January catch-up: homestay, last visit to kindergarten and Ahmir's birthday

I haven't much excuse for not writing since Christmas. I have just not made the time. Actually, New Year’s Eve was not worth blogging in a hurry. We (Kaori and Koto, Tony, Jamie, Joe and I) had a rather civilised meal together (or as civilised as it was ever going to be in our flat). Unfortunately, Wuhu had no nightlife much beyond midnight because the Chinese simply don’t celebrate our calendar’s new year. Therefore, after we had all excitedly wished each other Happy New in the Overseas Student Garden Bar (with terrible, terrible background music), the night soon fizzled out.





On January 1st I was invited to the house of one of my favourite students, Lily Huang. It was less weird than it initally sounds. She is an adult English teacher whom I teach on Sundays and is absolutely lovely. She has been one of the several Chinese ladies who have taken me on as an adoptive, temporary daughter. Her own daughter, Anna, who also comes to my lessons sometimes, picked me up from Aston and we went the short way back to there very nice home. I was introduced to other family members and sat, freezing cold (like I usually do whenever I am invited to Chinese homes), making small talk.

Soon after, as I should have predicted, I was invited to make Jiaozis at the dining room table. By now, after numerous visits to different Chinese homes, I must have stuffed enough dumplings to feed an average-sized Tibetan family for a week. I am not ungrateful, I must make that clear. In fact, it was just really nice to spend New Year's day with a family that I genuinely am fond of. Lily emailed me the next week and, in a way that only people for whom English is their second language, told me that 'she loves and likes me like she loves and likes her daughter'. Although I really hope she doesn't mean that, for Anna's sake, it was very sweet.

Another family that recently welcomed me into its home was the Dings.



I am really pleased I stayed with them, even if it was only for a short while. Not only did I get an little insight into the way a well-to-do Chinese family live (and spoil their only child), but I also got a chance to practice my Mandarin on people who couldn’t understand English. The father, Xue Zhun Yun, could read basic English but couldn’t speak it (common in China because the focus is on reading and writing in schools).

The mother, with whom I spent the most time, had no English, apart from the few words I taught her. She was very kind, if a little giggly, and always called me Saahwee instead of Sarah. Any food or activity I expressed a liking for, she would see to it that I could have it (usually meaning the live-in maid would be put on the case). I actually ended up going for nightly walks with her and Ding Jian, the son, just because she knew I like walking. One night we climbed the hill in Zhe shan park in the dark – random but very amusing.

It was quite tiring living there at times, especially after a working all day. I had to communicate and my brain was certainly exercised through practicing Chinese. Just hearing Ding Jian and his 13 year-old cousin playing and chatting was useful and I definitely picked up a few new phrases and words. However, they spoke the Wuhu dialect, which can sometimes be unrecognizably different to Mandarin. Therefore, I did have to keep asking them to talk slowly and repeat themselves in putong hua (standard Mandarin), which sometimes made me feel a bit frustrated – you just feel a bit thick!

They were very patient with me, though, and we had a few giggles at misunderstood questions (very easy because of the Chinese use of tones). For example, one evening they asked me how much I weigh, but I thought they were asking me how much I cost. I inquired as to why they would want to know my price and if they were intending to sell me, which they seemed to find very amusing.

I feel really lucky to have stayed with them and so pleased that my chinese has come on enough to have allowed me to survive there with no real problems. I bought them a big bunch of flowers and chocolate when I left, but it hardly seemed adequate as a way to show my gratitude.

Last Wednesday, was Joe and my last trip to Kindergarten. I took loads of photos, one of which is below, to remember the place. I can't say I ever want to be a nursery school teacher but it was a nice experience. Some of the children were so so sweet - I wanted to take some home with me in my handbag.




The photo above is the street outside the very modern Kindergarten building. I wanted to capture the environment of bustle, verging always on chaos. Unfortunately, I failed. There are usually taxis, bikes and people squeezing through the narrow street, as people sell cooked poultry, fruit and fish at the sides and others sit in the ramshackle buildings and eat noodles. In the photo above, there is a piece of cloth on the ground where a man was de-scaling huge fish in order to sell them. There was blood and goo everywhere. Neither the fish-seller nor his customers seemed bothered that the fish were on the ground and they looked at me as if I was the unusual sight when I took a photo.

