Click on the picture to view my mum and dad's cool website which I designed, it's all about their band called Mill Road. You can also make a booking. They sang Karaoke with us in the village and the chinese people loved them. They have an amazing range of songs, so go and check it out.

This company was founded by an ex-B.J.C trainer from N.Z. Equisportz is a worldwide company supporting the INJURED JOCKEYS FUND run by Damien Oliver in Australia. Equisportz provides top quality equine products and small animal products at competitive prices.

The New Zealand distributor for Equisportz, Vetpro is based in Auckland, where you can order the latest top quality equestrian and small animal products for a competitive price.

Hotel Life

Landing in Beijing, September 1999, I lived in the Paragon Hotel for 3 months, right in the heart of the local excitement. The hotel was marvellous, with many pubs and flash shops surrounding the area. My only problem was the language barrier, living in a hotel without an interpreter for the first few months was indescribable. You quickly learn what NOT to do in Beijing, such as drinking the tap water, which also led me to drinking chinese green tea, a great cure for a crook stomach. After a long days work with the horses and locals, I dined every evening in the hotel restaurant and as tasty as it was, after a while, withdrawal symptons from normal western food started to set in. Visions of a poached egg on toast with a nice pot of tea continued to haunt me. We also learned that the Chinese "love" hard beds, which explained why our backs continued to give us grief, so one day Tom tried to bend the mattress only to find out that it was a solid piece of board; if the cleaner had of walked in to the room, I'd say her face would have made a good photo. In time, the braveness set in and we decided to venture around the block, accidently stumbling across the markets, which were set back from the main road. What an eye opener! All the top brand-name clothing and watches you could ever wish for was available for as low as you could bargain for. We haggled to save 50 cents! and for things neither of us really needed but it was all good fun.
After a couple of months, the hotel room seemed like it was getting smaller and smaller, so we nagged the company into finding an apartment that was closer to our work place in Outback Beijing; that's when the fun began!

My apartment in the Village

I lived in an apartment right in the heart of Xuxinzhuang, which is exactly 30 minutes drive from the city. After a visit to the local boys in blue who were bewildered to see a "foreigner" and special passports made up, we were then safe to live in the Outback. The first time I walked inside our new apartment, it was almost humane again, a feeling of comfort and space flushed through my mind...ahhhh. Even though there was no shower or cooking facilities, we were happy to do some renovations, but believe me -- it was rough! Problems soon appeared, clean water was the main one, especially hot, and after having a shower or should I say a "hospital bath" the white walls started to turn a shade of yellow and the smell was unforgettable, good enough to cure any sinus problem. Hot summer months with no air-conditioning and winter with barely enough heating; now that's what I call "a time I will never forget".
Blessed with a large lounge room but no english television, I found a new hobbie, listening to music, and hold fond memories of the good disco parties with my interpreter friends, despite their putrid body odour, and making good use of the space as a dance floor, they loved it and I became de-stressed! The locals had no idea of how to have a good time, I suppose they were wondering where their next meal would come from.

Village Life

Words cannot describe unless you're actually there. There was always something different to look at..... donkeys pulling their overloaded trailers of bricks, an old lady 90 years of age in the shade, pushing her bike with a trailer load of plastic containers that almost covered her and the bike, 3 wheel bong bongs puffing out black smoke and I wondered whether they were going to make it to the end of the road. I was very lucky to live next to the local vegetable market, where I bought fresh fruit and vegetables for next to nothing, and when I look back, I even haggled to save 5 cents! Whenever I'd walk down the street the locals would all stare at me, touching my blonde hair, it was a funny feeling, but one thing I admired about them, even though they were poor and living the hardest life any of us could imagine, they always had the time to say hello, wave and smile, it brought warmth to my heart.

Christmas in Xuxinzhuang

I awoke Christmas morning to the sound of bong bongs putting along the road, an old man shouting at the top of his voice, announcing what he had for sale on the back of his pushbike. The vegetable market was alive as always, 7 days of the week, it was just like a normal day to the local people. To my amazement the chinese people in the outback didn't celebrate Christmas, so it was a sad day for a foreigner. While Tom checked on the horses that morning, I cooked a roast chicken with vegetables and then later invited the interpreter and her boyfriend over to join us. I watched as he struggled to use a knife and fork, and with laughter in between lessons, it was a joy to watch him as he slowly learned something totally new. That evening Tom and I were invited for a chinese meal to the restaurant next door. To our surprise all the staff arrived, one by one handing us gifts just like we were royalty. My interpreter had secretly informed the staff earlier that it was a special day for us, and despite not having enough money to support themselves, they had all bought gifts which consisted of plastic toys and lovely musical cards. At the end of the saddest Christmas day I'd ever had, I ended up feeling very special to the local people and it turned out to be a great night of Karaoke set in a giant plush room full of glitter balls, flashing lights and comfy couches, as the locals yelled out "gambi" which means cheers and then slowly disappearing under the table.

Coming up Next:

Back to the Top
Horse Racing in Beijing.
Life in the Village.
Winter In Beijing.
Part 2 of Outback Beijing.