Long has Femke awaited the arrival of spring. Family members started to wonder if I had been outside at all? Had I seen any birds? Flowers maybe? Little green leaves seeking the first warm rays of the sun? Nope, nothing of the sort. Spring is going for 'fashionably late' in Shenyang. From the Netherlands, I receive reports about blossoming snowdrops, in Shenyang snow only drops from the sky! (No, Krol (Dutch weatherguy) was wrong... there was no sand storm here, only a snow storm!)

Since my arrival in Beijing I have been surprised several times by the white flakes falling from a perpetually grey sky. Although there, and here in Shenyang, I have experienced a number (total of 5) of nice enjoyable days, I cannot honestly say that spring has arrived.

Fortunately, I was able to enjoy 'nature' this weekend. With a couple of girls (Sona and Rachel) I got on a bus which would drive to a mountain where, apparently, we would find snow. Sona immediately wanted to go, looking forward to some quality skiing! After about an hour we arrived at a very small slope, which was covered in some snow, but was nothing like the glorious mountains we had been dreaming about... We decided to make the best of it and just enjoyed the beautiful scenery and the snow-buildings! It was nice to have a change of view from all the concrete buildings. After that, we went back to the city to have a nice dinner and drink with Sven and Sally. If the warmth does not want come to Shenyang, then we should create some warmth ourselves!

(Still, I could do with a flower...)