And so it’s been nearly two weeks and the VPN issue is still an issue. I’ve sent numerous emails to the software manufacturer but maybe they are not getting them or they just don’t care, either way it is a bloody inconvenience. Has anybody out there used Bing, Microsoft’s poor excuse for a search engine………I think I still prefer Alta Vista………..is it still around?

Altavista

I sometimes will use Yahoo, but even that is becoming harder to contact, the noose around the country is tightening slowly day by day and the information and options are becoming less. I like to be connected to the outside world; I don’t want to be stuck in this bubble that is China. It’s not so much that I am angered, “Like how dare you China?” it’s just so fucking frustrating when you are trying to do the most simple of tasks or searches to find a simple grammar point to use in a lesson or check what the weather is doing tomorrow or today for that matter. The local search engine “Baidu” is basically useless, unless you are searching local content and there is not much local content that I wish to search for. Both phones run a lot slower here as I’ve mentioned before. When you get outside of China it feels like you have the full use of your body again, inside the firewall we are all handicapped and fed a diet of Soylent Green direct from the massive propaganda machine.. There are many things I enjoy about China, I do like living here but this is way more annoying than having a mosquito in your room.

At the end of the year or the beginning of next year I will go back to the UK briefly and see what the wind brings. I might apply for another visa for here or what I would really like to do would be to spend some time in the UK, but then it comes down to money. Maybe I could get some work there but what would I do? Even if I got a job would I be able to live there and pay the bills, I doubt it. After being away for such a long time I think it would be very difficult to step back into a job and a lifestyle in the real world. Before I leave here I wish to travel and look at the more remote places, Gansu province looks fascinating and I would give you pictures but can’t get online. Yunnan and Sichuan are also on the agenda, either way I need to have a change. I enjoy living in the centre of the city for the access to everywhere but I would rather spend more of my time away from the maddening crowds.

Today I am having a quiet day because the body is tired after yesterday’s adventure out at Lingyenshan. My legs are a bit weary and I really just want to stay at home, read my book, write some words on the computer. My flat mate has just come home and she can see that I am working on the computer but that does not stop her from playing her music loud…no…..if I do that I get told off, but then again I don’t do that because I am aware of what she is doing and out of respect I keep quiet. Chinese people are not aware of others most of the time and so they go about their business focused on what they are doing and don’t consider others. You have to guilt them into making them aware, maybe a dirty look, a shake of the head, sometimes I shout “You fucking idiot!” that makes me feel better at least and sometimes they even understand. Thank goodness their English lessons start from such a young age.

I use this behaviour against them sometimes because some days I wake up and I am just a fucking nasty bastard that thinks revenge is on the cards today. When the metro stops you just know that there will be someone waiting to get on that won’t wait for you to get off and so it’s a shoulder charge as I alight. Walking in front of the bikes and cars when I have the green man, although you do have to be a bit more careful when playing this game of chicken. The phone zombie walking down the street that suddenly changes direction and is now on a direct collision course with me, I stay online and wait the outcome. All very childish I know but it makes me feel that I might also be educating each and every one of them if they just take a moment to consider why this crazy old man did what he did. Alas thinking for your self is not really an option for many, they do what they do because this is what they have learned from the previous generation and at school To them this behaviour is perfectly acceptable and they don’t understand what I’m doing either………….but every so often a glimmer of hope in the society emerges and you will see that there are a few that can think for themselves but they keep it hidden and only really reveal themselves when they are with a kindred spirit. But some days they are few and far between. It’s the same with my flat mate, she also has these moments where she can see the effect her behaviour is having and will change but today is not one of those days and so I have come into my room out-of-the-way and locked myself in my cave to get away from the constant level of noise that seems to go with life in China.

This is why I seek out the country side or go to the lakeside to get away from the noise and the chaos, to have a place where my mind can be empty of any other distractions, distractions which I am having less and less tolerance for. And so I guess I’m saying that at the moment China is getting on me tits and maybe it’s time to leave this place for a while and recharge the batteries or maybe I will return to China but to a different location, find pastures new and go exploring in another part of this huge country, after all there is a lot of it to see. But then there is the added challenge of getting settled again which is not something I look forward to. Maybe a long holiday is the best thing for now because it’s not all bad. Maybe they won’t renew my visa.

