四海为家

After a year and a half in Wuhan, I’ve now left the city that a friend a few weeks ago described as 全中国最大的农村 behind, to begin exploring some of what the rest of China has to offer. As my loyal readers know, I like Wuhan. But these past few days, the weather has been cold and rainy, and Yunnan, the first stop on our trip, is warm and sunny. Our flight to Kunming is also delayed, which Martin was sure would be the case (every single flight he has taken in China has been delayed by at least an hour, and I’ve only taken a handful of flights to or from Wuhan that have been able to keep to their schedule, maybe something to do with the all-too-common fog/smog that’s covering the city right now). And our last night here was spent in an unexpectedly sketchy hotel, where just inside the door the floor was covered with business cards with pictures of girls in various states of undress that said things like “17 to 25 years old, choose any type you want” and“青春学生” (innocent students) (we needed to catch a taxi to the airport and 6am and thought that staying somewhere on the busy street that slashes through Wuchang would make things simpler in the morning, but it’s also an area where people stand on the street corner discretely chanting 发票发票发票发票 to catch the attention of sketchy business people and government officials who want to buy fake receipts that they can cash in for reimbursements once their business trip is over, so I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised that the type of clientele the hotels there cater to is of the sketchier variety). So on the whole, while I still feel a bit sad to leave what has been my home for quite some time, it also feels good to be on the road.

Martin and I will be travelling for roughly three and a half months (which is how long we estimate our English-teaching savings will last). Rough itinerary is Yunnan – Sichuan – Tibet (if possible) – Hong Kong/Macau – Guangxi – Hunan – Shanghai – Hangzhou – Shandong – Liaoning – Beijing, then back to Wuhan for one last visit before flying home at the end of June. Where internet connections allow I’ll try to post updates and pictures to this blog. The adventure begins!

在武汉的朋友，我已经想你们了！我旅游时我们可以继续通过校内和QQ联系，估计在很多地方会有网线。我打算偶尔在这里（还是在校内和QQ空间）用汉语写一些旅游的印象。因为你们现在不在我身边帮我改对语法和词语，所以我估计会有很多错误，但是希望你们还是会看得懂！我六月份回国以前再一次回来武汉呆一两个星期，所以还是在武汉的朋友，我们可以那时候又见面。海内存知己，天涯若比邻！