This little break is shaping up to be a simple relaxing getaway, oddly a nice change after the hectic times in Shanghai, Shenyang and Hefei. I feel no sense of guilt over not doing any sightseeing, for I don’t think there are many sights to see!
In fact today I have done absolutely nothing other than shower. I did in fact take a rain check on breakfast (nine o’clock finish indeed!) but may take a mosey down to the restaurant tomorrow seeing as I need to be up at a respectable time to catch my train back just before eleven.
The room is pleasantly comfortable, I have a room at the rear of the hotel which means no road noise (good - see photo of the glorious panorama from the window) but of course this is China and the noise comes from within. Chinese guests knocking on the doors of adjoining rooms at all hours of the night and kids running amok in the corridors at stupid o’clock in the morning. I can’t blame the hotel for that but it was tempting to burst out of my room this morning to do a naked Incredible ulk impression. Had I done that the door would have closed itself and left me in a rather embarrassing position. If I don’t feel too tired tonight and I am still up at midnight I may just conduct a very loud conversation with nobody in particular or simply put the television on at full volume.
I am pleasantly surprised by the hotel, lack of western breakfast notwithstanding it is a good quality hostelry with all the free toiletries you could want and other items which can be bought in-room such as nail clippers, condoms (chance would be a fine thing), playing cards etc. One small gripe concerns the disposable razors, they are not good quality and virtually pull the skin off your face and I wouldn’t exactly describe my beard as tough by any stretch.
Helen and Mum will come later this afternoon along with Helen’s female friend. I also urged them to entice Dad along and even bring their puppy. Somehow they were given one which is only eight weeks old, far too young to be away from its mother. They have been feeding it cows milk and last night I beseeched them to buy the special puppy milk powder from the vet. I also discovered that they don’t actually live in Ningguo.
As is often the case here, they in fact live twenty miles away in the sticks but ally themselves to the nearest “city”. A bit like my being from Marlow and saying I live in Oxford!
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I never set foot outside the room until Helen and Mum arrived. Mum was a Godsend. My new trousers, a week old, had parted company with one of the eyes for threading the belt through. Probably more the fault of my cinching the belt so tight to keep the damned things up than the trousers themselves but I needed a seamstress. Mum didn’t disappoint and so there was the incongruous sight of me sitting in my boxers, Helen looking at my computer photos of my recent travels while Mum got to work with needle and thread.
And then it was off to dinner. This time we needed a taxi and they took me to a place which was very reminiscent of Love In Town but smaller. Importantly, they had those little computer thingies with photos to order from - and order I did. Sweet pork, cabbage hotpot, prawn platter, some strange pork mince cakes which were really quite nice, mixed vegetables and a dish called snowflakes with braised vegetables. I never quite got to the bottom of what the snowflakes were but they were disgusting. I reckon they were supposed to be pork neck but in fact they seemed to be plain deep fried pork fat. Overall though, a very nice meal.
Despite our deal last night Mum tried to renege, saying through Helen that as my hosts they should pay. I wasn’t having any of it and turned the loss of face card back on her. I had expected a bill of 300y and was highly pleased when it was just 200y. I let Mum pay for the cab back to the hotel by way of concession!
They are both coming back in the morning to escort me to the train station so I have promised to brew them both a cup of English breakfast tea at 0930 - wonder if they will like it? As I need to be up early I will make the effort to see what is on offer for breakfast, if nothing else I can eat a few pots of yoghurt, always good for the digestion but hopefully not rapid acting on the train. I can’t think of many worse predicaments to be in than stuck in a Chinese train squat loo needing a number two - quite apart from the physical problems the stench has to be experienced to be believed.
Just a fortnight to go until term starts and unusually I still have itchy feet. I am seriously considering another last weekend foray, maybe to Ma’anshan which I am told is beautiful. Nothing is decided but the seeds are there.
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