postcards

I had a chat with Art in our campus apartment (not the ones we live in separately) and he told me he was going to dump Man later today. I said it would probably be fine and so it turned out.　　He went round to Man's house and was introduced to a bunch of his friends and had to ask to speak to him private but Man took it very adultly, only to send a catty text message later on. Andrew came round later to mine to watch the last Peep Show in the series and Ingrid was in attendance, having been instrumental in helping me clear up the place. Mouldy broccoli, dirty dishes, piles of take away containers. After PS we watched a bit of a political satire which prompted a discussion about swearing and we sat and chatted for hours. Art has a best Chinese friend who he wants to come out to but is worried about her reaction, as she keeps talking about girlfriends for him. Ida had a tiny sip of the red wine Art brought round and felt tipsy on it. It really was two thimbles full and no more. All in all, the first time the three of us have sat down in the comfort of an apartment and soft lighting, though the heating has not yet been switched on and its very parky today. Someone is singing outside.

It's nearly ii.00 PM here and two guys have just wrapped up a game of Chinese chess in the lamplight. There are usually guys outside playing it all day long and often very vocal about it. I'm thinking when Dexter comes in November we might find out what all the fuss is about.

Have had to complete an online test that the Foreign Experts Bureau have just set up to weed out the dumbos in China. You have to fill in an online CV, do a basic knowledge test, a psychology test, a written essay on a surprise topic and an online interview, which I haven't done as yet. The psychology test in particular was written in at times such incomprehensible Chinglish I genuinely couldn't understand some of the questions. The Foreign Experts Bureau is a well funded Government body that is one of the faces of China and yet it's clear they didn't employ one solitary native proofreader.

Other than than that, I had a wobble last week when I improvised a coffee stirrer with a rolled up mini milk sachet and virtually the whole class gasped in horror. The absurdity of this, when one sees the the day to day general hygiene of the students and Chinese at large falling a great way behind the West, made me have some sharp words with them, which, naturally, were wasted. I didn't point out their failings, merely said I don't scream when I see someone cough without covering their mouth. The following email exchange followed between the class monitor and I.

DEAR JAMES
I AM THE MONITOR OF CLASS 3, I AM GAGA. THAT DAY, IN YOUR CLASS, MAY BE MY CLASSMATES' IMPROPER BEHAVIVER MAKE YOU LOSE FACE OR HURT YOU. IF INDEED SO,SORRY AND PLEASE FORGIVE OUR BAD MANNER. BCAUSE WE DON'T WANT TO MAKE YOU LOSE FACE.THE SCREAMING IS NOT TO LOOK DOWN ON YOUR BEHAVIOR AT THAT TIME, IT MEANS THAT WE WANT TO TELL IT IS A LITTLE DIRTY. MAY BE YOU THINK IT'S OK. BUT IN CHINA, IT'S INDEED SO. MAY BE IT'S THE HUGE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE CULTURES. IN THE FOLLOWING TIME, WE WILL PAY MORE ATTENTION TO OUR MANNER IN YOUR.
I AM WAITING FOR YOUR FORGIVENESS !
GAGA

(My email is lost as Yahoo don't automatically save sent mail but it was something along the lines of...)

Gaga,

PLASTIC SPOONGATE

I will talk about this in class but I will say now that it is I who should apologise, as I shouldn't have lost my temper.

Have a good weekend,

James.

I have recently been pondering on how correctly to strike the balance between writing a riveting gossip column and not betraying the trust of those I still call my friends.
Largely honest though this blog is, it is also requires you to read large chunks of it in between the lines. Not least because I have sent all my friends the link to this site and they are its chief readers.
Anyway, just back from 4 days in Beijing. Picked up suitcase, hung out with Dan/other half and Todd and new and -less shy than when I met her a month ago- other half, and conducted a marriage counselling workshop. Some might dispute that last claim, but I can explain how that works if I meet you face to face.

