He jumped from the third floor. That’s what the papers said the next day. He threw all his money out of the window and then himself. I wondered whether he watched the people below, grabbing at the money as it blew along the lane. Renminbi from heaven, falling like autumn leaves, scooped up by grateful… Read More »
Wink has finally arrived all the way from America to Shanghai. I bought it on Kickstarter many months ago and have been eagerly awaiting its arrived ever since. Today I have spent the best part of 4 hours setting it up. It took me a very long time a forum post and a twitter message… Read More »
I have written about Nixi and its charming houses and views. The village was peaceful when I was there, nobody in the fields and a few cows and chicken walking the lanes. Then I came across a group of women who were beating sheaves of something I didn’t recognise, with sticks to release the grain… Read More »
There wasn’t anything to keep me in Shangri-la but I had heard about a little village where they made black pottery and which had some nice old houses. Along the road there are retail outlets selling this pottery to passers-by and I saw at least one workshop on the road. I had gone to the… Read More »
In 2001 the Chinese changed the name of this town from Zhongdian to Shangri-la, a fictional paradise, in order to attract tourists to the old town and the surrounding area. Well it worked because it’s now on the Yunnan tourist trail for foreigners and Chinese alike. Not that there were many tourists there when I… Read More »
27km of steep winding road joins Yuanyang new town to the old town which clings perilously to the side of an impossibly high mountain. When I took the journey a few days ago I shared a crowded minibus with humans and animals and much the amusement of several children, as we climbed higher and higher,… Read More »
I was running out of ideas about where I could go for a holiday for a few weeks within China. I had heard a lot about Yunnan so I got myself a flight to Kunming and back and decided to make a plan once I got there. One of my main requirements from the holiday… Read More »
It has always been very easy to buy travel insurance online. The difficult bit is navigating the comparison websites. I spent hour upon hour looking at travel insurance for a two week holiday to Indonesia. I wouldn’t usually bother with travel insurance, especially when going to a cheap country, but this time it was a… 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 »
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 »