Tag Archives: China

Real Competence

November 6, 2016 CrazyChineseFamily 21 Comments

For a long long time I did not write any stories about my dear mother-in-law or the rest of the crazy bunch. Sure I did mention some of it in the post “Three Months Survived” but that was more or less just the basic stuff you might expect anyways from her. It is not that nothing happened all the time but I just did not feel like writing about it. I can’t say whether is was due to the fact that it all is so ridiculous or that I might become just a lazy blogger.

You all have read over the past years that my mother-in-law is a bit unique. She has her own view towards how the world functions, she is always right about everything and she brings chaos wherever she goes. Guess how it is to have such person also being responsible for some of the distribution process of our business activities in China. Yes you read it right, SHE is responsible and as you might imagine it is not going really smooth. To describe her tasks in a short and simple way: She receives boxes from us in which different products are already sorted in a way that she just needs to put them into a new smaller box and sends them to the customer according to the instructions given by my wife.

boxes2 — I have everything under control!

There is really no way anything could wrong, am I right? I mean it is all sorted already and never anything went wrong when FIL was still doing it (he started working again this August so he can not do it any longer). I guess both my wife and I were just too positive and spoiled with the great work FIL was pulling off. There is currently really no week without at least two things going horribly wrong when MIL is doing the work. Remember everything is already sorted in those boxes we send to China and all she has to do is follow the instructions my wife sends her via WeChat about who receives what products and what little gifts to pack. I don’t even know where to start describing this whole disaster which brings my wife near insanity. I will give you only few examples which I can handle right now as thinking too much might give me another migraine attack.

I do everything right, even this dog agrees!

So how can dear crazy MIL do anything wrong? Oh that is so easy with her! Remember I just mentioned that she simply needs to follow the few instructions my wife sends her via WeChat such as which of the pre-packed products belong to which customer and the address. Nearly every single time it happens that some products end up at the wrong person as she never really reads the entire instructions. To make it worse she even has the nerve to tell my wife that she didn’t tell her good enough and it does not help that my wife even resends the same message again to show that everything was explained. Of course then MIL just blames her husband, even when he wasn’t around because it can never be her fault.

LostTreasures — Look at FIL’s hairs, at least now we know why he lost them all ever since getting married…

Another classic is that she just takes stuff out of the sorted products and gives them to some other people. Yes, she just takes out some items and gives them to others not even seeing any problem that might cause for us when the customer is missing here and there some bought stuff. Her excuses are usually “No no, it was not with the other things, it was just alone there so I thought it is not meant for anyone”, or “I gave it to X and Y so they can try it out, they might buy them also later”. With these fine ideas she has made my wife always so happy. Whenever I see this kind of disbelief in my wifes eyes I know that it has to do with her mother. That woman has a real competence in driving other people insane.

Last but not least of her showing real competence is that she does not even send some of the boxes, just keeps them at home. Then it is either the customer complaining after a while that nothing has arrived or actually FIL asking my wife why so many boxes are still at their home. When asking dear MIL why she hasn’t sent the boxes it is either “You didn’t tell me where it should go”, or “I didn’t realize that there are some boxes here”, or even “You stupid father has been hiding them!”. In the end it is always either the fault of FIL or because my wife didn’t tell her what to do. It is just amazing to see what she is messing up all the time with this. We really would love FIL doing MIL’s job again but he started working full-time because “I can’t stand being whole day with your mother”. We know what he means so we can’t say anything about him working again at some company.

Do you know a person who can mess up pretty much everything?

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Guest Post

Guest Post: The Great Story Behind West Lake China

July 5, 2016 CrazyChineseFamily 6 Comments

Remember when I wrote that we visited during our city tour also the West Lake in Hangzhou? Today I have a guest post by Karenr Robinson giving a wonderful description of that area. Where I could only write about what I saw myself during that short rainy stop at the lake Karenr provides with this article a summary on what you can see there and how to experience it the best way.

