Huizhou, Expect the Unexpected

An early wake up and a long bus ride to Huizhou university. Some of the Chinese food culture must be rubbing off on us since snacks were getting passed around the bus throughout the trip. A  few students from the university even came to sit with us and eagerly pose questions as my neighbour on the plane had.

Alex informed us about some of the history of Huizhou. I had the impression from most people that we were going to a small place where we should expect the entertainment we received in Guangzhou. However Alex mentioned to my surprised that Huizhou and Toronto have roughly the same number of citizens. So was Huizhou big or small?

Our first introduction to Lin, our partner at Huizhou University. We stayed in hotel meant for parents visiting students at this large university.

We met Lin at the cafe next to the Hotel, it became a favourite hangout spot because of it's free wi-fi. From there the students gave us a tour of the campus. The dormitories we visited held six bunks with a small study/storage space underneath, and led to a shared bathroom at the end of the room. I was impressed with how committed the students were to studying, giving their small space. Even the library -while large by our standards- is known to fill up daily. The students were very thankful for their education.


We had dinner with Lin in the canteen next to the hotel, we had planned on having a Hakka style meal but that was bumped to the next night.

Anxious to find out the really size of Huizhou we went downtown that evening. We started with green tea ice cream from McDonald's, and went roaming. Eventually we found a large patio space where we stopped to relax, drink and watch the night go by.