I struggled onto the Metro line 2 and looked around for somewhere to sit. Unusually there was a free seat next to a man who had clearly been to the market. I sat down. It didn’t occur to me that there was a good reason the seat was free. It was not long after I… Read More »
The path is so badly thought out that nobody on the complex likes walking on it and prefers instead to walk on the grass on either side. It’s like walking on a cattle grid – very uncomfortable and you have to look down all the time. The spacing of the paving slabs suits nobody but… Read More »
It’s not unusual to see people sleeping on the streets in the middle of the day. All Chinese seem to need an hour or so to sleep after lunch. However, this is the first time I have ever seen a small baby on a makeshift bed on his own on the street with no adult… Read More »
I found the most beautiful house in the whole of Lang Shi. It had once clearly been a house of someone who was of a very high status. The stone footing of huge wooden beams were carved, the house was high and interior walls solid. The beams were blackened with age. The man we found… Read More »
Some people or poor because they are lazy and some people are poor because they have no had proper recompense for their work. In Lang Shi we found one of each. The first person to make contact with in each village (apart from the chief) is always the doctor because he usually knows everybody. So… Read More »
Back from Guilin now and feeling worn out and looking a bit like a farmer with sun-baked skin. I managed to find some of the people we interviewed 20 years ago and only one of them remembered us which is surprising as we were the first westerners some of them had ever seen. The villages… Read More »
No sooner have I arrived back in Nanjing I am gone again. This time I am off to Guilin on my long awaited (20 years) follow-up expedition to three remote villages on the Li Jiang near the market town of Xing Ping. Everything is set and I hope to catch up with my old friends,… Read More »