Archive for the ‘China Diary 2007’ Category

2007 China Review

Monday, December 31st, 2007

Time certainly flies here in the P.R.C. and 2007, just like the previous 3 years has whizzed by.  2007 in China has proven to be a most memorable year and I thought I’d take time-out to summarise the ‘year that was’.

I’ve compiled a list, in no particular order of importance (more…)

Tackling that Tricky Turkey (updated)

Monday, December 24th, 2007

Christmas Eve has never before caused me such difficulty; I’m generating seasonal stress though I’m sure I shouldn’t panic!  I’m ingredientally-challenged and so I’m worrying about my turkey stuffing.  Whatever I do end up creating tomorrow morning, I’m sure it’ll be unique.

If you’re living outside Beijing or Shanghai then that’s your only (more…)

Ode to Lost Presents

Thursday, December 20th, 2007

My father sent me a parcel,
which never did arrive.
It were packed full of crisps for Christmas,
Salt & Vinegar (there’s no surprise).

So I penned a little poem, (more…)

Let it snow!

Thursday, December 20th, 2007

The Christmas turkey was excellent and the stuffing superb but, just like every Christmas during my years at ‘Number 5′, no Christmas would ever be complete without the nutcrackers breaking at some point in the day.

The breaking of the nutcrackers was such a fact of Christmas in our house that you wouldn’t have got odds at Ladbrokes(more…)

The run-up to Christmas

Wednesday, December 19th, 2007

So here we all are on the run-up to Christmas.  T & I have decorated the apartment and already the lights have been admired.  Not hard given we have no competition!  The best news is that we just bought a turkey – the only one in the city.  I dare not tell you how much it cost and, given we had the choice of one, it’s a lot bigger than we really need.  She weighed-in at six kilos!  But I remember the UK (more…)

Sensational Seasonal Shopping

Saturday, December 15th, 2007

D’you know those days when the unexpected happens?  Those days where you have rough plans, nothing definite and you’re happy to meander through it.  Yes!, those days when despite plans everything goes swimmingly.  Well, today was one of them.

We decided upon a certain area of the city (more…)

Martial Arts in the Womb

Saturday, December 15th, 2007

We must stop exposing our unborn baby to Chinese martial arts films.  The baby has started practising monkey leaping gorge roundhouse kicks and tiger-palm punches and so on, all of which are causing T some discomfort but which are giving me immense pleasure.  I’ve suggested we start playing classic music instead.

We’ll be attempting to do Christmasy things this (more…)