Motorbike exploring

From being very cold, then very rainy, the weather here has actually turned quite pleasant. It's fairly mild and the sun has made it out from the clouds the last few afternoons. So, of course, we've been out on the motorbike.

Exploring the countryside around Pingxiang can be quite a depressing experience at times. There are a lot of poor areas and a lot of areas where coal mining is the main industry and everything is, well, black. However, the sunshine makes a big difference. Everything looks brighter somehow.

A couple of days ago we went for lunch at our Head of Department's house. It was very pleasant. Quite a few teachers from the English Department and we managed to avoid drinking the dreaded homebrew and instead had a couple of glasses of a very reasonable Chinese red wine. Before and after lunch we were entertained by a couple of the kids playing the piano. As far as I can see, it's becoming more and more popular in China for kids from reasonably well-off families to learn to play the piano.

After lunch we set off on the motorbike. We headed to a temple that Rick had spotted up on a hillside. We parked up and then went up some fairly steep concrete steps. Close to the top there was a small building and a wooden shelter. Inside there was a Chinese couple and lots of fireworks, paper money and incense sticks. The woman told us to sit down and brought us mugs of Chinese tea, which was very welcome. We made a bit of small talk with her in our bad Chinese. They were clearly surprised to see foreigners going up to the temple. She was making something out of gold paper - not sure what, but she seemed to say that they were something that people put in their houses.

Anyway, she tried to sell us some fruit, which we didn't really want, so Rick bought a bottle of water.

We continued up to the temple, which was a riot of red (see pics) and virtually empty. There were a couple of other visitors and a couple of men who obviously lived and worked there (and had their washing hanging out to dry!) Beyond the temple, the path continued up to the top of the hill, which gave a reasonable view over the surrounding area. It would have been a spectacular view, but it was a bit hazy and the light was going a bit. I was almost in Chinese woman mode with my (almost) unsuitable footwear. My achilles tendon's been giving me trouble, so I've been avoiding wearing my walking boots, which seem to make the problem worse. So there I was, climbing up the hill, tramping through the mud in my long, black leather boots. At least they don't have high heels, like the boots one woman was wearing to make the ascent!

Then the day before yesterday we also went out on the bike. We started by having lunch at a local restaurant, which we go to fairly often and where the people are very friendly. Then we set off out of Pingxiang.

At one point we passed something which I've never ever seen before in China. Pulled in off the road there was a big truck with a stage built on top of it. There were people performing some kind of play \ opera on the stage and a really big crowd of people watching.

We also found our way to another temple, which was part-built into the rock, with a massive limestone cave inside. It was very impressive. There seemed to be only one monk there, but he was very friendly and we had a bit of a chat with him. [When I say 'chat' in relation to Chinese people, it is always the same basic questions which form the limit of my repertoire. However, I like to think that my repertoire is expanding...]

And finally, yesterday we went to have lunch (and also dinner) at the home of one of the Chinese English teacher's elementary school teacher. The Chinese English teacher, Bob, is 45, so we're going back quite a few years. He grew up in a small village and was one of the first from the village to go to university. In fact the very first in the village was his elementary school teacher's son. The son was welcomed back from his university studies by a party from the school who had taken a truck to the train station in Pingxiang and taken a band, flowers etc.

It was really this son's home we went to. His own son and niece were both back in Pingxiang for the holidays. Both are usually away at university - one in Tianjin and the other in Hangzhou. I'm sure we were mainly invited round to give the youngsters some practice with their English (both were pretty good, incidentally), but we had two good meals, some interesting conversation and, as always, a warm welcome and an invitation to return again whenever.

I really hope that some day I have the opportunity to repay some of the kindness I've experienced in many different places when I've been travelling and working overseas.