Blogs from Yangzhou, Jiangsu, China, Asia

…..I am exhausted. I just washed up, a bowl, 2 cups, a fork, a spoon & a lunch box. Doing it balanced on one leg, in the bathroom, (there's no running water supplied to the kitchen / living room in our 2 room apartments), a trip back to fetch the dish washing liquid. I need to lie down... I'm doing it on one leg as the other is in plaster, after I slipped on the wet floor during a pre-Christmas clean up..... …..it seems I am doomed to periodic accidents with accompanying orthopaedic issues, like my current fracture in one of the lower leg bones where it connects to the ankle. They've told me I should not bear weight on it for 3 MONTHS! (It's always been 6 weeks previously, & I do have experience in ... read more

TV show: (my bit starts about 6 minutes in...): http://www.yzntv.com/city/folder249/2014/08/2014-08-1681175.html …..the great triumvirate of things that foreigners in China have to live with but will never fully accede to or really get used to: 1. the usually poor, often really bad & not infrequently downright appalling air quality, though it's disturbing how quickly you feel yourself growing to accept, on what should be a bright summer's day, barely seeing the outline of a building less than a kilometre away. In summer on a bad day, when you step outside you're hit in the face with 35C+ & about 80% or 90% humidity but it looks like a midwinter's day in Scotland. This summer has been, & still is, at time of writing, grey, wet & humid, with a combination of moisture & air pollution making respiration ... read more

…..Steve, Ben & I wait while a driver does a 15 point turn in a bike lane. The pantomime appears to be over. Ben thinks it's clear to go through but no, just as he makes a move the car lurches forward again, stopping within millimetres of his bike. The driver winds the window down, seems overjoyed at seeing three foreigners & yells, with a huge smile, “Welcome to China!”..... …..I manage to get a cheap laugh with one sentence in my Grade 8 textbook, about what side of the road to drive on. I ask what side you drive on in China. Unanimously they tell me “the right”. I refute it, citing trips to the city where people do drive on the right, but also on the left, & in the centre, sometimes go from ... read more

New photos on: http://s251.photobucket.com/albums/gg311/draftwrite/ …..sorry, my second supposedly monthly newsletter is already running late. Studying for a degree cuts into my time. Why didn't someone tell me that before I started?. Now Travelblog has seen fit to "improve" its photo uploading capability so now, as is common with such improvements, the new system, despite installing the latest Flash Player as instructed, doesn't work, the old uploader doesn't work either. Damn it! I wish these geeks would just remember, if it ain't broke, don't fix it!!! Just follow the link to Photobucket, (above)..... (it appears to be working now ...!) ..... …..looking at my photos Chinese friends are wowed by Australia's clean air, beautiful beaches, lack of crowds. They accept crowds as a fact of l... read more

New photos on: http://s251.photobucket.com/albums/gg311/draftwrite/ …..for someone brought up in the UK one thing that is impossible to get used to in China is the queue bomber. Not all Chinese people do it & Chinese friends tell me they don't like it, although they don't always say anything. Stainless steel rails are erected in every bus & train station in every major city in China to direct those waiting for tickets to the right. After buying their tickets they exit left. Except for the queue bombers, who occasionally, brazenly, enter left &, as though you don't exist, thrust their money through the hatch while loudly requesting their ticket. I am waiting patiently behind a petite lady when, just as she receives her ticket, 2 men & a woman block her exit & do just what I described. ... read more