Isn't he gorgeous...one of Charlotte and Lum Shing's great-great grandsons

Calling Home

How do I contact home without it costing the earth? There is Skype which is ok, if my whanau are connected. Then I may not get internet coverage in some parts of China, although I am taking my laptop so I can write a diary online. That was another hard decision, buying a notebook or an internet savvy phone. I chose the note book because I really can't handle the really, really tiny keys on one of those phones. Although I am open to that option. Firstly, I will have to make sure that it isn't locked to this country (then I'll be able to use it overseas). It also has to be 3G to use in China. My old dunga-lunga just makes it into this category :). I won't be getting 'roaming' because it is too expensive. I'm going to get a sim card for China and on the dream list, I might also get a dual sim card phone. That could cost a bit as well, but then that would save me chopping and changing my sim cards for New Zealand, Australia and now China. The China sim card, I understand will only work in China. Trip Advisor has a blog about sim cards and phones.

Okey, dokeys back to the China info - Accommodation

Most of the previously mentioned links have accommodation information as well. These are some others, again in no particular order (although Travellerspoint is a personal favourite) ; Travellerspoint has information on budget accommodation. Expedia is a site where accommodation, packages and flights can be found. Venere is a site specifically for hotels worldwide. Hotel Club has discount hotels.Wotif is one of the standards. Asian Rooms has rooms available worldwide as well. Rates to go is about last minute hotel deals, which you can book 28 days previous to your requiring a room. Owners direct is a site where you could rent holiday homes or apartments. Holiday Truth allows you to read hotel reviews from some hotels world wide. Booking com where you could book online. Hotels combined brings all the hotels of a chosen area together and displays the various prices. Agoda is a site that combines different hotels as well. China Home Rentals can be found on this site. Sometimes it might pay just to contact the hotels directly to see if you may be able to get a cheaper rate.

Sakura is our new mokai

Our new mokai. Sakura or so she was named. I now call her Sooky. Because she screechs and squawks whenever anyone goes near her. I think it's her way of saying kia ora or hello. :) She's a semi wild cat, so she looks after herself most of the time. Which is pretty brave considering how many angry dogs we have in our nieghbourhood.

Tolsa, Rascal and Bird

RIP. I got to missing Tama, Bonnie and Guppy, then I started missing our mokai, Tolsa (dog) Rascal (cat) and Bird (dog).

RIP - Tama

Tama died today. Mum found him unable to move, she thinks that he may have been run over. She laid him in the passage way and he was still alive when I went to see him today. But tonight Mum rang to say that he'd died. So sad, he had been with us for so long, about 15 years. Now, he's gone with the rest of our 'old home' mokai. Our Kuri are on the left, Bonneville and Guppy on the right.

Suk Anaru

I am so lucky to have Suk Anaru, he has been helping me with all of my trillions of questions about China and our whanau. From my 'small' knowledge of barely nothing, that my Grandfather came from 'Canton??' or rather Guangzhou. I was to find out that we come from the village of 'Saa-teen' and it was on the Pearl River Delta. Suk Anaru was and is patient to let me write all of the names the way that I hear them. He is New Zealand born, so we can talk with each other, however, he can speak Cantonese and this is where I get confused :) He is still concerned that we will be utterly lost once we get over there. He says that on main land China mostly everyone speaks Cantonese and may not be able to understand us...especially if we only 'kinda' know where to go, and then that is just in the general direction. :) He is so lovely. The photo (from left to right) Aunty Kath, (my grandfathers brother) Lum Young Hoy (d) 1960, (at the back) Uncle Jock, Uncle Windy (d) 1986 (small boys) Suk Norm, Haki and Anaru (Ropata (d)1944 and Rihari (not yet born) are missing from the photo) their mother and the wife of Lum Young Hoy or Nana War, Lum Lee Way Hing (d)1965 and my Mum, Jean. *Nga Suk have nom de plumes.

More bits of knowing about China.

WOW there seems to be tons of these bits of knowing about China. So these links are about China info, again in no particular order. * Temperatures in China. *China Travel Guide, tons of little hints from what type of electricity voltage (220) to Festivals such as October 1st being National Day. *Virtual Tourist, a site that has blogs, advice an accomodation. *Trip Advisor is one of the favoured sites. *China Spree another great site with excellent links. Interpreters and guides are available with this site, *Freeiva. *China Maps, from old ones to modernk, and some more. Then some more Excellent Maps on this site. Favorite *Lonely Planet Blogs. *Duckling seat blog has really beautiful photographs. Forums, travel info can be found on *Fodor's. This is one EXCELLENT site for finding locations called *Traveljournals.net. Another blog from someone teaching in China. *eChinacities is a site that is mainly for expats and is a great source of information. *Holiday Truth, a site that evaluates hotels and holidays around the world. Up to date blogs on Travel Pod.