I met up with Auntie whilst there (she came from Shanghai) and we shared a ride back in a soft sleeper. Soft sleepers are not my cup of tea. At least in a hard sleeper you have the choice of anonymity or the chance to practice your Chinese. In a soft sleeper it's more likely someone middle class wants to practice their English and they might be nice, they might be a new best friend who calls you "buddie" and doesn't give you a bit of privacy. Or you might get a timid English backpacker whose sojourn in first class is a brave departure from his comfort zone in deskjob land. I met a nice Englishman on the way back to Yongbo who not only asked me for a complete list ideas of what to do in Yongbo, despite my repeated assertion I'd only just arrived myself, but when I suggested he wander around Yongbo at random on a bike he showed me a map and asked me where I'd start, then which direction I'd go, and which after that. Even though I was staring at map having no idea of what I was looking at, rather like him.

The whole backdrop to this was the 60th anniversary celebration of 5000 year old China. Alot of choreography, and many of those involved were actually supplied with nappies because they had to spend hours and hours in one spot, a taxi driver informed us. The idea of thousands of Chinese women who had wet themselves jumping up and down or marching in step in bare leg, I find bearable. I am not excited by, indeed I sympathise with, some of the old suits who were doubtless not kitted out in this season's Mothercare. Judging by the expression of one I saw on TV in the hostel lounge I stayed in, he had either done a whoopsie, or badly wanted to, as he grimly waved his little nylon flag. Perhaps he was acutely aware of the fact that it was all a bag of shite. I wasn't trying to suggest that parading nuclear weapons and celebrating a better tomorrow were in anyway engaging in child's play. I wasn't...but in a way children playing in their little world is an interpretation, though I'd say children live in the moment and aren't so corrupted as us "adults" are, so the comparison cannot be too far stretched.
Of course, Britain invented or certainly helped popularise brass band pomp and though the Chinese don't quite get the fact that they are as belligerent as the next infallible spec of humanity, one can hardly logically begrudge their rise on the world stage, fraught though it is with new dangers, as all progress is.

So that was my highly eventful trip to Beijing... most of which I've not spoken about. But what I will let you in on is a few of the most interesting text messages I've sent and received this past month. I don't have time to drop them in all now, so I'll just give you a taster.

18:35 28/09/09

To Todd, Sam, Dan, Auntie

I want a female construction worker.

19:29 28/09/09

18:37 28/09/09

From: Todd

Wearing a police uniform?

18:41 28/09/09

To: Todd

The gear they wear on site is fine. Just saw a couple walking home, with hard hats, pony tails and shovels slung over shoulder.

From: Dan

??Ok.

19:17 29/09/09

From: Art

REALLY SORRY ABOUT THE NOISE THIS MORNING.

(This appeared to refer to Man's banging on my door at 5.00 in the morning. I texted back "No worries").

19:22 29/09/09

THANK U. RIDICULOUS DRAMA WITH MAN. WILL EXPLAIN WHEN YOU'RE BACK FROM THE CAPITAL. HAVE A MOST EXCELLENT TIME!

23:19 30/09/09

From: Todd

My landlady wants to take you out before you leave, which afternoon/evening suits you best?

23:27 30/09/09

From: Todd

My roommates are engrossed in a game of civilization so the murder game isn't happening but feel free to stop for hookah, i've got some fresh flavors.

...but I seem to have accidentally wangled a nice new 19" widescreen Samsung LCD monitor.

The unadjustable 60hz CRT model the uni supplied had been giving me headaches and nauseous feelings and I told Han about it yesterday. She said just give her a few days but she actually got things turned around by this morning. When I took the old one out I could see it had only been loosely connected, could that have been the real cause of the problem or at least why it couldn't be adjusted to a higher setting? In the interests of equality, Art gets one also. I feel a bit ill looking at this one, too, but suspect that is because I haven't recovered from the strain caused by the last one. I really felt quite out of sorts yesterday.

I've also had a 76 key Casio WK500 delivered. I have been waiting about 20 years for a keyboard around this price range to tick all the boxes I want ticked. Now I feel the era of the acceptable home keyboard has finally arrived. I'm loving its Beijing and Guandong rhythm patterns and Casio have supplied 2 songbooks with simple and advanced classical music scores, which show they are serious about it being used as a grown up instrument, even if 'Mary had a little lamb' is one of the demo tunes.

