German music Does anyone know any nice German music? and where I could download? The only album I have is Antik. I've listened to it for many years but don't understand a single word.

What's fluent English? Sometimes I hear somebody say: her English is fluent. I know that I'm good but I'm not fluent, so how could I speak fluent English and what is the definition of fluent English? I can think of two points: 1, be able to express oneself freely. 2, no grammar mistakes. More questions: Is vocabulary very important? Do I have to think in English? How?

Hiking in western China I was busy for looking up travel information on the internet these days. I plan to go hiking in Sichuan at the end of March. I did a lot of research about Sichuan Province, which is located in the west of China. It’s not the best season so not many people go hiking, but I have time. There are mountains called Four Girls Mountains (Chinese name: Siguniang) which seem very appealing to me. There are four high snow mountains so they named Four Girls Mountain. We can climb to the peak of some of the mountains. The lowest one is about 5000m high. I want to climb the second lowest peak, which is 5276m. It must be very challenge though. I’ve been hiked around the Minya Konka, which is called the King of mountains in Sichuan. It is 7756m high. There are more than 10 mountains in Sichuan which are higher than 5000m, so it’s really a good place for mountaineers. I decided to travel one more place after the hiking trip. I will go to Jiuzhaigou. It is one of the the most beautiful places in China. It’s not the best season now, but there are different views in different seasons. I hope the spring is happening there, since I could not catch the snowy winter view. I’ve made the plan for my vacation. My friend said that I should start a company and offer travel service to foreigners. I wonder how you guys think about my plan.

Impressions about Kerala People: India people have darker skin than I thought. The people I saw from India TV programs and outdoor commercial boards, they all have lighter skin color. I guess they prefer white skin like Chinese do. I think many India girls are very beautiful. They have huge eyes, long eye brows and very thick black hairs. Women all have colorful traditional dresses and many men wear dress too. They have long dress. When it’s too hot they roll it up and it becomes short dress. Food: The first day the driver took us to a vegetarian restaurant. Vegetarian is very common in India. I heard even in McDonald’s and Subway they have many vegetarian choices. That meal was awful to me. It made me fear India food. Luckily in the next days I also tried to have India food and I think they were good. Last night I have a nice dinner with very big pawns and fish. Indian food is good. I can’t read India menu, because I didn’t understand what it means. I love Chai very much. It is milk tea, which is also common in China but Chai is much better. It is made by natural materials. Btw, I saw beef on the menu. I think it’s a northern India thing that people can’t eat beef and cows are everywhere. Language: Most Indians speak a little English. They speak better English than Chinese do. They have very strong accent. I think the way Indians speak English is just like I speak Italian. They have both Indian and English commercials on TV. The local people in Kerala don’t speak Hindu, but Malayalam. Train: I did take bus and train in India. It was fun. The problem is you must be careful when you should get off. The train trip is very weird. When I got into the train station, nobody asked me for my ticket. The station is totally open. The travel agent man told me they cannot book train ticket and I just need to go to the station 15 minutes before the leaving time. I could not find the time of the train and the seat number on the ticket. It was sleeper train but I found many Indians just sitting at the lower seat. There is no AC on the train but lots of fans. The amazing thing is that they don’t close the door! I can stand at the door and enjoy the wind! At last nobody checked my ticket. Kerala is the world of coconuts and crows. Thousands of crows make noisy everywhere, also many egrets and hawks. I also saw some goats hanging out on the street. They looked very happy. I could feel the harmony between animals and human being. I bet if it is in China people would eat crows.

Travel in South India - part 2 I arrived at Varkala the day before yesterday. Varkala is not a big town. There is a big beach attracted many tourists which is close to a cliff. Now it’s the busy season here. I met many British, and also some Germans. There is a big market here which is full of clothes and jewelry. The local Indian people are very passionate. When you pass by the shop they always say hello and tell you they can give you a good price. I like their colorful bed covers but didn’t buy any. Tibetan style jewelry store is everywhere. Yoga and meditation class is also available here. I saw some people walking with a yoga mat, but I don’t think I can learn much from just one class, so I didn’t try it. I’ve tried several restaurants here. Most of the restaurants all have multi cuisine and a lot of sea food. You can find food from every country, Indian, Chinese, Mexican, Thai, Italia, and even German bakery. My preference is always Indian food and fish. It’s good, but just doesn’t look so good. There is always something covered by thick yellow or orange sauce. You almost can’t tell what really in the plate. I feel India is a country full of colors and smells. You can see it. You can smell it. I met some Indian women who I thought they dressed like they are brides. Any color would never be too bright in India. India also produces many spices so that their flavor is a bit strong with all kinds of spices. I visited a spice garden before. Vanilla looks very cute. The leaf of curry is very small but it has a very strong smell. I know most of the spices because it’s also used a lot in China, but I never saw so many fresh plants before.

