Monday, September 15, 2008

International Brunch

Tim and Bev with the only USA garb we have

One of 20 tables of food

Cute Japanese girl

Sumana from India, one of Tim's students

Little Chinese boy


Some Japanese Girls

Japanese Girl eating an American Hot Dog

Juliana from Brazil

Korean Girl

Yes 100% USA

Each year as school gets underway. We celebrate the diversity of our school with a brunch attended by all the students and parents. Everyone - Brings their favorite food dish that represents their country. Parents and students are encouraged to dress in native costume. This years celebration was held in our Main building this past Saturday. Here are some pictures from this years event.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

OCT Overseas Chinese Town

Click on a picture to see a larger version


The very beautiful Interlaken Hotel, Rooms start at $500 a night US!
Bev in the Hotel lobby, yes that is water flowing down the tubes,
and those are all real orchids, flowers etc. marble is everywhere.


Bev and a Korean xiao chou, (see ow cho, long o) or clown



We watched a very beautiful show that was at least partially connected to the topic of Tea




Eating the Chicken head is suppose to bring you good luck,
My Chinese friend Monica tells me she used to eat them but it is more
symbolic today and few people eat them but they still serve them!




These girls are selling tea, which is pretty expensive, there were many stands like this

A small part of the OCT East, called Interlaken, This is were the Hotel and Spa are located.

Tim and a flower girl

Tim grabbing the statues ear

Monday was a national Holiday here in China it is the Moon Day Festival, Fall Full Moon. One of the traditions is to give what are called Moon Cakes to your friends, employeer and family. The moon cakes are made with lots of eggs and contain various flavors most of which are not very tasty to Americans. In fact I don't know an American that likes them.

We took advantage of an opportunity to do a one day trip to a new area in Shenzhen called OCT East. The OCT is another area of Shenzhen not far from us that has a amuzement park many upscale shopping spots and lots of housing built in the 70's and 80's. The original idea of the OCT was to attract Chinese citizens that had moved abroad to come back to China by providing new housing and an upscale place to live. The original OCT in Shenzhen is about a 35 min. bus ride from our house, and also an area we frequent because it is were our dentist's (Dr. Jeff) office is located.

The OCT East is much farther away. It is very close to the water and on the other end of Shenzhen. The OCT group acquired some property up a mountain that is very different from most of Shenzhen. It is very green and beautiful. In addition it has a amusement development that is less than a year old. Very nice and modeled after the Interlaken area of Switzerland. One area of the many acres is devoted to understanding the production and drinking of tea. We also attended a special celebration day due to it being the final weekend day prior to the Moon Festival. We also attended a wonderful show that was well done with lots of acrobatics.

Here is some information provided by the OCT Overseas Chinese Town web site
OCT EAST
  • OCT East resort, a 3.5-billon-yuan investment supported by OCT group, is located at DaMeiSha, Shenzhen. Occupying about 9 square kilometers, OCT East, the national ecological resort featuring tourism culture, aims at providing visitors with an opportunity to escape from the bustle of city life and return to the nature,
  • Elaborately designed along the mountain and the sea, OCT East resort has three major theme parks: Knight Valley, Tea Stream Valley and Wind Valley. It has many culture travel functions like ecological tourism, vacation, outdoor sports etc., indicating the harmony relationship between human and the nature.
  • Phase I of the resort opened on Jul. 28th 2007, offering a vast array of attractions to the public. Tea Stream Valley, a combination of western and eastern cultures, has been constructed based on many fundamental elements such as tea, Buddhism, follower and bamboo etc. Wind Valley features Olympic and golf sports, the Interlaken OCT Hotel, The Interlaken Spa, and the Tea Show. The second phase of the project, Knight Valley, will open in 2008 . This park will distinguish itself by forests, rivers and outer space, Red Wine Town and the Statue of Guanyin Sitting in a Lotus Throne.