Soon after my return to China my TV stopped working. We had never actually turned it on but the channel indicator on a connected machine disappeared and couldn’t be made to return. No visible results occurred after weeks of discussions with management. On Friday evening I returned from class to find a note written in Chinese on my door. After contacting a helpful student who arrived on Saturday, deciphered the words and made a phone call we were off somewhere not too far away to exchange the machine. When we arrived at the appointed place we were told it didn’t belong to them and the phone number no longer answered. Back to square one.
There was a small park nearby and as neither of us had been there before we had a wander around. It was very much a solidly packed fun park for kids. It included goldfish fishing too. Games were along the lines of those found in side show alleys at Australian country shows. Also, there was a woman making dough figurines. A few snack and drink stalls provided sustenance to visitors. One stall had a very large copper teapot with dragon figurines. It was used to produce many different sorts of drinks, but as it was very quiet and nobody was buying I never saw how it all worked. Later we saw a much more attractive one, but it too was doing no business.
Water Activities
One of many driving activites. There numerous “shoot-em-up” type activites including target spots on model tigers.
Part of the park
Like every good park it had its small hill and gazebo.
Dough figurines. The maker is putting the final touches to Little Sheep, a popular cartoon character. The woman behind has a sleeping child in her lap.
The copper pot with its dragon and jars of flavours.
The following day some of my students and a couple of their boyfriends took me into the country to see a reservoir. We got a bus from outside the college and travelled due north about 20 minutes. We alighted, walked about 100 meters at right angles to the road and encountered the entrance to the reservoir. I had been expecting a lake, being mixed up between it and a lake in the vague vicinity. There was little water and some of the locals were doing their washing in it, hanging the wet clothes on bushes and railings from the reservoir superstructure.
The reservoir with its stone bank.
Washing on railings.
Taken from the railings.
Two of the industrious ones.
View to the right from the railings.
A few people were out in the reservoir area fishing in an isolated pond. There were a few other visitors. They were sitting in the shade beneath a concrete walkway.
The fishermen and hangerson.
We continued on and walked along a country road past orchards and fields containing a diversity of crops. These included cotton, millet, peanuts, sweet potato, corn, apples, jujubes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jujube), cabbage type vegetables and many others. A stall at the entrance was selling little bunches of flowers which were sewn together. I was told they were used in cooking. I’m not sure where the locals lived but 2 orchard owners were around to sell to passersby, one being outside on the road seeking customers, the other just happened to be there when we went through a gate. As it was a bit out of the way I’m not sure who they would find to purchase their fruit. Each apple clung to the tree encased in its own plastic bag. I forgot to find out the reason, but imagine it had something to do with bugs. We picked some apples and got to eat fresh from the tree.
Some of the countryside.
The road we walked along.
Entrance into apple orchard.
A track not taken.
Birds nest. I have seen many big nests like this in China.
Part of a jujube tree. It has thorns and from what I’ve read does well in arid areas. By coincidence I’d recently had an icecream which had some jujube in it.
This what immature jujubes look like after being forgotten in my handbag for a week. One of the students tried one when we were out and it was very sour.
Some cotton bolls. A student said that her mother takes theirs to a factory and has it made into a quilt.
Weighing the apples.
The flowers for sale. Nicely arranged and a collection braided together.
I’d have been happy to keep walking to see what there was to see, but some of the students were wilting from the heat so we retraced our steps and arrived at the bus stop at exactly the right time. One day I’ll take the bus again and see where it terminates. It must go a fair way as the fee was 2RMB whereas other local buses are 1RMB per trip. I’ve travelled a long way for 1RMB in my quest to see what’s at the end. So far it’s never been worthwhile but strangely satisfying.
The TV story has had a happy ending. My machine was replaced and reconnected last night. When I turned it on this evening I got to see a program I’d seen before. There is a message there! Only one English channel containing a limited range of programs provides restricted viewing. There are some Chinese shows with interesting sets and costumes but my need for English is greater than my curiosity about costumes so I rarely watch for any length of time. I really enjoyed listening to some decent radio programs and watching a little TV when I was home recently as it is so different from what I can obtain here. Yesterday I managed to watch a little current affairs from Australia’s ABC channel on my computer, but normally it tells me I’m in a country it doesn’t service and won’t let me watch. No doubt I could get better access to its radio programs but that means I have to think about it and normally I don’t.
