Blog 18
Today's pictures are a selection from the streets of Zhangqiu and make interesting contrasts when compared with the high life of Shanghai. I suppose it's rather like comparing London and Dundee. At least Dundee has a rather nice cake going for it, though.
The first one is of the school I'm teaching at. Notice the parade area around the flagpole. It's rather like The Simpsons and Springfield, with the large power plant overshadowing parts of the town. While being coal-fired, it isn't one of the twenty coal-fired stations that has been opened in China over the last 12 months.
So anyway, here we are still in the provincial town or Zhangqiu. The heavy rain yesterday cleared up by lunchtime and what with the heat and all, all was dry by the early afternoon. The rest of the country hasn't been so lucky - people being swept away all over the place.
It's interesting to note that just the day after we left Chongqing, there was flooding and evacuation. Two days after we left Wuhan, there was flooding and evacuation. I can only hope that this, the third regional town I'm visiting, will be safe from flooding as it's a whole 30 km from the nearest river - the Yellow one, apparently. Although just last month in the local capital, heavy rain flooded the expensive shopping centre and trapped 50 people in a McDonald's. Unfortunately they couldn't be rescued and all perished - I know I've been guilty of a drunken Big Mac in the past, but it's certainly not the place I'd like to be for my final meal.
It's interesting to note that just the day after we left Chongqing, there was flooding and evacuation. Two days after we left Wuhan, there was flooding and evacuation. I can only hope that this, the third regional town I'm visiting, will be safe from flooding as it's a whole 30 km from the nearest river - the Yellow one, apparently. Although just last month in the local capital, heavy rain flooded the expensive shopping centre and trapped 50 people in a McDonald's. Unfortunately they couldn't be rescued and all perished - I know I've been guilty of a drunken Big Mac in the past, but it's certainly not the place I'd like to be for my final meal. On the topic of food, we can see some local vendors on the road my hotel is on. Lots of fruit which is rather too brightly coloured (and why is that?). In the background you can see a bike-cart thing, on which vendors pedal round selling their wares. Here's another one with an old fellow selling brooms and things. Loads of 
people like him around the town. Handy if you've lost your besom and you've guests coming round.
people like him around the town. Handy if you've lost your besom and you've guests coming round.Already you'll notice that the place isn't quite as flash as Shanghai. Far fewer high buildings and lots of little ones. Look, here's a little street with young folk socialising and playing cards in the early evening heat. I hear from locals that it gets rather too hot in the small brick and concrete houses and so the best place to be is outside. Keeps up the community spirit, certainly. It also 
gives you someone to play mah jong with.
gives you someone to play mah jong with.But back again to food, as it so often does. After over three weeks, my body appears to have finally got used to the local food and it is no longer causing unpleasant internal rumblings. The broths, I gulp down. Pork on the bone is nibbled off in a frenzy and the local street-corner dumplings are gobbled down in one go. All this without the need to dash to the nearest hole in the ground. Considerable progress made here. However, there's still the chicken to contend with. I like chicken. What I like most is a good bit of breast. But back to the chicken... Ha, ha, ha! No, but really, I like meat. I tend to shy away from bone and anything with exposed marrow. But here in China (maybe this part, maybe the whole country, I don't know), they throw away the breast (it's true!) so that the best bits - the bone with the 
brown meat and the bits with all the gristle on it - can be eaten.
brown meat and the bits with all the gristle on it - can be eaten. You can see me behind a mountain of bone, gristle and meat (% contents in that order) at dinner this evening. While Nick and I weren't indulging too much in the bone, our Chinese admin. assistant Judy was loving it. Couldn't get enough of the gristle, which could be chewed and then spat out back out onto her plate. Look at her smile. In her veritable Shangrila (near where I'll be next week, incidentally).
But food problems have been in the national press recently. The Government is worried that the food won't be up to scratch for the Olympics next year. With 70 people dead from separate reported and confirmed incidents of food poisoning last year, vendors fraudulently selling dumplings filled with marinated cardboard as 'pork-filled' and dead fish (floating) then 
being served up as fresh in restaurants (this happened today at lunch - it was seen floating on its side in a tank with some unhealthy looking swimming fish. I would say hobbling, if they were quadrupeds, but as fish, I don't know how you'd describe their erratic movements), the food standards people may have a point. However, who am I with my western delicacies to upset what the EU would close down and fine in a bureaucratic minute? There're a billion people out here, so more than enough to go round. And after all, what's a little food poisoning in the long run? Just makes you stronger. And with the Olympics coming up, I'm sure stronger and more resilient intestines will do wonders for all those local athletes. However, all these food problems are a good way to scupper the opposition - Smart cookies.
being served up as fresh in restaurants (this happened today at lunch - it was seen floating on its side in a tank with some unhealthy looking swimming fish. I would say hobbling, if they were quadrupeds, but as fish, I don't know how you'd describe their erratic movements), the food standards people may have a point. However, who am I with my western delicacies to upset what the EU would close down and fine in a bureaucratic minute? There're a billion people out here, so more than enough to go round. And after all, what's a little food poisoning in the long run? Just makes you stronger. And with the Olympics coming up, I'm sure stronger and more resilient intestines will do wonders for all those local athletes. However, all these food problems are a good way to scupper the opposition - Smart cookies.
