"Stride Forward-Living and Working in China" THLIN's Profile

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Taiyuan, like Zhengzhou, if I were not working for current company, I would have never imagined that I would come and visit. Since I just come here for about 2 weeks with only one free full day, I chose Yong-zup Temple, which were built in Ming Dynasty.

The last word of my Chinese name is Hsiang (Xiang) meaning flying; therefore, I usually and proudly tell my friends that I am doomed to fly!!! I now work for a Taiwanese manufacturing company in ShenZhen, China. My work really gives me a chance of travelling more and more. I have to fly from my home Taipei and station in China. Also, there are many lovely cities in GuanDong Province, from Pearl of the East - Hong Kong to GuangZhou the city of the white goat. Haikou, China's Hawaii is just one and half hour away on airplane.
My life now is working first, traveling second; however, follow my Sunday travel and embrace South China.

Previous collection...

I made a trip back to Fuzhou where was my grandpa grew up until he was 21 before he moved to Taiwan. Luckily, I still got a chance to see the 170-year-old house before it is torn down due to urban renewal. What was even more meaningful, I went there with my grandparents. They were very happy as well

Beijing, capital of China. I am back after almost a decade. The city has changed a lot, so have I. Glad that I made the trip.

I am back again to Shanghai; the world's mega-city! It was almost 3 years ago when I first visited this city. I was alone and enjoyed it a lot; this time, I was with my best friends and I really enjoyed this trip. Those people are crazy and full of energy! Well, we should meet again and travel somewhere else for sure!

We have learnt Yangtze River ever since I was a primary school student. Finally, I made it to Wuhan and "touched" the river!

After working and living in China for more than 3.5 years, I started to note that I do not know about this magical country at all. What I had experienced is only work related. I seldom get a chance to go somewhere outside of Pearl River Delta. Thus, I kicked off my project," Adventure in China." My first stop is Nancang in Jiang Xi Province. It is not a glamourous city like Shanghai nor culturally rich like Beijing. Thus, it took me 2 days to complete my project. Well, it turned out to be great!

Terra-cotta! I cannot believe it that I made it here to visit world famous Xian Terra-cotta. It is like a real history textbook to me as Xian has been Chinese capital for 13 dynasties throughout China history. It was a very very short day trip as I needed to do it in less than 24 hours... Travel to and from Zhengzhou; however, it was a really lovely short trip to feel Northeast in China.

My first biz trip after serving in my company for 3 years. Domestic flight from Shenzhen to Zhengzhou!

Osaka, my second place to visit in Japan! This photo was taken in Dotonbori...

Short trip to Hong Kong with an old friend - Jock & new friend - Pop. Nice chill out! See you again soon in Hong Kong, ooops, I mean Bangkok!

Chinese New Year's Day dinner @ Shangri-La Yi Cafe with my beloved family. Do you notice that we have a little Pao Mi to attend the dinner? Now he is the 5th member in this family.

Ken & Cris from Bangkok Traffic Love Story... The reason I paid a short short trip to Bangkok in Dec 2010. Luckily, I got a free ticket to see their stage performance. Super funny even I cannot understand anything AT ALL...

===========Previous Intro==============I went to National Taiwan University (NTU) in order to recall some of my sweetest memories back then when I was a student. Rice-ball and bubble tea was the best meal set whether for breakfast, lunch, or even for dinner. It was something really natural to me but now I need to make efforts to enjoy the delight. Life change!

Oops, no no no, NOT so fast. This is my god son - Zhi Yuan. He is such a cute little baby boy.

Our beloved friends Bonnie has become the first who get married among us. Thanks to her lovely wedding, we finally found a great chance to meet each other. I am extremely glad to know everyone is doing well.

Christmas at Orchard Road... Nice!

A very short but successful trip at Ho Chi Minh City; Vietnam is the 16th countries to visit. My last new country visited was Indonesia in 2006. The photo was taken near Saigon Notre Dame Cathedral.

Deeppavali — Little India, Singapore...

Lovely short trip to Penang, a city that I have always wanted to go...

Attending my colleague's wedding and was the host of the show... I should look handsome in this one, do you agree?! Hahaha... It was the very first time I wore tie after I worked...

In the tear end, when people have more money on hand; for the Westerners the Christmas; for the Chinese, Chinese Lunar New Year. I have travlled very often in year 2008. Below is the summary for my travel, but all data shown excludes Hong Kong, where I go there just to buy daily kits.

