Walkabout
on Tina's Journal (China), 19/May/2009 05:13, 34 days ago
I took a long walk yesterday to the south of Simao up Tea Mountain and Meizi Lake. My follow-up trip is postponed until next week. It was another hot day but the rain seems to be coming more frequently these days. I did manage to save myself from the heavy rain and I headed out just after a short storm. One clap of thunder was so loud it sounded as if my building was cracking. I really love listening to thunder though. The rainy season will soon be upon us and I should expect heavy down pours everyday. I will have to get the correct attire for such weather, basically lots of pairs of flip-flops!! So, out on my walk I got the usual stares, being awaiguoren(foreigner) on her own wondering around you kind of stick out like a sore thumb. I received the occasionalHelloshouted by men on their motorcycles, all quite harmless, and I generally feel very safe whenever I am out walking alone. I decided to have an easy day and take some time out for myself. At the top of Tea Mountain you can find stalls run by women selling fruit and all kinds of prepared food ready to eat. You will always find street stalls selling food in lots of parts of Simao. The Chinese love eating, in fact, when they greet each other the first thing said is"Have you eaten?" where we would say"How are you?". Despite loving food so much most people here are slim and you don't find many over weight people. Probably because there are few carbs in the diet. Whenever I have eaten a meal I never feel full like I would eating back home. I walked through parts of Simao where I haven't been before on foot. I don't remember if I have mentioned before how difficult it can be to cross the road in China. It's really hard for pedestrians. There are zebra crossing where you are supposed to cross but cars and traffic always have right of way, so quite often you find yourself in the middle of the road where you have managed to traverse half of the road and wait whilst the other side clears. This can be quite hairy and I have seen a couple of accidents since I arrived. Also, walking on the pavement motorcycles beep you to get out the way which can be very annoying! Jayne read the other day that there are more road accidents in China than anywhere else in the world, no surprise there!Anyway, I am managing to update my blog because Paolo has changed the settings so I can send an update direct from my gmail account, technology is fab. It just means no-one in China can view it. Let's hope blogspot gets unblocked soon. Youtube is one of the other sites blocked here!