Travel in South India - part 1 Day 1: Fly to Cochi, Kerala. I got to the Cochi Airport in the early morning. The time in India is 2.5 hours later than Beijing time, so I was very tired in the early morning here. I spent the afternoon tour the city with a Tuk Tuk driver. He took us to some tourist shops and tried to charge me more money at last. I realized that if I have very limited time I should have made a plan. Day 2: Take the back water tour by boat. About 10 tourists on a boat. Lonely Planet said it is one of the 10 must-to-do-before-die things. It was nice but sitting on a boat for one day is a bit boring to me. I guess it was because I didn’t take a house boat. It is very pricy. In the afternoon we went to the bus station and tried to book a bus ticket. The funny thing is that when you ask a question, Indians say yes and shake heads at the same time. Day 3: Take a bus to Trivandum. The drivers are all very aggressive and fast. They don’t speak but they have many gestures to say “fuck you” to each other. The traffic is always busy and the condition of the roads is bad. It took us 6 hours to finish the 300km trip. At first I wanted to go to Munar, which is about 110km from Cochi. 110km is nothing in China but here they need about 5 hours, so one of the difficult things of travelling in India is leaving one place and get to another place. At the beach of Kovalam, you can get everything if you pay for it, wifi, clothes, jewelry… There are many Europeans, especially old people. I think they are enjoying their retired life. The town was totally shut down at 11:00 in the evening. No disco bar here. Not many young couples and backpackers.

Fashion and femininity Last winter one of my best friends came to visit me from Beijing. We had not met for several years. She criticized me, like only an old friend would do, said that I had lost my “femininity” because of my job and the environment. I work in an IT company and most colleagues are male. Only a few women who also don’t care about fashion very much. Nobody here will talk about clothes or makeup with me. I’m almost the most modern woman here. I like to dress a bit ladylike when I go to work. Although I may keep some kind of “feminine” look, my mind is becoming more and more “boyish” or “masculine”. I think she was right. She is not the only one told this to me. A male friend also told me that I was not as girlish as before, because once I discussed the history of Chiang Kai-shek with him and he said no woman would have interest about Chiang Kai-shek. Maybe he is a bit male chauvinism, but then we become “brothers”. Btw, I always want to write an article about why Chiang Kai-shek failed in the war but I haven’t begun yet. I love shoes and bags, but when I watch Gossip Girl I can’t understand why girls are so crazy about a bag. Now I like to buy beautiful sports apparels more than fashionable dresses. They could increase my passion for doing exercise. Anyway, it’s a pity that I can’t discuss the details of fashion with my close girlfriends in my daily life, but I think it’s OK to have some more interest on politics and sports. What is femininity on earth? I think the most charming character of a person could have the advantages of both men and women.

Books and e-readers I bought two books on my way home after swimming today. They are second-hand books so they are very cheap. Actually I don’t have enough space for books at home now. My book shelf has been full of book long time ago. So in the living room around the sofa, or on my bedside table, there are all full of books. I plan to have some more reading time before sleep, instead of sitting before the computer. One week without reading I would feel my head is kind of empty, and I need some reading to calm me down. I bought an e-reader in 2009. You can find many free e-books on the internet and then download them. At first I liked it very much because I can take a lot of books with me wherever I went. My friend didn’t understand and always asked me why don’t buy an Ipad. I said I just want to read, plus it says the screen is not that harmful to our eyes. However, half a year later I didn’t use it anymore. It needs a long time to charge the battery and it can be run out very quickly, and the operation system is very slow. So the advantages of this e-reader don’t exist anymore. It was a Sony PRS, and now I’m thinking about if I should buy a Kindle, again. I hope it would be better. Anyway, my first try was a failing. I could use that money to buy loads of real books. Sometimes I also read stupid novels for killing time, including some online novels which haven’t got published, or never. I won’t buy them because I will never read for the second time. I just read and then may throw it away. So I only buy the real books which I like and I think they are worthy keeping at home. Once I bought some lovely old Chinese comic books in high school. A classmate borrowed many and never returned them to me. I still remember it even so many years have passed, LOL…

A book fair I went to a book fair last Sunday. There were many people, so it was too difficult to find the books I want. Many books are bullshit. Luckily at one pavilion I got some nice books. I bought several English books, including The Alchemist and The Pilgrimage by Paulo Coelho. I’ve looked for them for some time. I also bought an interesting small book called “100 ways for a cat to find its inner kitten”. I guess it works for human, too! All the books I bought are not very big, because I’m afraid I can’t finish big ones. I think many of the best sellers are just the results of marketing and advertising. Almost every book has some celebrities’ recommendation on their covers. I don’t trust them very much. About Chinese culture, I prefer old books which published before 1960s, because at that time there were still many real masters of Chinese culture. Now people just “compile” books and it’s very easy to get the books published. Those books never have any new or independent opinions. Bookstores in China seldom offer chairs for consumers. Some small ones maybe have. I would enjoy the atmosphere of reading a book in a bookstore, with some coffee or desserts. Once upon a time I loved reading in a McDonald. There was a McDonald near my house which was a basement with glass roof. I love sitting there and enjoy the sun of the winter. Of course it was noisy but I could ignore it when I was reading. I still remember once I read a book there and I was so moved by the book, with tears in my eyes, when I looked around I didn’t know where I was in a second. I guess sometimes there are places we feel cozy and good even if they are on the strangest places.