The next day, Thursday, was Ahmir's birthday. We all went out for a meal at a Korean DIY BBQ restaurant, which was really good. Ahimr had to work the next morning so we saved the proper celebrations until Friday night (when I managed to get horrendously drunk for the first time since being in China). The photo shows Phillip and Jamie proudly tucking into the eggs they fried (you do everything yourself at the table - satisfying and tasty).



Ahmir posing with his Communist flag and scarf wrapped around him. Both were birthday presents. He was asked to take off the flag in the office as it was seen as inappropriate and verging on the subversive. Ahmir is even more fond of it now.





Eva and Ellie (my two Chinese teachers) and Fairy at the BBQ restaurant on Thursday.

I must now go and prepare for my last parents' day class (Aston want to show the parents how I teach - it's a promotary sort of exercise that's a bit nerve-racking). Before I do that, I must mention the amazing 1.5 hour massage I had on Thursday. It cost about 3 pounds and was really relaxing. The focus was on the feet (Chinese acupuncture points) but they massage your legs, arms and back, too. I went with Kaori and enjoyed it so much I want to go again next week before I leave Wuhu!

Christmas in Shanghai

'Pretty Christmas Lights in a modern city - Wuhu seems far far away!'

It's Sunday morning and, unusually, I don't have to teach. The schedule has been changed so that everyone here has the New Year's weekend off work. While Paul is returning to England this morning, Merim and Ahmir are welcoming in the New Year in Shanghai. I wish I could join them – my Christmas weekend there was fantastic and I was very pleasantly surprised with the character of the city.

The evening before we left for Shanghai, last Friday, Aston held its annual Christmas party for its employees and students. I think the word ‘flop’ describes the event quite accurately; certainly, it was amongst the worst Christmas parties I have ever been to. Caroline had arranged the venue at her local gym and, in return for shameless promotions of the place (this included the guests viewing a spinning class and participating in a kick-boxing routine), Aston could ‘party’ for free.


Joe, A yi (our lovely cook) and Ahmir at the Christmas 'party'

I managed to get out of giving a ‘performance’ at the party by being one of the hosts for the children’s part of the evening. It had the potential to be quite fun: Plenty of people turned up – maybe 150 for each half of the night - and there were some very talented children who performed. For example, one of my students, a tiny little boy aged about 8, put on an excellent latin dance for us with his little girl friend. His mother had put him in all the correct dancing clothes and sprinkled him in a little too much glitter.

Unfortunately, the sound system was appalling and those with a microphone could not be heard over the chatter of pushy parents and their over-excited progeny. Therefore, there was no chance that the planned disco would work. Despite all the effort the Aston staff put into preparing the night, we didn't even have any speakers! This wasn’t a disaster for the children’s section but, for the latter part of the evening, the lack of music meant that the students just turned to the foreigners for entertainment.

I had been told I was to chat to the students and chatting to my own students was actually very nice. However, giving free English lessons to strangers, whilst being surrounded on all sides and holding my breath (I preferred no air to the sour garlic air that tagged onto the questions passing from the mouths of some students), was not my idea of a fun Christmas party.


Joe, Fairy and me at the party.

After the next morning's lessons, Joe and I set off on another ‘escape Wuhu weekend'. We had both been looking forward to going to Shanghai, partly for the pull factor of being in a modern, westernised city at Christmas, and partly for the push factor of Wuhu’s relatively pitiful Christmas offerings. Our bus got us to the south of the city on Saturday evening and, after a while of working out where we wanted to go and how to use the metro to get there, we made our way north to our hotel. It was utterly fab to stay in a nice 4 star hotel. Joe’s brother paid for us to go to the Holiday Inn and, because we were in such a civilized, relaxed environment, it made the whole time in Shanghai really special.

Two of the mornings we were there, I swam in virtual solitude in the swimming pool, which was on the top floor of the hotel (Joe sat in the adjacent whirlpool most of the time, so I had the pool to myself). On the other morning, Christmas morning, I tried to recreate the usual start to Christmas Day by running on the gym’s treadmill. It didn’t quite match the enjoyment of running with Mum on Ceasar’s Camp, as we did last year, but it was the best substitute I could have wished for. I had a great view of Shanghai from my spot in the empty gym.

On Christmas Eve, we decided to visit the Bund, which is by the Yangste. Much of this area of the city was constructed in the early 20th century and is heavily influenced by Russian and western architecture. As we walked along the long road looking for lunch, the sight of Art Deco buildings made me question whether we had in fact caught the bus from Wuhu to an unfamiliar city in the west. From the Bund, there’s a great view of the imposing and dramatic Oriental Pearl Tower, Shanghai’s most famous modern landmark, from across the river. We had a late lunch in a bar in a basement on the Bund. It was so lovely to have potato wedges and listen to half decent music.



