Life is an ocean of experiences and oyster of memories and we relish on them at some point time . They emerge as pearls from this unending ocean. China definitely has abundance of it to offer at least in my almost a decade of stay and nothing offers to greater joy then to pen them. Such was my trip to Tangshan . well to be honest wanted to really pen down a couple of months back buy I guess being busy becomes life some times. It was my first time and was purely a business trip. However since I was with my friend and business associate Madhur so the fun quotient increased. Well we did not go fun hunting in the literal sense of the term but guess it came as a bonus. Well we went on curvy roads with less traffic and decided to click a few pictures on the way. Finally we made it to the factory amidst dusty surroundings and well was kind of wonder struck as the factory literally speaking was kind of a factory town. Well we did come across Tangshan city on the way to this industrial area though . The place still has a mix of some of the old flavours of a Chinese town and new developments with huge glossy buildings as usual. But this is what I like about travelling hinterlands in china and I never lost the charm. The other part is I expected a small town but realized later that is is one of the most important cities in Hebei province a very old one as well as a heavy industrial one. Exciting … Well understood from our driver that this city is named after Mountain Tang which is situated in the heart of the city . besides this he also increased my curiosity about a huge earthquake happened in the seventies which I learnt was very true . Tangshan to my amazement has a history of more then 4000 year old , a village from the time of Tang Dynasty 619-907 and developed with oil exploration, ceramics industry and agriculture. Neverthe less we did not actually got a sightseeing touch rather after reaching our destination it was a factory seeing tour, a huge chemical factory. After we finished our gruelling tour we were in for a pleasant surprise actually when we went for lunch . Well going for business lunches/ dinners in really fancy restaurants in china , every body knows about it but this one was I would say really astonishing and beyond my expectation in that barren Industrial Area. We went to a hotel I donot remember the name now which I was given to understand also belongs to the same owner as that of the factory which definitely also was an element surprise . This hotel well frankly speaking looks like Mountain Tang itself in that area . A monstrous building which stood tallest and can be sighted from a distance actually made it difficult to get into my cellphone camera however we did end up taking a few pics . The entrance towers will make some palace towers shy and equally impressive was its massive lobby, interiors and the rooms . The lunch went on till late afternoon and we really relished on the food and yes sums up my bundles of surprise for this trip . We started back to Beijing in the evening and I thus added up one more feather to my experience curve of china . However I made a decision to return and this time would be purely sightseeing. Directorthe hotel

She is beautiful and I really love her the way she looks . Always very nicely decorated. She is a solace every time I am in dire straits. If I am hungry she always has some thing to feed me , If I am thirsty there is always some thing from her to drink and even she gives me a news paper if I want to soak with what is happening in the world. She gives me a feeling of Home away from home. I really like to go to her in the mornings. I need to take a walk across the street but I donot complain. During winters when I walk to her on foggy mornings the mood really is melancholic and even better if it is snowing. Preferably around 7am when she is not pestered by other people particularly a lot of students from the neighbouring school goes to her around 8am so I make special efforts to reach her before them and consider it my success . Her silence of the morning fills me with serenity for the day and I get whatever I desire from her. I am energized and look for a new day. Thus my special relationship with the 7 ,11 STORE continues ….

Well what to say, this is my feeling when I take my usual after dinner walk on my compound. I have stayed in the same compound for the past four years in beijing aind I kind of really soaked into its surroundings. It is really nice with all infrastructure, sport facilities, swimming pool etc however I do not intend to share about the facilities in this forum but my walk which elevates me to cloud nine and of late I have started complaining about it as well, as the lustre is wearing off a little. I am not a fitness freak as such but i try to take a walkon the compound after dinner and preferably at around 9 pm as primarily I feel it is less populated after that. It becomes my empire and I am the emperor proudly moving in the dreamy streets of my kingdom with dim lights, the huge towers gazing at me from the sides as if gaurding me from an enemy . The moon shinning above only adds the romance .Overall it was my walk on cloud nine at this time with an occasional invader or two and few regulars whom i decided to let them be my companion very generously. Frankly i meet or rather walk with a few faces I grew aquainted with time be it the guy with long braided hair and wears stylish socks each time I meet him and he walks with a desire to keep the entire road to himself and a few regular joggers I grew aquainted with time . Some times there might be some new faces and if you brush or happen to gaze at them accidently might invite a frown to your amusement thinking... what did i do . But what I personally disapprove is basically people bringing their pet animals and making them do you know what..... just on the sides of the walk and besides that I donot object to any other activities. However I eventually started noticing that invaders of my walk increased manifold recently at 9 pm and I choose to take my cloud nine walk at 9;30 pm but the problem cease to exist . Nevertheless I continue my walk.

