Blogs from Yangzhou, Jiangsu, China, Asia - page 6

Photos: …..the figures from last year's census in China are still being analysed but it seems pretty clear that Shanghai's population has been underestimated & is almost certainly over 23 million, probably about a million or so more than the total population of Australia. It's not difficult to see that it's on a different scale to my little town of Yangzhou, with only Sydney's population. I am in Shanghai to renew my passport at the Australian consulate. .... …..it's common in all large Chinese cities I've visited to stack the main roads, the original highway at ground level overshadowed by another road supported on concrete pylons. Shanghai has more & bigger elevated roads. On Nanjing Lu, (a popular shopping street) I notice a tangle of roads where the Yan'an elevated road meets Bei Nan Lu, (North ... read more

Photos: -click on the photos in this blog to enlarge them. …..Miss Piggy is getting married! I receive an excited phone call from Guiyang to ensure that I really am intending to visit during the Spring Break. I had assumed it would be a few days to meet her new boyfriend & his family but, in typical Chinese style it's becoming bigger than Ben Hur & though ticker tape, marching bands & keys to the city have not been specifically mentioned I have been reading between the lines. I wonder if the (Chinese) New Year wedding is a recent idea, or a deliberate omission from previous correspondence..... …..Shen Yue is here with her son for an English lesson on Sunday. I enlist her aid in finding some ingredients with the intention of making a cake of ... read more

Photos: as usual you can click on the photos in this blog to enlarge them. …..Peter insists I go to jam at music shop, near the Da Run Fa. Reluctantly I go to join a band of young Chinese guys practising a bizarre collection of western songs, including “I'll be watching you”, (Sting), “Country Roads”, (yes, THAT song), Nirvana, Metallica & Xu Wei. We all get along well. I don't know whether I really want to commit Saturday evenings, even for 3 hours or so, to it, especially as I have three students to tutor on Sundays..... …..still no firm plans made for the Chun Jie or Spring Festival, coming up very quickly. Actually in the middle of winter this year our holiday is from mid-January to mid February. It is of course notoriously difficult to ... read more

Photos: as usual you can click on the photos to enlarge them. …..sunflower seeds taste great but they are really not worth the effort unless you know how to bite the end, split the husk with your front teeth & effortlessly extract the tiny seed at the same time as you drop the spent shell & have another ready. I try but usually end up dropping the seed &/or getting a mouthful of husk. Advice if you have Chinese visitors; have some fresh sunflower seeds on hand. Almost without exception, they absolutely love them..... …..well, this must be a joke! Facebook is blocked in China but the school apparently has a profile on that very site. Those of you living carefree lives in open, democratic countries might like to look it up & tell us, who ... read more

Photos: …..one of those “only in China” moments. Cycling back to the school I stop on the Old Bridge (Da Qiao), across the Grand Canal. Those who have seen the video can skip this part but the two men on a bamboo raft about the same size as the armchair in my apartment, one, in carpet slippers, paddling furiously with a shovel while the other prepares a thin net for the water. Luckily no coal barge is going by at the time. The wash would be too much for this, possibly the smallest craft I have ever seen on any waterway. It's a pity I have no time to stay & see if they catch anything..... …..Sunday evening, Wenyi is in Yangzhou again, this time with her dad. I arrange accommodation for him at the school ... read more