We were welcomed to Chengshu by a huge sign at the entrance to our hotel referring to us as “The Hoofers of Riverdance”.  A girly afternoon followed as me, Nicola, Nicole and Fiona took a wander through the hutongs of Chengshu.  Later that night after a long search for food, we were once again propped on little stools at an intriguing little family restaurant.  We returned on the second night and although it is impossible to tip in China, we sneakily left double our bill amount (£6.60 for 6 people!!) and exited quickly.

We had a few great days in Heifei……we enjoyed some fantastic street food outside our hotel and were glammed and ready in preparation for Emma Warren and Niamh O’Connor’s birthdays. The local German bar named Bacchus was the party spot, chosen of course after much research on TripAdvisor (A note to anyone visiting, VPN for accessing Facebook, Twitter etc, TripAdvisor and any free translation app you can find are your best friends!).

The Opening Ceremony of the Dublin Chinese New Year Festival will take place in Dublin’s Mansion House of Friday 8th February. Now in its 6th year, the opening ceremony is an evening of Intercultural Sino-Irish celebration and Riverdance will perform two numbers as part of this spectacular showcase.

The Riverdance cast at the Gaiety Theatre Dublin, join Jedward’s Dream Factory to fulfill one little girl’s dream to meet and dance with Riverdance. Broadcast on RTE 2 on 3rd January 2013.
First there is a visit for 9 year old Irish Dancer, Sofi-Mei Lally to Riverdance wardrobe department to be dressed in her very own specially made Riverdance costume.
Then lead Dancers Maria Buffini and Jason O’Neill bring Sofi-Mei to the Gaiety Theatre Dublin to dance as part of the line up on stage with the Riverdance Troupe.

After carefully selecting my images for this week’s blog, I realized they all share one common theme. All of them convey how I have encountered different aspects of Chinese culture on tour.  Whether it’s through a bus window or during a ravenous search for street food, I  happened upon some intriguing and foreign aspects of daily life here in China.

I have always been fascinated by cultures and a countries traditions, but in particular cuisine and food. So, upon agreeing to this tour I polished off my palate and decided to really absorb all the tastes of food that China had to offer.

Whether its walking down the street at night, waiting at the train station or simply standing outside a bank there is always someone eating something. Now as I mentioned in a previous blog, I am adventurous but I am no Anthony Bourdain or Andrew Zimmern. I wouldn’t last too long on the Travel Channel’s ‘Bizarre Foods’ however, I have put together a list of strange and bizarre foods that I have seen, touch, smelled and even heard, but taste, eh, not necessarily!

It’s that time of year again when the memory of former Riverdancer, Dr Eithne Walls, will be marked by her friends, family and former colleagues running the 2013 Flora Womens Mini Marathon to raise money for Dublin’s Royal Victoria Eye and Ear Hospital’s Research Foundation.  Eithne, a former Riverdancer and a Doctor at the RVEEH, was a passenger along with her friends and colleagues Dr Aisling Butler and Dr Jane Deasy on the ill-fated Air France Flight 447 which disappeared over the Atlantic on June 1 2009.  Each June Bank Holiday since then her friends, family, and former colleagues in both Riverdance and the RVEEH have come together to run the Mini Marathon as a way of remembering Eithne.

After Zhengzhou, we were ready to brace the extreme cold of Inner Mongolia and arrived early afternoon to Hohhot. With temperatures as low as -21C, it was no surprise that the majority of the cast stayed indoors. Our talented physical therapist, Garrett Dockery fully embraced the weather however and went wandering. Not long later, he informed me he spotted a group of locals ice skating on the frozen pond and decided to join them..no bother to Garrett!

Browsing Panjiayuan Outdoor Antique market down in the South Chaoyang district and I was not prepared for the cold. Forced to duck in and out of jade and amber dealers’ booths to warm up, I braved the biting arctic winds. Although the weather was unwelcoming, the local dealers were not.