The GAOKAO is here. These three days in June torture 9 million High School students across China. The Gaokao tests the students in all areas of the curriculum. During these three days the whole country slows, building work ceases, air traffic is diverted and traffic quietens down. Well, that’s the idea but the signs outside… Read More »
It is not unusual to see this scene on the roads of Nanjing daily. Drivers (taxi drivers especially) wanting to drive in the opposite direction just turn round in the middle of the road without a thought for the other road users whose passage is blocked. The car horns start and noise is terrible. They… Read More »
I have decided to go on a health kick and start to eat more sensibly and to get some more exercise. So I went with Lynn to the back streets and alleys around Mochou Lu to where the second hand bike men hang out. There we found a small number of men with a couple… Read More »
I heard about a park where there was a replica treasure ship. Zheng He was sailing as far as Africa and the Middle East in 1405 a long time before Christopher Columbus was even born. His ship was built in Nanjing and now, in the same place stands a replica of one of his supply… Read More »
I took this photo when I walked up Taiping Nan Lu on 8th March on the way to Daxinggong metro station. I was on my way back home from working at Nanjing Foreign Language School. I liked the way all the workers were sleeping. I thought it was a shame that they were cutting down… Read More »
The Chinese are famous for being big picture thinkers. Where we westerner consider the detail the Chinese care very little for the details. This frustrates us foreigners especially when it comes to Chinglish. Even the major banks don’t check the English on their signs and documents. We say “Why on earth don’t they just ask… Read More »
Everything in China is on another scale, it’s a place of superlatives; the largest population, the biggest migration of people, the oldest history, the fastest growing economy and now, to add to the hundreds of new roads springing up all over the place, a brand new railway station which will act as a hub for… Read More »
To the Irish bar, Finnegans Wake, for Christmas lunch. The price of the meal had risen by just under 100% since booking it so the 6 of us were pretty hacked off before we started. Sitting down at 2pm we passed through the prawn cocktail and then the soup and eventually at 3:30pm got the… Read More »
As I entered reception there were a handful of men on stepladders putting up balloons, bunting, Father Christmases, tinsel, snowflakes and generally making it look festive. Around a central area were a couple of hundred comfy chairs. “We’re getting ready for our Christmas party later today” she said. Imagine a factory printing 12,000,000 bibles every… Read More »
I was strolling around the temple area and saw a crowd gathered around something on the street. I was on one of the quieter streets which lead out of Fuzi Miao and I assumed that there was a street performer. As I got closer I realised that there was no noise coming from the crowd… Read More »