Yangshuo photos

Yangshuo Tea House

At some point you might want to explore the traditions of tea in China. After all, you ARE in China and you WILL drink a lot of tea, especially when you sit with your Chinese friends. The 7 Star Tea House is a good starting point.

Annie Zhou owns the place and has a long history in tea. Coming from a family in the tea business. There's a lot of different tea to be found in the Tea House. And if you are interested, you can learn all about Chinese tea ceremonies too. Here's more about different kinds of tea and the art of brewing it:

Different kinds of tea and the art of brewing tea

Tea House in Yangshuo

At some point you will find yourself sipping tea in the Seven Star tea house in Yangshuo. Annie Zhou, who owns the place has a wide range of tea available. She runs tours to nearby family tea plantations too. It's a good place to learn something about tea, types of tea and tea ceremonies.

Seven Star Tea House in Yangshuo

Ballooning in Yangshuo

Ballooning in Yangshuo is one of those attractions that is really spectacular. Get beautiful views of the whole area from above. It's magnificent... you will really love it.

Ballooning in Yangshuo

Cycling in Iran

Cycling in Iran is much more interesting and much easier then you can imagine. The people are amazingly friendly, despite what the newspapers write. Politics and people are two very different things. Like everywhere people like to have a life, it's always the same.

Just visit and come back to tell stories, you will be amazed!

Cycling in Iran

Hotels in Iran

And a humoristic story... about Ali Baba and the 40 Robbers

The Erhu

Jessie's father plays erhu, a traditional Chinese instrument

How to make Rice Cakes?

Rice cakes?? Yes, in Pudi, a little village near Yangshuo people make rice cakes, still by hand. The process is simple though time consuming. I was lucky to witness the process of making as the cakes are usually only made special occasions like parties, weddings or religious celebrations. Here's how they do it:

Rice cakes in Pudi

Laksa, a typical Malaysian and Thai dish

My first laksa I had in Thailand and it was like eating hot iron. The Thai laksa is in general much spicier then the Malaysian laksa. I prefer the Malaysian laksa! There are several different kinds of laksa in Malaysia available.

My favorite is the Penang laksa. The guys on the photo here is the best laksa maker I know. He has a small road side restaurant in Air Itam in Penang and his laksa is famous, if not KICK ASS laksa. I just love it.

What is there more to know about laksa? Here you go:

All about laksa

Chinese vegetarian dishes

Chinese vegetarian cooking, a selection of good Chinese vegetarian dishes. The Chinese are probably not known for their vegetarian cooking. After all, isn't it true that many people thing the Chinese people eat everything that moves, or everything with legs except tables and chairs?

That said, there are excellent vegetarian dishes available in the Chinese cuisine. I live in Sitiawan where we have several excellent Chinese vegetarian restaurants. So I started digging a bit in the vegetarian cuisine of the Chinese. And I found a wealth of recipes. Check it out here:

Chinese vegetarians cooking

Master Mei teaches abroad in winter 2009/2010

Master Luo Mei Juan is making up her mind where to teach in the winter 2009/2010. Her school will be mostly abandoned so Master Mei will be free to visit other countries to share her enormous knowledge of tai chi, yoga and qigong.

Mater Mei is not "just another tai chi teacher", she's one of the highest qualified teachers in China who has studied under Fu Neng Bin, in Nanning, and later with Chen Zheng Lei, of the actual Chen family. Chen Zheng Lei is recognized by the government as one of the ten great martial arts masters of China.

In other words, Master Mei is the real deal

Secrets recipes from Cloud 9

Linda Liang, owner of Cloud 9 restaurant in Yangshuo gave me one of her secret recipes. The recipe, Beef in hot chili & numb sauce, is this months highly recommended dish in Yangshuo's best Chinese restaurant (which, you know it or not, was chosen by chinaexpat.com as best Chinese restaurant in 2006)

Secrets recipes from Cloud 9

Come to Yangshuo, eat at Cloud 9. Can't make it to Yangshuo? Get a taste of Cloud 9 with this secret recipe!