Wayne here. Had a strange dream the other night. The principal dancer at a major dance company took ill and the rest of the cast and crew beckoned me to step in and take over. I stated that I had no real (or imaginary) skill at this, but they insisted. Then I woke up, not […]
Posts in category
Asia
Suzhou (6mill), just west of Shanghai, is one of those legendary cities with 2500yrs of history. It was said that in heaven there is paradise, on earth there is Suzhou and Huangzhou. Even Marco Polo said it was the most beautiful city in China, with its tree lined canals, fantastic gardens, silk and art epicentres, […]
We check into the Asset Hotel, a unremarkable but clean 2 or 3 star job, and are happy with the extra space and anonymity, and promise we will do nothing in Shanghai…Yea, right. Wicked Shanghai it ain’t. More like Blade Runner takes Asia. The contrast in the poor and the glitter is jaw dropping. We […]
We discovered a delicious steamed bun paradise on the way to the Summer Palace but we are in need of some western food…never thought we’d say this. These five bite buns of joy were named after a general who used them as heads in order to disguise his army size. Whatever, they’ve ruined any future […]
There’s likely few people who couldn’t identify the Great Wall. The long, meandering battlement snaking in and around rugged hills, the myth of it’s visibility from space, images of Mongol invaders scaling it’s precipice. Nice images. But rather unreal. Most people go to sections of the wall that are completely restored and polished, and inundated […]
Wayne here. Twenty years ago when I was here in Beijing, the country was in the midst of social and political upheaval. It culminated in the Tiananmen Sq masacre which today isn’t discussed, nor taught, nor acknowledged. You have to be at least in your mid thirties for it to register. For these locals, it […]