China is a beautiful country that is blessed with plenty of tourist attractions. China have a lot of magnificent attractions to visit for the tourists including antique sites and relics, grand imperial palaces, stunning water towns, marvelous natural wonders, fabulous cultural heritage, and unique folk customs. West Lake is one of the most favored tourist attractions in China amid visitors and a plenty of tourists from around the world used to visit the lake every year.

Heaven on Earth

West Lake is a freshwater lake situated in Hangzhou, China. The lake is divided into five parts by three causeways. The visitors can observe temples, pagodas, gardens, and artificial islands within the lake. West Lake has persuaded many poets and painters right through Chinese history for its natural splendor and historic leftovers. The green leaves and flower blossoms make the lake a heaven on earth.

UNESCO World Heritage Site

West Lake was labeled as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2011. The Lake has influenced Chinese garden designers and also many other designers in other countries. West Lake is said to be the only lake heritage site in China. UNESCO mentioned that the lake was able to persuade garden design in the rest of China and some other countries including Japan and Korea over the centuries. The lake in fact reveals and romanticizes union between humans and nature.

Natural Scenery and Human Culture

West Lake is the most gorgeous attraction in Hangzhou and the lake itself is full of attractions. The lake is enclosed by hills on three sides. Numerous Chinese poets and artists have praised the lake for its perfection and amalgamation of spectacular natural scenery and human culture. Su Shi who is a prolific poet in the Song Dynasty compared West Lake to Xi Zi, the most gorgeous woman in ancient China.

Full of Attractions

West Lake is a man-made lake situated at the heart of the city alive with plenty of attractions Including gardens, pavilions, causeways, pagodas, temples, artificial islands and bridges. The entire lake is a fantastic place to spend time with your family, lover, and friends. Numerous temples, pagodas, gardens, and artificial islands seen within the lake make it an exemplary destination.

History & Facts

West Lake has a long history to tell and the original West Lake created more than 2000 years ago. It was formed with the sedimentation of the Qiantang River. It is considered that the lake was almost double compared to its present size during Tang Dynasty (618-907). The lake dried up around the middle of the Tang Dynasty by reason of negligence and poor management of the lake. Hence, a fresh dyke and dam structure was put up, causeways were made and the lake comprehensively developed.

The lake has a surface area of more or less 6 square kilometers. The length of the West Lake is approximately 15 kilometers. The par water profundity is just about 0.8 meters. The lake has the ability to hold up to 14,290,000 cubic meters of water. West Lake has its own dry land for the maintenance and repair of boats.

The West Lake has been a main tourist attraction in China for the past many years. With the incessant development, sharp maintenance and the formation of islands have guided the lake to become a most beautiful tourist attraction in China. The Three Pools Mirroring the Moon is the biggest island of the lake. Mid-Lake Pavilion is the oldest island of the West Lake. The lake is delimited on three sides by mountains and hills.

Best Seasons

The lake is best to visit during rainy days, sunny days, spring time or winter time. The main reason is that West Lake is always good-looking but in dissimilar forms. Each season has its own splendor but March to May used to experience huge rush in West Lake and it can be called as the best season to visit West Lake.

How to Explore the Complete Area of West Lake

The scenic West Lake has many little attractions spreading around the lake. You will require one or more days to see its complete attractions.

Walking

Walking around the lake will be a delightful experience for the travelers. Walking around the lake’s two causeways such as the Yang and the Su cause ways present you amazing views.

Riding a Bike

The finest means to travel the whole West Lake is riding a bike. Bike riding is fast than walking, and you will be able to cover the whole attraction within few hours. Another way travel on the lake is by boat.

Cruise Boat

Boat Cruise on West Lake will be a mesmerizing experience for the travelers and it offers you the chance to enjoy the lake’s stunning scenery. Gaily painted pleasure boats, motor-driven boats, and rowing boats are available here. Boat Cruise allows the tourists to travel the islets on West Lake including Three Ponds Mirroring the Moon.

