Saturday 29^th August 2020 1500

I am a tad concerned at the news Adriana just imparted. She had intended to go travelling to Dunhuang but now cannot because she has a fever. My first question was had she been tested for Covid and she replied no, she had seen a doctor and he was of the opinion it wasn't the dreaded lurgy. I bloody hope he's right or Jody and I might have to isolate!

So here we are still in August and this afternoon I turned my office heater on! It's cold, wet and miserable, supposedly for the weekend but warmer in the week. We've certainly had more rain here this year than the previous three combined and the Huanghe (Yellow River) is once again the highest I have ever seen it – and looking particularly babyshit-coloured into the bargain.

Yesterday we went to BHG for supplies, good job I bought potatoes, which means I only need to go to the jing jo shop today. I was going to get a new watch battery but it will have to wait. Monday morning I have to meet Brenda at the PSB to surrender my passport and apply for another year.

I was looking on Chizhou university's website this morning and noted they are restarting a week from Monday, the same as us – some unis start this Monday. And hell are they taking the virus seriously. Existing students are instructed to return over the course of next week and they are only allowed to return on the day allocated for their major. The foreign language department are designated for Thursday but history and art drew the short straw with Monday. And if the students come in their parents' cars they must part company at the south gate – only students and teachers are allowed in. Normally the parents can drop them off at their dormitories, most of them have a lot of luggage, especially for the colder part of the year. Nothing wrong with being careful but the south gate? You can't get further from the dorms that that! I think it was almost 2km from my flat and on arriving it is all uphill. The west gate would halve the distance but that's far too sensible a solution I suppose. They really should create an east gate too, that would be even better.

Monday 31^st 1500

It transpired that Adriana had simply caught a cold (the Chinese immediately go to hospital at the slightest sniffle) and so embarked on her trip to Dunhuang after all.

This morning it was arranged that I would meet Brenda at the PSB at 1030 but first she had to go and apply to renew my work permit. I was early and she was late (not her fault as she was delayed getting the work permit), resulting in my sitting in the bus shelter outside the place for nearly an hour, smoking three cigars for my sins.

The hold-up with the work permit was because, as so often happens, some jobsworth decided to interpret the “rules” (there are none I believe, merely guidance notes) and decided at 64 I couldn't have one. The fact that I was already outside the guidelines when I first came to Lanzhou and have been granted three permits since so far was apparently lost on the official. She asked Brenda “Do you really want to employ this foreigner?” and I am unaware of her answer other than it having been affirmative. I think my sarcasm were I in her shoes would have come to the fore – no I'm here for the fun of it. With the expiry date looming she pointed out it was imperative it was submitted today and the jobsworth casually said oh, it's ok, the foreigner can leave and come back. What???? I'm made of money? And where the hell could I go that would even let me in, let alone not make me quarantine for a fortnight and then again on my return here? Officials eh?

Anyway, the PSB for once was an absolute treat. Normally you have to take a number and wait for ages. We were the only ones because laowei are a bit thin on the ground lately. Fifteen minutes and we were done. My passport now consists of a sheet of A5 for the next three weeks but I should have the real thing back in time for the combined mid autumn festival and golden week. We are being swindled out of the former as the lunar calendar dictates this year it falls on China's 71^st birthday. I very much doubt they'll extend the break for us!

Jody has agreed to come and spend two nights with me in Xining during the holiday (she hasn't left Lanzhou in a year) and you may recall I eschewed a refund last term when the government scuppered my plans by commandeering the entire hotel so it's all prepaid.

And Roland now has my new glasses so I should have them on Thursday with luck.

 

Thursday 27^th August, 2020 1500

I am now in the annoying habit of waking up for a pee while it is dark and then being unable to get back to sleep again afterwards. I won't give a monkey's left bicep once I am retired but I damned well will when term starts.

Of course, when that is for me is still unknown. Everyone else seems to have their timetable for the term bar me. And you just know there are going to be ructions over scheduling me impossible classroom changes or worse, giving me a four and a half hour lunch break. I did tell them the easy way was to allocate my classes first and fit the other teachers around it but of course that was “too difficult”. Apparently going to war with me at the 11^th hour is easier.

