Saturday 11th March, 2017                    1930

Managed an unbroken sleep until 1100 which will come in handy given that the England match won’t finish until 0200 or so.

Decided not to cook but instead go and buy some more gas (not bad, after six months I have used 100y which is a lot less than the electricity!) and then continue on to the fried chicken place near the gas shop. The only other time I went there I had a whole chicken which was fine. Please bear in mind Chinese chickens are runts, even I can eat a whole one.

So when I walked down to Peili Square I found police on point duty. The vehicular traffic lights functioned but the pedestrian red and green men were out. Ok not a problem, I may be an idiot in some respects but I have enough wit to observe the colour of light the cars get and to only cross when they are on red and even then keeping a weather eye out because well, this is China.

Oh no. I had a copper blowing his whistle just as I was about to start my way to the central part where the bus stop is. Nope, I wasn’t allowed to cross there, I should go further back and take the stairs to the overpass. Not said in English of course but I got the idea.

I looked at the bobby to indicate “rowlocks”, pointed up the road and said I would cross 50 yards further up where the barriers have cutouts. I felt treated like I was  either a simpleton or a geriatric walking with the aid of a Zimmer frame. I am still alive and no cars were injured in the process of my crossing the road.

After buying another 3 months worth of gas I continued towards the chicken place. I don’t know what other people think of drones (the latest fad, not the bees) but I believe they should be illegal, point blank. One will bring an airliner down one day. However, did I not see a group of three young men with what I assume was a very expensive piece of kit, setting it up on the pavement in front of me. I walked past and stopped to watch. The control box was very hi-tech and the operator tested the navigation lights were working and that the underslung camera swivelled and pivoted correctly. A few bob there I thought. Then it took off vertically and silently. It was at that point that I suddenly felt unsafe.

Batteries run out (my student’s phones last less than a day) and electronics malfunction. This thing was made of metal and were it to plummet to earth on a major street (which this is) from 300 feet the force of impact as it collided with someone’s skull  would probably be fatal. So no, their manufacture and sale for public use should be outlawed, ditto model planes and choppers. Sure, in the west you can confine them to being flown in designated zones but here? Above a busy 6 lane road on a Saturday evening with thousands of pedestrians?

This time though when I got to the chicken outlet I opted for set deal C which consisted of a chicken burger, fries and a cola. Ridiculous, thought I, for the princely sum of 10y. Well it WAS ridiculous but not for the reason of cost. The fries were lukewarm and soggy (ok so McDonald’s are often guilty of that but the place was in fact busy so there was no excuse) and I did not like the burger at all. Maybe it’s just me but whenever I’ve had a chicken burger in China I always feel the chicken is undercooked and of course chicken can be deadly in that respect. I left most of it and hardly touched the fries. If I ever go there again I will stick to the whole chicken - at least they cook that properly.