Coronavirus Lockdown

22^nd January - 24^th February 2020

Just as I was leaving Saipan the news of the Coronavirus outbreak in Wuhan.  My original plan was to return to my flat for a few days, wash clothes, have a short rest and fly to Urumqi to visit my girlfriend for the new year.  Very quickly things started to get worse and this was not going to work...  I got as far as spending the evening in the Holiday Inn near Tianjin airport, but in the evening we decided it was best that I not fly across the country should I get stuck there.  Things increasingly started to tighten in Wuhan.  Concerned that she may become trapped in far west China, Mandy flew back a few days later and came to stay with me.

And so the days rolled by.  At first we could go out to the shops, but most never reopened after the Chinese New Year.  Long distance deliveries from Taobao and those relying on the postal system ceased a fortnight prior to the New Year (yes, they close the postal system for a fortnight) and remained closed into February.  Takeaway deliveries ceased, most restaurants were not open and then even the big chains closed, and the delivery drivers were no longer allowed onto the estate. Places increasing wanted you to wear a mask (regardless of their efficacy) such as public services, shops and the school before they closed to staff.  Shops ran out of masks and hand sanitisers.  We were fortunate to find one store that had a few remaining.  Mostly throughout this period fresh produce like fruit and veg have been in constant supply.  But the bread ran out, bakeries had closed for the new year and as factories were closed none was like to arrive until early February.  The school term was suspended a fortnight until late February.

They started taking temperature readings on the gate to the estate in an informal manner, and then there started to be more and more staff out there, recording names, phone numbers or anyone coming into the estate.  But the irony now was that there was no where worth going anyway, everything was shut.  Taxis were strictly local only.

Also staying was Mandy’s lovely doggie, who helps keep us company.  We could take her for frequent walks to stop her chewing my plants.  Chinese people are bizarrely frightened by dogs.  If she were to run up to someone they put their arms in the air, shout or get on a wall to escape them, yet she doesn’t bite or bark, or even touch them!  There some great fear of disease, especially rabies.  She’s clearly not a wild dog, or with any likelihood of having rabies, The fuss made is idiotic.  Anyway, Mandy had to return to Beijing as her school was due to start at the end of February and they were insisting everyone do a fortnight isolation when returning to Beijing.  She was searching for a taxi for days but all had been closed down, eventually she got one but it costs three times the normal rate.  When she got to her estate she was issued with a card dated upon return that she would have to wait two weeks before she could turn in for a replacement that would allow her outside.  As of writing this, she has only recently taken her first trip outside in a fortnight.  Meanwhile I was now on my own for the foreseeable future.

And then things started getting much worse.  The UK started chartering flights to get people out of Wuhan, but there was confusion with the Chinese authorities preventing partners and children of British citizens leaving if they held chinese citizenship.  I cannot imagine anyone bugging out and leaving their kids behind, so of course people still remain there.  Then the Foreign Office ‘advises’ all Britons leave ‘if they can’.  The reality is that the taxis are local, and the wisdom of taking public transport or going into a crowded airport is highly questionable.  Leaping on a plane to fly home, and living in the UK isn’t cheap and for all I knew, I could be flying back within a week or two.  It simply didn’t seem practical, or worthwhile.  Some others on the estate decided that it was worth going home, one chose to take the train, another had family drive them to the airport.  In total, about half dozen of us from school remain in the area, everyone else is abroad.

I think the UK government has been behind the curve on a lot of this.  They were slow to charter flights out of Wuhan, they were later than most to fly people off the quarantined ship held off the coast of Japan.  When one of my friends flew home from Beijing there were no checks of any sort at the airport, no advice given.  Yet two days after this they announced that it was a major health risk.  Other than the advice to leave, the Foreign Office has done nothing and given no helpful advice.  As a friend opined, they have told us to leave so as to wash their hands of those remaining should things turn for the worse.

I said that the shops were mostly well stocked.  But then the water ran out.  For days I could not buy fresh water in the shops, thankfully I had thought to stock about 30 litres worth in the flat.  The water in China is not safe to drink, even when boiled as if can contain pollutants and chemicals not removed by boiling like bacteria.  I was going to update this blog almost immediately after the piece on Saipan but then the VPN stopped working.  Appears that information control and censorship is currently high on the agenda of the Chinese Government while thousands are infected by a disease with a 2% fatality rate (if statistics are to be believed).  There are a lot of nasty rumours online and it would be nice is the World Health Organisation and Foreign Office would explicitly say they have confidence in the data given out by Chinese government.  I feel they repeat it, as there’s nothing better to go on, but give little indication of their faith in them.  It’s not necessarily malicious, if they run out of testing kits then the statistics will be affected by insufficient detection.  All that aside, having all the VPN blocked and suddenly unable to contact people in the UK is distressing for everyone.  It worried my family and friends that I suddenly stopped communicating for nearly a week, and I need that communication for my own sanity.

