I marvel that, on an early morning, when I have dragged myself out of bed and to work, that there are always crowds of people exercising on the athletics track – many of them retired people. There are countless boys playing basketball (I use the term ‘playing’ loosely – they are simply trying to throw… Read More »
Every day at work there’s a call goes around in the morning “If you want a lunch box, put your name on the list”. When I first came here I was intrigued by the lunch box. It was the idea of just saying “Yes” and not knowing what would arrive, that I found exciting. However,… Read More »
We’ve recently seen the arrival of the London (Hackney Carriage) taxi in Nanjing – got me doing a double-take when I first spotted one – forgot where I was for a moment. And what a welcome relief the big black beasts are from the cramped and often, knackered VW’s we usually have to squeeze ourselves… Read More »
If you stand still quietly for long enough you can still hear the sound of the hooves of a thousand cattle and being coaxed through the concrete maze to their end. Trendy design companies flourish where once termination was the name of the game. The smell of blood has been replaced by freshly ground coffee… Read More »
I was sure the lump on my eyelid had been growing bigger recently, and not wanting to scare people on the bus, thought it best to seek out professional advice. I had decided against the SOS Clinic because of its £140 consultancy fee. Global Doctor, at £80, was a bit cheaper but still too expensive.… Read More »
I love the craziness of Nanjing, old people doing their early morning exercises – slapping trees, hitting themselves with sticks, slapping their legs, rubbing their calves across a metal bar, shouting to warm up their voices, clapping, hitting their head with their fists and my favourite… my absolute favourite is walking backwards. Nobody believes me… Read More »
My new friend invited me to dine with her on Wedesday and I quickly accepted. She explained we couldn’t go to her house because it was full of dietary supplements so we were going to go to her former student’s house at Nanjing University. We met at Gulou metro station and even though I offered… Read More »
I had a few things I needed to send to Europe and several of them were breakable so I stopped on my way to the Post Office and bought a local newspaper for 10p so that I could use it to wrap the items up. I got to the Post Ofice, purchased a strong box… Read More »