When I am worn out at the end of the day and am dragging my feet back towards home I enter the metro system and the first people I see are the staff at the scanning machines. They stand there all day, smart in their uniforms – two people whose job it is to point… Read More »
After nearly five years in Nanjing, the time has come to move on to a bigger and better city and which could be bigger and better than Shanghai. My very few boxes have been packed and the courier company is due tomorrow. I am slightly suspicious because it seems too cheap – I will be… Read More »
If you stand still quietly for long enough you can still hear the sound of the hooves of a thousand cattle and being coaxed through the concrete maze to their end. Trendy design companies flourish where once termination was the name of the game. The smell of blood has been replaced by freshly ground coffee… Read More »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 »
I went in search of Mrs Avocado on Ulumuqi Road in Shanghai. Apparently this is a small fruit and veg shop which is famous amongts ex-pats for stocking all sorts of foreign food like Nutella and avocados (obviously). Each week she sells whatever she can get her hands on so you never really know what’s… Read More »
Shocking story in the Shanghai Daily about the illegal trade in fresh placentas. The first sentence refers to placentas “selling like hot cakes”. The article then goes on to talk about how you can buy them on taobao (equiv to eBay) and how to make an animal placenta look like a human one by reshaping… Read More »
I have decided to undertake a course on journalism and travel writing from the London School of Journalism. They have a lot of interesting courses which can be done via distance learning. So I have gone for the Freelance Travel Writing course and have completed the first module. It is interesting so far and I… Read More »
I was in Shanxi Lu getting off line 1 and walking down the road to line 10. I was on my way to the Confucius Temple (I needed YuYuan station) where I wanted to take some photos. However, when I got to Line 10 Shanxi road station the police were turning people away and not… Read More »
Having missed a 2pm meeting at the British Council on Saturday I lost 3,700rmb (£370) and so consequently was not really in a party mood. However the food and drink was courtesy of the British Government and everyone at the party on the patio of the Garden Pub in Shanghai was a native English speaker… Read More »