Anyway, water arrived back in the shops and I have a healthy stock. I cant get sausages, bacon, cheese and other nice things from Walmart, that’s all run out.  But delivery services have very gradually started to open, Taobao opened up again and I was able to buy in some model kits again to build.

This is all I do now, do online lessons for school, watch TV and make model kits.  Sure, it seems a lot but I need a selection.  The opening for school was pushed back to mid March, and then again to the 22^nd.  I don’t know how this can work... as much as we try to do in online classes, it’s no substitute for teaching in person.  I realise now that if we do not return before the end of March... it leaves only April to complete the content of the course, and teach and practice the content for the practical exams. Where does revision and a full mock exam fit into this?  They have only done a mock exam at Christmas that covers the inorganic part of the chemistry course.  We shall have to see, but it seems like a long way out of the woods yet.

Holiday to Saipan

A long time since updating the blog.  After golden week we went through a period where the VPN was especially bad and whenever I would find time to write, it was not working.  Weeks started to roll by and, as with all things that don’t get attention, was forgotten.  Although there were few things of particular note in the months prior to Christmas.  A few colourful school events, we worked almost straight through Christmas.  There was a staff meal on the evening of Christmas Eve, we worked in the day, and then got Christmas Day and Boxing Day off.  Yet in typical Chinese fashion we had to work a couple weekends to give the time back.  Imagine.  You at least got Christmas Day off in a Victorian workhouse for Christ’s sake.

December 6^th was my birthday, time to hang out with friends.  International postal services are so shocking in China I asked family not even attempt to post anything. There is at least one thing sent in late September/early October that never arrived.

December 9^th I attended a training even in Beijing for school.  The event was not especially interesting, it was free so what can you expect?) and the highlight was meeting a lovely girl called Mandy. Over the last couple months we have become very close, and I’m sure she will feature in future postings.

Eventually we got through the mock exams, we marked and completed reports and finally, on the 11^th January, we broke up for the end of term.  A hell of a slog since mid August.

14^th-22^nd January 2020

I could have gone anywhere for my January holiday, and I will go to Korea, Japan, Vietnam, etc, in the coming year.  But I wanted to do something different, go somewhere small, far from anywhere.  Somewhere that people would say ‘where’s that?’.  Saipan was also on my list for the submerged vehicles offshore that I had seen years ago online but though were so far, in too remote a place, for me to every visit.  Yet now I am a direct flight away.

Saipan was one of those Pacific Islands that saw heavy fighting between the US and Japan in WW2.  Now part of the Northern Mariana Islands, a US territory, it has previously changed hands between the Spanish, Germans and Japanese. I was there for the weather, the scenery, and the history.  The island suffers annual typhoons and tsumani, some of which have affected tourism causing businesses to close.  The island has many closed properties, holiday parks and complexes that once thrived but stand empty. It reflects the problems common to many coastal resorts in the UK, and everywhere in Saipan is near the coast. Aside from cafes and restaurants, many properties are occupied by massage parlours, 24 hour poker houses or insurance brokers.  But the people are friendly, and the places I ate were very good.  The Ete cafe a short walk from my hotel did a great breakfast in the mornings, and the Oleai restaurant south of the town I ate in every other day.  Near the submerged tanks I would go for a swim, walk a short distance to dry off and go in to eat.  The hotel I stayed in was a strange place, I arrived at 1am, and at first they gave me a room that hadn’t been cleaned from the last occupant!  Some embarrassment on their part and I got a new room.  The hotel was for the Chinese visitors to the island, but was very quiet, and the breakfast included was basic chinese fare.  I went on holiday to get away from this stuff, watery rice and fried noodles.  Ugh!  That’s why I went up the road to the Ete cafe to get some sausage, egg and bacon.

I travelled mostly along the west coast of the island during my week long visit.  I tried on one occasion to walk to the peak on the island, but the tourist map I had was vague, my phone had no signal, and I got a bit lost.  The heat and humidity was oppressive, whenever I went out I took as much water as I could comfortably carry but it was never enough.  So I gave up on that.

The highlight for me was going to see the three submerged Sherman tanks little more than a mile from my hotel.  I bought snorkel gear on the first morning and went swimming every day.  The water was warm and clear, I could see plants and corals, and many types of fish all around.  The water was rarely so deep that I could not stand up if I so needed.