In the afternoon, we made our way to the Old French Concession area of Shanghai. Again, the architecture was in no way classically Chinese. Although, we didn't make it to the oldest part of the city, from our time spent wandering around on Christmas Eve, I can say with confidence that Shanghai has a lot more character than I had imagined. It is both westernised and modern in its own way (it also has lots of old ramshackle buildings hiding around the place, too). While you can get most things western there, it retains a distinctly Chinese character. For only one example, while you can slurp blueberry smoothies and find French bread without any trouble, the usual foods (served on a stick) are also readily available from nomadic street sellers.

There was also enough random sights to help remind us that we definitely were in China. For example, as we were walking along a street on Sunday evening, around dusk, a group of men came past us transporting a large sheet of glass that was strapped upright to a rickety old cart. Some of the men were sitting on the cart, some of the men were running alongside it in the road, helping to push it. Instead of stopping at the intersection and making use of the traffic-light system, they just shouted their arrival and kept on going. I'm not sure where they were heading, but I'm even less sure that the blokes (let alone the glass) made it there in one piece.

Another random sight was when we were looking for a place to have a drink on Christmas Eve. Huaihai Lu is a great road for shopping and people watching, and was beautifully light for Christmas. I was so happy to be strolling along amongst the lively crowds that it took me a while to notice that many many people were wearing devils horns, light-up and glowing. On any other weekend evening I might not have found this odd, but on the eve of the celebration of the birth of Christ, Joe and I were a little perturbed. Evidently, the people of Shanghai had not quite grasped more than a secular understanding of Christmas, and the result was quite bizarre. We found a good spot in a pretty little café area to share a bottle of cheap fizz, and proceeded to chat as the devils horns walked by.

Christmas Day was far better than I'd feared. Joe was way too thoughtful with his gifts – I thought males aren't supposed to think about Christmas more than a few hours in advance?! It still didn't really feel like Christmas, which is probably a good thing because I didn’t feel too homesick at all. We took our time in the morning, making it to O’Malley's Irish bar for noon. The pub was really good, with free flowing alcohol included in the price of our horribly expensive meal. The food was delicious, too.




Joe and I ended up joining-up with a load of students from Newcastle Uni, who are studying in Shanghai for a year. They were a good laugh and I tagged along with them when they left for a nearby bar. Joe didn’t come because he had partaken a bit too freely in the free bar. He went home in a taxi at 6.30pm after being sick in the pub’s garden! He was mortified, but for no reason really – it was just a very amusing evening all-round. I ended the night watching the Bodyguard, a film I had never seen before, much to Joe’s indignation. Somehow, it just felt right to be watching an old film on Christmas.




The Newcastle lot

Boxing Day morning consisted of a last swim and a yummy meal at a sandwich shop. Our return bus was supposed to leave at 2.40pm so we had another very relaxing start to the day. Joe was re-hydrating and making the most of being in the fresh air before our 5 hour coach trip. The weather was really mild and the sky was blue during the whole time we were in Shanghai, which really was the icing on the scrummy cake. However, when we got to the bus station, we were told that our bus had been cancelled because of fog in Wuhu. Retrospectively, I find that quite amusing in an ironic way, due to the problems in Britain with fog. At the time, I was a bit panicked because it looked like we weren't going to be back in time to teach the next morning.

After travelling across the city, guided by a man who also needed to get to Wuhu, we found another bus that would get us back. No travelling in China is without its stresses, it seems. The trip back was quite amazing. As soon as we set-off (at 5pm), we stopped to pick up a load of gas stoves that were unloaded from a white van. From then on, nearly every half an hour along the motorway we stopped to either pick up more passengers or boxes full of unknown commodities. I witnessed cash being exchanged a number of times. We hardly cared about these dodgy dealings, of course, because we were just relieved to be heading in the right direction. However, only a couple of hours into the journey the fog became so bad that visibility was worse than minimal. I'm not sure how we managed to find our way there (at one point the coach reversed back onto the motorway because we'd mistakenly taken a turning of it), but we pulled into Wuhu bus station at 10.40pm in one piece.