Mind you today the pollution is high and although it’s great that I don’t have to wear sunscreen because it’s blocking the UV, I think my lungs are protesting a little due to the amount of sputum I’m bringing up. So China has many challenges and today I feel that they are all coming to me at once and when you put them all together it makes me question why I am here.

30 years ago today, the big bash in the square,

Thousands of people were there,

Shouting and chanting give thought a chance,

Change is in the air I feel it in my water,

But after a few weeks the boss was pissed off,

And said Tanks for the memories but you need to go,

They swept in shooting, cleaning, pushing to and fro,

Many fell and then the death knells toll,

The lifeless bodies crushed and broken,

And after 30 years it’s never spoken,

About the day that hope died,

But many people could not believe, many cried,

Now it’s a myth a rumour, a cancer, a tumour,

That’s been cut from the body to keep it healthy,

Keep the sheep in the dark, let them get wealthy,

Will they every know, do they really care,

Now is important, the price has been paid.

On Sunday I went to Lingyenshan with a group of friends and when we all arrived at 9am the clouds were threatening to soak us, in fact at 6am the rain was on. I’ve been here many times before of course but not with such a large group. There were 4 couples with children and the youngest was 6, so I thought this would be a problem because it’s difficult in places……….not the kid the track I mean………..I don’t even know the kid and then again maybe he is a bit difficult. After about an hour the sun came out with a vengeance and so it was time to cover up. Some folk hadn’t even brought a hat which is just bloody stupid really. The walk is good, it has some difficult areas, it’s quite steep and then you have a chance to rest as you go back down hill. However there are a few parts where the loose stones make it like ice and you have to be really careful. A few ended up on their arse, including the adults, but thankfully I stayed on my feet.

I want one of these remote control cars, they are bloody marvelous

.

It took us about 4 hours to do the walk and I’ll be honest I was getting a bit weary by the end of it, I was running out of fuel and I only had a very small lunch and breakfast and I was running on empty. But we all made it safely to the end and when I got home I stuffed me face, had a shower and hit the sack, I think I was sleeping before my head hit the pillow.

This morning I decided to go to Xishan as it is my new motto to explore more. After breakfast I went to the park and then after me shower I headed to Xishan. Its two hours away an unfortunately the bus driver was on the horn shouting at people most of the way. I’m not going to dwell on that, but they are fucking morons.

Xishan was quiet and today I really just wanted to go for a walk and a bit of a recce. I spotted many places selling fruit which I had no interest in. It’s the Pipa that I bought the other day and it really is over rated. The stone in the centre is so big that the amount of fruit you get is very small and the taste is, well for me, so so. A little sweet, a bit citrus. There were a few other things like the fish bladders being dried in the sun, not sure if you eat them or may or maybe they use them as condoms.

I spotted a café and popped in for a look. The coffee was expensive, 30 rmb, but the cup was nice and the coffee was very good. There were about 10 locals drinking tea and were a bit bemused by me I think. A young girl about 7 years old came in with a dog and she spoke with her mother and then she wandered over my way. The dog made a bee line for me and of course I had to say hello. Cookie was a very nice wee dog and he just wanted someone to pat his head and scratch him behind the ears, I can relate to that. The young girl spoke to me telling me that Cookie likes these beef strips and she gave them to me so that I could feed the dog. She just started speaking to me like an old friend and the rest of the room were quite taken by this; none of them could speak English. They brought me some tea over after I had finished my coffee and I even got a refill. A very pleasant half hour sitting there and not what I expected from such a small place. I told the Mother that her daughter’s English was very good and they also complemented me on my Chinese.

There was a loop road that I walked which was about 8 km’s and so I set off to see what I could find. I came across numerous restaurants selling the food they catch from Taihu (Lake Tai), none of it is of interest to me. I’ve eaten most of it before and I find it quite tasteless. I came across a temple on the lakeside. There is an old village that I went to years ago and will go to again, I just forgot where it was and today I did not really have the time or the inclination to go in. The pictures will let you see what my trip was like today and so I will go the noo and have another lazy night after such a long day walking in the sun.