I was invited to TEDx in Suzhou today which was am event that I’d wanted to go to before.  A young friend that I met a few weeks ago whilst helping her and her friends with a documentary they were making for university.She is one of the organisers of TEDx . I had a great seat and I even had a translation headset because not all the speeches were in English. 
It opens with a performance by the Suzhou Youth Orchestra which was very good, although I can’t remember the piece they played. When the second piece starts two male dancers come in stage and perform some contemporary dance which no one I spoke to had any idea what it was all about.  It looked like two gay guys prancing about the stage, maybe china is becoming more open and tolerant.

We had 12 speakers and it was hard to enjoy the Chinese speeches to be honest. This was partly due to the translators that were not very good. One girl was struggling to translate one of the speakers because he was talking too fast. I know it must be a difficult thing to do and I’m not blaming her in any way.  But to be honest what is more difficult is to listen to the way many of the Chinese spoke. They shout and do not talk in a normal voice, but then again many Chinese in everyday life do the same. This makes it very hard to enjoy and then with the bad translation to boot I was wishing I’d brought my ear plugs.
The English-speaking speakers talk in a more ambient way which makes for easy listening. Now of course you may say,”Well you can only understand English or your biased and that’s why you say this” Well it may be but it’s also cultural differences at play. There were two speeches by an old Chinese woman and a young Chinese guy and both speeches were great,  this was because of the content, the translation and the delivery. It was easy to enjoy because it felt more natural and they were not shouting. 

After the speeches we all headed to the Novatel Hotel for a buffet meal which was absolutely marvelous and it was great to eat nice western style food and I finished it off with ice cream and it was delicious.

We often see stories in the media about the IRA and of course after the death of Martin McGuinness there have been many people talking about his days in the IRA and what will come of it now after his death.
I was out the other day in a shopping centre near my apartment in Suzhou and was I surprised to see this store selling clothes instead of Arms and other weapons. 

It looks like they have diversified there business model. 

Visa run complete and another busy day of travel. My day started with a 6.30 taxi ride to the airport for my flight to Shanghai. I flew China Southern and I was very happy with the service and comfort. I flew into Hongqiao airport which is better than Pudong because it’s only a short walk to the high speed rail and then I can pick up a bullet train to Suzhou. 

As soon as I got off the plane I felt the chill in the air. Winter still has a grip on this part of China.  In the south it’s quite warm,  in fact it was about 26c which to me felt great but as soon as I’m back in Suzhou it’s around 12c and wet. 

First thing I do when I return to the flat is have a coffee because I haven’t had one in days. Then a good hot shower to get rid of any travel bugs I’ve picked up,’cause I haven’t had a shower in two days.

So now I’m watching tv and having a quiet night as the rain is pissing down.  I must admit I’m getting a little sick of winter,  it’s seems to have been here for a long time now. I haven’t had a winter like this for nearly 30 years and to be honest now that I’ve had one I don’t really want another one. 

I finally got to see the skyline of Hong Kong because  the sun was shining.  Last time I was here was nearly 10 years ago and it was pea soup. I met with my friend Grace, she has lived here for a while and so we were playing at being tourists for the day. 

With our without the hat? 

This is the first hot weather I’ve had in months and it was great although I forgot to bring the factor 50, so I’m hoping that my neck hasn’t suffered too badly. 

We got the bus up to the Peak and it was great.  I’d been on the train before but the views from the bus as it wound it’s way up were stunning. There is a lot of development all over the hillside but you would need to own a bank to be able to afford to build.

I enjoyed my one day quick tour of Hong Kong and I got to ride on the top deck of a double decker bus which was good.  Very different to the ones I used to drive many years ago, more comfortable and with air con. 

When you cross into Hong Kong you can feel the difference right away. It’s definitely more civilised than China. The first thing that becomes apparent is that queues form when waiting for anything and no one tries to sneak in front of you. Even although Hong Kong is a busy bustling city it is quieter than many Chinese cities because you don’t here the cacophony of horns. The driving is civilised to the point where people will stop to let others out, it’s quite the contrast to mainland China. More people here speak English so it’s a lot easier for the tourist.  I entered on my UK passport and I was surprised to learn that I can stay up to 6 months without a visa. Mind you the bank balance couldn’t cope with that length of time. 

I returned to Shenzhen for the night and back to my digs. I’m knackered so it’s time for bed. 

I bought my train ticket to Shanghai about 3 weeks ago. It was the 9.30am train to the airport so that I can get my flight to Shenzhen because tomorrow I will cross into Hong Kong for my visa run. I always build in a fuck up factor into the mix in case something goes wrong. Well this morning I was up bright and early and all was going to plan although I should have left 10 mins earlier.  The rain was pissing down and this is something that I didn’t factor in.  The traffic was terrible and of course it’s still rush hour,  I forgot about that too. I got to the bus stop and I watched the bus sit at 2 sets of lights before I could get on.  I got the bus to the metro, a journey of usually 15 mins turned into 30 mins. The chances of getting my train are slim. In fact I arrive at the train station just as my train is pulling out. 

