Hey Hey and a Big G'Day toya,

June in Fujian!
I’ve always loved living in Fujian Province.
But being here when the summer rains begin is always an awesome experience.

Watching as the summer rains nourish the dry winter fields makes my life feel like it has become a picturesque calendar where instead of each month having a breathtaking picture attached to it mine has one for each day and usually of something that simply can’t be my personal reality. Even after six and a half years I still find myself thinking that this surely has to be out of a movie or from a postcard that a friend sent while they were on holiday in a mysterious far off land.

We've just had several weeks of rain and massive storms.

The Monsoon season here is so amazing but we are also very lucky as the coastal areas get the typhoons, the death and the damage. Up here in the mountains we get massive lightening, thunder, rains and wind but no real damage except for a few broken windows. Sometimes though, like last summer it does go a little too far as I had to take my belongings all the way down to Yangshuo for the summer as the entire town of Shaowu was under water and many villages died due to flash flooding.

For me term finishes next Tuesday (21st) and its then travel until September 1st.

Ever had itchy feet?
Mate, I can’t believe how itchy my feet are.
Lately my feet have once again become uncontrollably itchy.
Tinea is a common fungal infection found on various areas of the body.
Tinea that is present on the feet is called Tinea Pedis and can appear in various forms.

Sorry, the wrong type of itchy feet.

I need a new place to throw my pack but not only throw it as I will find many places to do so during my summer break. I also need somewhere to unpack it for a time and somewhere new to slurp my noodles, sip my beer and terrain within which to explore and find new rides. I've decided the past year here in Shaowu is enough for now and that my feet are simply too itchy for a new place to live and explore for the year to come. I still have to decide out of two different schools but both are near(ish) each other and can be found on opposite sides of the SanQi Mountains in northern Jiangxi Province which is west/next to Fujian.

I have personally gone to visit both schools in the past month and have a big feeling that it will be the school in Dexing City as it is found right in the middle of the mountains. As for the 2011 'Summer Beers N Noodles’ Adventure, as usual I still haven't made up my mind where my sandals and I will be found, I have at least come up with a few ideas;

A: The Silk Road Adventure through the western desert province of Xinjiang along the Northern Silk Road to Kashgar and then bus hop it back along the Southern Silk Road.
B: The Manchurian Adventure through the far north eastern provinces of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang which will take me on the borders of Russia and North Korea.
C: The Yangzi River Adventure which will take me to Chongqing city and then on a river cruise along the Yangzi into Hubei Province where the Kungfu mountains of Wudangshan can be found.

Where ever I end up I'm sure I will have an awesome time, so I guess this is goodbye from not only Shaowu city but this will also be my second last blog from the lush green south eastern province of Fujian….for now anyhow!

Beers N Noodles toya…..shane

PS: How hard is it to leave the most wild and beautiful province in China for the second time?
It is an extremely hard thing to do for me as Shaowu and Fujian have become my home away from home. The school would easily be the best school I've taught in and my rides are extremely beautiful and amazing as are my friends.  A new life and new adventures call, new pathways lay before me to live and love as do new Beers N Noodles!
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The soundtrack to this entry was by The Pixies
The album was both ‘Bossanova & Doolittle’
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