Many a time we read about the current rat race of life and probably agree to it about being caught in it without an objective.The roadblocks that arises in every day life serves as a reminder that life is a challenge. Some times even a smallest of incident like someone barging infront of you and hijacking your taxi ( i must say it happened a few times with me in china ) when you are rushing in for a important event of the day adds fuel to this thinking.. life is a rat race. Well i donot think there is probably a standard solution to the rat race or a uniform strategy for every one to break its shackles.It is to be reviewed by every individual with his or her own yardstick for happiness . But probably an important element which will breathe fresh air is to choose the tiny tots of happiness in life .There are numerous pearls scatterred around and we definitely have a choice to pick them up. The choices left to us how we uncover it and where we uncover it. In the journey of life there will be definitely numerous occasions, encounters which will bring a glimmer of happiness and probably the endeavour should be to unearth more such of it. As the saying goes light definitely sheds after darkness.

Personally I am not a fan of pompous parties and grand dinners but sometimes you would go more by compulsion which exactly happened with me this yearin january. But this Annual Party of the company i will always cherish as it allowed me to experience the iconic image of the rural life of China in WUZHEN. The moment I landed foot in this fossil village of the in Zhejiang province which is almost a two hour drive from Shanghai I was catapulted to a different realm that is steeper in history and nearly extinct in today's modern world.We stayed at the Water Side Resort , a street of traditional houses overlooking the canals and converted into a five star hotel. Even the check in was real fun as you are ferried in by battery operated vehicles from the main entrance to the reception. This resort is a perfect example of classic chinese architecture and modern decor combined . The beds are of lacquer finish, white porcelain bath, all together offering you a very comfortable stay.After checking in we decided to stroll in this pictureseque , fossil village( as can be rightly called due to its thousands years of existence) whcih complemented the Ming Dynasty Era. We got to know that the layout of this town is around 2 kms only with six districts but nevertheless every thing here speaks its own story, be it the stone bridges , the wooden terraces, stone flagged alleyways , its museums or its fragnant gardens. This abode is a photographers paradise also offers you art galleries and traditional tea houses which keeps the original aroma and also can enjoy the demonstration of traditional workshops of printing and dyeing. We also saw the" Bridge within a Bridge" a scenic attraction created by two ancient bridges.This place is as ancient as it is post modern ( which is evident by the fact that there is no surface cableling for power), it is romantic yet family oriented , tranquil yet vibrant . The evening is the magical time to wander around when the street lamps gives the dim light to make you feel that u are in a land of fantasy. This place is also profound with traditional cultural elements like the flower-drum opera, shadow -puppet shows etc.and w historical and cultural sites like the Wenchang Pavilion, the Xiuzhen taoist temple etc is a depiction of its rich heritage and engrosses you in its embrace and makes you long for more . This memoir will remain embedded in my heart for ever.

One summer ,we ( myself and my beloved better half) suddenly decided to pack our bags and make a trip to Inner Mongolia to watch grasslands in a bid to get out from bustlings of beijing city life and connect nature. So we took a flight to Hohhot the capital of Inner Mongolia also called as NeiMongol Autonomous Region and immediately drove to one of the grasslands of the Genghis Khan Land called Xilamuren . When I stood in that vast greeness I felt as if time came to standstill. The beauty that unfolds before you is so sedate and full of life.While my beloved goes and sprinkles her sunshine all around happily relishing the openness I gazed at the beauty of the landscape which is alienated from the modern world. It is better I thought at least I am not there for the modern facilities I said to myself. The breathtaking view of a blue sky kissing the earth , here the silence really speaks to you . The Yurts ( mongolian traditional tents made of compressed sheep wool), rolling hills and lush green grass and the flocks and herds chasing each other ,the white clouds floating above , horse riders at a distance, all these besides contributing to make the scenery a very relaxing one also catapults you to a land of fantasy which makes you question the rat race we are in the city life. The mesmerising view of the endless prairies probably tells that it is a long journey in life. We were fortunate to be here in summer which is probably the right time to come as winters in Inner Mongolia is very cold and can be very long and understand from our driver that it also has frequent blizzards.The best time to visit is definitely during the traditional Mongolian Nadam festival which we unfortunately missed. We however enjoyed our horse riding to the hilt. The riding trip also gives you a reflection of the nomadic culture persists in this stunningly beautiful land when you are taken to one of the yurts and fed with sheep milk and sweets made of milk offered by a traditionally dressed lady with strikingly beautiful jewellery . We also had lunch in one of the yurts eating traditional mongolian food and the feeling was so overwhelming. I took a quick opportunity to splash my face with icecold water from one of the underground tapes in front of the yurts and I cannot tell how refreshing it felt.The bonfire in the night will bring you the mysticity element of the grasslands and the music played will be magical. On our way back we also paid our respect to one of the Ao Bao's .( an altar of the grassland Gods). While we looked back at the unending road we could feel the grasslands calling us again.This is one experience we will always treasure when we visit memory lanes.

