Wugong Shan cycle race

Yesterday we got up early and set off at 6am to watch some Chinese people doing a cycle race. It seemed pretty well-organised and there were some super fit people taking part. There was also, as is generally the way, some randomness. For example, we had breakfast in some people's house and I'm sure it was just their breakfast, but they had plenty of it so we joined in. Also, as we were waiting for the cyclists, a man came trotting up the track on a white pony. As you do.

Anyway, it was a good day out and the weather was a bit cooler than in PX, which was a bonus.

Last meals

The other two foreign teachers have left on their travels, prior to going back to the UK. So of course we had a few meals to say bye to them. These are some photos, including a few of food.

I'm determined to post more photos of Chinese food because I'm aware that I haven't posted very many and it really is different from the Chinese food you get back in the UK.

Hope you're not feeling hungry...

Yangshuo (2)

So, I spent a very nice Saturday, drinking coffee, wandering around, taking photos, reading my new book (picked up a second-hand in a cafe), eating a massive burger... It was great. I also had a long rest in the afternoon and watched some cctv9 (the English language channel which we don't get at PXC). To be fair, it was boiling hot outside and I'd had a bad night's sleep the night before...

I finally met up with my friend, Jared, later in the evening (after some very bad directions from me - he had no mobile and had to call me from a phone on the street). I got to choose the food, so we had pizza - yum! Rachelle arrived at about midnight and we all went to bed. Rock and roll. Anyway, the hotel we were staying at was nice - very very clean and also quiet. We were all tired and ready for a good night's sleep.

Next day we took a boat trip on the Li River (see photos). The type of boats that are common on the river are a kind of fake-bamboo raft with a canopy and an outboard engine, driven by one person. There are also seats on them. The river is really very busy with tourists and some of them take the bigger cruise boats all the way from Guilin. We had to take a bus to a nearby village called Xingping and we also spent time wandering round there after our boat trip. It was quite peaceful (despite the hoards passing through, or around, for their trips on the river) and we had a lovely lunch in a quiet restaurant which served both Chinese and western food. We also all bought watercolours of the local landscape.

In the evening I had pizza again and we ended up in a bar by a small river / canal, drinking Chinese red wine. There were a couple of Chinese guys playing the guitar and singing live. It was great - just the right kind of music, relaxing and really quite good. The only thing that detracted from the evening was the local animal-life: huge cockroaches playing nearby and a couple of enormous rats that cantered past. Great.

Next morning we hired bikes and set off to explore the countryside. I didn't get very far before my chain slipped and one of the pedals cut into the back of my leg, which was nice. We eventually got going again and made it into the rice fields which were bright green, the stems quite tall already. Several local women tried to tell us the way, even though we hadn't really decided where we were going!!! We also got really muddy as it had rained the night before.

We went back to Yangshuo at lunchtime so I could get changed and catch a bus to Guilin to get my train back to Pingxiang. I had MacDonalds for lunch (I know!) but mis-ordered somehow and ended up with two burgers!!! Oops. The train waiting room in Guilin was roasting and for some reason I decided not to pay the 5 yuan to sit in the air-conditioned one. Interesting decision.

Anyway, I made it back in one piece and finally arrived home at about 4am. Got a couple of hours' sleep and then up again at 8am for class.

Yangshuo

The weekend before last I visited Yangshuo for the first time.

Part of the reason was to meet up with a couple of people I used to work with when I taught English in Kunming. One is still living in KM, but soon to return to the US, the other is just in China for the summer. None of us had been to Guilin or Yangshuo, it's not too far from where I'm working, and all of us wanted to visit it.

I took an overnight sleeper train from Pingxiang to Guilin. I usually enjoy travelling by train in China. I always go for a an overnight train and get a bed for journeys like this (around 10 hours) and it's really not too bad. I had a bottom bunk in a 'hard sleeper' carriage. This means sections of six bunks, opening directly onto the corridor. You can also choose 'soft sleeper', which is more expensive, but there are only four beds in a compartment and there is a door to give you some privacy. Other people just get a seat. Again, there are two kinds: 'hard' and 'soft'. Finally, there are people who buy a ticket and have to stand unless they are lucky enough to find an empty seat or a kind person who is willing to share their seat. A lot of my students have to do this when they are travelling.

After arriving in Guilin early Saturday morning, I took a bus to Yangshuo. I wasn't sure whether Yangshuo was the final destination or not as some random had steered me on to the bus(!) But the ticket price was right, so I wasn't too worried. I'd read on the internet about some kind of scam where they drop foreigners off at a petrol station on the outskirts of Yangshuo and then locals charge them to take them to right part of the town. Sure enough, we got to a petrol station and they shouted 'Yangshuo'. No-one else was getting off and I was a bit dubious, but decided that as I had a map I could find my way and it didn't really matter. Maybe I should have stood my ground and demanded to be taken to the bus station... who knows?

I got off the bus and a man asked me I had any luggage [I didn't]. He then proceeded to follow me and try and 'help' me. Took me ages to shake him off. Finally I found a nice lady who directed me to one of the local electric buses that ferry tourists around and I took that to the bus station (which wasn't very far away in the end). Phew!

Anyway, here are some photos and I'll write about the rest of my trip in another post.

Hot!

It's got hot and (sadly) quite humid. So I'm mostly spending my days sweating. Niiiiice. We have fans and aircon in the bedroom, but still. Walking anywhere, eating hot food, cleaning the house... they all make me sweat. Roll on getting to the mountains and cooler temperatures.

The photo may remind you of your childhood and home-made ice lollies. Our current favourite is made with a kind of lemon juice drink - so refreshing. Yum.

Mock Crocs

I bought these in the supermarket for not very much money. I don't even know if they're meant to be an imitation of 'Crocs' but I love them! They're sooooo comfy. I know, they've got dodgy 'Hello Kitty' bits on them, but still, I am in the land of 'cute is good'. If you can't beat 'em...

Ah, China. Again.

I had planned to write a post entitled 'Things you might not know about China', but haven't got round to it yet. In any case, I wanted to write about something you probably do know about China, but whose extent is difficult to measure outside China.

This Thursday marks the 20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre. Talking to students and other Chinese people here and also reading about it on the internet, it's clear that many Chinese do not know about Tiananmen, or certainly don't find out about until they go to university, for example.

Those of us who live here get used to websites being blocked from time to time. Many people use proxy servers (myself included). But apparently it all gets worse at certain times - the run up to potentially controversial events / anniversaries of such events. Now, in fact.

I tried to use hotmail earlier and the page wouldn't load. Didn't think anything of it until it loaded perfectly using a proxy server and then I read this article on the Times website: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article6414510.ece

The government knows best...

Anyway, on a slightly lighter note, I managed to get pizza for my birthday - at Papa John's, in Changsha (see photo). Twice, actually. Yum.