Chinese Hygiene Chinese people are beautifully turned out, and very well presented, the vast majority of them. The hotels foyers are lovely. The malls are highly polished. There is precious little litter on the streets, and armies of street cleaners are in evidence everywhere you look. So how come they still hawk and spit wherever … Continue reading The China Logs: Things I Have Noticed About China Part 1

Xi'an was wet and miserable when we got here, but has cheered up since then. Nothing much to report except for the Terracotta Warriors which were predictably a highlight. It is one thing to read about them, and understand how many of them there are (4,000) and how old they are (more than 2,000 years) … Continue reading The China Logs: Xi’an

More Chinglish For You Fans Out There Sign outside bar in Xi'an: "Sunny Half Past And Friend Changing Club" (any ideas, anyone? We have a few...) At Terracotta Warriors complex: "Fire Exting Atcher Box" (you can guess this one) Enormous billboard in Xi'an advertising something I didn't understand: "You can't along with eagle to fly, … Continue reading The China Logs: Chinglish 2

Well it's been all up and down since the Great Wall, and we have clocked up quite a few miles too. I am writing from sunny Xi'an (not! It's been raining for 24 hours now) which is about 1,200km south-west of Beijing. I thought it might be a bit warmer here, and it's certainly not … Continue reading The China Logs: Chengde