Laotou

New photos on: http://s251.photobucket.com/albums/gg311/draftwrite/ …..Xiang Gang, or Hong Kong, as you & I know it, is now a part of China yet still apart. It is pretty autonomous in many ways & having spent such a long time under the influence of the British it's quite different from the mainland. An ex-colleague has been living there for a couple of years & suggested we visit. Lisa is a really lovely Canadian lady who is preparing to get married in July before moving to Vietnam with her French husband. A group of teachers from our school plan to go to Hong Kong during the 5 days of the Labour Day holiday. As usual there is attrition & in the end only Julie & I make it..... .....this blog is a bit late as the internet, already only ... read more

…..finally, after 3 years of battling my way through literally the greatest annual human mass migration on earth, China's Spring Festival holiday, or the Chinese New Year, I succumb to the temptation to go somewhere with fewer people & much more sun. After all the “Spring” Festival is actually in winter & even southern, tropical China is not all that warm, as we discovered last year in Beihai, in Guangxi province. The Gulf of Thailand, a tropical island recommended by a Canadian couple working at our school who went there last year, then to Australia, that sounds better..... …..the trip starts, bizarrely enough, with a gig to celebrate Australia Day at a pub in the Chinese city of Wuxi, about halfway to Shanghai from Yangzhou. After leaving the school early enough to catch the bus to ... read more

New photos on: http://s251.photobucket.com/albums/gg311/draftwrite/ …..Christmas is approaching but not with the same avaricious fanfare as in Western countries but the Chinese are catching on to the commercial aspects of the Season of Goodwill & there are tonnes of tinsel to be seen, fake Christmas trees, gigantic in some cities, but the big-arse, (literally), illuminated white reindeer under which you used to walk to the escalators at the Living Mall have thankfully been removed in favour of some very large, but more tasteful, coloured chandeliers. The Chinese versions of Christmas songs endemic at this time of year, are still, even now, bizarre, irritating or both..... ….I haven't been a prolific blogger recently, anyway I think a few people are catching up on the backlog & I have been busy tr... read more

New photos on: http://s251.photobucket.com/albums/gg311/draftwrite/ …..the Gaotie, the high speed train being rolled out across eastern China at a phenomenal rate, is already revolutionising our travel to Shanghai. From here it's approximately the same distance as from London to Edinburgh, (which, I just looked it up, takes about 5 hours by train). With speeds up to 300kph, from Zhenjiang, just across the river it only takes about 1 hour 20 minutes. If enough people are going it's reasonable to take a taxi from the school to Zhenjiang, (about 45 minutes), at a cost of about ¥140 or $6 per head for 4 passengers, then about ¥120 per head for the Gaotie, (under $20), & you're there. Aircraft style seats, plenty of legroom, smooth enough to write during the trip. On this beautiful, sunny autumn weekend... read more

New photos on: http://s251.photobucket.com/albums/gg311/draftwrite/ Using a few photos from the new phone. Not great quality but I sometimes snap things I'd miss with the SLR, like the new beer in the first picture or the sunset when I don't have the "real" camera with me. …..Xiao Wei delivered a baby daughter, 3.4kg. It must have been a great relief as she looked ready to deliver about 3 months ago. As Chinese people are concerned about the quality of the powdered milk from local suppliers where possible they prefer to use imported products. As a paediatrician she has done her research & luckily the nationality of the chosen product is that of my Dutch friend, Klass. who enlists some friends to order & send some. It arrives from Holland almost on time so I take it to ... read more