Last weekend I went to Dongshan for the first time since I have returned to Suzhou. I have missed this place and this time I went with Sissi and her friends, they had a car and so it was way more convenient getting there. None of them had been there before and so it was the foreigner leading the locals which was rather amusing. On the way to the village we pass many Loquat fruit trees and some other berries which I’m not sure of the name. There are cameras here and there are also many people working tending the plants and trees, but this doesn’t stop the Chinese from trying to get free fruit. Maybe I’m too old these days but I tend to respect these areas. We are allowed to walk through these very productive orchards and it will only take a few people having this kind of behaviour to bring the whole thing to a halt. Don’t get me wrong I’m not holier than thou in my old age but I pick the time and place with a bit more thought.

The main 24 step climb was a breeze and so I guess the training every morning must be doing something.

I never get sick of this place, however being the weekend there are a lot more people around than I’m used too. It’s just not the same.

When we arrived at the village the first thing on the agenda was lunch but as usual I had brought a few big Baozhi (big dumplings) which I like as I’m not a fan of the lake food on offer. I find most of this food quite tasteless and I don’t understand why it’s so popular. It’s like oysters, if they are so good then why have Oysters Kirkpatrick. You don’t taste the oysters because the other flavours are too strong and yet a wee oyster has died for no reason as far as I can see.

I will go to Dongshan soon but I’ll go during the week. I want to get a good bike so that I can try cycling around this place because it looks like quite a challenge.

My young friend Kang Meng invited me to her university today to have a look at the art from the students graduation. There were many different styles and I must admit I really enjoyed it because it was refreshing and new.

This last picture was my favourite.

We had lunch in Pingjiang Lu, which is the main tourist street in the old city which lets us see an example of how the old Suzhou really looked. I’ve walked up here many times and have seen them pick the rubbish out from the water using nets. They use small boats with electric engines so that they can go about their business quietly. It’s a very pretty street and a main attraction. Today however I was surprised to see that for almost the complete length of the business area, the water has been drained. It looks like they are shoring up the banks and the building running alongside the river, maybe even under pinning the buildings. You can see many of the old timbers sticking up but they are not attached to anything anymore. In places acro props are seen holding up the foundations of buildings that have been undermined by the river.

The rubbish lying on the river bed is abundant and the river bed has a thick black sludge that smells divine. There are dams built at each end of course and at each crossroads of the river and large pumps are constantly pumping water from the river bed. The water table here is very close to the surface and so they need to keep the pumps going or it will just flood.

There using a high pressure hose to “clean” the sludge and filth away from the sides of the walls. One guy has both arms in the water and sifting the river bed looking for god knows what, bare handed and black up to the elbows. I was pleased to see however that he had his safety helmet on.

You would think that they would have given him a pair of gloves, but I guess you can’t really feel your way but I can’t image sticking my hands into the bottom of this riverbed.

Further along there are a couple of JCB’s filling big bags which will be lifted out by another JCB that was sitting up top. It’s quite the spectacle and I’m sure it will be a long time before this kind of thing happens again. I found it really interesting to see the foundations of the buildings which of course normally are under a meter or so of water, but I look forward to seeing it back to its former glory.

And this is what it looks like when the water is back covering up a multitude of sins

It’s a necessity to have headphones in China so that you can block out all the fuckin noises that folk make while eating. Their gums are flapping about when quite honestly there is absolutely no need for it. You can eat most foods in China without all this fuckin disgusting accompaniment.

I joined a small group of expats and locals to explore the 1200 year old street named Shantang Street

Shantang Street

If you click on this link it will take you to a short video on the event.

The rain was on and the skies were grey but we decided to head off to have a look at an old town near Suzhou.

I went with my house mate Sissi and we had a good day wandering around this old town.

After a few visits to these places you begin to recognise the layouts of the houses and the streets but the art that was on show here today was very different and quite stunning too. I particularly liked the 4 pictures of the women dressed in traditional clothes.

It’s so fucking hot and humid today, not a good sign for the coming months ahead.

I’ve been back in China for a month now and I feel very much at home, especially since I’ve moved to the new flat near Central Park, I have started to go to the park after breakfast to do exercise, which consists of walking around the park and using some of the equipment of the park. My body has been a bit tired and a bit sore this week as it gets used to the new regime.

