 Really lovely to catch up with all the family on a Christmas/New Year Zoom today. We were even joined by my nephew Josh from the ambulance where he is a trainee paramedic! Online meeting technology has come such a long way over the COVID period.
We celebrated Christmas a day late as everyone was working and/or studying on the day itself. JD woke to not one, but three full stockings - his (successful) attempt to trick Santa into extra gifts! Then, after dinner, we opened all our presents - those for Ma, Jiajia and myself combined being less than those for JD alone! Lucky boy!
 OK, so it was chicken instead of turkey, "ganlan" instead of sprouts, home-made crackers and rice-based stuffing, but it was still pretty Christmassy and very tasty! Merry Christmas, readers!
Decorations have been up for a month, the advent calendar is nearly empty, presents are piled up beneath the tree ...and someone is very excited!
 JD finishes a three day course of IV drips today. After a fever earlier this week, we took him to hospital for a blood test. That indicated a very elevated white cell count, and the doctor strongly advised an intravenous antibiotic drip. JD has been in fairly good spirits since then, mostly at the thought of three days off school. We are hoping he will be OK to return to his class tomorrow as he has important end-of-term exams next week.
 Some friends of ours invited us out to a meal yesterday. Dai Minority food - quite sour and spicy in parts, but lots of choice.
 The biggest scratch built Lego model JD and I have ever made.
 After "Whitey" died a year ago, we assumed "Bitey" might not last too much longer. Yet here he is, seemingly as perky as ever.
JD's Primary School is in a road full of Gingko trees. Their leaves are quite something at this time of year. JD believes the oncoming car in this photo is floating!   I was asked by my University to attend a "Thematic Briefing on the Sixth Plenary Session of the Nineteenth CPC Central Committee" yesterday. To be fair, the organisers tried their best to make it accessible and fairly interesting (Powerpoints in English, real-time translations, phone app "games", gifts, etc) but there's only so much fun you can wring out of "XiJingPing Marxism Thought"!?
 JD is enjoying his "Advent Calendar train" - he opens one carriage a day, each containing a small toy.
JD and I hiked up to MiaoGao Temple the other day. Good exercise, fresh air and a cheap vegetarian lunch with the monks.
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 AuthorPaul Hider lives and works in Kunming (SW China) and regularly updates this blog about his life there. Past blog entries
March 2023
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