Other than that, I had my first Tai Chi lesson with a student yesterday at 7.00 in the morning, next to the sports track on North Campus. Apparently his father is a master. He taught me one move, which I broke down into 7 parts and filmed him doing on my mobile, for later reference. I'm not sure where it's all heading but it felt good to be out in the open air of a morning. I spend alot of time indoors.

Auntie and I are meeting in Beijing in the October Festival. I already have my 400 yuan soft sleeper ticket, which I can be thankful for, as getting tickets during Moon and Spring Festivals is notoriously tricky if you don't order them the morning they go on sale. Auntie still has to get her ticket from Shanghai, where she will be doing a training course. She has left the accommodation arrangements to me, and I know I probably have carte blanche to book anything from a dormitory in a hostel to something rather more intimate.
Last night when I got back I texted Art to ask if he wanted to watch Peepshow with me. Then Auntie brought round some food she cooked for me and left again. It was very good quality; broccoli, tofu, a salad and a sweet transparent pudding of some kind, which I left untouched. Later, I stepped across the top of the stairwell to Art's, and upon entering discovered he had his friend, Man, with him, who looked me up and down. The flat was in studentesque disarray, Man walked around with his trousers exposing a significant portion of his behind, and opened a beer for me with his teeth. We talked for a bit and I discovered that he is 23 and has lived in Brighton for 4 years, though he hails from Godstone near Redhill, which is only 2 parishes from my mum. I must admit, many gay men seem to think I am in the closet and Man seemed to want to test this notion, flirting with me ever more blatantly.
We watched Peepshow S601, in tandem with Man's talking alot, though it didn't seem to be that great an episode. Then Art put Alan Partridge on. Art was enjoying the acting/facial expressions of a female character who Alan Partridge keeps putting down "You're very cheerful considering it's the first anniversary of your mother's death" more than he was the actual script or performance by Partridge, which I found interesting, as I know a person in my family who would thrive on that aspect of the programme too. I think straight guys tend to secretly identify with the insecurities of Partidge and so focus on that more. But clearly Art is able to empathise, know or appreciate a woman more than I could in some way, so I studied her more closely.
Han came up to deliver Art's digital box and I used this as an excuse to ask her if she would do install mine.
"Are you coming back after?" Man asked.
"No, I've got some things to do." I said, and Man looked somewhat put out.
After Han had gone I rang up Auntie, who came over about 10 minutes later. I rang up Dan to ask if he could get us return tickets and somewhat foolishly tried to conduct a coded conversation about Auntie. She knew that we'd been talking about her so I admitted it and it wasn't a problem. Actually, Dan simply advised that having any kind of hanky panky with her would probably be more trouble than it's worth. After chatting with Auntie I got a sense, which I had alrerady got a little of, that she is very naive sexually and she wants nothing more than to lie in my arms.
She told me some other things, but obviously there's a limit to what I should publish on a blog. All things considered, I'm glad we're still no more than friends.

Auntie and I almost found our scalectrix cars on the same bit of track today, infact it depends where you draw the line, but I think by most people's reckoning we ended up being fairly good. Still, that was close. On another topic, Auntie told me that last year one of the leader's in the university stangled a woman in a car and then tried to commit suicide in the east of the city, where he was found with a "weak voice" after having slashed his wrists. This anecdote was prompted when I jokingly said to Auntie, "I'm going to strangle you."