I’m always surprised by the amount of older Chinese that I see in the park, they are either part of a dancing group or they might be doing Tai Chi. Some are being taught some form of self defence , such as Tae Kwon Do. There are also many individuals all doing their own thing. Many older Chinese have the flexibility of a child and you will often see them stretching their legs almost up to head height. Many will walk around and clap their hands or hit part of their body as they stroll around the park. They do this to improve the circulation. Almost every part of the park is being used in some sort of fashion. I see the same faces most mornings and I have become friendly with an old bunch of guys that have come here for a long time. They certainly do not look like your typical older foreigner. Because the environment is safe and the crime rate is very low, the old and the young can mix happily in the park and don’t have to worry about anything other than doing their thing. It’s very different to many western countries.

also met a young girl there, well she’s 40, but we had seen each other at the Toastmasters a few weeks ago. We caught up for a chat after our workout and it turns out that she lives in the same complex as I do and so most mornings we will walk and talk as we walk back home. We even went out for lunch 🙂

I have been busy or I can be if I want to be. I have picked up a few lessons and yesterday I went for a demo class and the young girl has confirmed that we will meet once a week. I have one group of students I see once a fortnight and then I have 3 other individual students and so I only need to acquire another 5 hours or so a week to make life a bit easier.

I’m sharing the flat with Sissi and we will chat in the morning to help each other with our learning of each others language. Sissi is a quite a character and life is never dull. She runs an Airbnb and so she often has to go to meet guests or to clean the house after the guests have left. She has her routine in the morning where she will do Yoga and study most days. I also try to get into my study by reading my books but I still find this a very difficult thing to do.

I got a ticket to go and see the “Lord of the Dance” which is a spin off from Riverdance which was around last century. Michael Flatley’s name is still attached to this event and so his reputation is obviously carrying it a little. Now I would never have bought tickets to this show because I don’t mind watching a youtube video of this bizarre form of dancing where it looks as though the dancers leg is about to come off at any moment or even more disturbing the feeling you get when you see there legs flying around as if they are broken, but to sit through an entire show is another thing.

This show was also 2 hours long, I mean how long can you really flog a dead horse. It is impressive, the speed and precision of the dancers, their timing is amazing and the foot work is mesmerising………..but two hours. We had so many costume changes, I mean I lost count. Each time the male dancers, who I felt were better dancers but not so easy on the eye as the fine young ladies, would come out and do their thing and prance around and then they would finish with some heavy coordinated footwork. The rhythm and timing as I say was great and for two mins or more the audience was spellbound by the footwork.

This show was called “Dangerous Games” and it was about the “Lord Of the Dance”, the hero, and the other guy Mr Bionic wearing some kind of terminator gear fighting over the forest to be the best dancer………..or should I say the Lord of the Dance.

There was a young girl that was the guide or a creature of the forest and she got caught up in the fight, but she was a very good contemporary dancer and her style was very refreshing. The young women that came to dance were really prancing around a lot, but the dancing was not strong and at best I would say mediocre. When both sexes danced together they choreography was better. They were very pretty but the fake blond wigs looked really tragic, I don’t think there were many Irish lassies on stage last night. Most had those fake American style smiles that you see painted on and of course the Americans can do this really well.

There were two girl fiddler’s that played some good old fashioned Irish jigs and the second time they came on stage the whole ensemble joined them and that was good. There was also a singer that appeared 3 times and what a dreadful casting that was, mind you the material she was singing with was very week and so maybe it wasn’t all her fault.

So all in all I think if the performance had run for an hour, they had cut out the singer, there had been a lot less prancing around the stage. think I would have enjoyed it a lot more. But to put this all in perspective, the audience is Chinese and they are also amazed at by the young foreigner folk on the stage. They gave them a rousing reception. For them to see so many white females together was quite the spectacle. many would have never seen this kind of dancing before, I have. and so I think many people enjoyed it and I did see a kid walking out the auditorium trying to prance around like the eegits on stage, so you never know maybe in 10 years time she will be in Ireland doing her thang.

Last week on the BBC website there you were able to get an approximation on your BMI. I did the test and was pleasantly surprised to see that I’m not fat afterall, but then it all depends on what answers you give.

And so I think I was very honest and to this end you can’t call me a fat bastard 😆