By Tom Shanahan
The first thing I noticed about Nanning was its laid back atmosphere. I wasn't sure whether it was due to the people, the climate, or just the fact that it was nice to get away from the hustle and bustle of Beijing, but as soon as I arrived in Nanning I began to feel very relaxed. This was the first place I had been to in China that actually reminded me of Australia, and with the eucalyptus tree's lining some of the streets, I could have even mistaken some parts of Nanning for back home in Australia.

The first new mate I made was Stan the man from the U S of A, and his bass playing side kick from New Jersey 'da ge' (big Brother). Stan with his two masters degree's and da ge ,the ex-New York real estate salesman big shot, seemed like an unlikely duo to have made this relatively small city in South China their new home but after chatting with them I began to understand why they were so fond of Nanning. Stan told me that in addition to having an amazing social life in Nanning (he is somewhat of a television celebrity down there) he is also deeply drawn to Nanning's culture which is largely derived from the ethnic minorities that make up the Guangxi autonomous region, and give Nanning its rich cultural heritage.

The next guys I met were five overseas students from Vanuatu, Mauritius, Nepal, Indonesia and Namibia. These guys had formed a band and were giving regular performances in Nanning and they invited me out to see their band play at a local bar. This venue was actually really cool with Bob Marley tunes being pumped out from the loudspeakers which was quickly followed by live performances To be honest both the bar and the band was much better than I expected and there was a large crowd of both foreigner and Chinese regulars chilling out, sinking some local beers, and enjoying the atmosphere.

My final new found friend was Niall from England. Niall ended up in Nanning on the last leg of a backpacking trip around Asia some 6 years ago and has now ended up married to a local Nanning woman and CEO of a language school. With a long term future in Nanning Niall has no immediate plans of going back to England. According to Niall one of the best things about Nanning is the weird and wacky food which he recommended I try. So being the brave host that I am, I abandoned my regular diet of dices chicken with peanut and yang rou chuan and tried one of the local specialties 'snails'. Actually it wasn't so bad, but I don't think ill do it again anytime soon.