in Belgium. Everything will be too normal to me ! Love Camille
Hello people, Today was our last day at Ning Du. I really like it here! I just like China I think... Everything is just so different: food, people, clothes, language, surroundings, weather, circulation, etc. The weather: It's hot ofcourse (I think you already know that :) ) But we often don't see the sun, it's just hot and clouded. The food is also verry hot :). Chili here, chili there, chili everywhere! But when it's not too hot and spysy ( and we actually cán eat it...), it's verry good! I really like the sweet and sour chicken ;) What's also different from Belgium is that in Beijjing and the other big towns you can see a barbecue at every courner of every street (maybe that's a little exagerated, but there are really a lot of barbecues :) ) And the clothes!!!! OMG, I think this is Justine's heaven on earth. The girls and women are always dressed up. Even when they are on a motorbike they wear high heels! I drawed that so you can see such a girl on the photo. And they have also a parasol when they go outdoors, so their skin doesn't get darker (and again: even on the motorbike) The little girls wear dresses like Cinderella's one, and the older girls and women wear pants, skirts and dresses (it just have to sparkling or be skinny) Justine designed an outfit we see a lot of chinese girls wear: long dress, a bag from a different colour, a little bit of black eyeliner, and ofcourse: high heels (and with high, I mean really high!) I gonna miss it here! But we still have three weeks to go :) xxx Camille
Hi guys, first day at Ningdu and I have a lot to tell you . we've discovered plenty of things about Lola ! First my sister isn't born after nine months in her mothers belly, but after seven ! So she was very weak and her mother probably couldn't take care of her. It's just an assumption but it sounds logical that that's the reason why she abandoned Lola. Second: Lola didn't grow up in the orphanage , but in the house of her foster-mother. We met her today. That women actually saved Lola's life! The only reason why my sister survived is because she ate well and because Li Yun (her foster mother) kept her underneath her clothes so she was never cold. You should have seen it ! Li was fighting against her tears when she saw Lola ... We saw also the other kids in the orphanage. But most of those children have a severe handicap. The "normal" ones stay with foster-motherstill they're adopted ... Lola seemed a little confused but so happy ! It was a heavy day ! Love, Camille
p.s. pictures will be posted later, the Internet here isn't so good ;-)
Dear Belgium, Today was the last day in Beijjing. Tomorrow evening we'll be in Ning Du, Lola's hometown. This morning we've visited the Lama- and Confucius Temples. Thet we're both great, but yhey didn't impress me as much as the Forbidden City, the Summer Palace or the Great Wall... But this evening we've done something awesome: We've walked in the Hutongs. Those are old streets and it's there where you can find the authentic China. And I really liked it!! It wasn't so touristic like the rest we've visited. There were litle shops, someone who played a queer instrument (it looks a bit like a violin, but it was longer and narrower), and ofcourse a lót of people. Oh, and there was also a little boy who looked like a mini-sumowrestler . He was adorable and everybody was so kind! They smiled, laughed and it seemed that everyone knew everyone. A bit like the souks in Marrakech We really liked it! xoxo Camille
Went to the Great Wall at Mu-something - just to avoid the crowd we've undergone at Tian An Men and at the Forbidden City. Summer holidays in China as well, and and a very small part of the Chinese are taking the opportunity to do some sightseeing - but a very tiney part of 1.3 billion people still is a lot ...
The heat was feasible, but when you're literally using your feets and hands to get higher on the Wall because it's that steep, believe me, you sweat. The ony one that didn't, is Lola. Genetically predeterminated ? That being said, the views we're worth it ! Unbelievable the Chinese did this (to (try to) stop the Mongolians), before Hadrian (to stop the Scottish), the Soviets (to stop the Germans !), the Israelis (to stop the Palestinians - or the colonists, or both) and the Americans (to stop the Mexicans). Nil novi sub sole.
In the afternoon we spend some time chilling - if I dare say so, it being over 35° - at the Hutong Guest House, then went to get some cash at the bank of China - a lot of walking again, but the children did well and really enjoyed it ! Looks like they got used to China after 24 hours.
Another great Chinese meal at the guesthouse in the evening, the host playing a kind of flute - live concert at the Red Lantern.
Summer Palace: Who doesn't want to be an emperess in such a setting?
