"Even if nobody pays attention to it, there will be a place that
always supports very, very important encounters in the heart."
always supports very, very important encounters in the heart."
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JD started Primary School today. Through various devious means we managed to get him a place in the "best" Primary School in the city and so he is now in a class of 40 - one class out of a 10-class intake.
The first day was the usual Chinese chaos. We were told to arrive at school at 8am, until a text at 11.40pm the previous day which changed the time to 8.30am. Guards at the school initially wouldn't let anyone in without seeing a text message on their phone - a message which hadn't been sent. And on arrival at the classroom we were asked to hand in a copy of our house registration - something nobody had brought since nobody had been told it was required. and so on...
Rather alarmingly, the white circular machines [such as the one above left] hang on walls around the school. So far, nobody I've asked can tell me what they are! Worrying...   When we are in the UK this Summer my brother Andy visited with his kids, Louie and Daisy. They gave JD a wonderful home-made quiz book all about him, Britain and his British family. We've been completing parts of it together each night this week. Great fun. Thanks chaps!
I'm half way through my August IELTS examining commitments. It's a long day dealing with 19-22 candidates one-by-one, each expecting their 15 minutes of 100% focus from the examiner as, for many, it can be a life-changing exam. Some barely have enough English to form a sentence, some could speak OK if it wasn't for their crippling nerves and a few are talented enough to score well.  Security is very high with metal detectors, documents signed in and out and electrical recorders locked up over lunch. And no phones or cameras are allowed in the room - hence the mocked up photo above!
 In a country where religion is largely frowned on, it's
really odd to see so many e-bikes with this on their sides.
Can't complain about the weather here these days!
 My blog celebrates its 14th anniversary today (including its previous Yahoo format). I wonder how many readers have been following it from the very beginning? The blog stats say there are 200-300 unique views daily, though there are only about 20 regulars that I know of. If you've never signed the Guestbook (tab above), why not reveal yourself?
 Another in my occasional series of "Flashbacks", looking back at blog entries made before this Weebly version started. In March this year 25 people were killed when their bus fell into a 100m deep valley in QiaoJia County, Yunnan. The roads there are known to be particularly hazardous . And just yesterday, a bus full of Middle School students fell into a river, killing 28 children, also in QiaoJia County ...... so guess where I’m going tomorrow?  My INSETT training course in QiaoJia starts on Monday and I was due to be picked up from YiLiang tomorrow (I got back “home” this afternoon after a pretty torturous 18 hour bus ride). But now, all QiaoJia cars have been “grounded” until the registered drivers there have received “safety training”. So I have been asked to take a bus back to Zhaotong tomorrow morning (with all my resources, computer and hastily washed clothes etc) and meet some ongoing transport that QiaoJia Education Commission will have arranged. My relaxed holiday mood has been well and truly shattered!
 The den JD and I have been building for over four years
now boasts two arches and the beginnings of a wall.  I now have an audience
as I compose my blog posts! We arrived back home yesterday after a fabulous and successful month in the UK. JD got his toy Nerf guns confiscated on arrival in China (a country where common sense and a sense of humour are often sorely lacking). Fortunately JiaJia managed to persuade the security officer to let her post them to our house rather than lose them completely.
Now I just need to re-register with the local police and get our dead car battery replaced. But we are happy to be back as life slowly returns to its normal pace.
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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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