I decided to spend New Year’s Day up on the Purple mountain walking around the Purple Cloud Lake. I took all my cold weather gear; 2 scarves, 2 prs gloves (1 silk, 1 thin wool), 1 pr Gortex ski mitts, 2 hats, thermal long johns, full length cashmere coat. There were very few people on… Read More »
The fireworks started as soon as the sun went down and by the time it got to midnight I was already fed up of the constant din and had the volume right up watching a DVD trying to drown out the sound. When midnight came the whole place erupted and it felt more akin to… Read More »
After marking 60 scripts I was on my way out of the office and I saw one of my colleagues eating a very nice panini. Hungry, I asked her where she got it. She drew a little map and I found the Warehouse Cafe hidden through a guarded gate at the bottom of a building… Read More »
I wondered why there were so many armed police around the place last week. Nanjing South Railway station had them posted at the front entrance. Then, in Hefei I saw the China Daily running a story about a robbery in Nanjing. The news report goes as follows.The suspect allegedly shot and killed a man who… Read More »
Spent a nice day going to Lynn and her 13 yr old twins, Laura and Jack and my Indonesian friend, Era. Firstly we had coffee in Costa and then up to Bububu fabric market for Jack to have a fitting of his suit for his junior United Nations thing in Beijing. Then lunch at a… Read More »
The Shanghai police called me and asked whether I would mind going down to the police station the following morning to have my photograph taken. I was a little suspicious but not overly worried as I was sure that I had not done anything which might upset them (except hang out with a convicted criminal… Read More »
I have a new student for the Christmas holidays. She is 12 and studying in Bournemouth. The message I got was that she needed help with her English. This is boring but easy, so I said Yes and charged a lot. When she turned up I realised she was at Millfield School with me last… Read More »
I went back to the hutongs today to deliver the photos I had printed for the family. They treated me like a returning hero and insisted on feeding me what I am sure was offal. I tried (but very hard) to eat it and then said I was full. They said I couldn’t possibly be… Read More »
It’s very unusual for us Nanjing examiners to be invited to examine in any other city but Mark and I got the call from Shanghai – would we be prepared to go to Qingdao to do 30 candidates there? Why not, it’s not often we get to fly to another city and stay in a… Read More »
I have noticed that young Chinese couples cannot leave each other alone. Wherever they are clinging on to each other for dear life, as if they are going to have their loved one snatched away at any time. Even going up escalators, they continue with their full body-embrace making it difficult for anyone to get… Read More »