Jody was successful in obtaining my police thingy which to be honest had I gone to sort would probably never have happened. The copper didn't know what to do and as far as I know never spoke English so it would have been frustrating for all involved. Today though I am walking as well as I normally do these days so at least that's something.

Lunch with Adriana was considerably more expensive than anticipated. That's not strictly true but today it cost a lot. We went to Charlie's Burger Bar (which I'd never heard of) and she said it was a breakaway from Buddy's Diner after the founders had a spat. I was sceptical because I don't rate Buddy's at all – the best thing there is the chips, the pizzas are straight from a supermarket freezer and the “chefs” couldn't even cook baked beans on toast properly.

So it was perhaps foolhardy on my part, not to mention presumptuous of the young waiter to ask me if I wanted to, to fork out 2,000¥ on a membership before I had even sampled the food. I did though, sight unseen, lured by the promise of 300¥ extra on the account, free cocktails today and two free steak meals to be eaten within twelve months.

Do I get a VIP card like Brother's Boat? No, it's only Wechat! So my account is now under Adriana's control, however if she doesn't clean it out, allegedly all I need to do is quote her phone number if I go with A N Other. For someone on a diet she is a greedy bitch though! Two large tacos (one of which would have done for my entire daily intake), fish and chips followed by cheesecake and two cocktails. Ok, she took some of the fish home for later. Me? Standard classic cheeseburger, that's it.

Now here's where it could have gone terribly wrong. She'd ordered two cocktails (long Island Iced Tea and a Mojito) and I ordered a bottle of bordeaux for 299¥. More than I normally would spend but what the hell. My first taste was disappointing but I never complained. I have drunk worse very occasionally. Naturally I struck that one off my list for future visits.

Next thing I knew, they had whisked away the carafe and my glass and via Adriana they explained the boss had smelt the bottle and it was shit. Ok, well done, just give me another red that tastes ok, I'm not that fussy. That was the last bottle of wine in the place! The menu only had cocktails, scotch (yuk!) and beer so I ordered a Corona. Can you envisage me with a Mojito or Orgasm??

I decided the place was OK when, before the beer arrived they sent someone out to buy wine from a supermarket and brought me two glasses on the house. When we left the bill was 290¥ - leaving the account 2010¥ in credit – I still have two steaks to claim and the next visit the wine is half price. If only all Chinese places worked like that. Oh and when we were paying I noticed they had Tanqueray on the shelf and apparently they have tonic too. I shall return! Just a pity it is poles apart from here by way of distance, three quarters of an hour in a taxi one way. I'll take Jody before work starts.

Wonder how she got on at the bank today..........

 

Tuesday 25^th August, 2020 1500

Yesterday I went shopping and Jody came along to grab some lunch before going to school to use the photocopier and also go to her bank branch to try and sort out her problems. In China you can't simply go to any branch, it has to be the one you opened your account with in the first instance. Quite whether that applies (it probably does) if you move to, say, Beijing or Shanghai a thousand miles away I hope I never have to find out.

Just before we left though, an arm on her glasses broke and detached. It's not repairable, the opticians confirmed that and of course she can't order and pay for a new set because her account is frozen. I offered to pay to get the ball rolling – they'll take a couple of days to make, Vision Express not being an option in Lanzhou – but she prefers to wait until she can use her own money. I have offered to do a Jack Duckworth on them but for some reason she's not keen!

She's no further forward really, basically her friends who she helped when sending money abroad for them, now have to go and show the paperwork to the main branch downtown – which is where I had to open my account due to my Christian name being a “bad” one, you may recall.

Today I planned to visit the local police station to obtain whatever it is they give you so the school and I can apply for a further year's permit. About two hours ago I stood up to go and get a beer from the fridge and contrived to pull a muscle in my upper thigh! Currently I cannot walk. Jody, bless her, is about to trot down there in my place and I hope they will give it to her. Being the first time I have ever been asked to do it myself I assume Brenda has done it before so it shouldn't be an issue. I am though, heartily glad that the crutches I bought after the fall in the shower and which I had intended to donate to the east campus surgery are still in fact residing next to my desk. With any luck they will not be required tomorrow.

