Category Archives: Uncategorized

Pavement Library

What a fantastic thing – a self service library on the street in Sanya, Hainan, China. If the people will not go to the books, bring the books to the people. It reminds me of the mobile library in the rural Wales of my youth.

First visit to Sanya

I had no preconceptions about Sanya. I didn’t even know where it was when the girl at Jinling Hotel was booking the flight. All I knew was that it was south and warm and I needed a break from Nanjing so I didn’t really care where it was – it was cheap and only a… Read More »

May Day Holiday in Nanjing

Even if nobody told you it was a public holiday you’d only need to walk out of your house to know something was different. It’s hard at the best of times, to walk in a straight line down the street but this morning the crowds were dense and slow moving making progress difficult.  This morning… Read More »

Helmets optional

It’s little wonder there are so many accidents in Nanjing. The traffic is crazy and the bicycle lanes are often the most dangerous places. As you can see here, a car has tried unsuccessfully to cross a bicycle lane mowing down someone of their e.bike. I’m not quite sure where the rider went but there… Read More »

Strictly Sunday morning

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 »

Lucky Dip Lunch Box

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 »

A new taxi for Nanjing

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 »

1933 Shanghai Slaughterhouse

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 »