I had a fab time in Shanghai and came back feeling really refreshed. I can’t wait to go back when I meet up with Mum on the 26th January. Tonight is New Year’s Eve, which I doubt will be exactly wild, due to Wuhu’s pitiful nightlife…

The week before Christmas

I have just spent a couple of hours revising today's Mandarin lesson. It's quite tiring and, like all revision, it's impossible to finish feeling satisfied that you've absorbed enough. This morning's lesson was good though, mainly because I felt a couple of grammar points were settling into my head, and partly because the sun was out and warm on the back of my neck.

On the weekend, in between teaching, I spotted the shoe-polishing man sitting in his usual place, which is on the corner of a street near my gym. I had passed him many times before and told myself I must have my boots polished, but for one reason or another I'd never sat down on his other tiny stool and got it done (they like to sit on teeny-tiny chairs in Wuhu - even old people). So, after a bit of dithering (I still am really not comfortable with the inevitable attention this sort of thing attracts), on Saturday I sat down and watched my boots be returned to an almost-too shiny black.

I think I successfully managed to tell the man that my shoes looked just like new, and I left the little crowd of spectators feeling ever-so pleased. It probably sounds silly, but it does lift my spirits when I buy my fruit from an outside stall and talk with any other locals that will humour me.

On the weekend I also went to my teacher/friend Eva's house with Ellie, my other teacher, and Kaori. She had made loads of effort with the food and cooked typically northen Chinese dishes (her family are from the north). Everyone else was at KTV, so we decided to join them after a while of watching a live music event on TV (I found this fascinating - it was crossed between the Eurovision Song Contest and the MTV Awards). I don't think any of us foreigners is a big fan of KTV (karaoke), but it provides an attractive alternative venue to the pubs here, which have no atmosphere whatsoever.

On Sunday evening, I was given some Christmas gifts by the English teachers that I teach. I really enjoy this class because I basically just sit down and have a girly chat for an hour and a half - it's a good way to end a weekend of teaching.

Tomorrow, I am hopefully being taken by Fairy to a nearby, but very quiet, hill. I really want to see it because, apparently, it's got some good views at the top of the Yangste and the local waterbuffalo population. If we don't go, it will be because I have to rehearse for Friday night's Christmas party. I have agreed to be the host of the children's part of the evening - help!!! Goodness knows what 'performance' we are doing in the latter part of the evening. We are blatantly just going to leave it until friday afternoon to think of something.

Home-stay and O'Malley's Irish-themed Christmas meal

On Monday, I visited the house of the guy who invited me to stay with his family as a home stay. At 5pm he picked-up Kaori, Fairy and me in his car, in which also sat his 10-year old son, and we drove the very short distance to his home. I had been told that he had a very nice house (just the fact that it's a house rather than a flat indicates their comparative wealth), but I wasn't fully prepared to see two cars, a piano, gym equipment and a maid. Moreover, every room has air conditioning, which is very unusual in this city. I couldn't help show my excitement at the prospect of moving up in my Wuhu world.

Obviously, such relative luxury is not as important as getting on with the hosts, and the visit was as much about meeting the family. He was very friendly and insisted we eat dinner with them. He explained to Fairy (a Chinese girl who works at Aston and was doing the translating) that he can read and write English, but has never learnt how to speak it. This really put my mind at rest because, if there is a problem and we can't understand each other, I can just write down what I want to say.

Fairy had to leave early, so Kaori and I were left to eat dinner on our own with the family. I was relieved and delighted that we were able to communicate and the conversation was not too stilted or awkward. I only saw his wife very briefly because she was ill in bed, but I left feeling confident that they are a very suitable family. I was made to feel welcome and also safe - my bedroom has a lock on it, as was pointed out during the tour of the house, and the house is part of a patrolled and ever-so quiet estate. I could barely believe it was Wuhu, if I'm honest.

I think this home stay will be fantastic, especially as I will be continuing with my usual routine at Aston, so I won't be confined to the house or anything. Another thing that should be good (or at least as good as it possibly can be), is Christmas. Joe and I have now booked our coach tickets to Shanghai and our hotel is also sorted. Merim and Ahmir are both from Muslim backgrounds, so don't celebrate Christmas, and all the other foreigners are doing their own thing. Therefore, to stay in Wuhu would be horribly depressing. We want a lively, festive atmosphere on Christmas day and we have it on good authority that O'Malley's, the Irish-themed pub that we've booked for our Christmas meal, will be excellent fun.

