I'm not as morbid as the title may suggest. But yes, I am still alive, despite the long period of silence. I'm back in Tianjin after a beautiful month in the countryside and four not so beautiful days in Changzhou. I'm supposed to be working, but I have...

Bloody hell. I had a good time earlier this afternoon. We wandered up the mountainside a short way- only as far as the irrigation channel- but, and this, unfortunately has been rare this winter, the weather was so incredibly clear that we could see the...

Happy Year of the Dog! Spring Festival here passed pretty much as per normal. A big meal, plenty of jiaozi, more baijiu than is generally healthy (but not too much), fireworks, one of which blew my hand up, then in the following few days, visiting relatives,...