Now our VPNs are all broken (thanks to the People’s National Congress being held in Beijing), I can’t watch any TV programmes, I can’t get Netflix or Youtube – life is very hard. So I have fallen back on the DVD shops to provide my light entertainment. Big Movie is probably the most comprehensive and there are branches all over the place.
I usually go to the one on Anfu Lu or Yong Kang Lu. They have every film you can think of including the latest titles… and all for £1.20 each. Bargain! I was persuaded by the assistant to buy season 4 of Mr Selfridge which, she explained, had just arrived on the shelves today. So for £3.60 I bought the 3 DVDs and looked forward to watching a couple of the episodes when I got home.
However, just as I settled in for the night on the sofa the blasted thing froze and my DVD drive was making an ominous straining noises as it tryed very hard but failed to make sense of the DVD. So I had to abandon disc 1 and although I hate seeing a series out of sequence, I put in disc 2. Five minutes in, it also stopped.
Now I have another trip to Big Movie to take them back. And worse than that, there’s nothing else for me to watch, with everything being blocked by the men in Beijing. I suppose it serves me right buying fake DVDs but there is no other sort available here. If you wanted to buy a real DVD I honestly wouldn’t know where to go. There are only fake DVD shops.
The situation has got so bad recently that I have actually had to resort to a book – you can see how desperate I have become! Oh for the men in Mao suits to get back to their offices so that we can get to normal life.