Greetings from Bethany! Thanks to Talin, I was able to set up a proxy that allows me to post my own blog again. Three cheers!

Last week the Chinese Government funded a trip for foreign teachers to take them around the province of Fujian. In usual Chinese style, I was told at the last minute, and given no information on where we were going or what I should bring. However, it was free, so I figured why not?

We met at a hotel in downtown Fuzhou and got on a big bus with very large leather seats. That was my first clue that this would be a nice trip. I was a little late getting there because the traffic was so bad, so I didn't have time to meet anyone before we left and I ended up sitting by myself for the first leg of the trip. But after that, I made several friends and had a great time trading teaching stories with other teachers.

Here is a picture of me and Alyssa, a girl from Arizona. And then one with Dave, from Canada. Yes, we like to try on funny hats. (I actually bought the cowboy hat.) As much as I love Chinese people, it was nice to be able to speak fluently in my own language for a few days.

We went to a pants factory in Quanzhou. There were 800 girls on each floor of this building, and they had to make a few thousand pairs of pants each day. The workers live in little dormatories right next to the factory and work 6 days out of the week. Our guide said these factory conditions were excellent compared to other factories he had visited.


We also went to a museum that mainly featured Taiwan, and how it was culturally and historically a part of China. There was a pretty fountain in front of it.

The coolest part of the trip were the Hakka houses, also known as Tulou. These structures are centuries old. They are built defensively, with only one entrance, and no windows at ground level. Each round house is several stories high and holds dozens of rooms. Two or three extended families might share one house. Inside, the courtyard is open to the sun for them to do their cooking, washing, getting together, etc.

Some Hakka houses are still used in the traditional way. But richer families have begun to move out in favor of modern accommodations. The ones we visited, while still occupied, had converted to tourism for their livelihood. The courtyards were jammed with souvenir booths.





We visited at least 5 different Hakka houses. Some of them were very close to together. Here is an image of a complex taken from above. They told us that NASA took satellite pictures of these structures in the 60s and took them for missile silos. Apparently caused them some serious concern. I think its hilarious.