I have not been in Yongbo three days and already more has happened than I would have anticipated. When I first went to Jiaxing I was given a key to my flat and left to get on with it. Not so here, where the induction process has been much more hands on. Most of my communication has been with Auntie, my own personal liaison at the university and an observant woman. I find I am left with little time to write.
Just three people have entered the stage so far. First is my boss Han, who I cannot help but like. It soon became clear when I met her that she is experienced, sensible and thoughtful. Not to say, butch. In some ways, the same adjectives can be applied to Auntie minus butch, yet she is very different to Han. It didn't take her long to clock onto me as (in her words) a "thinker", and this is what she describes herself as. She soon proved herself unlike most Chinese I have met when she asked me what I hated about China (I find I am normally invited to praise China, in a roundabout sort of way), and she hasn't stopped bucking the normal trend. But in some ways I wish she wasn't so penetrating, as she is fast getting to know me and spotting my talents and flaws. She has already identified me as a talented writer who has experienced tragedy and is seldom happy and is impatient and should eat nuts.
She has admitted that she has (at least in part) been evaluating me so she can anticipate any trouble that may arise with the students. There have been some difficult situations in the past, and she has told me of how a PHD student beat up one of the Western teachers.
She has told me several times not to teach initially, just get to know the students and let them get to know me. But she has also warned me that I have to be careful what I say. We roleplayed a question and answer session over a late breakfast and, being the student, she asked me "What religion are you?" This eventually led to my telling a personal ghost story and Auntie warned me that I had best not go into too much detail about this kind of topic if students wanted to talk about it with me, because each year there are student suicides and I could well be reported to the Dean and, in some way implicated. I would quite happily teach English from day one, collect the cash and refrain from ever talking about myself or my interests, but Auntie has urged me repeatedly to be open and talk about myself. She even asked me what I planned to do on the bus in the morning. Would I talk to students, sleep, read or pretend to listen to my MP3 player?
It is quite a high wire act to walk. Chinese students often want to ask you questions but they often balk at the answers, perhaps because of their comparatively limited knowledge, cultural differences and in some cases, outright incorrect information. In particular, there's often the odd nationalist to deal with. And of course, I must own that it takes two to tango.
Besides this, Auntie is obviously keen to practice her English and learn all that she can from me and is also vicariously savouring the foreigners experience of China every step of the way, as many Chinese do. But she is smart. She very quickly learns what I want her to do if she is to be allowed to shadow me. It sounds rather like I am treating her like a servant when I put it like that, but actually I wouldn't want to fall into that trap, because it would only have its repercussions. I have made it clear that she doesn't need to help me do something like buy a pair of socks, but if she is hanging with me because she enjoys my company that's fine. She has said that she is doing it for the company, if I am. So far, I enjoy hers and am doing my utmost to treat her as my equal, give her value and not let her see some of my less savoury aspects. And she has said she doesn't want to covet me but suggest I get to know other teachers, which is nice coming from her.
Like most Chinese, she is obsessed with food and is on a mission to have me taste the world through my tastebuds. And really, this is not all. Auntie and I were practically walking round like boy and girlfriend today. We have done all manner of things together, from hunting an elusive black bicycle, going to the hospital, eating meals together, sharing an umbrella in pouring rain, talking about the past (her great grandfather was a landowner and was blinded) sexuality, how to teach, can I recognise which girl in the street is a prostitute? (Apparently I correctly identified, though I've got to say I've never knowingly seen a street walker in Northern China, with the exception of Dalian, where they are common). And her hand sometimes brushes mine. This would be fine, I suppose, but she is married with a child. Fortunately she is not that attractive and right now I really couldn't say whether we'll end up hating eachother or meld into one person.
Art, my new neighbour and a masters graduate, invited me to his for a cup of tea and due to the fact that it was raining heavily and there was subsequently a power cut there was nothing to do but talk for rather longer than I planned in the darkness. Infact, the lights went out at just the sort of time that I could have scarpered before Art really saw beyond the mask. Yes, this was a big acceleration of what I planned, I told him more stuff about myself than some of my friends of long standing know. We talked about relationships, homophobia, racism and whether or not China was “brainwashed”. The opinion I offered on this was that the whole world is. Yes, racist and brainwashed, to a greater or lesser extent. He told me he was gay (rather obvious) and how he'd picked up a guy from Brighton last night and Auntie had tactfully warned him about bringing “girlfriends” back, especially when one is new, as she'd seen his friend leave. It's too early to tell, but Art seems rather pleasant and with his penchant for Radio 4, which was on fall blast when I came through his door, he reminds me of my childhood, in which that station was usually offering its authoritative tones. I went through a phase of not liking Radio 4 for being pretentious and boring and not half as clever as it thinks it is, but I also like the way it gives one a quick run down on the ethnic groups in Afghanistan and I heard a really good doc the other day about a medieval instrument which sounded better because the acoustics actually seem to mature as the instrument gets older. They were touching on a discovery that has yet to be made.

