Greentree Inn Dongguan Hotel

... Nathan Road, it was back to a hike through TST and on to Hung Hom. I thought I was really early, but then I passed a (legitimate) massage parlour where I could have been having a thirty minute neck and shoulder massage for under €8, and I cried. Then I discovered that the toilets were squats – in preparation for the mainland, I suppose – and I cried a bit more. Well, not really, but it wasn’t the highlight of my day. I got a salmon and dill ...

... is a far cry from the truth. The school has started with about56 students spread over 5 classes, as I said, year 10 has only four. An odd thing that I noticed is how teachers seem to be outnumbered by ancillary staff. Most of the people I met in the meetings were not actually teachers. There seems to be someone for publicity, another for fundraising, some other people whom I’m not sure about and then all the normal hangers on who live in the front ...

... made me feel like apologizing for not sharing his enthusiasm. It wasn’t his fault, how could he know how the over fifties feel. I grew up in the cold war and am programmed to see through propaganda. The other presenter was a young, pregnant, American teacher, very ‘now’ and with it, totally at odds to everything that old dear. She was a teacher and wanted ‘to share’ with us how she used this total bollocks in the classroom. ‘Youbook ...

... looking forward to spending much more time in Guangzhou as it is far more developed than Qingyuan. In fact people in Guangzhou joke that you know Qingyuan is a poorer, more remote, and less developed town because it has cleaner air and water! I have explored Qingyuan a little bit but it does not seem to have very much going on as far as night life. I hope to explore some its natural attractions which include hot springs, mountains, and forested areas. <br>

... turned to tea. It turns out that Axu is quite the tea connoisseur. Before I arrived at their home Connie told me that I would have to excuse the disarray of the place and that it is cluttered with tea and teapots. It wasn't in disarray, but all extra space was taken up by all sorts of containers filled with Pu-erh tea (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pu-erh_te a). The 4 of us stayed up well passed midnight drinking the finest tea in China, so to speak. Pu-erh is my new favorite ...

... They have three pools, one is an olympic sized lap pool, another is a more shallow family type pool and the other one is the largest swimming pool I have ever seen, even at a tropical resort. I would say it is about 100 yds by 75 yds. It only costs $1.50 to swim all day and we usually go over after I am done with work to swim laps. You can even drink beer there. They also have a driving ...

... who now work there). We went on a crazy adventure that night which took us to ex-pat bars, karaoke joints, hip hop clubs, live music joints, girly bars and KFC and finally a kebab shop. It was a fun night. After spending 4 nights here we decided to head back to mainland China so in the next entry we should be at GuangZhou (about a 2hr direct train trip from Hong Kong).

... away like a stream over stones? But there is another type of haunting in China, and one that is much more immediate - the ghost of faded dreams and ambitions. A few days ago I had my first private Chinese lesson with Wendy, an English teacher at a nearby school. We were talking afterwards and she said to be in a low, confidential voice, 'I tell you a secret. I never wanted to be a teacher. I really wanted to be an interpreter, but my English was never good enough. I study for ...

It sounds ostentatious to say it, given it's Socratic origins but I really do feel more like a man of the World than a man of anyone place. I feel more and more that I can belong anywhere and that I don't need to be shackled to one set of values or somebody's arbitrary label or line or a map. It's a nice feeling to have and when people ask where I come from I can ...