Feb: Singapore & Bali
May: Singapore
Aug: Taroko Gorge, Taiwan
Sep: Singapore
Oct: Singapore
Nov: Singapore, Macau, Zhuhai

--------2009--------

Jan: Guangzhou
Jan: Shanghai
Feb: Taipei, Singapore
Apr: Xiamen, Singapore, Yogyakarta
Jul: Taipei, I-lan
Aug: Hong Kong w/ Mom and Zoe
Sep: Penang, Singapore
Oct: Zhuhai, Macau, Hong Kong w/ Wendy and family, Taipei, Singapore
Nov: Ho Chi Minh City
Dec: Singapore

---------2010---------

Jan: Taichung
Feb: Macao, Singapore, Taipei
Mar: Taipei, Tokyo
Apr: Singapore
Aug: Penghu, Taipei
Sep: Manila
Oct: Singapore, Taipei, Macau
Dec: Bangkok, Singapore

2011:
Feb: Taipei, Jeju
Apr: Taipei
May: Hsinchu, Taiwan
Jun: Osaka
Jul: Zhengzhou, Xian, Tainan
Aug: Zhengzhou (Purely business)
Sep: Singapore
Oct: Taipei, Kota Kinabalu
Nov: Nanchang, Wuhan, Chengdu
Dec: Taipei, Shanghai

2012:
Jan: LY, Taipei, Seoul
Feb: Beijing, Zhengzhou, Xian
Mar: Zhengzhou, Taiyuan, Taipei, Nantou, Singapore, Fuzhou
Apr: Fuzhou, Taiyuan, Xian
May: Xian, Taiyuan, Taipei, Sanya

Archive

Fanatics to Starbucks... Now I start to collect Starbucks City Mugs. So far I have 4 mugs, Shanghai, Macau, Hong Kong, Shenzhen. I took my Macau Mug to my office for daily usage; meanwhile, I am using Shanghai mug in my room. Now I am planning to get a Guangzhou, Dongguang Mug as soon as I have a chance to go visit.

A very short trip to Macau, standing in front of Ruins of St. Paul's, one of the most important landmarks in Macau.

The photo was taken from my window. It's sad that I see nothing much but ugly scene from my window. Inside my roon, it's a little kingdom situating in the middle of dirty industrial area. I have no complaint about this room, but as for the scene outside, I have NO comment.

Yes, I am on home leave now... This "HOME" represents two islands, one is Taiwan and the other is Singapore. Somehow, the picture was taken in Hong Kong Int'l Airport. I saw an old friend who reminds me of my school life. I have only showed up at HKIA after mid-night for flying to Johannesburg. This was the very first time I showed up here in order to catch my flight to Taipei. Yes, I do miss the Rainbow Nation a lot.

It started as a random talk with my colleague. We were looking for a restaurant in Shenzhen. Somehow, we found it was much more easier to find a decent American restaurant in Hong Kong, so we decided to go to Hong Kong once we left our office. We managed to leave our office at 15:30PM and we reached boundry before 17:30PM. Our destination is Dan Ryan's at Habour City, a genuine American Style restaurant. WHAT A GREAT EXPERIENCE!!!

Congrats to my coklleagues Suuny and her hobby. My first-ever RED-BOMB ever since I've started working.

I took my thrid leave during the "Golden Week" period. I spent two half days in Taiwan with my family and friends; the rest four days, I went to Singapore instead. It's not really a good time to visit since it rains so often that more than 70% of time during my stay were raining. Well, luckily, I am not a tourist to seek sunshine in the lovely tropical island. =)

I was told that there are three stages for all expats during their exotic life: Exciting, Depressing, and Adapting. I think currently I have come to my depressing period, I miss my Taipei badly even though I hang out with a lot of Taipeians every day. I post this picture as my display photo just want to remind me that Taipei is not far away from where I am now...

Yes, I took two days and two nights trip back to my second home Singapore and had wonderful holiday. The main charactor in this picture in NOT me but little photo in the back. I was sitting on a chair which was widely used in early years in Singapore for street barbers. They also provided ear-digging service; thus I took this shot... Haha

Proudly introduce our little Lim Pao-Mee (Meaning instant noodles). He is our fifth family member and the tiniest one. He is a mixed chihuahua and deeply spoiled by the rest.
The photo was taken in Shangri-La Hotel Taipei during Chinese New Year 2011. It was a great dinner.

*******Previous Highlights*********

It has been five years from my last trip to Bangkok even though this time was less than 20 hours, but I still enjoyed it.

PS Cafe, Singapore...

It is my 3rd visit to Macau as well as the longest one so far...

Was inside Intramuros, Manila...

A hangout with friends in Hong Kong...

