Shanghai was looking a picture this morning as I did my farewell rounds. Coming back here I realise how seriously cool this town is. As I’ve travelled around China over the last (nearly) four months I’ve noticed how, like any other country, stepping off the tourist trail a mile or two gets you right into [...]

Here’s what you see from the train window between Nanjing and Shanghai – belching factories, huge construction sites, and empty roads and apartments. I’m afraid that someone has made a terrible mistake, and for once we can’t blame Mao.

I did a quick whip-around with the camera the other day before I left because I realised that I hadn’t taken any pictures of the longxia (lobsters) for which Xuyi is, apparently, world-famous. So, here’s my humble abode, some street scenes, some strange buildings, and some jolly lobsters. Oh, and the last couple of pics [...]

Just back from a long weekend away at a rather eccentric little setup called the Golden Grove Hotel, four hours away on the outskirts of Huzhou in Zhejiang province. Setting aside the several innacuracies in the description on the website, my travelling companion and I had rather an entertaining time. There are indeed only 17 [...]

I was given the choice the other day of ducking out of the country briefly – or for longer. My visa runs out on the 15th of December. My original 3-month ‘double entry’ visa was extended for a month without having to do the re-entry bit to get another 3 months, but the local officials [...]

I took a few photos in the sun down by the river in Xuyi the other day, then yesterday took to the water itself for a look around under gloomy grey skies. Apparently the Huaihe River was formed about three hundred years ago when the Yellow River took an unexpected turn, wiping out this city [...]

After my ‘I Hate China’ week I was badly in need of some beauty – a rare commodity on this (eastern) side of the country. A day’s travel by bus and Boeing found me in Yangshuo, reputedly one of the prettiest places in China. It’s certainly the prettiest I’ve seen. Yangshuo is a small, southern [...]

Recently a couple of the other teachers and I accompanied some students to their English exams in Hefei, a four hour minibus ride from hell over narrow provincial roads with craters like the moon. Hefei is the capital of Anhui province and its industry and population have mushroomed over the last few years. It is [...]

On the way back from Beijing a few weeks ago I hooked by Qingdao, a medium-size city (pop 8.5m) facing Japan and Korea across the Yellow Sea. Qingdao is a major port and naval base – it was the venue for the sailing events at the recent Olympic Games – and, more importantly, is the [...]

To be honest I’ve had a hell of a job finding any really good food in Xuyi. Occasionally I’ll come across something that has that extra little bit of fresh coriander in it (I love coriander), or that’s been cooked in a particularly tasty broth (which hasn’t been fried by MSG), and I’ll return for [...]