Second day on the spot, Today we've visited the Summer Palace. The emperess lived there when it was to hot in the Forbidden City. To me it's much prettier in her private little town. There is more nature and she gave her palace a little personal touch. Or actually a real big one. The emperess really liked Su Zhou, so her summer palace is a copy of that city. what I liked most was the fluteseller. He showed me an instrument I've never seen. It lookes like a pear with holes, and the music he made with that queer instrument was great. The only downside of China in the summer is the heat, but I think I'll get used to it. Tomorrow we'll visit the Great Wall. Wish me luck !
Hi guys, First day in China: what a chock! I would have thought we would only drink water, but we breath it too, because it's so humid here! I have to walk, jump, or do something else, just to keep me awake. And I think I won't mention the temperature... But there's no way to say that I don't like it here! It's amazing how kind the people are (even when we don't understand what they say, their English isn't really good) And it's like this town never sleeps. The best way to describe Beijjing is to say that it looks exactly like an ant nest :) The best example I can give you is the Forbidden City (we've visited it today) There we're at least some tens of thousands people there. If a good start brings good luck, I think this holiday'll become awesome!! greats from China Xxxx Camille :D
P.s. in attachement a picture of the guesthouse for tonight, really Chinese ;-)
Hi guys, I think most of the visitors of my blog already know me, but for the others: Hi, my name is Camille, I'm 14 years old and I live in Belgium (you can also read this on the right-side ) This year my family and I gonna make an amazing trip to China. The reason for this trip is that my little sister comes from this country. I made this blog (or actually my mother did) because I want to be able to read my memories of that vacation over and over again, and ofcourse I want you to be able to see day by day what we've already seen and done in China. I'll try to write everyday something on my blog (if we have Wi-Fi connection ofcourse ) and I'll post some pictures too. And last but not least: Thanks mum, for the wonderful job you've done so far! I don't know what I would do without you! You've worked twice till 12 pm. just to make me happy... I love you and I'll try -for you- to make this blog something amazing! Lots of love and hugs! Camille
Dag mijn liefste Mietje, Comme surprise pour ton annif je t'ai construit ton premier 'blog' ... Enfin, je n'ai fait que le gros oeuvre, je te laisse le plaisir d'en faire un petit chef d'oeuvre Happy Birthday !!! Dans quelques jours on fêtera cela ensembles en Chine ! Nog 7 dagen, 53 min en 54 seconden
Ik ben Camille
Ik ben een vrouw en woon in Heusden (België) en mijn beroep is mss journaliste, wie weet ;).
Ik ben geboren op 10/07/1999 en ben nu dus 26 jaar jong.
Mijn hobby's zijn: scouts, muziek, schrijven.
totem: ourébi
quali: hisse les voiles
OMG ! What a city !!! It looks a bit like New York but smaller. With all those skycrapers, who're so big, you think you're inside when you're walking on the avenues. The Starbucks on every corner of every street, the busy people, ... "Wink"){kind=icon}
 "Laughing"){kind=icon}
Hi Belgium, "Confused"){kind=icon}
 "Sad"){kind=icon}
 "Embarassed"){kind=icon}
 "Twisted Evil"){kind=icon}
 "Razz"){kind=icon}
 "Very Happy"){kind=icon}
I have to admit that the days in China aren't always chill and relaxing. And that's defenitely the case today. We had to wake up at 7 O'clock so we could leave the hotel at 9 am. Yesterday our guide Michael told us we couldn't have breakfast there and he gave us a box plenty of food. But surprise, surprise: it wasn't the breakfast we expected. No bread (or noodles if we wanted to started the day like Chinese do) but Oreo's! You know: those black coockies with wite cream in it. Well after a breakfast of oreo's, apples and milk (in my case water) our new guide brought us to New Dali City. I think it would have been nicer if it wasn't raining... But even when we're wet, it was funny to see the local Veldstraat. All the shops were located in little, old , Chinese houses and you could see people in traditional clothes shopping. We surprised the guide a little, I think 'cause we weren't the typical tourists he was used to : We didn't buy souvenirs in his friend's shop, we didn't really like the restaurant where we ate our lunch ( it was a western restaurant, but hello, when we're in China we wan't to eat local things 
Hello everyone,
This night we stay in a hotel in Lancang.
Today we've visited a village and we've walked 2 hours amidst the forest and old thee trees and bushes. We saw the one they claim to be the oldest thee tree, over 800 years old. And people still harvest it's leaves.
 "Evil or Very Mad"){kind=icon}
Hello people,
Hi guys,
Dear Belgium,
. He was adorable and everybody was so kind!
As Camille is dead tired, Daddy takes over ...
Second day on the spot,
Hi guys,