Sunday 30th August

Another good day. I went to the market with Auntie and found a bike for me and Art, who was at home at the time. Art hopped in a taxi and joined us and after we'd got our bikes we went to the supermarket and drank free tea, then Auntie rode on the back of my bike back to the campus and I arranged for a milk delivery, then went home and listened to Radio1.cz whilst I lesson planned. Auntie rang me up and asked if Art was gay.

Monday, Tuesday 31st August & 1st September

Two days of cross-examination by students later, I am glad to have some time off. I seemed to piss off at least one or two students off by side-stepping their questions about whether I thought the government was bad and what is wrong with China. Those students don't seem to realise that my contract forbids such discussion and indeed, other students will report what I say. Not that I'd say anything bad, as it happens. But still, I'd rather get into trouble for not being open, than for saying something someone doesn't like. The real rules are ones that you will not find on paper. Put simply, don't be a troublemaker. No one really cares what you say but if someone causes a fuss, the individual will suffer for the sake of the harmony of the group. At least that's my impression. It is infact my honesty and relative complexity that many people cannot handle until they understand me better. Well, maybe.
I just had to go to a meeting this morning with the other PHD teachers, to talk about classes and meet the PHD staff. So far the communication process has been uncharacteristically good but there were a couple examples of the China that I've experienced prior to Yongbo this morning. Firstly, they arranged for me to teach on Monday, which is not possible, as I already have lessons on another campus for the whole day. And in anycase, they have already used up the 22 teaching hours (equates to 18 real ones) they said I'd be teaching. That kind of mistake is common because departments don't communicate with eachother. This led to Han hurriedly trying to offload those lessons onto Don or Simon. Simon seemed a little annoyed to be asked, as he teaches privately on the weekend, and has a wife and children. I'm not sure exactly how those 8 hours were disposed of, but I know Don happily accepted at least four.
Secondly, they showed us round different classrooms and told us we could choose which one. Then they told us what classroom we were going to have, anyway. I'm not sure how that happened. Perhaps they suddenly realised that the classes are infact allocated and didn't want to lose face by admitting what was a small mistake anyway. The concept of face exists in West and East alike, but it is simply bigger in the East. To give the Chinese credit, I have found that if I aplogise for a mistake they are readier to forgive and brush it under the carpet than the English are. Yesterday I went into a restaurant and accused the boss of overcharging me for a meal I'd bought the first night I came, when infact she hadn't. I quietly said it was my mistake and was sorry and they clearly forgave me by the tone of their voice. Fortunately the classroom I was down for is the one I wanted. A room with furniture that can be moved and a nice view of tall-thin conifers that sway in the breeze. My PHD liaison is a delicate little flower called Iris.

Meantime, Auntie hangs around me a lot, sometimes not even on any apparent pretext. If she shows up at my door I feel it's only polite to let her in, then I feel it's rude to ask her to leave. She came round for a long time before lunch and after over an hour I said “I feel I'm taking up your time.” She took the hint without any hint of a grudge and left. She keeps doing me lots of favours, most of which are not necessary, but she insists it's no trouble. She dropped off my jeans at a cleaning shop, as they have some bad stains in them. After her meeting, she just called me about something and we were talking and she said she was outside, so I let her in. Then she came in and sat down and I know she would have talked for hours if I didn't eventually say something like “I must be getting on with my work.” It's very weird but I kind of feel if I said nothing she might just spend every available hour she has with me.
She analyses everything in microscopic detail like I do and we keep talking about the students and what we can and can't discuss with them. In the PHD meeting Han and the director re-iterated what it says in the contract about not talking about politics or “any sensitive issue” and Auntie said “They want to make the students stupid”. Yet she also said that I shouldn't say anything that the students don't want to hear, which one could argue, might make the students stupid.
I've been wondering in my mind whether there is any chance of my having an affair with her and decided that she should be no more than a good friend, and in anycase, I am not even sure that an affair would transpire if I wanted one.
Sadly, inspite of Auntie obviously liking me on personal terms, I am under no illusion that there is little she can or will do to support me if there is a dispute. She has been very analytical, I think too analytical of every stage of my work so far, yet I doubt she has been similarly scrupulous with students. So far the impression I have got from her is that teachers frequently complain about teachers but a teacher cannot complain about a student. If they sleep in class, don't bring exercise books, don't do assignments, are rude, play with their phones, or talk about insensitive topics, ask the teacher personal questions and so on, ultimately the teacher just has to accept this. This seems to be because the university dare not rock the boat with the parents, whose money they are very glad of and whose wrath they dare not incur. In my class I was already becoming aware of who the troublemakers are going to be. The two lazy boys who sit at the back and do their own thing, the students who mutter amongst themselves about something you've said. And though I tried to encourage the students to buy notebooks with a eulogy about them it was obvious even then and there that some were just going to ignore my instructions, let alone forget.