The journey of life has many stations not only in the literal sense but in the physical sense as well. The point is did we have a good look at the stations we pass, the multitude of faces that floats in it or the structural metaphorphosis of it. Well this is what i did , took a good look at the Tianjin Railway Station and more precisely its outer scenic landscape. I tend to go very frequently to tianjin for official engagements and at least for the past three years I do prefer to take the hi-speed train from beijing South station. It was one of this recent trips when my best friend Nigel Wang decided to take snap of mine in front of the Tianjin Railway station , my thought process snapped too.A little good look and I was right. Apart from its historic roots to the eighteenth century which i found it out later of course it definitely offered a station scenery which is a beauty in itself. The Tianjin Century clock in front of the square probably proudly proclaims that the station withstood the onslaught of time from a few centuries and became only more attractive. The serpentine movement of the Hai River probably adds the glam quotient and the Tianjin Financial Centre Tower accross reflects that how the city had embraces modernity of the new world. I am sure Tianjin has a lot to offer but stepping into the Railway Station might bring to the visitor the first glimpse of the Tianjin Embrace... this at least I am sure of it.

Does really the sky has a colour. I donot look at an answer from chemistry or physics but from a naked eye point of view.I watch the sky from my bedroom and marvel sometimes staring into its depth of oblivion. There is always a constant change in that infinity above us which in our day to day life we fail to appreciate. Donot know about others but I do definitely get mesmerised staring into its depth , the greatness of which reminds me that we are not even a speck of dust in its vastness.The colours probably are a reflection of its moods in the poetic sense with my favourite blueish being the chirpy self and the dark ones probably its sadder note, as goes by a popular saying the sky is in tears when it rains. The darker sky actually manifests mysticity combined with a string of lighting.My personal favourite is when dark clouds covers the last rays of the setting sun .Well here comes the best part the colours of the sky can be witnessed from anywhere even from a small window in your room and we donot even have to plan for the view. So happy skywatching every body.

These white flakes called snow always fills me with excitement and this year I am missing it as I stare at the smog filled skies and relish of my previous years memories. So When beijing experienced the first showers of snow in november that year I definitely wanted to enjoy its cold embrace. Well you cannot literally embrace it as you need to tuck yourself in winter garb from head to toe but besides that, picking up those white jewels and flushing it across the face of your loved ones , your fund filled adrenalin never recedes. Well that is what I did . I literally bullied my queen( my better half Luna) into a stroll in the snow filled garden of our compound. Well a few minutes later she never regretted.Was it year 2012, We have been witnessing frequent showers in beijing. Snowing in the evening is actually the most fascinating part to witness which actually propels you into a disney land kind of world provided you are walking on a snow filled street with proper street lights bringing in a kind of dreamy effect. The blanket of snow which covers houses, trees, cars & buses and everything else does not discriminate and is generous to everyone and everything. Now this is worth seeing I believe.Well snowfall also beings in some other elements like traffic jams etc but neverthe less these blessings from heaven still makes life beautiful. A popular saying in china also supports it " A fall of seasonal snow gives promises of a fruitful year". So while there are speculations and discussions and all kind of analysis to understand the amount of snowfall, variations with previous years etc, I just choose to enjoy the beauty.Prodip Chandra Borkakoty