 

Sunday 23^rd August, 2020 Lanzhou 1630

In the end I guess I got about two-thirds of my shopping list – notable failures were Bisto and malt vinegar, despite an extensive quest which even extended to a shop nigh on at the foot of the Pearl Tower. I did manage to get some “treats” such as liverwurst, ham spread etc which will be ideal for making sandwiches for lunches at work. I even splashed out nearly £9 on a tin of corned beef!

TJ went to meet Alice at the train station and as always was late so we had the kitchen in the Big Bamboo on standby until they arrived finally at 2230. She was in her hotel room for precisely twelve hours, then it was lunch at the Flying Fox, after which she and TJ went to a science museum and the fake market (not sure it's officially called that!) before she got a train home again.

The last evening saw eight of us wander down to Las Tapas, a place I took Joanna to a couple of years ago when Roland was out of town. Rinka did an excellent job of ordering nearly every dish on the menu including a paella and a monster steak. Muggins here was as usual suffering digestive issues and, quite apart from not feeling hungry, was mightily concerned about toilet needs at 35,000 feet! A great pity as some of the plates looked lovely although I did venture to eat a huge prawn from the paella.

And the bill – thanks Rinka! - was I am pretty sure our record to date at just under 3,000¥. And do you know, I really didn't care. For the first time ever I never needed to tap up Roland, there was money in my UK account and I had enough yuan left to cover a month's salary. Not bad given the cost of the specs.

The following morning Roland kindly took me to the airport where yet again I had to go to the naughty room due to a suspicious package in my suitcase. The tin of Libby's corned beef! The VIP lounge was good, a lovely chilled white but sadly not enough time to quaff a whole bottle, had I been feeling a little better I may have tried some hot food but I waited until the plane.

It never ceases to amaze me that it's pot luck on the planes as to whether they have wine or beer and if they actually have cold beer. It's about time Chinese airlines woke up to the fact that whilst the Chinese happen to be content with juice and coffee, the old laowei paying top dollar for business class ain't doing so just for a bigger seat – he wants a drink! There may come a time when I just fly economy, queue to check in and buy some booze in the terminal to take on the plane. Pity that's not possible in Lanzhou.

I did though have some sort of spicy chicken in-flight meal, not much but probably more than for a few days previously and I arrived thoroughly drained. After collecting my suitcase I went to leave the airport and suddenly found security were all over me like wasps on a jam tart! Passport! Passport! Oh no, I was not allowed out. Despite my protestations that I live here and was here fifteen days prior, I had to be escorted to the men in white coats at disease control! Tired and now on the high end of the irritability scale, I brandished my green code. I mean, really, the city I have called home for four years is the one kicking up a fuss??? I was telling them I was a laoshe, I live in Peili Guanchan and eventually a white coat twigged and gave me a docket to escape. The thought entered my head to tell them I was starting an English Lives Matter campaign but realised they probably never heard of the other one anyway. To my disgust, at the second escape attempt I never even had the satisfaction of saying Hah! and waving the chit in their faces.

The taxi took me the strangest route home (for a previously agreed fare) but made it in the end.

Why didn't Jody join me in Shanghai? She said she thought the dates were later but the truth is she was just lounging around or in bed all day and then her bank account was frozen so she had no access to money! She's been doing favours for people by transferring currency to Kiwi and Merca and exceeded the $50,000 annual limit. That'll teach her. She's going to try and sort it out at the bank tomorrow but while I was away she resorted to plundering my piggy bank, the one I put one yuan coins in.

So I have arrived at the conclusion that I definitely bit off more than I could chew trying to keep up with Joanna but the holiday was after all about her. It completely knocked the stuffing out of me and perhaps now I need to get in the habit of taking siestas. But hell, they were ten of the best days of my life and if I haven't put her off I'd love to do something with her again next year, maybe with less cities and flights. I doubt the UK will be a realistic option before my retirement.

