I have always found the police in China quite approachable and friendly – to the foreigners at least. So today when they called me up to say they were coming to see me with a form to sign I was curious. I didn’t think I had done anything wrong… nothing badly wrong anyhow. Luckily my… Read More »
After having a second hand iPhone disaster (don’t bother with the second hand phone market in Nanjing) and then having a brand new iPhone stolen, I went to China Telecom and got a proper one. Well that’s what I thought anyhow. Last week as I was having my feet nibbled by some fish on the… Read More »
I have been in Sanya for three days now and I like the place. The beaches are fantastic and not too busy, the people are friendly and I have eaten the street food without getting sick (haven’t tried the sea food though). The buses are air-conditioned, clean(ish), frequent and cheap and I have been taking… Read More »
What a fantastic thing – a self service library on the street in Sanya, Hainan, China. If the people will not go to the books, bring the books to the people. It reminds me of the mobile library in the rural Wales of my youth.
I had no preconceptions about Sanya. I didn’t even know where it was when the girl at Jinling Hotel was booking the flight. All I knew was that it was south and warm and I needed a break from Nanjing so I didn’t really care where it was – it was cheap and only a… Read More »
It’s little wonder there are so many accidents in Nanjing. The traffic is crazy and the bicycle lanes are often the most dangerous places. As you can see here, a car has tried unsuccessfully to cross a bicycle lane mowing down someone of their e.bike. I’m not quite sure where the rider went but there… Read More »
Even if nobody told you it was a public holiday you’d only need to walk out of your house to know something was different. It’s hard at the best of times, to walk in a straight line down the street but this morning the crowds were dense and slow moving making progress difficult. This morning… Read More »
I marvel that, on an early morning, when I have dragged myself out of bed and to work, that there are always crowds of people exercising on the athletics track – many of them retired people. There are countless boys playing basketball (I use the term ‘playing’ loosely – they are simply trying to throw… Read More »
Every day at work there’s a call goes around in the morning “If you want a lunch box, put your name on the list”. When I first came here I was intrigued by the lunch box. It was the idea of just saying “Yes” and not knowing what would arrive, that I found exciting. However,… Read More »
We’ve recently seen the arrival of the London (Hackney Carriage) taxi in Nanjing – got me doing a double-take when I first spotted one – forgot where I was for a moment. And what a welcome relief the big black beasts are from the cramped and often, knackered VW’s we usually have to squeeze ourselves… Read More »