Expat partygoers wax nostalgicat Irish festival 
| An Irish band from Hong Kong enlivens the atmosphere at 5th Bar with St Patrick's Day music. Photo:Zhong Fan |
A BELATED St Patrick’s Day, National Day of Ireland, was celebrated by 200 expats and locals from 1pm last Saturday through 2am Sunday at 5th Bar opposite Nanyou Hotel on Shuiwan Road in Jida. Organized by www.huababaua.com, website of a local German Bavarian caterer, the event was highlighted by the traditional Irish band Bahouki, the Xinjiang band Barisnico and various DJs dishing out Irish folk music. 5th Bar co-owner Chris Huababaua, a Bavarian who has lived in China for 15 years, wore a green T-shirt and brown overalls. He moved to Zhuhai from Hong Kong four years ago and decided to settle down in the city, hoping to bring Bavarian beers and food to people here, he said. He also hoped the bar would become the second home of expatriates in Zhuhai and a “happy centre” of western and Chinese artistic and cultural exchange. He had spent half a month inviting the band from Hong Kong and preparing the indigenous German and Irish food, including lamb on spit, Irish stew, fish and chips, wiener schnitzel and potato salad, Chris explained. His greatest interest is to organize various parties featuring different national festivals and each week’s Open Mic at his bar, Chris said, adding that he used to invite friends to weekend parties at his home in Xiangzhou, and fortunately his neighbours were too good to complain about the noise. Chris also said he is planning to drive to Tibet with his father, who is to visit from Bavaria this year. He sees Zhuhai’s evolvement with two eyes, one happy to see the still-picturesque environment and growing economy, the other sorry to see the increasing traffic and unhealthy social phenomenon. However, it is very difficult to control proper and balanced development of a city, he noted. Three years ago, Mark Clulow came to visit his mother, Marian Lenehan, an Irishwoman who teaches at GLV, and decided to stay after two weeks. Mark has now become an operator of zhuhainights.com with more than 2,000 members from all over the world. He announces upcoming events on the website, makes friends and communicates with them through it, Mark said. Mark’s No1 hobby is to drive a go-cart, which excites him. Likewise, Zhuhai International Circuit is where he most frequently visits, he said, stressing he had hardly missed any racing event there. At weekend or during holidays, he takes a walk or picnics in a park with his mother and friends. The city has never been strange to him, and more and more foreigners have started careers, settled down, gotten married or had children in Zhuhai, where imported foodstuff and English signs have become more common, Mark said. Blond hair and blue eyes are no longer as eye-popping as before. Meanwhile, foreigners are concerned about economic growth, air pollution and traffic congestion just like Chinese people are. “Therefore, we’re not foreigners but rather out-of-town residents, like those from Hunan, Shanghai and other places,” he said. Irish sisters Sharon and Lily joined their mother, Clare Lynch, to celebrate the event at the bar. In traditional Irish costume, Sharon performed Irish dance and won immense applause from participants. The sisters have lived in the city with their parents, who work here, for three years. They have a Chinese teacher give a language class every week, but have learned only a limited number of characters as they are too difficult for them, Sharon said. What they like most to do in Zhuhai is to go shopping or play tennis, badminton and table tennis, Sharon noted. They also like Chinese food such as roast duck, dumplings and moon cakes. John is an American Dane who has worked in Zhuhai for less than a year. He feels happy that there are three Danish companies in Zhuhai and most people here know Danish butter cookies and badminton. A fan of Chinese history, he has visited Yang Great Ancestral Hall in Beishan Village of Nanping, Luyi Hall in Doumen District, Meixi Royal Stone Archways in Qianshan and other historical sites in Zhuhai and taken a lot of pictures. He also said that he took part in the 4th Zhuhai Folk Art Parade at Lantern Festival and shared pictures with his family and friends on the web. JJ Verdun, a French ‘son-in-law’ of Beishan Village, has lived in Zhuhai for almost nine years. The first foreigner to run an English website in Zhuhai and co-operator of deltabridges.com, JJ hopes to help international people gain more information about the Pearl River Delta. Featuring various respects of business information and encompassing what to do and where to go, the website covers 11 cities including Hong Kong and Macao. Having witnessed the city’s development and changes over the past decade, JJ admitted he feels fortunate to live in Zhuhai, where the environment is nice and life is comfortable. With ideal location abutting Hong Kong and Macao, Zhuhai has easy access to international metropolises while maintaining an easygoing lifestyle. Therefore, he has taken Zhuhai as his second home and feels out of place back in France. JJ also said he is not the only foreigner at home, as his wife’s brother-in-law is Spanish, asserting that he enjoys the life of the big family. It doesn’t matter whether the music is good or not and you like or dislike the food; what matters most is what you hear and taste is an old European culture, Chris said. (ZD Feature) 原文链接：http://search.zhnews.net/tqb/text.php?ud_key=12442&ud_date=2010-03-28
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