Hey Hey and a Big G´Day toya,
 
As my VISA will expire in just over a month it was time for my yearly `Complete Body and Health Check´. To obtain and live here in China on a `Residency Visa´ one must go through this process each year. During the process you have just about `Everything´ checked ie: chest, blood, urine, head etc. They have you hooked up and plugged in for well over an hour! A little bit of a worry prior but a great relief when you receive all the results and your next years Visa.
 
I was lucky enough to have the school organise it all for me.
I can´t imagine trying to do something like this myself.
 
I can back pack all over the country myself but organising and completing a health check in a big city would be one hell of a foolish thing to try. I was supposed to be teaching today as China has a Public Holiday for the Western New Year we all work this Saturday and Sunday and then have Monday and Tuesday off.
 
I love the way China can do this.
 
A school can simply say `Hey, there is a holiday coming up. How about we work on these days and give ourselves three/five days off. As Amigo (Luo Wei) will be coming to visit I am only too happy to work this weekend to allow at least a few days together.
 
Thankfully I wasn´t to go alone and Mr Huang came along with me.
 
We were driven there in the schools van and after around two hours we arrived in what I found to be a beautiful little city situated along the Min River. It reminded me a lot of Kangding in Sichuan Province. Not as beautiful but as there isn´t much flat ground most of the city is built on hills which makes it a city full of motorbikes.
 
Only an idiot like me would own a push bike!
 
When I arrived at what is known as the `Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine´ Hospital (or something strange like that anyhow) we were greeted by a doctor smoking. I was then taken into a room for the first part of my examination and who came to do what was needed, Dr Smoke! During this part of the examination he proceeded to light up several more smokes. When it came time to have my blood taken another doctor was needed and he decided to come over after finishing and putting out his cigarette.
 
Gee, thanks for considering my health mate!
Don´t you just love China!
 
Anyhow finally an hour or so later I finally completed all that was required for my `Entry-Exit Inspection and Quarantine in Fujian, Certificate of Health Examination for International Traveller´ (a bit of a mouthful!) and soon after we joined our driver and his partner and we headed to a nice restaurant for a delicious lunch.
 
After lunch they both headed to visit our drivers `Wood Factory´ and Mr Huang and I headed out to inspect Nanping City. I´ve been told by many people that the city is famous for its suspension bridge so I was happy for it to be the first thing we visited.
 
When you see it you can understand why.
There are many metal cables holding it not only together but also holding it up.
Unbelievable!
 
We took some touristy photos for our families and then headed across the river to check out the Mountain Park.   As I expected it was much larger than Shaowu´s, but then it is a much larger city than Shaowu. The park houses a billion stairs that take you to temples, a zoo, a theme park and many walks that take you all over the park. Sadly we had only two hours so we visited the temple and then simply walked various ways that seemed to take us down the mountain side towards the bridge.
 
Once we were back across the bridge we did what any normal person would do, we visited Mc Donald´s simply because it was there. One Cheese Burger and Coffee later we were back in the van and heading North West back to Shaowu city.
 
Below is some information I found on Nanping.
Some interesting stuff in there too.
Below that are a heap of photos.
Meow....Woof Woof
GRRRR!!!!!!!!!!
Bye!
 
Beers N Noodles toya.....shane
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The soundtrack to this entry was POD
The album was `the fundamental elements´
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Situated in northern Fujian Province, Nanping City has an area of 26.300 square kilometres and a population of three million. The industrious and intelligent people in northern Fujian invented the Shunchang bamboo paper, the earliest paper in China's printing history, and the Masha woodblock printing technology manufactured black glazed porcelain that holds an important position in the history of China's porcelain industry; and created a tea processing technology famous in and outside of China.
 
At present, a tourist network consisting of more than 150 scenic spots have been formed. The network includes Wuyi Mountain, one of the first batch of major scenic areas designated by the state and a nationals tourist resort, at the centre which links the Wuyi Mountain Nature Reserve, Mangdang and Jiufeng mountains in Napping, Guizong Hill and Wanmu Wood in Jina'ou, Zhanlu Mountain in Songxi, Donggong Mountain in Zhenghe, Fugai Mountain in Pucheng, the site of the Song Dynasty porcelain kiln in Jianyang, the ruins of a Han Dynasty town in Wuyi Mountain, Xichun Park and the Temple of Li Gang in Shaowu, and Wujun Mountain in Guangze.
 
Nanping is one of the important birthplaces of Fuijan's culture, and it is also one of the places in Fujian that gained the earliest exploration thousands of years ago. As early as 1,800 years ago during the Eastern Han Dynasty, administrative system was established here. Even its younger counties, such as Jianyang, Shaowu and Wuyishan, have been existed for about a thousand years.
 
Physical Features: Lower mountains and hills construct the main landform of the city. Nanping is surrounded by mountains in the east, the west and the north. The whole terrain declines towards its central and southern part. Within the city, mountains and hills meander and rivers crisscross. Along the rivers, there are valleys dotted.
 
Climatic Features: Nanping bears a subtropical oceanic monsoon climate, and the weather is humid and moderate all the year round. Autumn is warmer than spring. The average temperature of the hottest July lies between 28 and 29 degree centigrade (82.4 and 84.2 degree Fahrenheit), while that of January is 6-9 degree centigrade (42.8-48.2 degree Fahrenheit). April to June is Nanping's plum rain period