Jody and I went out earlier, my first time since getting back. Spare lights needed for office and loo, one of my watches had a battery failure and I decided after fifteen years my Phillips electric razor had to go. Tomorrow it's BHG, Brenda needs to email me the stuff to get printed to take to the cop shop and that's about it.

 

Tuesday 18^th August, 2020 Ramada Plaza Pudong 1430

So yesterday afternoon was glasses day. Roland and TJ took me to some shopping centre, I can't remember the name but it was something like the Jeremy Clarkson Centre. It was decided I did not need varifocals and that bifocals would be sufficient. That never stopped me from managing to ramp up the bill to nearly the top end of the scale at 6,500¥ though (or over £700) but they will when they arrive from Japan be reactolite. I might even be able to read again.

I even managed to get a new backscratcher. Not the conventional type but needs must. As you can see from the photo most people probably use it for serving spaghetti from the pan but my need is more urgent.

Then it was time for my first outing on the Shanghai underground at rush hour. If only rush hours could be that quiet worldwide all the time!

Last night was a bumper evening for guests with us totalling eight people. Roland, TJ, Mr & Mrs Mulan, Mr & Mrs Tutu, Rinka and I. We started at the Goose Brewery (where I sampled a revolting-looking Ribena lookalike that actually tasted like beer) and then went to a tapas restaurant.

As seems to often be the case, we over-ordered on the starters and came nowhere even close to ordering mains. However the starters were well worth it, with gorgeous dried hams, stuffed baby squids and other delicacies. I actually ate! Ok it was Roland's turn in the chair (funny how it's always either him or me!) and he just beat my total by racking up a tab of 2,400¥. That's about £260 including chardonnay and for a party of eight. Eye-watering money for me but naturally par for the course as a bill for two in Henley.

Everyone else cluttered off home afterwards so it was just the big fella and me off to that little bar I splatted in the previous night. I didn't splat, I went one better. I excelled by head-butting the loo door on the way out, chipping the top corner of one of my lenses (good job they are going soon) and unbeknown to me, drawing blood from my left cheek. The bar owner was horrified and huckled me to her first aid box to smack a plaster on the wound. Thank you very much.

Not quite sure when the night finished as I never checked my watch but I think it was around two. It ended on a bit of a sour note and to be honest I'm not sure quite why but at least I did get to fuss the dog without landing on top of it!

So the good news is that Alice from Baiyin/Lanzhou is coming from Zhejiang to stay tomorrow night. I have booked her a room but she's not arriving until about 2100 and expects me to wait for dinner until she gets here!

Going for a shower shortly then a stroll to the little City Store to see if I can buy anything that's on my Shanghai shopping list.

 

Friday 14^th August, 2020 Crowne Plaza, Nanning 1020

Sichuan Airlines are another one off my list. No food or booze in their lounge at Chongqing airport and a single bottle of water on the actual flight. Nice surprise before we left the hotel though – the GM had sent the chef out to get pork sausages for my breakfast!

By the time we got here last night we were too tired to go out and so had snacks in the VIP lounge. The plan was to go to Yangmei today but that went out of the window when I woke up with nausea and a horrendous belly-ache and Joanna slept late. I have a terrible feeling I won't be leaving this hotel until it is time to leave for Shanghai. I am not happy.

So not a lot to write about except Joanna's boss has been setting questions for prizes.

Sunday 16^th 1300 Xiamen Airlines NNG-SHA

Sadly Nanning was all but a write-off. Felt under the weather most of yesterday. Not a morsel passed my lips on Friday so I asked Joanna to bring me a croissant and a yoghurt from breakfast. Didn't want them but I at least wanted to take her for dinner in the evening.

Which indeed I did. I had researched three places (the original intention was to visit one each night but now we were down to just the one). “The best English pub in Nanning” trumpeted TripAdvisor -The Queen's Head.

Great start, we arrived in a taxi at ten to six to find the shutters down and some sign in Chinese about the virus. Ok, back in the taxi for her to get on her smartphone and find the number two choice – Mars. That one sounded interesting as it starts out being a bistro/cafe but then later they open a secret “speakeasy” out the back, apparently a cross between a Yankee prohibition bolthole and a Victorian pub. Except neither she nor the driver could find any trace of it. I know it exists. But, just as we were going to leave for a French place they found, someone came and opened the shutters. Joanna asked when they opened, seven.