I went out to a different Sherman each of the first three days, and then made repeat visits in the evenings thereafter.  It always made a good point to aim for when swimming out to while looking at the sea-life.  The tanks have act life artificial reefs, and are teeming with sea-life.  Fish swim in and around the wheels and tracks and shelter throughout their corroded structures.  There are small difference between the tanks although they are all M4A2 variants, they all have the distinctive Diesel engine deck.  The internet widely identifies the southernmost as an M4A3 but my researches since all seem to go back to one reference in an article from the 70s.  Shows how one person’s error can be repeated wide and far despite the vehicles being open to public access.

There are monuments to events on the island, not all war related such as those to 13 fishermen lost to a typhoon in 1986 as the the Japanese that established the sugar cane industry on the island during the 1930s.  The japanese gardens were particularly beautiful, with monuments to the sugar cane industry and memorials to peace, I would see these elsewhere though the meaning behind them raised some questions.

The western length of Saipan has a well signposted heritage trail marking notable structures and sights that survived the war.  Many are Japanese bunkers but also remains of a church tower and sections of walls from pre-war buildings.

The very north of the island is the location of the Last Command Post and the Banzai and Suicide cliffs.  At the end of the battle on Saipan the Japanese were forced into the north of the island.  Japanese propaganda and downright brainwashing led soldiers to fight to the death and civilians alike to commit suicide before surrender for fear of torture and rape by barbaric American soldiers.  Saipan was the site of by far the biggest Banzai (suicide) charge by Japanese troops of the entire war.  Over 4000 charged American forces, some injured and barely armed, in one blaze of glory.  The Americans killed them almost to a man while taking approx 700 casualities. Some survivors among troops and civilians took their own lives jumping from Banzai cliff in to the deep churning sea, or inland from Suicide cliff, a fall of hundreds of meters onto rock.  And if you doubt any of this, there is wartime footage of people ignoring the pleas of Japanese and Americans and leaping into the sea.

There are many japanese memorials in this area, the coastline at Banzai cliff has many of them, one even opened by a visit from the Emperor himself.  But looking at them, I can’t help but think the tone of the memorial is inappropriate, they broadly wish for world peace, and honour the dead, but lack any sense of guilt or contrition.  The black stone above, revering loyal and brave soldiers giving their lives defending their homeland.  Saipan wasn’t their homeland, it was taken from the Germans by Japanese imperial expansion, they mistreated the people living there, they kidnapped women from Korea and forced them into sex slavery, those troops were ‘loyal’ to The cruellest, violent nationalism, and many died because their own government blinded them with frightening lies about American troops to force both soldiers and civilians to fight to the death or take suicide over surrender.

The taxi driver who took me up to the Command Post in the morning stopped at another Japanese memorial to let me out, I recall him looking at it, and then said something I couldn’t understand while making a dismissive look.  I looked at him as if to ask what he meant, and he laughed and shook his head.  But I got the message, the feelings still run deep here, there is rightfully a lot of bad feeling towards the Japanese, for their actions in the war and their continued refusal to take any responsibility.

Back down nearer the hotel I got to see a few more locations of interest.  The last I will mention is the old Japanese Jail. A pre-war building that supposedly held some American airmen and were executed just prior to the invasion.  The most extraordinary claim of this location is that it held Amelia Earhart.  Yes, local folklore has it that she crashed here and was held by the japanese and either died of disease or was executed for reasons that make little sense when you give it any thought, but it makes for a good story.

On the last day I booked a ride on the Saipan Submarine.  A trip that takes you into deeper water to see a Japanese wreck and sea-life.  Was an enjoyable experience, never been on a submarine before, the water was pretty clear and they sprinkle some food out the sub to attract the fish.  I hoped to see more wrecks but the water is quite shallow for a lot of them, and there were a lot of fish.  Whole thing took an hour, as the weather was a bit grey out, glad to do something indoors.

That’s mostly it for Saipan, I wonder if I shall come back.  I’ve seen a lot of the war related things, but it is a very nice place to be.  Of course, Guam is 120 miles south and that has sights of its own.  I headed to the airport at midnight with a flight at 1am!  Of course, when I got back to Beijing all hell was breaking loose in Wuhan.

A trip to Shenzhen and a week cut off.

Wednesday 25^th September

It’s been some time since an update but with the 70^th anniversary of the PRC coming the Chinese government have been putting pressure on VPNs meaning internet contact outside the country is increasingly difficult.  As difficult moving out here has been, I at least could chat to friends and family back home despite a seven hour difference.  Now even that has become near impossible.

