Well, we spent this morning learning taichi. We learnt 6 steps to be exact! It took 2 hours and I doubt that any of us will remember them by tomorrow! Our teacher did tell us that she spent the whole day just learning one step when she first started. It looks so easy and yet is so exacting but an excellent exercise because it is low impact. We then spent the afternoon practicing calligraphy. This was less impressive but good fun and very relaxing. We we...

This is actually from a small town about 1 and a half hours by bus, south of Guilin, called Yangshao. The town itself is very pretty - by night at least, I haven't seen it in daylight yet - but very touristy and I'm staying in a school about a 20 minute walk away. The school is vast - it's like a small housing estate of flats, not houses. The pupils all board and are middle and secondary school age. The scenery is amazing - we are surrounded by fantastically shap...

A final update before my executive status disappears along with the computer!! Shanghai has been a real treat - it is a lovely, friendly city with the most amazing architecture. On one side of the river is the vison of the future - sci-fi city! And on the other side are the architectural gems of the last centuary and earlier and somehow they complement each other. The combination works - the two styles don't jar or look out of place and at night it is simply stun...

I'm in Shanghai, and loving it!! I think the reason is because it has a river flowing through the middle and there is something about a river flowing through a city - a focal point? The ageless tranquility of nature? A break from the unending concrete? I have also got myself a super duper hotel right on the river in a super duper location and that also makes a difference. AND I've got myself upgraded to an EXECUTIVE room with FREE INTERNET!!! The hotel is gorgeou...

A day of pouring rain put an end to the proposed bike ride (I'm sure I'll have other opportunities) and meant, instead, more Peking Opera, this time in the most beautiful old Chinese theatre with a highly decorated old fashioned tea-house attached. The audience sit around little tables and are provided with pots of jasmine tea and snacks (orange segments, dried fruit and nuts) to eat whilst watching the performance on the small square stage. It only lasts about a...