Before being really crazily busy, I squeezed a day off and enjoyed my food in Hong Kong. Working in Shenzhen is nice since glamours Hong Kong is nearby; I can always reserve time for a delicious food and taste of big city.

Happy 26th Birthday, Jason! This is my 3rd birthday celebrated in China. I am happy and enjoyed my dinner a lot.

Jason in Harajuku... This is the place where leads J-Pop, and J stands for Japan. Gwen Stephanie was inspired by how people dress up and express themselves in this area and then she started up her own brand. I was like a country man visiting a treasure vault and could not stop admiring how things are here. In order to show my bizarre ideas to show my resects to this culture, I covered my face pretending wearing a mask like those uncles standing behind me.

This is Senic, my best buddy, and I at Luxy, which I believe to be one of the best place in town... We loved to party while we were students, yet he is now working in Manila and I am in Shenzhen.

Yes, it has been a magic that since we left our secondary school for a decade. We were happy to get a chance to see each other after such a long time.
Our old memories kept being recalled in the meeting... There was more fun than sorrow that we agreed after 10 years, even though we really thought our schoold was like a jail than a school.

Be good, folks.

*******Previous Highlights*********

I had a great day in Hong Kong... Enjoy the sunshine and sea wind. What a great summer solstice .

Thanks to my company, who just dispatched 1 iMac to each of our room as daily equipment. Now I have an iPod classic 20G, iPod Nano, iPhone, MacBook 13', and iMac 24' in my room. A real APPLE fan now.

Lucky April, I got a chance to visit Xiamen and Yogyakarta. Since I can foresee my fate in May, June and July, I decided to maximise my enjoyment before life becomes torturous, loading with endless job duties. Now I am back to Shenzhen and leading a abstemious life. For, I want to splurge after my busy busy summer is over.

I am really amazed by how comfortable to be in Xiamen. We share the same language, food, and even the accent when it comes to Mandarin.

Family dinner @ Fomorsa Hotel, Taipei...

I am now starting to prepare my dinner since I find it is TOO unhealthy to eat street food in the remote place in China. Any good receipt are more than welcome to share...

The holidays always ended up faster than you expected to. I had come back to Shenzhen and worked for two days already. I still cannot forget how wonderful my trip was. The photo was taken at the island in the
middle of West Lake in Hangzhou. I was really glad I made it there.

I have been longing to go to Shanghai for a while. Thanks to CNY holidays and my beloved boss who decided to give us three days off. Now I am on my way to the Paris in the East - Shanghai. This photo was taken in my room, displaying all my luggage and how much I wear!!! Bon Voyage~~

Having a great meal in Hong Kong is the happiest thing in my life now. I went to Sweet Dynasty last Sunday. I have delicious Roasted Duck Rice and Tofu Soup. It was the best meal of the week.

Chinese New Year is around the corner. This is the most important festival in Chinese culture, and I am going to celebrate alone in Shanghai. Well, I had a great trip in Hong Kong and was glad to see the splendid decoration at Habour City... This actually reminded me of Beijing Purple Forbidden Garden.

Finally I made a trip to Guangzhou, provincial capital of Guangdong. I love this place a lot despite the fact that people here not really speak Mandarin. Please visit my Guangzhou page for more detail.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. I did some shopping in Hong Kong for myself. It was a very happy shopping trip. I bought the most expensive single item that I have ever bought, MacBook 13. Now I am happily using my new trophy to update this paragraph. Oh, I also bought a Starbucks China Mug, which is now in my office. Next trip will be 2009 Jan 1st to Guangzhou. Looking forward to it now!!!

Now I am living in China; the longer I stay in this place, the more different I feel between mainlanders and Taiwanese.

There are few things I am often asked during my travel:
1. Taiwan, oh, do you live in Bangkok? (For a Non-Asia based foreigner)
2. Do you worry that China attacks you? (Know more or less about issue over Taiwan strait)
3. Do you speak English? (Coz most Taiwanese don't speak English)
4. Do you regard yourself a Taiwanese or Chinese? (Very tricky one, don't get me started, coz I can never end up.)
5. Can you go to China? (Quite often...asked) And now I live and work in China...

If you want to ask me more about Taiwan, it is always welcome. But my answer is my own opinion and cannot represent all of my fellas.

It is my third consecutive years working and living in China. With expansion of my company's business, I now get a chance to travel between our headquarter and branch site.
This photo was taken in Zhengzhou, Henan Province in China. The rest are my team members. It was a very nice business trip there and meet everyone. At least I have a better understanding of how they work and communicate; moreover, we can a clear picture of their daily operation and provide our support in time if needed.