Haikou Archives - Page 2 of 2

Bugs!

I realize I risk a little goblin coming in the night and stealing the essence of my manhood by saying this — but I fucking hate bugs. I’d have to be more than a bit ignorant to move to a tropical island and not expect to cohabitate with the creepy crawlies, but it doesn’t disturb …

August 26, 2011

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It’s hot, but not — comparing the weather of Haikou with Suzhou

When I mention to people in China that I live on Hainan I almost always get a, “Really? that must be great.” And it is. Everything that sold us on moving down here this past March has held its shine. Similarly, the things we steeled ourselves against are also ever present — one of the …

July 26, 2011

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Hainan’s Red Detachment of Women Ballet

While later today Canada will be celebrating its own anniversary with fireworks, BBQ and a whole lot of drinking; in China it’s all about the Communist Party of China’s 90th anniversary. Not one to shy away from the spirit of things, I figured it was an excellent time to showcase one of Hainan’s most well …

July 1, 2011

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Haikou Airport Pickup

I’ve learned to set my expectations low with service in China. I don’t mean for that to come off too jaded, but there’s only so many times you can say “it’s just done differently here”. So, when I do get amazing service, I love sharing it for both the benefit of anyone who happens upon …

April 22, 2011

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Trip to Haikou’s Holiday Beach

We’ve had awesome weather here in Haikou for much of the last two weeks — in stark contrast to the cold and rain of our first week on the island. Not wanting to push our luck though, Maggie and I decided that we’d play hooky from the massive amount of stuff we still need to …

April 16, 2011

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Living in Haikou – First Impressions

Well, I promised video/photos or a rant, and I’m happy to report I have no rant to offer. We moved in last Friday and have been living in a sort of stasis since. As mentioned, the new place is brand new, and so when we arrived to get the keys last Thursday we were happy …

April 8, 2011

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Home Hunting in Haikou

I thought I had a decent amount of apartment hunting experience, but Haikou was beginning to kick my ass. The problem is a simple one — pretty much all the decent apartments are owned by Mainlanders, and so most potential landlords are either not here or here but on their way off the island until …

March 30, 2011

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Homeless

As of 5pm Friday Maggie, Casey, Button and I became homeless. After a hectic few days of packing, we said farewell to our gear Friday morning as it left on a truck destined to eventually (hopefully) meet up with us in Haikou. Judging what the costs would be for shipping our stuff was one part …