Now my memory of the middle of last week has become a bit hazy, but it was mostly uneventful.  As always, we met up in the evening to play DnD.

Thursday 26^th September

Tried a new noodle place locally.  Huge bowl of noodles and veg for just 12rmb, noodles were thick and slightly chewy, made for a great dish.  Definitely will put this place down for future.

Friday 27^th September

Busy middle of the day, and a brief lunchtime.  Immediately after work myself and a colleague took a taxi to Tianjin airport to fly to Shenzhen for a training weekend.  Fortunately my chinese colleague arranged the flights, taxis, hotels for us both. Absolute lifesaver, would have been stuffed otherwise.

The pollution over Tianjin was so bad I could barely see the city through the smog.  A three hour flight, boring and I couldn’t sleep a wink despite being pretty tired from the day.

The hotel picked was ‘British styled’ with corridors dressed like city streets with lampposts, phone boxes and shop windows.  The room was very good and decorated with pillows with London buses and the like.

Though I found some of my first examples of dodgy translations in China!

Saturday 28^th September

I’d been a little sceptical about the training, partly because training that I had done in the UK seemed a bit general.  This was specifically for Cambridge A-level Chemistry, and it was actually very good.  Though at first there was a bit of crossed wires in school and While I thought I was signed up to the event I was not!  But no worry, they took me in anyway and were a couple people short, phew!!  That could have been awkward.  So we spent a lot of the day on general  classroom activities and strategies.  The heat here saps your strength, the humidity is very high too.

Sunday 29^th September

This training day was better than the first.  In the morning we did a question on a practical paper, carrying out the experiment and completing the questions on the paper.  I could do the practical work great of course, plenty of experience there, but my approach to filling in the practical paper would have cost me a lot of marks as their expectations are specific.  I learnt a lot from this and now know much better what to tell my students, we also looked a lot at standard exam papers and how they are marked.  So for all my doubts about the training, I came away a lot better prepared for teaching my new curriculum.

Both evenings headed into Shenzhen to eat seeing the city at night.

Monday 30^th September

Colleague left early to go to Beijing to stay with family, I chose to pay for another night so I could see some of Shenzhen.    It’s mostly a new city so there is not a lot of history to see.  There was a temple in the south of the city I went to see but it was shut, maybe because it was a Monday or because it was the day before the anniversary.  That was a shame, as I doubt I’ll be coming back to the city again, there wasn’t that much to see after all.  I headed back to the area called Sea World, which is just an area with more expats than others.  Really, I didn’t see much to do here, but a lot was closed up.  There was a bar on a boat selling European beers but that was shut too, so I walked a bit into town.  China seems to have a real thing for expensive clothing and shoe shops, every other shop is some designer store selling western branded goods but to me it’s utterly boring.  There’s little variety, I don’t see bookshops for example, or shops with much variety in magazines.  Perhaps they don’t really do newspapers here.

I also bought a new iPhone.  The Oppo phone has driven me mad, I can’t type on it properly and the apps all seem clunky and difficult to use, there are adverts and if you can manage all these things somehow I can’t work it out in chinese. So my life got much easier with that purchase!

Started feeling ill in the evening, strongly suspect I picked up a stomach bug somewhere in the last could of days.  Could be anywhere, from some food, the swarms on the metro or just something I’ve handled. Not everything is particularly sanitary here.

Tuesday 1^st October

Definitely suffering some stomach bug, and my flight delayed 3 hours!  I decided to stay in my room as long as possible, fortunately the check out time was 2pm!  But my flight now wasn’t until 18.50.  Argh!!  So I stayed in (near the toilet) and watched the 70^th anniversary parade.  Chinese know how to throw a massive event.  Though given the fact its a celebration for the people, almost no one is actually allowed to attend the event in Beijing.  The city is closed off, the public told to stay away, it gets huge coverage on TV.  I can see logic in controlling the crowds, without restrictions Beijing city centre would be flooded with unmanageable millions of people.  But the main reason they block access is because they fear any kind of disruption or demonstration at this particular time.

Still though, made for great viewing of military equipment, and an extraordinary number of missiles on display.

I killed a lot of time at the hotel and then got a bus to the airport.  The time really dragged as my flight was delayed and I was struggling with a stomach bug. I couldn’t sleep on the plane, the moment I did nod off one of the attendants woke my up to adjust my seat for landing even though it was 40 minutes away.  That I had a taxi already booked the other end was a relief.