Sightseeing Car

The tourists can find cars here for sightseeing and it is suitable for people to explore the lake in a short time. You can find a guide along with the car. The driver can also become your guide and will introduce you the sceneries.

Author Bio:

I Karenr Robinson and forming articles to sites and some other online areas are my scope of thought. My experience and authority must make sure helped for me to make scholarly assignments, for instance, paper on School-An essential unit of instructive change .I am sufficiently capable to apply my insight and set forward customers’ verity and certainties moved down articles and papers .I am a specialist in the field of best essay writing service. I am respected with amazing speculative data on the field I am capacity.

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At the Guangyun Lake

June 26, 2016 CrazyChineseFamily 19 Comments

We have been in Xi’an multiple times over the past years but somehow each time we find something new which we haven’t visited yet. One of those things was this time the site of the Xi’an International Horticultural Exposition 2011. Back then in 2011 we were also in China together with my parents and even had tickets for the Expo. However it was so hot during that time that we decided to skip it. Years passed by and we forgot about the expo and the still existing park. This all changed when my wife’s friend invited us to go there for the afternoon. I was ready for some intense walking around the huge area and taking tons of pictures. Yes I was ready but it all didn’t work out as I had hoped for.

Before we went to that huge park we were invited by the whole crazy family to go eating some buffet at the Shangri-La Hotel in Xi’an. Don’t understand me wrong it was pretty decent food there but nothing too extraordinary that I would write about it. Only three things are really worth mentioning from that time at the buffet. First my crazy Chinese mother-in-law was chasing behind Nathan to feed him around the playground next to the restaurant for several rounds. Not only once but multiple time. Second crazy Chinese Grandma ate two plates full of raw seafood. She never ate raw seafood before in her entire life and ended up few hours later very very sick at home. Third was a family with two children sitting next to us. The mother was one of the bit larger people out there, not that it would be worth mentioning at all but she had a very interesting taste in food. Each time she went to get some more sushi she took a tube of wasabi and ate it all, again and again and again. Okay that is all I have to mention about the buffet except of course that it took nearly three hours as all family members needed few breaks in order to eat as much as humanly possible. Due to this our trip to the Expo Site was delayed a lot.

hort9 — I couldn’t figure out how to reach that hut

My wife’s friend picked us up from the hotel a little after 3pm. With her she had her husband, baby, mother-in-law and nanny because you know it takes at least four people to handle a child in China. Once we arrived at the Expo we quickly realized that it would be impossible for us to cover the whole area as it was first of all too late and the area just too huge. We got ourselves tickets for the electrical mini busses driving through the main area. The bad thing was though that those busses only operated till 5pm meaning we had less than 1 1/2 hours time to cover at least a couple of things before leaving. While driving around you could see that they still put up a lot of effort to preserve the park however many sights were already closed and were slowly crumbling apart.

Our first stop was at a giant hall full of tropical and desert plants. The building was divided of course into two sections where the lower part was for the tropical plants and the upper area for the desert plants. It was very well made and I was surprised how on earth they got those giant trees there. Especially the rainforest part was interesting as it had all kinds of beautiful flowers around. Here I wanted to take many more pictures but the high humidity wasn’t the best friend of my camera lenses…

After this we went to the animal section. I must say it was very sad to see how the animals were kept and I did not even take pictures of it. All in all it just looked terrible. The only part of the animals section where I took pictures was the peacock enclosure. It was full of male peacocks and upon entering the staff gave us dried corn to feed the birds. Those peacocks certainly went crazy showing off and we were surrounded by an ocean of colourful feathers. In fact there were so many that my wife got scared, okay she gets scared by all animals when they get too close…

Sad to say but those were the only two locations we managed to visit. While driving around the park we saw so many locations with certain themes such as European Village, Chinese Monuments etc. All over the park they had those Wedding Photoshoots and their staff carrying tons of different dresses around. We also saw the Chang’an Tower(长安塔) which is one of the main sights of the park. However we could not enter it due to one important reason, it never passed the safety test and thus was and perhaps will never be opened to the public…