Wednesday 16th

Today I had lunch with my PHD assistant, Iris. Unlike Auntie, who does not conform to type, Iris displayed the more commonly found characteristics. She took me to an expensive restaurant (assuming the foreigner wants luxury?), with a picture of Chairman Mao reading a speech, hung up near the entrance. Or maybe he's reading the menu.

As Auntie had told me Iris is excellent at ordering I advised her to do it. I must admit, I was being blatantly provocative, because I knew she'd most likely order meat, but I did step in at the last moment when she didn't confer with me and say I didn't eat it. Still, this didn't stop her ordering one meat dish, two vegetable. I guess the first time I said it, the sentence failed to register in her conscious mind. When the dishes came I was left with a choice of cabbage or sweet corn soup. I genuinely dislike (only brussel sprouts are worse) and I think cabbage saturated in cooking oil is one of the poorer choices of vegetable dish so to emphasise the point I just ate my white rice. As I wanted to pay for the meal and only (just) had enough cash to cover it, I declined to order more dishes. I reminded Iris again that I don't meat when she tried to get me to partake of the meat dish.
I don't know, but I suspect if she thinks about the food production process at all, then animals are merrily skipping in the field one day and the next they are on one's plate, with no inbetween. I surmise this because when I said I don't eat meat she said
“You don't like meat.” This is a very common assumption.
“I said I don't eat it, not that I don't like it.” I said.
And Iris didn't probe any further, but she did ask
“Do you like green tea?”
“No.” I said, not uncheerfully.
“Oh. You prefer coffee.” She said.
Infact I like tea, I'm just not keen on green tea.
If there is any logic to what I was doing, for I was surely not being gentle, it was trying to show Iris that she went to the meal with a set of assumptions that need destroying, if she really wants to make progress in her English. For as I remarked, learning a language and its culture go hand in hand. Especially as it turned out, she was with me to try and improve her English and many Chinese are somewhat resentful or at least perplexed that Westerners don't develop or easily accept friendships with them. So in essence, she needs to learn.
But I have assumptions too, when I have moment of self-honesty, and really I'm trying to go much more gently on people these days, so I made efforts to engage her in pleasant conversation that wasn't always so confrontational.
We talked about novels and family. Iris told me that the family is all important to her and that she strives to be a good mother and a good wife. She says she wants to be a better woman and that, in her opinion, “an excellent woman is one who works hard, looks after the family and does more housework.”
After we talked about families, we had a slight disagreement over English. Iris said that she wanted to speak English to practice but she had a hard time grasping the concept that at least 50 percent of the time I might wish to speak Chinese. So it wasn't the most comfortable dinner, but we actually covered a lot of ground and agreed to play badminton Thursday week. I told Iris again that I was a vegetarian just to get the message home, because it was obvious that she really hadn't figured out why I wasn't eating.
When we went out the restaurant she said
“I think I should buy you a hamburger for you, because you are not full.”
Later on, Auntie said “I don't know why, I told her you don't eat meat.”

