When I went out this morning almost everyone was wearing a mask and I did too but the problem that I have and others with specs have is that we have two choices……….we can either see where we are going and breathe unclean air or we can breathe clean air and not see where we are going due to your specs steaming up. It’s winter here and so the specs are cold and they just fog up. I had the same problem when I went to Harbin in the north of China when I went to see the Ice Festival, but the difference there was that the condensation soon turned to ice.

Wuhan is around 750 km from Suzhou but in this day and age and especially in China that distance is very small, the transport system here is very efficient and of course Wuhan is a transport hub and that is also why the government has decided to lock it down.

A pandemic is never a good thing I guess but that’s what is possibly going to
happen in the days and weeks to come. China has once more been the source for a rather contagious SARS like bug that has appeared at the best possible time to cause complete chaos and disruption to the Chinese New Year celebrations. I heard on the news this morn that the infection could have come from a snake or a rat, I’m putting my money on the Rat, after all we are entering the year of the Rat.

Many people are beginning to panic and quickly change their New Year plans, hotels have had many cancellations, Sissi told me that the houses she has with Airbnb have no one now, and future bookings have been cancelled too. Restaurants and most New Year celebrations have been cancelled, in fact anything where there will be a large gathering of people. I for one am not fussed, I can be quite anti-social at the best of times and just now I usually get many invitations and often would rather stay at home with a
good book or just watch the box. This year I will get my wish.

Most people seem to be reacting as if the problem has arrived on their doorstep and many are taking no chances. The Chinese will do as they are told by their government, many do not have free thought and so will do what they have been advised and to be honest it is just as well. They have one bad habit here that will help to spread this virus, most Chinese folk do not cover their mouths when coughing and I often want to punch them in the throat if they do this near me. May as well give them something to
really cough about. Maybe after this health scare the message from the
government might get ingrained into the psyche for future reference.

It is winter here and there are many folk already suffering from some ailment. Last week I had a bad throat, caused I would think by the high pollution levels, there have been warnings that it is unhealthy and for me I would have to agree. I don’t have to look at the app on my phone to tell me that the air quality is not good today; my throat does that for me. So for the last week I have been coughing up a lung or two but after using an expectorant for a few days my cough is better and the amount of phlegm
being produced has reduced dramatically. I was really surprised just how sticky that stuff can be. I tried to dispose of a load down the sink while I cleaned my teeth and the globule just refused to be washed away, no wonder it’s such a drama trying to get it out of our body.

On a different note, I was on the bus the other day and a manky old man got on the bus at the same stop as me. He had just lit up a doubt a few minutes before the bus arrived, took a couple of draws and then snubbed it out and put it back into his pocket. I stayed well clear of him on the bus; I would rather breathe in all the PM2.5 on offer than sit near him.

He blew his nose and then dropped the wet soggy tissue on the bus floor at which point almost all of the other passengers got onto him and told him to pick it up and put it in the bin. It was so good to see, maybe there is hope for this country yet. He protested for a few minutes but then he had to admit defeat and he picked it up and put it in the bin. They have many bad habits and throwing rubbish on the floor as you know is one of my pet hates, so to see so many people chastising this guy gives one hope for the future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When
I went out this morning almost everyone was wearing a mask and I did too but
the problem that I have and others with specs have is that we have two
choices……….we can either see where we are going and breathe unclean air
or we can breathe clean air and not see where we are going due to your specs
steaming up. It’s winter here and so the specs are cold and they just fog up. I
had the same problem when I went to Harbin in the north of China when I went to
see the Ice Festival, but the difference there was that the condensation soon
turned to ice.