View Post

How to make BBQ chicken – Country style

It’s birthday BBQ time. We’re out by a big lake in the countryside with the Chinese family. We’re making BBQ chicken. The first step is to make a hole in the ground… You wrap the chicken in foil and put it in the hole then cover it with wood and set fire to it (the wood, not the chicken!). After …

View Post

Small meal to try to get rid of jet lag

This is a heavy way to start the holiday. A big meal after about 3 hours sleep in the last two days. Maotai on my first night might help me to sleep though! This is also my first real attempt to post to my blog and Facebook at the same time. Wish me luck!

View Post

We’re on the way (2018)

Currently at 9000m and 600mph (sorry about the mixed units!) on Cathay Pacific CX216 from Manchester to Hong Kong. Very smooth take off and flight so far. Only another 10h43m to go to Hong Kong. WiFi all the way too and only $20 so not too bad. I hope it’s not cloudy on the flight…it would be great to see …

View Post

China 2018 is happening

Football is coming home and I’m going to China. The flights are booked. Got my visa on Friday. Started making my packing list yesterday. No specific plans of where we will go yet. Flying to Nanning via Hong Kong then getting to Laibin somehow. After that the rest is unplanned.

View Post

Tea Party and Photosphere test

This was an unplanned tea party whilst visiting friends in Laibin in 2017. The Chinese tea ceremony is great to take part in. There’s a ritual to the cleaning process and making of the tea which is good to watch…and something I try to emulate to an extent when making Chinese tea in the UK. I’ll describe the ceremony in …

View Post

Goat Poo Soup?

  I like to try new foods, but there are some that I won’t try (mostly seafood) and some that I’m not sure about because they’re just not something I’ve ever contemplated. A meal in Ronhshui (Rongshui Miao Autonomous County) north of Laibin gave me one of those once in a lifetime opportunities to try something new. I’d heard about …

View Post

Another amazing karst view

Driving home from Sanjiango (sp?) this evening. The landscape is forever changing and each new view is just as amazing as the thousands that went before it.

View Post

Spicy boiled animal parts

Does anyone like spicy boiled animal parts? Including tripe, brain and liver, plus some other unidentifiable parts. I tried a little but only the safer parts!

View Post

Charabanc Trip in China?

It’s just like Old Blighty here. We’re on a charabanc ride to the seaside. Fangchengang to be precise, but driving through Luwu, Guangxi at the moment. Cake has been served as in-flight refreshment. Also like Britain it’s raining. What would a trip to the beach be like without rain.

View Post

Temperature Inversion?

At home my heating is set at 21C and that makes me feel warm. Here the air conditioning is set at 27C and it makes me feel cool. Is this what they call a temperature inversion?