Burn the buidling down!
 JD's been trying his hand at blogging recently, as part of his home-school ICT lessons! Early days, but he's hoping to update it once or twice a week...
This week's home-school outing was to Kunming's Space Museum. It was quite a trip across the city (1½ hours via the underground) but the remoteness meant we ended up having the whole place to ourselves! The early exhibits were a bit dull - black & white photos and patriotic displays of military missiles, etc. But later there was a room full of VR simulators and, whilst we were supposed to pay extra money to use each one, the museum staff were charmed by JD - their only real customer - and let us use them all for free!  JD and I have been spending our Tuesday mornings over the last month. playing badminton with a couple of friends of ours.
It was a new sport to JD and he has thoroughly enjoyed picking up the basics and seeing his "successful hit rate" rise from 30% to 70%. It's proven a valuable way to try and get him leaner and fitter!
JD and I attended what is likely to be our last D&D (Dungeons and Dragons) game in Kunming a few days ago. JD's character [left] was a sniper with telescopic goggles, while I was playing a cleric [right] with powers of lightning bursts and healing spells! A pair of Chinese twin brothers completed our team.
After three hours we had defeated pirates, robots and a huge octopus!
Another home-school outing yesterday. I tasked JD with planning a round trip across Kunming using at least 3 types of public transport...
After some mapping and transport investigations, we left the house at 9am. A 20-minute walk to the subway station and we travelled to the Horticultural Exposition Park vie two subway lines. An hour's walk to the far end of the park led to a cable car which took us to the Golden Temple. After a picnic lunch we headed down the other side of the mountain, including an alpine slide ride, in order to catch a bus home. 5½ hours total travel time, and we never got lost - well done JD!
 Last week was "Tomb Sweeping" Festival in China, where folk traditionally visit and tidy the graves of their ancestors. I drove Jiajia to her Grandma's and Druncle's graves, possibly for the final time. Jiajia laid snacks, drink and flowers at the gravestones, and burned various incense.
Before we left the cemetery we were encouraged to hop over a bowl of burning sage three times to dispel any bad spirits (for a price, of course) which was a new one to me! JD had a fairly profitable afternoon last weekend, selling off many of his toys to kids and parents in the neighbourhood. 
We met up with friends today to explore one of Kunming's wetland parks. JD took along the camera he bought recently with his birthday money. He had wanted a film or instant polaroid type but we managed to persuade him to buy a digital camera that just "looked" old-fashioned. And a good job too, as he took over 250 pictures during this one trip alone!
 JD had his Birthday Party last weekend in an old traditional courtyard house, converted into a restaurant. The owner is one of Jiajia's customers! Most of JD's friends date back to his old Kindergarten class and the kids' favourite Kindergarten teacher came along, too.  We had some very nice food and JD received a pile of presents. Then the kids played hide-and-seek around the restaurant while the adults chatted. There was a huge birthday cake to round the evening off, after which JD insisted on wearing the cake packaging as a top hat!
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 AuthorPaul Hider started this blog to share his rather odd life living in China for over 20 years. Since returning to the UK in 2024, the blog now records his more "normal" lifestyle! Past blog entries
May 2025
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