I run to the ticket office but the first train is in one hour but I have no choice and it’s standing room only.  Thankfully the airport is only a short walk when you arrive at the other end.  I got to the airport 90 mins before my flight but I wanted to get there early so that I could have a bite to eat and relax but instead I’m rushed which I hate. 

Bur thankfully I get to the check in desk with about 30 mins to spare, so I’m very happy that I allowed a fuck up factor in my planning. 

Now I know many people that seem to do this on a regular basis and I’m not sure why. How they can find this an enjoyable experience is beyond me. Why they would want to put themselves through this everytime they go somewhere is a mystery to me. In fact if I’m meeting said folk that do this on a regular basis I always tell them the wrong meeting time,  you could say that I am kind enough to build in a fuck up factor for them free of charge.Every so often you run into problems and you run late but I hate it,  I think it’s because I refuse to run and I’m a lazy bastard and it’s not good for my image. 

But now I’m sitting in my digs of my Airbnb and Qun the young lady of the house is making dinner which is good and so it’s a quiet night for me. 

This picture is from an art exhibition that was on at Shenzhen Airport which I thought was pretty cool. 

Went for some dinner at a Xinjiang restaurant on the way home with the tour guides and we had the best yoghurt followed by chicken and potato and some dancing chucked in for good measure. 

And to finish some Lady Godiva ice cream 

I went to Dongshan Island again today with another tour group. My friend Amy owns a travel agency and I help her from time to time. Most of the group were Westerners and some had travelled as far as Shanghai. The weather was overcast and the rain threatened but luckily it stayed dry. In fact the cloud cover made it a perfect day for walking up the steep hill on the island. This week I have been walking up to the top floor of my apartment block and so this wee stroll up the hill at Dongshan was relatively easy and I passed many people on the trail as I made my way to the top and that included many young ones. In fact there was one young girl that was sitting at the top ready to retrieve her breakfast.

The climb is quite steep and you zig zag up through 24 stages until you reach the top. The reason for coming today was so that we could get the first taste of the Biluochun Green tea which is grown here. It is grown alongside loquat fruit trees and it is this combination that helps to give the Biluochn its distinctive flavour. You do get the opportunity to pick the tea but it does take quite along time to pick enough for a cup and so thankfully when we reach the top there is a lovely cup of tea waiting for us.

But before we can get to taste it you have to watch the process of roasting the tea and this is done by hand. This is how it has been done for centuries although now you can get a little help from a gas powered wok.

The tea must be dried properly before use and when it is the leaves are very curly, but they retake their previous form once water is added back into the mix and of course as all tea jennies know, you don’t use boiling water to make tea but you have it at 80c to make the perfect cup of tea.

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This is the wonderful tea house at the top of the mountain.

Lunch is served using only seasonal and local foods. There are fish for the lake and fruits from the island.

This is eel served with ginger……

One of my favourite dishes, sweet and sour flower fish. The fish is made to look like a Chrysanthemum. Not sure how long it takes to prepare but I like it because there are no bones and the flavour is great. In fact it’s a good combination with the eel.

This is sticky rice with red bean inside, not one of my favourite desserts but it is very popular in China to have these kind of sweets.

After lunch we walk to the village on the opposite side of the island and we eventually come to Lijiang village and we are invited into one of the best preserved Ming Dynasty officials houses. This is the courtyard you come into after you have parked your Sedan chair which of course you can see in the pictures below. There are a his and hers, actually that should be hers and his. 

After we tour the house we head out through the garden and back into the busy narrow streets of the village as we head for the bus.

This woman is printing by hand paper money that’s used when you visit your dead relatives. It is burned at the grave to make sure they have enough money to look after themselves. Maybe buy some takeaway or a new mobile or something.

Suzhou buildings are mostly black and white and I think that even when they are old looking and a bit worse for wear they still have  great character. The courtyard above leads into another large home and has been restored and it does look magnificent. Although much of the Chinese culture and architecture can be elaborate I also think that they bring a certain elegance with their simplicity of the contrast with black and white.

Day 4 and I’ve completed 4 trips to the top of the apartment block although my legs are feeling a little worse for wear and my lungs are screaming at me when I get to the top ’cause I try to run up as many flights as possible but I can just about breathe again when I exit the lift to go back to my apartment. Then I need to take a nap😆

I’m living in an apartment block on the 4th floor of a building which has 24 floors. This morning I decided to visit the 24th floor via the stairs and I must admit I was a little bit puffed when I reached the top, but I’m going to try and do this every day while I’m living here. I shall keep you posted of my progress or if you don’t hear from me again then please come and find me.