Shared experiences and advice from the net.

It would be so amazing if I came up with all of these wonderful ideas and hints by myself...yeah right. I found these links through being on the computer for long periods of time and book marking heaps of URL's. I found alot of the sites so informative I thought that I'd share them and at the same time delete them from the enormous amount of favorites stored on my pc. :) So in no particular order; *China Highlights travel guide, facts and figures about China *National Tourism for China
the site for regulations relating to China *China Facts *Price Spy, this is a really great link, prices can be compared with electronic items between NZ and China. *Journeywoman a travel forum for women. *Thorn tree - Lonely Planet heaps of info from the famed Lonely Planet. *ctrip cheap airfares etc. *Best Senior Travel Links for the over 50's, not any of us of course :) *Timesonline 100 if the best websites *Frommers another good travel website *Shiqi Travel Post - Map, Time *World Travel guide, an easy read and excellent advice. *Travel fish a website constantly updated by travellers. *Wikitravel a general info site about China *Travellerspoint sharing really up to date information, an awesome site. *Travelblogs filled with heaps of blogs *Top 25 websites from cheap travel to accomodation. Teaching in China information *webcam a site which allows access to webcams over the world *China Travel and finally *Trade Me Travel, where people from Aotearoa share their experiences and advice.

Scottish lassie sings the three crow waiata

Isn't she soooo prettiful and talented. I like the little nod of her head when she has finished her song. Another little cutie

Insurance, Health hints, and suitcase security.

After scouring the net and getting advice from travel agents, whom I came to believe were just trying to flick off really expensive travel insurance policies, I came across 1cover. The premium was $350 for 12 months, with no excess, and multiple travel world wide. Excellent when I considered what was on offer, in some cases, about $300 for 20 DAYS! The reason I chose my particular policy of 1cover insurance is because of the huge benefits, such as unlimited medical/hospital attention, family emergency, death, disability, resumption of journey and the usual loss of luggage etc. On top of all this is the personal liability cover of $5 million.
A HINT and to be on the safe side is to bring medication from home, because China may have different varieties which may not have the same effect.
If you take prescribed medication, it may be wise to bring your medication in the packets/containers with your name on them. Don't transfer into other containers that have no reference to your name. You could be accused of bringing drugs into China.
Imodium is a diarrhoea medication that works (for me). I suggest that a couple of packets of this product wouldn't go astray. Not because the food in China would necessarily be bad, but because our stomachs might not be able to handle REAL Chinese food.
For women, there is an item called a 'Shewee' It is invaluable for rural areas. Another awesome item would be a neck cooler scarf, by wetting the scarf the crystals expand and keep your neck cool . Finally, when it comes to suitcase security, I always thought that by bringing the zips together and adding a really secure padlock, my suitcase was close to impenetrable, and if someone did try to open it, I would know. That was until I watched this 'youtube' video. So now, Tell Tags, I'm going to buy some
Tell Tags.

Passports, Visas and Vaccinations

Our passports had to have six months validity on our arrival back to the country we left from, in our case Melbourne. It would be too costly to sort it out whilst overseas, were we not to have that six month 'window'. Another safety step would be to contact the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, just to let the government know that you are in China. Or the Australian Ministry. Obviously let family and friends know of your travel plans. Make photocopies of your travelling papers; passport; insurance and anything else that you think is important. Carry a couple of sets with you, put a set on the internet so that you can access it. Leave a set at home with whanau and if you are travelling with others, then give them a set too. Because if you lose your suitcases etc, they will have copies of your papers with them. I know, I know, but more is better.


Chinese Visa; Would you believe, from NZ it costs $140 for a single entry, $210 for a double entry; $280 for a 6 month, multi pass! Unbelievable. The Multi pass one was the one that we were going to need, because we would come out of China and then re-entering, perhaps more than once. Thankfully, I would be leaving (and paying) from Australia, so it would only cost $85AUD = $105NZD plus postage (back to me), which would mean that I would end up paying about $125NZD. Far less than $280 NZD.

I would come to rely on the 'Currency Conversion widget.' Bouncing between NZD, AUD, CNY (Chinese yuan) HKD (Hong Kong dollars) and MOP (Macau Pataca).