Fine, we went and found a restaurant fifty yards away where we could sit outside and I could have a beer while we waited and she could take a stroll. Now the best English pub in Nanning is nothing to write home about. Small (no problem with that) with a large TV screen and pool table and little else. Or customers! We were it!! Apparently their clientele don't come out to play until ten.

But we both wanted a drink and some food so got some wings for Joanna and later, fish and chips and sausage and chips. Again nothing special, with the exception of the bangers. They are home made (whose home I have no idea) 100% pork with herbs. And I have to say, they are the best sausages I have ever found in China. But we left and we were still the only customers and that was Nanning in a nutshell.

I was beginning to lose all faith in flying business class here ever again seeing as there was no alcohol in the airport lounge. However, Xiamen have given us a choice of chicken, beef or seafood dinners plus I have a decent glass of red beside me as I type. And refills kept coming.......

Next stop Shanghai.

Monday 17^th 1130

I have arrived at the conclusion that six cities, five flights and a train ride in the space of ten days is probably the prerogative of the young. This old fart simply cannot handle the pace any more. As I remarked to Roland yesterday, they say old age creeps up on you but in my case it rode up behind me on a Harley, clobbered me and proceeded to kick me all over the park.

So Joanna and I parted at Hongqiao, she to take the subway and me to get a taxi here to the Pudong Ramada Plaza. Joining us last night were Tutu and boyfriend (who didn't get drunk this time – I think he was warned by her), Mulan and Mr Mulan and of course Mini-Roland TJ. A few happy hour drinks in the Big Bamboo and I suggested the seven of us tottered (in my case at least) over the road to Bollywood for a Ruby.

Being, for the first time in a decade, in a position whereby I may just actually have enough money to avoid going overdrawn at the Bank of Orange, I showed my largesse by saying I would pick up the tab.

I think the meal was good but as is so often the case with me, I never ate anything myself. Not a bad thing methinks, given my digestive health of late. Of course, that never prevented my consumption of copious quantities of a rather delicious (and cheap at 200¥ a bottle) chilled chardonnay.

I have no idea when we finished up there and sadly I forgot to take my camera so no pics but Roland, TJ and I went to a bar close to my hotel for nightcaps, or more accurately breakfast-caps. Maybe the lack of paparazzi was a bonus hereafter.

Now I do have an immense capacity for alcohol intake, after all I do so from morning till night, but sometimes – and we've all been there, more usually in youth than pensionable age unlike this dodo – the brain is perfectly lucid but the body is errant. I love dogs. Well I love animals but dogs are special. There was a small, fluffy, black dog sitting on the decking outside the bar with its lead anchored under a chair leg. Too cute not to bend down and stroke and all the usual things we do with man's best friend. I couldn't resist but now wish I was more heartless.

As I bent down saying “Hello boy” and whatever other endearment I could think of, to my horror I never stopped bending down. I have been really good of late but what ensued was a full-blooded SPLAT face down. For a split second my mind wondered if anyone had noticed a minke whale had beached but of course the world had seen. Helping hands arrived and pulled my 82kgs upright despite my idiotic protestations that I could get up myself. I know damned well without a block and tackle I can't any more! But that's the wonderful thing about drinking – embarrassment is a fleeting emotion, long-forgotten after all of a second. And so endeth day one of my five day stay in Shanghai! The dog? Swiftly gathered up by a concerned owner and spirited away somewhere to recover from the traumatisation presumably.

At three Roland is coming to collect me to take me to get my eyes tested and for me to order new goggles that this time will hopefully work. It's a pity opticians don't offer a trade-in service for your old bins, the current ones haven't even been run in yet.

Tonight I think we will have just one lady with us, Rinka. Who knows, I may just stay upright tonight! But hey – I never started a fight, just gave a few locals something to tell their children about!

Apologies for what seems to have been a problem with the previous post being empty and if I am repeating photos. 

