SUMMER COMES

Although it's only mid-May  the temperatures have soared up to 95F in a very short time. From heavy coats and hats the Chinese have quickly moved on to shorts, T-shirts, sandals, diaphanous gowns, short skirts and off the shoulder dresses. There is something in the air. The only unfortunate thing about this season is the flies: they're beginning to permeate the world and I will have to take precautions against being bitten as the itching is dreadful.

I have to switch on the fans in the classroom when I'm teaching and air-conditioning in my flat: and it's set to become hotter if my memory of last year is anything to go by! So I have a few cold beers in the shacks and occasionally some barbecue street food: if you choose it carefully it's OK although the meat is rather tough, but fish tends to be good. They sell a kind of freshwater prawn that looks like a small lobster or crayfish. 

I tend to cook at home much more than I used to, mostly because the food available in the local restaurants is pretty terrible. However occasionally I do go out to a couple of places I know where it's half-decent and seems to be safe, at least I haven't had any problems although there is a bird-flu scare that is putting everybody off eating chicken.

Nachos and Chilli

Chicken in White Wine sauce with mashed potato and vegetables

Since my birthday I've been to two more birthdays (as there seem to be a number of Taureans living out here) and have ended up the worse for wear, so I don't tend to drink much beer now: this serves me well and I also find myself having the odd afternoon nap as I sometimes don't sleep well at night. I feel tired much of the time, but after about 2 weeks of a more abstemious lifestyle I regain some of my old energy and don't feel quite so run-down.

I've seen all the things I really wanted to see in China: there is so much to see that you can never hope to do it all, and I'm beginning to look forward to going home. If I  were to stay any longer I would try to visit Yunnan, Shanghai and most of all Tibet in the summer next year and go home to England in the winter. But I know I need to go home soon.