China Blog 2024

Thursday 14^th / Friday 15^th Nov

D-Day – The start to an exciting experience visiting China, for my first Dog Boxing training experience with Master Lin and visiting places…

11.15am and a phone call from Neil –“ I can’t get either you or Imogen checked in online!” I thought “ This is a good start.” We get to Heathrow airport without any further issues and meet Imogen there who has travelled from Bristol. All is good as we go to check our cases in……. then a big drama ensues! Alex is denied boarding because his last surname wasn’t included on the boarding pass that the airline printed off when changing the flights the week before. Without matching his passport it’s a no go. Ben, Imogen and Neil all tried phoning Expedia to get the name added to the ticket but to no avail. It wasn’t accepted but the airline offered Alex a full refund, but meant he would have to book another ticket. He ended up on a different, slightly later flight as they would only offer him a ticket on our flight for £,3,500 – when we had paid only £520 for them originally.

On arrival at Fuzhou airport we had the slightly unusual sight of being greeted by a military soldier saluting us as we entered through arrivals. As we were waiting for Alex to arrive, he messaged to say that his connecting flight was delayed, meaning we would likely get to our hotel for around 2.00am, as long as there were no other dramas. Whilst waiting for him the remaining 4 of us had a lovely meal at Qu Yao Yao restaurant.

Saturday 16^th

We started early in the morning with a spectacular breakfast, followed by training with Master Lin and his eldest son and all of the others who train there. Day one is normally showing our skill levels to set the training level for the week. Master Lins youngest son came with his new baby son. 

After training we went for a walk and took in some of the surrounding local scenery – taking lots of photos as we went. We had a huge lunch including squid and various local dishes.

In the evening we caught a bus to go to dinner with Master Lin and his family to celebrate his youngest son’s wedding. As it was such a large dinner we walked back to the hotel to try and walk it off a bit. A quick coffee in the hotel lobby before bed.

Sunday 17^th

Imogen and I were the first down for our amazing breakfast. Once we had all eaten we walked to the training room and had a great session learning and it was good to spend time with the other Chinese members of the club.

Afterwards we caught a bus to take us to a stunning park “West Lake”, with lots of Bonsai trees – much to Alex’s delight! The flowers in the park were beautiful and there were amazing temples. We then moved on to ‘3 lanes, 7 alleys’; a renowned shopping area. It was beautifully lit up and I was in shopping heaven. We ate in the area and had lovely Chinese ‘tapas’ trying lots of different foods. The weather was lovely and warm at 26C which made sitting outside a pleasure.

Back to the hotel lobby in the evening for another quick coffee before bed.

Monday 18^th 

Breakfast as usual and then off to training where Ben and I started learning the first few moves of our new pattern “San Shi Liu”. Some important people turned up with a film crew to record our training.

We went back to the hotel to freshen up (after another lobby coffee) and then went out to get some lunch. We visited a couple of temples, including the Western Temple with lovely views from the roof tops. Back to the hotel for a bit of practice on our new moves before heading out to get some dinner.

Tuesday 19^th

We had to be at breakfast for 7.10am precisely as we had to catch taxis to get to Chen YiJiu’s home town/village, where there is now a new training room. He is a very famous master of Dog Boxing in Fuzhou. The room was lovely and we were filmed performing our San Zhan  pattern with our Chinese friends including Chen YiJiu’s daughter “Chen Liyu”. 

After performing we all posed for group photos.

We left there and visited a Taoist temple on a hill, before heading out to lunch with Master Lin, some of his old Kungfu brothers and the Mayor of the village. 

That evening  we went to “Wu Yi Park” to practice our patterns and watched the soldiers perform the ceremony of lowering the state flag for the night; with a large white statue of Chairman Mao looking on.

 Wednesday 20^th

Another lovely breakfast and off to training. After we dropped into a McDonalds so that Alex could access the Wi-Fi, and we could get a coffee. However the Wi-Fi didn’t work for Alex? I began to realise that Alex doesn’t seem to have much luck. 

On our trip out to lunch, a lovely local lady, who runs the restaurant decided that I must be freezing as I was only out in a t-shirt. It was still around 20 C so lovely for us but colder for the locals, who are used to the mid 30’s – 40’s in the summer. So, this lady gives me a denim jacket to wear, no money asked for, just offered as a gift. A lovely surprise and so kind of her. A touch of rain saw us buying umbrellas, then head into a shopping mall for some retail therapy.

Back at the hotel saw us training in the laundry room; Alex making the best use of the time by doing his washing and drying at the same time.

Out again to ‘3 lanes, 7 alleys’ for some more retail therapy (I’m sure my shopping excitement was starting to rub off on the others). Getting back proved to be slightly difficult as we were waiting for ages for our bus to arrive. In the end Ben and Alex flagged down a taxi and off they went, and the rest of us were going to get the next available taxi. However, the bus we needed then turned up so the remaining 3 of us hopped on. We got back to the hotel at about the same time as Ben and Alex as their taxi driver seemed to take the scenic route getting back to the hotel (and charging for the privilege).

Thursday 21^st

An early breakfast before we went off to another part of the supermarket from where we normally train to do some Ba Duan Jin. The session was run by the 3 amazing Tai Chi ladies for the benefit of the supermarket workers – some exercise and stretching before a days work. Once the session was over it was back upstairs for some regular kung fu training.

We had a lovely riverside walk in the afternoon and a vegetarian meal before heading back for some practice and a short chance to relax. Our evening meal was at a very nice restaurant where you pick what you want to eat but then a staff member cooks it at your table for you.