All we need to worry about now is what on earth we are going to do for our COMPULSORY performance at the Aston Christmas Party. I'm still not feeling up for this event, despite the fact that Wuhu has become 'Christmasified'. I have seen Christmas decorations and life-size Santas in the most random places, and its many of its people seem to have wholeheartedly embraced the western festive season. I still feel totally unmoved by it all, though!

DIY Dumplings and Casino Royale

Joe and I were invited to Tony’s sister’s house on Saturday. We were invited for a meal but also to watch the wedding video, in which we both feature, of course (!). After work on Saturday we made our way to the newly weds’ home, eagerly anticipating our first chance to reminisce about the wedding. We were greeted by quite a few of Tony’s family as we arrived, including his cousin who spent much of the evening practicing his English on us. He was particularly fond of saying ‘yellow cat’, ‘sank you’ and ‘you’re a biscuit’.

Although something went wrong half-way through, we got a chance to see much of the DVD, and some of the shots (and accompanying music) are priceless. Joe could barely contain his suppressed sarccy comments and I had a quiet chuckle at the cheesiness. Thankfully, Tony promised to give us each a copy of it, so I can bring it back to England. The couple are ever so happy and the DVD does capture this, which is sweet, but, equally, its sickly sweetness is what makes it unlike anything I had ever seen before.

After giving-up trying to get the DVD to play, Joe and I were invited to make jiaozis, which are Chinese dumplings. We had both done this before because it’s such a traditional practice that many people have kindly shared it with us foreigners. Once you get the hang of dealing with the little wheat circles, which you need to close over the stuffing using a particular method, then it’s quite fun. I felt like I was making ravioli (it’s effectively exactly the same thing), which I would never ever bother to do at home.

However, the pleasure of DIY dumplings gradually diminished as my temperature lowered. Chinese families in Wuhu have no central-heating, so they wear all their outside clothes inside. It’s okay if you’re moving around, but I got very cold sitting at the table making jiaozis, especially as we made about 500 (or at least it felt like that many). It was a pleasant evening, but mainly because I am so fond of Tony and Joe.

After teaching for 12 hours yesterday (an exceptional Sunday, and the over-time means I get less hours next week), I watched a pirated copy of Casino
Royale. I enjoyed it, despite not being a huge Bond fan, and it was a good way to relax. It did strike us, when the opening credits were on, that we had not yet heard the theme music, but that if we had been in England we’d have heard it on the radio ages ago. I will be intrigued as to what’s on the radio when I get home in 7 weeks!

Before I go to my Chinese lesson, I will give a brief update on the progress of my Mandarin. I am aware that I rarely mention the progress of this in my blog, but I am pleased to say that lessons are continuing at 12 hours a week at Aston, 4 a week with Tao, and extra revision squeezed in when I can. Often, Joe and I will spend a couple of hours in MacDonalds (ironically, I spend more time in Maccy Ds than I ever do when I am in ‘the west’), going over my notes and drinking their free refills of coffee. On Tuesdays and Thursdays Kaori and I now go to Tao’s house for Chinese lessons, where we study in her room after eating with her family. Her mum is so kind and cooks yummy meals with plenty of meat and fish (which is in stark contrast to the tiny pieces of meat, hidden amongst lotus root and cabbage, which we get at Aston for lunch).

I am still really enjoying learning Mandarin, and am practicing it as often as possible. For example, I am now a regular at a nearby fruit stall, which sells fresher fruit and lower prices – plus the ladies there are lovely and humour my attempts to speak with them. They know absolutely no English, so they’re perfect for me!

I really must go now, as I want to spend 5 mins revising before I go in. One last thing: this afternoon, I am going to check out a potential family for my homestay this afternoon – exciting!

The temperature drops and Christmas arrives. The people of Wuhu get out their winter PJs

It is 9pm on Sunday and I have just eaten dinner after a spot of roller-skating. If I were at home I would probably not admit to having spent my evening this way, for fear of sounding like an excitable eleven year-old. As it is, I had nothing better to do because my evening class was cancelled. Indeed, we don’t have a TV here, only a DVD player, and I finished a book this morning before my first class, so you may be able to understand the relative appeal of slipping my feet into ancient and clompy skates, and spending an hour trying to master the backwards glide.

