Fika

To have a break during the day and sit down with friends, family or colleagues and together enjoy some coffee (kaffe) and pastries (fikabröd), that is the meaning of the word fika. For Swedes, the fika breaks (fikapaus) are the most important part of the day and of the Swedish culture.


fredag 6 december 2013

China adventure part I

Så fick jag äntligen komma "hem" till mitt kära Kina igen. Resan började i Shenzhen där vi genast köpte bussbiljetter för att ta oss till Meizhou, området där tu lou byggnaderna finns och där min man härstammar ifrån. Bussresan tog cirka 6 timmar och tog oss ganska högt upp i inlandet i Guangdongprovinsen. Meizhou är en ganska liten stad, i kinesiska mått mätt, med endast 5 miljoner människor. Och det märks!! Det känns verkligen som att befinna sig i en liten håla, som Kristinehamn ungefär! Det fanns inte många restauranger att välja mellan, allt stängde tidigt, utom alkoholaffärerna (vilket det fanns ganska många av så jag antar att Hakka människor gillar att dricka en del) och alla människor gick och la sig tidigt. Som sagt, precis som i Kristinehamn!

I Meizhou fanns ett museum om Hakka kulturen som var väldigt intressant och gav oss lite mer kunskaper inför vår tulou utflykt. Men förutom ett museum och väldigt få restauranger att välja mellan, fanns det inte så mycket mer att se i Meizhou. Fördelen med Meizhou var dock att alla människor var så otroligt vänliga och tillmötesgående. Det var helt enkelt en trevlig stämning i  den lilla staden på 5 miljoner invånare.



So finally I got to come "home" to my beloved China again. The trip started in Shenzhen, where we immediately bought bus tickets to go to Meizhou, the area where the tu lou buildings are and where my husband originates from. The bus trip took about 6 hours and took us quite high up in the inland of Guangdong province. Meizhou is a pretty small town, in Chinese standards, with only 5 million people. And it really feels like a small town! It feels like being in a small town like Kristinehamn (my hometown of 21 000 people)! There were not many restaurants to choose from, everything closed early, except from the alcohol shops (which there are plenty of so I guess Hakka people really enjoy to drink) and all people went to bed early. Like I said, just as in Kristinehamn!

There is a museum of Hakka culture in Meizhou, which was very interesting and gave us a little more knowledge before our tulou trrip. But besides a museum and very few restaurants to choose from, there was not much more to see in Meizhou. The nice thing about Meizhou, however, was that everyone was so incredibly friendly and accommodating. It was thus a very pleasant atmosphere in the small city of 5 million inhabitants.

Bustickets to Meizhou 

The streets of Meizhou..quite empty as you can see.

Hakka museum showing info about the Hakka surname 邓, my husbands family name.

Old city of Meizhou


Someone is obviously very happy to be back in China. 

A house that used to belong to a famous scholar a very long time ago. 

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