St George's Day, 2018 2115

Seven years to the day I ended up in Number One People's Hospital in Chizhou with a finger hanging on by the skin and a shoulder emulating a smashed Terry's Chocolate Orange. And true to form about an hour ago I went to sit up in my chair and the shoulder reminded me rather painfully that it will never be the same again.

Saturday saw me preparing food for Adriana in the evening, chicken curry with chapattis followed by good old fashioned bread and butter pudding.

Despite my not particularly wanting to, we went to the bar just to please her. I don't like going there, not because it is not a nice place (it is) but because I end up drinking a fortune in various gins. Adriana had two cocktails and promptly fell asleep in an armchair whilst I played chess very badly against a Chinese maths teacher. In my defence it had been fifteen years since I last played and alcohol rendered me reckless. I did however get given a gift of a miniature Tanqueray.

On Sunday she buggered off to meet friends but asked if she could stay that night and I agreed. She even said she would eat dinner out but not be back too late. Well this is China, “something” happened so she came here for dinner after I had eaten. Luckily I had made chilli mince and vegetables so there was enough to reheat for her.

And again, being China, immediately she had eaten, miraculously she had a message from her mother telling her she needed to get home to visit her Grandfather in hospital as he had fallen down the stairs. Maybe he had but I am too jaundiced, family emergencies crop up at opportune moments too often here for me to actually believe any of them. And to think that she actually asked to stay rather than my suggesting it......

I pleased the Mercan contigent tonight by giving them “Mac and Cheese” and also made my first attempt at rice pudding. The latter was not entirely successful despite using a litre of milk it still came out (as Alice eloquently compared it) like the fillings for Zhangzi at dragon boat festival. I suppose if I bought banana leaves I could sell those instead! But hell, with a hundred different recipes online it was difficult to find one to replicate Mum's.

Annie and Steph were trying to coax me into going on a trip with them for Mayday holiday. Well actually I don't get a holiday at all, it is Sunday, Monday and Tuesday next week and teach on Saturday the Monday classes you will not see. I don't teach Monday or Tuesday. I will get no holiday.

Anyway, they were trying to coerce me into going to Dunhuang. On the dates they want to go a return economy flight is 2,000\ and business double that. The train takes 14 hours and only hard seats are still available. Oh yes, definitely right up my alley. Why do they want to go? Because it's in the Gobi desert and you can ride a camel.

Apart from the fact I have a vision of my mounting a bactrian beast, the spine collapsing and two humps crushing me, what on earth possessed them to think I might be persuaded to spend half a day to go to the seaside without any sea, a city utterly devoid of any western restaurants in or out of hotels just to squidge in sand?

They know how I like to travel and it is not backpacking. Christ, they should know, I paid for the most expensive suite in Xining. They are also perhaps a little selfish. They know full well I am trying to save for summer, something now in jeopardy with the dearth of my cigars and having to pay well over the odds.