Thursday 17th Sept

Auntie acts as if she is my highly paid personal assistant, ready to assist me with anything, anytime. So when I asked her to put me in touch with a printer, she didn't mess around. She knew a lady who now runs an English school, but maintains her links with printing houses. We went to see her (and her husband?) this morning to discuss how much it would cost to print 1000 small books. I have a mind to produce one on ordering vegetarian dishes in China and hopefully not fall foul of the law. At around 6000 RMB, it's not as cheap as I had hoped, and I would expect to get the price down, but it's a good start.
After lunch we walked to where a disabled girl and her father have a spot they beg on each day, near South Campus. This girl is seemingly paraded everyday that it isn't raining. A relative sits there immobile, with a sentimental pop song playing on an amp and when someone bungs money in the bowl he shouts thank you into a microphone. The girl has a fairly advanced form of spasticity, if I can use that word, unable to easily control her muscles. So she lies on a kind of bench. The other day I looked at her in the eye, and I know she caught mine. I imagined how cruel it is for her to spend her days like that, with no trips to places of interest and no contact from people. And I decided to try and make contact with her in future. Passers by put their money in the bin but they don't interact with her. So today I stopped first to get Auntie to read the sob story that was written on a poster on the pavement. Though I've never heard one before, it was the kind of thing I expected and I soon got bored of it. Instead, I smiled at the girl who started beaming back. Then I went up to and spoke to her in horrendous Chinese and touched her arm. Auntie came up to me and said “Don't touch her.”
“Why?” I asked.
“You shouldn't touch disabled people.” She said.
“Rubbish.” I replied. I wanted to hold the girl's bent hand but her nails had not been cut and her hand was dirty.
The girl really seemed very happy to be spoken to, and when I said my Chinese was bad, she said it was good. I said I had to go as I had something to do. By this time many people had stopped to stare at the spectacle. I put 20 yuan in the pot but as I said to Auntie, the girl needs love and she doesn't seem to be getting that. Maybe there is something we can do, with the support of others.

Yes, mum, this place is pretty gross. I am a dirty, smoky internet cafe, I just went to the only toilet. It is a room with lots of flys in it and a latrine actually in the floor. (Females have to squat or risk missing the target). It was covered in you know what, so I leant across and flushed by pressing a metal button with the palm of my hand. The brown water rose and rose, and then rose above the level of the latrine, and a tide of shit colored water began engulfing in the floor. I went back to my seat with a bladder that still needs emptying.
As for the apartment I'm staying in, I would say the stairwell is almost mediaeval in its nakedness yet it was only built 15-20 years ago. The flat itself is better, but is like bad rented accommodation in the UK. I have some cockroaches and the water tank and a pipe are leaking. Gotta love the shower though. Actually I should point out that the shower and the toilet are a couple. They are both together inside a cloakroom that is the bathroom. Same sort of setup I had in Hailar. The local area is depressing and grim in an Orwellian, Communist sort of way. But this is how it is for a significant number of people in the world, only they have it much worse than me. I don't like it particularly but I'm making the best I can of it in the most creative way I might. I can characterise as spiritual development, a journalistic foray or an alternative holiday or all three and more.
I really must dash now, I need to go and find a clean toilet. To be fair, it's internet cafes that have a problem cleaning their toilets. Homely restaurants usually keep on top of it.

Yes sir. Another post from the lounge. Some signs that Bayuquan is entering the 21st century are afloat, albeit sometimes with Chinese characteristics. The other day Lynn and I bumped into a mother and her daughter who were both vegans and handing out leaflets to try and recruit others to the cause. I'm not kidding. The daughter had spent some time in Germany and come back with a very positive, you've got to start somewhere attitude. True I suppose, don't seeds grow plants that eventually colonise stony ground? Apparently, her mother had been a vegan for 10 years and was converted by her daughter.
I have seen a Volkswagen Beetle. Might even have seen two. Um...I'm trying to think of some other stuff. The market is now selling decent fake watches of brands such as Longines and Emporio Armani. There is also a shop selling fake designer clothes, such as you can find in big cities, but I've never yet seen in a small one.
Pedicabs are down. To the naked eye, you'd be hard pushed to know whether you were in 2005 or 2009, but it feels different.