I have very little problem making a tit of myself here in Wuhu, because foreigners attract attention whatever their behaviour. It goes without saying that, after falling over and giggling a lot, I still can’t go backwards properly. I did begin to get the hang of it though, so I am just going to have to go again soon; it’s hardly breaking the bank at 30p a time! I’d probably return just to see Paul skate backwards - he looked so camp as he bent his knees, positioned his hands like a begging dog, and wiggled his stuck-out bottom.

On a different note altogether, at lunch today I asked Monica, one of the girls in the office, about whether there had been any interest in my request to stay for ten days with a Chinese family. I asked Caroline a week ago whether a home-stay could be arranged for me, largely because I think living with a family that speaks little or no English would be very good for me. If I am forced to communicate in Mandarin, then I will definitely improve faster. Also, I think it is a once in a lifetime opportunity, to live in the way the Chinese live, if only for short while. Monica said she has had a few responses to the advertisements, so it’s a question of visiting the houses and seeing which one is suitable. Exciting!

It’s pretty cold here now and, whilst I wear thermals and big jumpers (very sexy), I have noticed that some of the people of Wuhu prefer to walk the streets and buy their fruit and veg in thickly padded pyjamas and welly boots. I thought it was quite amusing when, during the autumn, we saw all sorts of people donning teddy bear jim-jams on Walking Street, but this fashion takes it to a whole other level. I will endeavour to capture photographic evidence, although it may be difficult because my camera is not good in the dark and this is a predominantly nocturnal trend.

Last Thursday, I taught at No. 11 Middle School, and I am sure that’s when I picked up my current cold because I was freezing most of the morning, despite needing to shout for the majority of the time. Indeed, my heart sank when I was asked to cover Ahmir, who was sick, because at No. 11 Middle School (the name will stay with me forever, I’m sure) each class has 60 students and the older high-school kids are notoriously difficult to handle.

I taught at No. 11 for a few weeks at the start of term, and some of the younger students remembered me and ran after me calling my name, which was kind of sweet. Apart from that, it was not a particularly pleasant experience. I tried to get the older classes inspired and interested, but it was an uphill struggle, one which I am glad I don’t have to make every week, as Ahmir and Joe do.

Still, I think it’s a character building to face a huge room of teenagers, some of whom think it’s acceptable to listen to MP3s in class, some of whom declare their love for you, and most of whom just want to get on with other homework. The younger classes are enthusiastic, to be fair, so it wasn’t all bad. I just really prefer my own weekend classes, here in Aston. They’re a third of the size and much more manageable, which means I get a greater sense of gratification from the job.

The Christmas decorations went up in Aston this weekend. Fake tree, flashing lights, and bright colours. The Chinese students love it, but I can’t say it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. Perhaps this scrouge-like sentiment stems from my knowledge that us foreigners will have to come up with a ‘performance’ of some sort for the Christmas party. There will be 500 people invited (it’s being held at a newly opened gym, which has enough space), and I will have to get all excited for their benefit and talk about how I usually spend Christmas day – hardly what I want to be doing when I am away from my family at this time!!! Indeed, what’s the point of a Christmas party without mulled wine and mince pies? Maybe I’ll come round to the idea nearer the time.

Nanjing

Nanjing is the ancient capital of China and is only 1.5 hours away from Wuhu. I had been meaning to go there for a while, mainly because the city boasts a number of historically interesting places and beauty spots, but also (I am not ashamed to admit) because we were told that western foods and wine are available in abundance. By western, I do not mean KFC but food that I eat at home, such as bread that isn't sweet or a chicken dish served without the bird's feet.

Last week, we both had two of the same days off, so Joe and I took a mini trip there. On the Wednesday morning we went to Kindergarten as usual (my lessons were on animals that day so, naturally, I sang a song about a elephant with a very long nose - hours of fun). Early that afternoon, we boarded the bus, allowing plenty of time to get to the station, unlike the mad rush of the last mini-trip I took. It felt a little bit like the start of the summer holidays for me because I hadn't been out of Wuhu since early October.

After our experience of Hang Zhou, when we were pretty disorganised, Joe and I had decided on a few places to go before we left and had even equipped ourselves with both Chinese- and English-language maps. Of course, we were not so naïve as to expect that a bit of forward-planning is enough to avoid all tourist-related problems in this country. Indeed, just finding the way out of the bus station proved to be a fairly difficult process.

