I had a free day on Wednesday “Shall we go to that scummy village I was telling you about” I suggested. I had described it a while ago and Lynne was keen to see it for herself. Thirty minutes later we were out of the city and at the end of the Metro line. Disembarking… Read More »
For longer than I can remember my financial situation has not been good enough for the annual dental check-up. However, I figured in China it should be a lot cheaper so I bit the bullet (so to speak) and went with my friend (providing moral support,) to the dentist to make an appointment. Having answered… Read More »
A group of men were huddled over something on the pavement all looking down at the ground. I walked over to the group and pushed myself through the crowd to see what was going on. There on the ground was a small straight-sided grey bowl inside which two crickets were chasing each other across hot… Read More »
In China it is not unusual to see people wandering the streets, going shopping and down at the subway in their pyjamas. I ventured out with my camera recently and quite quickly found several people wandering around in their pyjamas. I began to wonder why and asked around to see if anyone had any ideas.… Read More »
As a result of an organisational disaster in Shanghai on Saturday I had a lot of hours to kill. I went over to People’s Square where I was pleased to find an interesting event being held in the park. It was similar to the dating event in Nanjing that I stumbled upon several weeks ago… Read More »
At the Imperial Palace of the Ming Dynasty on Yudao Jie people gather daily and pay 1 kwai (10p) to dance with each other. I had always wanted to go into the “dance arena” but had always been a bit nervous and knew that it would register very high on the “stare-ometer” but today I… Read More »
I am always being warned by my friends about the hazards of approaching strangers in public (especially men) but although there are some weirdoes most people are interesting, interested and welcoming. This was indeed the case in the Bank of China in XinJieKou at the beginning of March. I spotted a Sikh gentleman queuing up… Read More »
I had never eaten Sichuan food so was looking forward to meeting up with some other ex-pats at a Sichuan restaurant. In fact I had worked out the route and it involved a change of bus, number 82 and then 31. I don’t mind long bus journeys if I have my iPod and the music… Read More »