Vaccinations: So many, so many. After reading about what was required, I went to 'Worldwise' a company that could give me my vaccinations. I had the Tetanus/Diptheria = $20; Typhoid = $65; and the triple visit Rabies shots =$195; the 3 appointments and administration of the vaccinations in total cost $90. Thankfully I had Hepatitis A and B immunities. I did consider Malaria. However Malaria seemed to be more prominent in the African countries. Were I to get medication I would have gone to an ordinary doctor and got a 3 month prescription of Doxyclycline, (an antibiotic) this would have cost $12, and I would have taken a month ahead of my leaving as I did with my innoculations. Because mosquitoes just love my blood :) What I am going to do is take Deet, a recommended mosquito repellent. Lanacaine, if one of those things gets to bite me, it takes the itch away. I'll take Vitamin B, beginning a month before I go as I've read that mosquitoes don't like Vitamin B blood :) and I'll buy Avon 'Soft and Silky' body moisturiser (another handy hint), I think the mosquitoes just slide off :). And when all else fails, I've read that I could go to a pharmacy and buy a bottle of Qingliang You 清凉油 - a cool & refreshing oil, which is said to work. Finally, mosquitos are said to be attracted to perfume and dark coloured clothing. NOW, that's where I draw the line, I like dark clothing and I love nice smells. :)

Wendy Woo

The trip seems awesome. We would be leaving from Melbourne on Cathay Airlines. I've joined Asian Miles, so that I can reimburse my 'fly miles' should I be travelling to Asia again, but then again being a member of Asian Miles brings rewards with their partner groups, within accommodation and transport.

From Melbourne (then probably Sydney and Brisbane) after about 14 hours?? we end up in Hong Kong We will be staying at the airport for a couple of hours and then on to Beijing. On to Xian; Hangzhou; Mt Huang/Tunxi; Shanghai; Guilin; then back to Hong Kong.

The trip is going to be awesome. Found another link about China. And another.

The Tour

After going through all of the travel brochures...and there were heaps. We settled on the Wendy Woo Tours, which had many tempting tours, from travelling on a 25 day tour to Tibet, doing the 19 day trip on the Yangtze or on the eclipse trip with a visit to Suzhou, many places that I have been interested in seeing. We chose the 19 day Eastern tour, because the tour wasn't too long and it had a mix of cities and 'museum type' places. My cousins and I have a variety of interests, so we had to find a happy medium that covered most of our wants. I got to see plenty of water (I love water) and we would also be visiting heaps of museums/libraries and given 'free time' to do the things that we wanted to do.
There were also many other tour companies to chose from, China Odyssey Tours, China Highlights, China Vista and Intrepid Tours to name a but few. There were tours for young ones and for the older ones and the in between ones.

The Ahi Kaa - Those that will keep the home fires burning.

Before I go on, I thought that I would mention those of my sisters and (female) cousins that could not come on our journey, for various reasons. There was 'Lin' and 'Rose' (both with nick names better not mentioned if I want to continue to breath) :) and finally Ange, who doesn't have a nick name. All of our brothers and male cousins and partners thought better of it and decided to leave well enough alone and not come with us. Wise move. :) And someone(s) have to stay home and look after the whare(s) and work to pay the bills. :) I'm sure they all will go at another time.
My Mum was seeing to her health, Uncle Jock lived in Aust and My Lovely Uncle Windy who is no longer with us were all not coming. Uncle Windy was a mechanic by trade (or that's what I remember him doing, fixing cars) He couldn't read, however, that didn't mean that he was dumb, he was always kind to me. I remember Uncle Windy cooking and working in the kitchen at hui or drinking. I loved him heaps. I intend on taking some photos of him and my late brother (Karl Yung) and sister Susan (Suzhou) to China with us. RIP Uncle Windy Lum (d) 1986. Karlie (d) 1980; Suez (d) 1986.

Lets start at the very begining.

Ok, got to get over one of my passions and that's these little cuties (and the bigger cuties...my daughters). Back to the main purpose of the blog.

It was decided at the beginning of the year that everyone who could, would try to get over to China. We were going to do a tour and then we could always say that we had been there. Chicks and Bubba had decided that they wanted to go and gave the shout out, then set the date for September sometime. This was important because we all work and had to make sure that we would have enough leave left to put in for our holidays and that they would be at the same time. Another factor was that in September, it would be Autumn in China. The temperature ranging from 25 to 30 C, a temperature that maybe we could all handle. Scary, when on average Auckland's highest temperatures range between 20 and 22C What a challenge, we'll have to take portable fans :)
By the time that was arranged, there were five of us.

Beautiful little Malaysian singer

Charlotte and Children

My Grandmother Charlotte, on her lap is my Mum, Jean and next to her is Aunty Kath. From the left to the right at the back is Uncle Windy and Uncle Jock.

Tamaki Makaurau ki te Pearl River Delta.

Ko Little Nan
Harata or Charlotte
toku Nana.

Ko Lum Shing
toku
a gung 阿公