Friday 22^nd

The day started with the usual breakfast and training of our patterns, followed by binding  methods. In the evening we were invited out again with Master Lin and his friends to a wonderful seafood restaurant, where everything was really fresh – in fact most of it was so fresh it was still alive until you ordered it for your meal. A few drinks afterwards led to some antics involving trying out some theories about traffic avoiding pedestrians. Luckily no -one was hurt and we all got back to the hotel in one piece.

Saturday 23^rd

We were all a bit jaded from the night before, but fortunately there was no training  on that day. Instead after breakfast we got a taxi to the New South mainline train station to catch a bullet train to head south to Xiamen. The train was amazing and travelled at around 300km /  hour. We were joined in our travels by Master Lins eldest son Xiang Yao and his wife Xier Ting. In Xiamen we caught a taxi and ferry to take us to the Nan Pu Tuo Si temple on the main island in the bay. The smaller Island was formerly known as Qumoy and Xiamen was called Amoy. This is where Master Ang Lian Huat the Tiger Crane Master of  Kungfu we also learn, lived at before moving to Singapore. The viewpoint where we could look out over the bay and the city. It was quite spectacular. 

We took the short ferry trip back into the city for some food and a bit more shopping before heading back to Fuzhou on the bullet train. 

Sunday 24^th 

The day started off as usual, Patterns, Rolling and Binding, 

In the evening we were invited out for dinner with Master Lin and some local businessmen, The food was lovely as ever but on this occasion there was a lot of rounds of drink and toasting. So much that Alex got in a bit of a tangle and fell off his chair.

Towards the end of the day it became apparent that both Alex and I were coming down with colds.

Monday 25^th

Another round of training – more coffee and ice cream. For lunch we headed back to ‘3 lanes, 7 alleys’ to get gifts and purchase items that we had previously decided to make. Whilst the rest of us headed back to the hotel for a bit of rest and relaxation, Neil headed off to do a demonstration and interview for a local TV station. This is the norm for Neil, whenever he goes to China.

Tuesday 26^th

On this day we ventured out of Fuzhou to go and visit Master Lin’s home town. The town was old and quaint with narrow lanes and some very old vehicles. It was also home to some of the most amazing temples. Whilst there we had been invited to perform so we went to a hall.  

We were offered some fruit to eat and some of the dignitaries made speeches before we headed down to the stage. We all did our San Zhan with the local Chinese, then Alex, Neil, Huang Zong and master Lin’s son Zhen Quan Lin performed the Sun and Moon weapons pattern. 

Neil also performed his party piece of bending an iron bar with his shin by kicking it. Everyone was impressed, more so when they tried to bend it straight again afterwards.

After the show we had a short  tour of a local park Seven Tigers and the towns notable buildings including the communist town hall. Then we ate yet more food and drink. Huang Zong Lin invited us to his place of work for tea and arranged for us to be taken there and back by his driver.

We got back to the hotel to freshen up and then headed out on the bus to go visit some temples and historic areas. However, en-route Neil had a phone call from a friend saying that he had arranged an evening meal for us with some of his business friends, and the 3 Tai Chi Ladies. So we had to hop off that bus and make our way back to the hotel to dress a bit more smartly. Huang Zhong He was waiting for us at the hotel and drove us out to the restaurant. Poor Alex stayed in the hotel as his cold had got worse to the point where he was feeling quite unwell.

At the restaurant the food was amazing and we started with Chinese tea. However it wasn’t long before the Bai Jiu drink was brought out, and soon some people were getting quite merry. One of the business men got into a bit of a drinking battle with the senior Tai Chi lady – and ended up the wrong side of tipsy. At the end of the meal as we were leaving he was getting a bit too friendly with Imogen and myself and had to be redirected away from us by Neil. Once he realised what had happened to him (took a few seconds to sink in) he turned around to have it out with Neil. Threatening a Kung fu master, backed up by Master Lin and his son was not a particularly smart move and fortunately for him he was talked down and taken away by his friends with no harm done.

Not done for the night, after we had been taken back to our hotel, we headed out again to go to the Gold Bar for a drink. The place was really nice and a live singer kept us entertained with her beautiful voice.

Wednesday 27^th

Breakfast and training for what was our last day. At the training session, Huang Zhong He came up and gave us each a bag with tea inside as a small token for us to remember our trip there. Another film crew were present and filmed us doing our patterns and binding techniques and also interviewed all of us.

Back at the hotel, Master Lin, his wife and youngest son visited us so we could say our goodbyes and weigh our cases (they had brought some scales with them). Before they left we had a chance to watch one of the TV programs featuring Neil and Master Lin’s eldest son being interviewed. 

Once they had left we headed out for our final evening meal, going back to the restaurant where they cook the food at your table – a popular choice that we all really enjoyed.  

Thursday 28^th

This was our last morning in the hotel and after breakfast we had a small amount of time to finish off the last bit of packing. Master Lin and his eldest son came to say goodbye along with a few of our Chinese friends, then we headed off to the airport in the car provided by  Huang Zhan Lin. The flight from Fuzhou to Shanghai was quite turbulent, but we got to Shanghai in one piece. There was an 11 hour stopover in Shanghai airport that was a bit lengthy – eased somewhat with some duty free shopping, a bit of patterns practice and watching some movies on Neil’s laptop.

The final flight back to Gatwick was on time and a bit of a shock on arriving to the usual British winter weather when we had been so used to it being much warmer.  We had to bear a thought to poor Alex who had to get a later flight the next day due to the mess up with his original tickets back on the first day. Still, he got back safely and in one piece.

Overall it was a fantastic experience and I would jump at the chance to go again.

Vanessa Maclean