It has been a rather long time since my last blog post and yeah, I’ve been really lazy it seems! But fear no longer as I am back now with some spare time on my hands just for this blog. The main reason for my hiatus was actually our holiday in China which lasted nearly a month and also few exhausting weeks battling with taxations once again. Right now we even have the joy of surviving dear Chinese mother-in-law as she arrived yesterday.
This first blog post after such long break will be rather uneventful as it will be just about the first days in China during our holidays there. Unbelievable but true this trip has been our first real holidays in nearly two years! I guess you can imagine how exhausted you can get with work without any holidays for such long time so we were very excited. However as we are running our own business work did not stop with us going to holidays and thus we had few working days even in China.
So what you do after such long time without holidays once you arrive in Xi’an? Go eat! The first few days we went to each one of our favorite restaurants, it just felt so good to be able to eat those wonderful dishes again. Well, we loved it but my father was not that fond about Liangpi 凉皮 (cold noodles) and few other dishes we devoured. However we usually found a good compromise and he got something he liked each day, in fact he stated later that this holiday to China was the best of them all as he really liked the food during the entire trip. Besides eating we went for many walks around the neighbourhood and I could not help myself to take few more pictures of the area and building where my in-laws live. My father feels always reminded how Germany looked like after WWII when going through that area in the city center of Xi’an. It appears that standard maintenance is unheard of in parts of China.
The first week in China was more like getting used to having holidays again and doing few sightseeing tours around the city. Even though we had started there our holidays it did not really feel real. Xi’an had changed once again a lot in just two years and just had a different “vibe” compared to before. My father liked this new feeling to the city especially as car drivers suddenly stop for pedestrians (scooter riders will still try to kill you) and that everything is much cleaner now as there are hundreds of people going around each day collecting trash in the city center with a bucket and pick-up tools.
What was the longest period you went without holidays?
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Welcome back! Looking forward to your stories. Your MIL looks very happy with the kids 😀 And the foods look delicious, yum!
Haha Thank you! She is indeed very very proud and happy but they are more annoyed by her …
We haven’t been on a holiday since Christmas a year-and-half ago, I guess. But my MIL is coming for a month in another month or so. Let’s see which of us has the best stories by the end, shall we?
Sounds like a plan, I am right in the middle of this madness already. Even those few hours before she arrived my wife and her had a fight over the phone but more about that in another blog post 🙂
Cars stop for pedestrians? Often? Really? Must be the local government installed a lot of cameras, haha. A few months ago the rule that says cars have to yield to pedestrians was implemented, but here most cars still don’t… especially when their green light is at the same time as the pedestrians.
Yes I was shocked as well. They really do stop in Xi’an at least. Even without the traffic lights!! A Zebra crossing is enough to stop them, sometimes that is not even needed. It felt like another world when we experienced it for the first time.
But the bicycles and scooters are a total different matter, sometimes I have the feeling that they are aiming at you
Hallo again Timo! It sounds like quite the trip and glad your father enjoyed it. I am thinking like Marta – the cars actually give way lol. Looks like you saw MIL’s dancing group and she must have been very happy to dance for you 😂 I haven’t had a holiday in a long time due to work and more work and then trying to find more work…but holiday plans are in the making 😁
It was a real nice trip but also way too short!
MIL is always very happy to show off her dancing skills, thing is everytime we arrive secretly she is only chatting with other people and eating snacks :p
You should better take some holidays soon! Ain’t goot to overdo it at work, even when it is simple work it is just deadening your brain…at least for me it feels like that.
Any ideas where to go already?
LOL. So you didn’t see her dancing. Maybe the other team members do dance better than her XD
I think I overdid working lol since there seems to be a cold going round and I got it. Definitely a trip to Asia is on the cards (Singapore and Hong Kong) and it’s a toss up between the States and a big Euro trip, though at this stage leaning towards the States’ East Coast.
The States would be nice, we tried few times to get there but Visa is so hard to get for us.
You better get some rest, overworking won’t do anyone good (except the company ofc…)
Hehe. I think I need a lot rest lol. At the end of the day, at a regular office job everyone is ofc replaceable 😛 Hopefully you can get some rest in between of MIL’s madness…
Glad you enjoyed your holidays and some “rest”.
I like the big yawn picture and the picture of Mother-in-laws dancing group. I’m glad you’ve enjoyed your vacation.
I like short vacations–3 to 6 days is nice. Of course, when the location is far away, it’s best to stay longer.
Those short vacations are also very nice. We usualyl do such when going to another city such as Prague 2 years ago. This summer we will still have two weeks in Finland!
“What’s the longest period I’ve gone without a holiday?” I think when I lived in the US! We don’t ever get time off except for once or twice a year! And it’s more like a long weekend rather than anything else!
Glad you took the time to give us an update. Here’s some strength to deal with your MIL. Hahahahaha.
So how does it work in the USA with paid holidays? At least in Finland and Germany 30 paid holidays are pretty much standard and especially with Religious holidays and “bridge days” you can extend that in Germany up to 60 days on good years!!
Paid holidays! HA! In the US that is something that depends on where you work, not a given.
Oh god, sounds really terrible 😮
Loving the last photo of the street and buildings in Xi’an. Glad you enjoyed the great food.
I am returning to China in September (Beijing/Sichuan and Jilin) followed by the TransSiberian Railway to Russia where we will visit Moscow and St Petersburg. We will be away for five weeks so that’s a pretty long time for me.
The food was surely amazing, missing it already.
September is a nice month when going to China, it is not that hot anymore but still sunny enough 🙂
The TransSiberian Railway sounds exciting. Have always thought about such trip but never even got into the planing stage
Sounds like a great trip so far. My husband and I also went to Xi’an in September of 2016 as part of a tour. We saw the Terracotta Warriors and the Tang Dynasty Show, which were both very impressive. Looking forward to hearing more about your trip!
http://hotandsourblog.com/2017/11/03/334/
It was a real great trip and will have more posts about it.
I remember your article about the trip in 2016, read it a couple of months ago I think 🙂
The Tang Dynasty Show we also watched with my parents back in 2011 and they also bought the DVD there
Surviving dear mother-in-law 😂 so funny! Thank you for sharing! I’m hosting a blog party on August 3! Please join us and share you by dropping your link! And get to know other bloggers from around the world 🙂 BloomsandBeautifuls.wordpress.com