 

Wednesday 12^th August, 2020 Crowne Plaza Chongqing 1730

Catastrophe this morning. Ran out of jing jo. Thought I had at least ¼ litre tucked away in some underpants but no. So after breakfast (yes, went down this time) we went shopping. God it's hot. And humid too.

Found a Carrefour where Madam promptly stocked up on Sichuan hotpot stock mixes which weighed in at 10lbs and she sensibly paid to have them couriered to Shanghai to save lugging them. Can't see Tesco doing that! I got my necessaries and some socks and by the time we got back to the hotel I was parched – time to claim the two free welcome beers!

I was sitting alone drinking them when a middle-aged woman came in for her lunch. She was western and looked familiar and she even greeted me. We got chatting and I diplomatically asked her if it began with an A or an N, which she thought was a great way not to insult either Ockers or Kiwis. Don't know about you but I find them hard to differentiate. She's from Auckland, Sharon Fraser if you are ever here. She's also the first GM I have seen since Hilton Steve was around and as I have long said, if the boss might appear around the corner at any moment the staff are on their toes – terrific for the customer. She didn't think she had encountered Steve and was intrigued, so Steve, she said she was going to do her research! Guess your line of work is incestuous.

Anyway, Fanny went to the pool, bought an “ugly” swimming costume (I haven't seen it but she'd look good in a hessian sack) and her plan to go for late lunch at an Italian basically went by the board. Well we were supposed to go at three and that would have been dinner for me, then she was (and is) going sightseeing and having a viciously spicy hotpot later. Knowing she had her heart set on a hotpot (and knowing there was no way I was going and still keeping my bowels intact) I bade her farewell and said I would eat snacks again tonight for my dinner and if I needed more I'd get a Big Mac up the road. Not exactly gourmet dining but I did say Chongqing was hers and Nanning is mine.

Now I want to take her to Yangmei. I looked at the weather in Nanning today so I'm not sure she will be keen to take a bus ride and a cow taxi! 34ºC - not too bad eh? Until that is you look at the “feels like” comment – 47ºC!!!!! We shall see.

Maybe I crammed too much into this holiday but by God it is absolutely racing by, just when I want it to last forever.

 

Monday 10^th August, 2020 1230 En route to Hefei

I never investigated breakfast at the last hotel, partly due to lack of appetite and partly because Joanna told me there was nothing of interest for me. This morning I did get her to bring me a croissant afterwards though.

We boarded the train at 1130 and we are the only ones in business class. Waste of money for an hour and a half journey but she'd never travelled in it before. And as you can see from the photo, she lost no time in making the most of the seat!

1900

Mini reunion with Smile, one of her classmates and ergo one of my oldest chicks, She seems to be doing ok as a Clerk to the Justices or whatever they are in China. We all went for dinner in Bitburger (well, I had half a dinner, meant to take it back to the hotel to have for breakfast on the way to the airport but forgot it). Joanna had a huge Aberdeen Angus rib steak which to her credit she ate. And then in view of having to leave the hotel by 0600 it was bedtime.

Tuesday 11^th 2045 Chongqing

Getting up was a bit of a chore but I managed a shower at least. The taxi was early so we left at about 0545 and arrived at 0625. And then we had the fiasco with names on tickets once again. In China I use Trip.com and select frequent travellers, details of which the site saves and autofills. It seems it did the right thing for Shanghai to Chizhou but not for Hefei to Chongqing. All to do with ID. Chinese people can travel just using their credit card type ID (us laowei need passports) or their passport. I wouldn't cart a passport around if I didn't have to and so neither does she. But one has her name in English, the other in Chinese characters. Her name is exactly the same but because it is a different language, quack quack oops. Luckily no need to cancel her ticket and buy another for more money, she just had her details changed and ten minutes later we were good to go.

Apart from the masks you wouldn't think the Chinese domestic airline industry had a problem with Covid. Business class was full. No idea about cattle class though.

One of my lessons is entitled “My Hometown” and I think it gives examples from Kunming and Chongqing among others. I have on many occasions demonstrated what a “concrete and steel jungle” is and I now know they weren't lying! It is quite literally a city seemingly consisting of skyscrapers.