Nevertheless, we remained confident that we could get ourselves to the museum of Nanjing - a must-see, according to Tony. The museum was opened to commemorate the atrocities of The Rape of Nanjing, the English name for when the Japanese attacked Nanjing in the 1940s. Our confidence was not unfounded because we did indeed find our way there. Unfortunately, the whole thing was closed for refurbishment, so the first stop on ‘Joe and Sarah's Day Of Fun' was a flop, and we were unable to learn more about why the Japanese are, to this day, very unwelcome in the city.

Undeterred, we made our way to the Fuzi Miao, the downtown area, which is pictured above. We got there at about 5pm so just had a look around and browsed the wares of the tourist shops. There is an ancient canal that runs through the city and, if we had had time, I would have like to take a pedalo in order to explore. However, it was getting dark and I think we both had dinner on our minds, so we soon set off to find the restaurant we'd chosen from the Lonely Planet Guide, a place run by English-speaking Germans.

The city was far bigger than we had I envisaged so finding it, like everything on the trip, it wasn't exactly easy. After walking for an hour and nearly giving up, we finally reached it. Unlike in Wuhu, the 'natives' didn't stare at us because they are used to the presence of foreigners. It was odd and quite refreshing to walk down the street and forget that you are an ethnic minority. However, it was just plain bizarre to walk into a restaurant when the only Chinese people are waiters, and even they served us like English waiters (i.e they gave us more than 10 seconds to decide what we wanted to eat).

I was so happy when I sipped on, or rather glugged down, my first glass of pinot grigio in months. The second glass helped my bruscetta and mussels go down nicely (a very welcome change from Chinese fare, as much as I like the food here). I could have gone on drinking there, but we decided to go onto a bar. The evening was really lovely, mainly because wine and chatting with a friend in one of my favourite pastimes [Below is a photo that sums up my utter delight, after rediscovering drinkable wine].


Once again, though, finding our way to the hotel was a challenge. The taxi driver dropped us off really nearby but sent us walking in the wrong direction, as did every other person we met. Consequently, we walked around for about half an a hour in the rain before we realised it should have taken us only 3 minutes. Maybe it was just the wine, but we found it really rather amusing.

The next day, we planned to go up Purple Mountain, after picking up our return train tickets from the station. I was genuinely delighted to be understood by the ticket lady first time, when I asked for the tickets - I must be improving if Nanjing-dialect-speaking Chinese ladies understand me! Somehow, we managed to work out how the subway works in Nanjing and also used the public buses to navigate around the city. The subway is very new and sparkly clean - it puts London to shame, it really does. By travelling this way, we saved a load of money - wherever you want to go in one direction cost 1 kuai - less than 10p!!! - and also, we felt a little less like clueless tourists.

To cut a long story short, our plans and hopes were once again dashed because the cable car (more like a ski-lift chair), that takes people up to the very top of the mountain, was not working when we eventually arrived at the summit. We saw two westerners who had literally just got off it, both complaining that they'd nearly been both scared and frozen to death, so our bad luck with the timing of our visit was just rubbed in further. I was genuinely gutted not to be able to go up, so we decided to walk up as far as we could on the path.

As it turned out, it was a great walk. The air was fresh and there were relatively few people around - something I particularly treasure in China. The photo above is of me, the intrepid explorer that I am with my backpack and handbag, fearlessly resting my foot on a stone amongst the bamboo trees. Below, Joe is standing at the very top of the observation tower from which we could see the city far below. I think he was trying to work out the direction of the wind (?!). It was quite interesting going up the tower because there were ancient Chinese instruments adorned with fiercesome dragons, once used to measure astrological stuff (I've forgotten the exact word). However, the sky was really cloudy that day, so we didn't miss out on a great view from the cable-car, just th chance to be very high and very cold.

Being tourists in a foreign city, it took us quite a long time to do everything, so we were unable to fit anything more in before we had head back to the train station for our 5pm train. I had never taken the train here before but, because it was only 8 kuai for the trip back, we thought it was worth trying. Despite being surrounded by Chinese people eating seeds and spitting the outsides on the carriage floor, the journey was fine - travelling by train is definitely something I would do again here because it is so crazily cheap.

It was good to get out of Wuhu and I had a lot of fun, but I want to return to Nanjing at some point, in order to do more of the things we couldn't the first time. There is an ancient wall that still runs around parts of the city (we saw parts of it) and a beautiful lake, both of which I want to see properly. Plus there are meant to be some bars that play good English-language music and have a real atmosphere (unlike anything in Wuhu). I have agreed with one of my teachers, Eva, to go together at some point - she is lovely and it might be a more successful trip if I go with a native speaker.