25th Blog Post! Hello all - it feels like this should be my 125th blog post, given the amount of time I've been here ! These past few weeks have been pretty standard in terms of teaching but, last Sunday I went to Changsha for the day. Shopping, in case you were wondering, which was v.nice. I also visited Starbucks which was a real treat! It's amazing how things like going for a coffee in Starbucks have now become almost occasions because there're no Western pla...

So, Week 3 (teaching week that is) has started & I am slowly getting used to my massive new classes! The weather will hopefully start getting warmer & sunnier soon..I hope - it'll make going to the gym easier :P I say this as it's been a nice day today - cloudy but with sunshine & a lot warmer, so long may it continue! We'll probably have another week of dull, grey, damp weather now..aha... I took some pictures around campus at the weekend to show th...

Thought I'd write a quick update of what's been happening so far, now that it's back to school time here at PX college! Term started last week, and I've got 5 new classes as well as 4 that I taught last semester. Brian has completely new classes as he taught seniors last semester who have now all graduated. There are still, obviously, lots of students here but you can tell there aren't as many compared to last term. Even so, it's nice that there's more life back...

Hainan Island (Sanya) So, last but by no means least, my most recent trip was to Sanya on the south coast of Hainan Island. Hainan is quite a large island, with 2 main cities of Sanya in the south & Haikou in the north. It's a bit like China's Isle of Wight, only slightly more tropical ! It's a very popular holiday destination during spring festival due to its warm climate all year round, especially for well-to-do families from the north (ie Beijing) who go ...

Hangzhou Right, so, the second part of my travels took me to Hangzhou in Zhejiang province, along the east coast. Hangzhou and other cities, such as nearby Ningbo and Suzhou are all a stone's throw away from Shanghai, needless to say they're all busy, bustling, prosperous cities. Tuesday morning (after arriving back in Pingxiang on the Monday) I caught the train from Pingxiang to Hangzhou south station. Luckily, the Changsha to Shanghai train stops at both Pingx...