Too hot for me to do much, went with her and sat while she had noodles and went off exploring, I went for a sneaky 11¥ plain cheeseburger simply to fill a hole and then back for a nap. Tonight I had grudgingly agreed to go for a hotpot (a terrifying prospect when you remember we are in what used to be in Sichuan before becoming its own region).

But tonight she took a bath, decided she was too full from the lunchtime noodles and didn't want to eat. Thankfully the lobby bar had some snacks on offer during happy hour and I don't need much to keep me happy. McDonald's is fifty yards away anyway.

Tomorrow I will get her to check our bookings to Nanning and Shanghai to see if we need to head off problems at the pass.

 

Sunday 9^th August, 2020 1600 Chizhou, Grand New Century Hotel

So we had a meal with Helen, some bald guy who cooked at her home once, a bald (allegedly famous) Chinese artist, her sister and the artist's wife. It was the usual affair, they all loved the dishes but I hated them and wished for a Big Mac instead but at least there was beer.

I was waiting for it and when it came I wasn't disappointed. “Steven, my weekend/summer school now has 120 students.” That's good, isn't it? “Would you have time on Sunday to come and talk to them?”Wham! I didn't want to. I'm on holiday. But to be fair she always looked after me once or twice each summer when I would spend a morning testing her kids. I was paid 300¥ and treated to lunch afterwards and in those days the money was certainly most welcome. So I said reluctantly I would but for one hour. Knowing full well it would go to nearer two. No such thing as a free lunch eh? Well I had two beers, one lump of fatty pork and two little potato discs of unknown provenance. Sod it, for old times' sake.

Yesterday I never moved from the room. 

Joanna went exploring on her own and went to see if she could get into Chizhou university for a photo. She hasn't been back since she graduated six years ago so very understandable.

They wouldn't let her in. In fact they told her this summer the only people there are security, even the current students and faculty are not allowed in. Glad I never went.

Molly's plans to take us to her home to meet the family went awry and we simply ended up meeting at RT Mart to find a restaurant in New West Street. There was a place I used to like and I think they did a dish I really liked, possibly akin to sweet and sour pork. It has disappeared. So we looked at other places and I saw a picture that had prawns in it and we went there. I had eaten very sparsely since leaving Lanzhou so simply had to get some food inside.

The girls ordered the food and I merely stipulated prawns. We ended up with fried potatoes, deep fried frog (which was quite nice) and great prawns along with spicy fried veg. What was unusual was that there was a huge sheet of brown paper to cover the table because there would be no plates – the food is chucked on there. Literally. Each dish came out on a shovel! It was though an awful lot better than the photo suggests. 

Afterwards we went to a bar near the hotel where four G&Ts, a mojito and a mocktail set me back a reasonable 150¥.

Today of course was time to see Helen's students. A car was sent for us and I started my“hour”at 1100 knowing damned well I wouldn't be done at midday. I was though at 1240. Helen gave me a lucky red envelope which I gave to Joanna to put in her handbag and a group of us were taken in a lovely Buick out in the countryside.

Now, I am sure many of you will find the idea of going for lunch at a Chinese farm extremely odd and who could blame you? This one, unless you knew exactly where it was, you would never find. It was about a mile up a rough track but the farm was sitting right on the shore of Pingtian lake. Rough as guts but here you get used to that, water off the proverbial ducks. They breed their own fish, chickens, ducks, geese and grow their own vegetables and lotus flowers in the lake.

It really was a spit and sawdust affair but we sat outside, most of the food I wasn't keen on but green beans were fine, as was the aubergine concoction and an omelette.

After lunch we were chauffeured back to the hotel and Smile came. One of Joanna's classmates and of course my ex student. She couldn't stay too long as she was meeting colleagues from the law courts, she is now a clerk there.

In the end we abandoned ideas of finding restaurants for dinner and opted for the hotel AYCE buffet for 128¥ a head. For someone with a normal appetite – even western – I must say it was impressive. I had very little but nonetheless sit here right now feeling too full.

Tomorrow is a short hop to Hefei and a brief overnight stop before flying to Chongqing.