Pikachu

Wednesday 18^th September

Fairly typical day at work, picked up a little shopping and the hugest onion on the way home.

Wednesday’s are usually DnD night but several missing through illness and being abroad so we mostly had drinks and sat around talking.  Seem to be a lot of people getting sick at the moment and getting to hospital around here, especially one that has English speaking staff, is a pain in the ass.  Hope I never get properly sick.

Thursday 19^th September

Given a small lamp in work, powered by a USB power bank.  Until I get something more substantial it is ideal for my bedroom where I only have the very stark bright ceiling light.

Bought this curious pig shaped drink, maybe milk inside?

Friday 20^th September

Always a busy day, four lessons to teach and a short lunch break.  Dashed out for some food but ate it in my only free period.  Two classes did practical experiments and the A-level did a test, made for an easier day.  Evening was a staff party at a local hotel, food and drink aplenty.  Though everyone decided to go out to karaoke again, huge turnout including the principle and others who rarely come out.  The karaoke rooms are designed for groups of 15, we had 25 squeeze in.  As one person said, ‘This isn’t karaoke, it’s a disco!’

Saturday 21^st September

Woke up fairly early, so went to Walmart first thing.  They were testing air raid sirens on the way over, which judging from my group WeChat messages woke everyone else up who was enjoying a lie in.  Just bought regular things in Walmart but then stopped in Miniso downstairs which sells various nicknaks and decorations.  I had a good notebook and some pens for school work, and a huge stuffed Pikachu!  Lots of mysterious reductions, the whole lot came to barely £6 by UK prices.  Will surely go back for more pens.

Invited over friend’s place for hot pot.  Very popular here, but my first time.  Not what I imagined, there’s a bowl of boiling water in the middle of the table and you put vegetables, shredded meats and meatballs into it to cook.  Then scoop them out and mix with other things on your plate.  Delicious.  Then we played the Lord of the Rings board game until evening, just two player, I think most other people were resting from the evening before!

All knotted up!

Sunday 15^th September

Did very little most of the day but did make a Thai green curry in the evening.  Would call that a success, given what I have to work with here...

Monday 16^th September

Yet another new timetable issued on Friday afternoon, hit by a four lesson day and after school activities.  But I started the Backgammon club as a side to the Chess club, and by the end of the session had six pupils playing on the three boards we have with others taking turns.  Hopefully will settle with a consistent number taking part.

Did another laundry in the evening.  Every single time the clothes come out like this, I’ve never known a washing machine like it.  Pain in the ass to untangle.

Tuesday 17^th September

Fewer lessons to deal with, as they’d all been shifted to monday!  Lunch was a different burger place near by, for comparison not as nice as our regular, but picked up this iced cinnamon drink with cream that reminded me of the filling of walnut whip.

Three of us went out to a Japanese restaurant in the evening, great food.  Mix of sushi, katsu curry, prawns and dumplings.  Would definitely put this on the list for a return visit.

First visit to Beijing

Saturday 14^th September 

I finally decided to go to Beijing to see some of the things I was looking forward to the most.  After nearly a month here I hoped to go with some other from work but I felt this weekend was a opportune time while the weather is sure to be good, and my success ordering a taxi on Friday had given me confidence.

I booked the tickets online through WeChat, but some confusion a the station meant I joined the wrong line.  You should join one line to pick up the ticket and another to actually get into the station.  Unable to tell the difference, I joined the wrong one, went through security, had my passport and ticket confirmation checked on my phone but technically no ticket.  When I came to go through the barriers, problem, and the train was 5 minutes away.  Fortunately, the staff asked me to wait a bit, a friendly officer arrived to check my details again and let me through.  That was great, but I’ll try to actually get the ticket next time to make it easier!  Everyday you learn something.  Tickets were approximately £4 each way.

With he train travelling nearly 250kph, little more than 20 minutes later I arrived at Beijing South.  The metro was simple to use, an English option was available, and I bought a single to the museum stop, Line 1.  Easy, clean, cheap, was approx 35p for what would be a zone 1 tube journey in London.

Passport is required for the museum but entry is free, but you should always have your passport with you regardless.  A huge building, pristine inside and out.  Photos make it appear overcast, but it was sunny and hot most of the time.  Surprised me how many families with children, and couples were at the museum.  Apparently it’s the place for young couples to go!

Once through the entrance you first see a statue of Mao, and after that entry into the museum, first hall is very spacious with many aircraft to see, mostly of Chinese and Soviet origin.

There are many floors and if you were to look around them all and read the information, I’m sure you could spend the whole day here.  There is a wide variety of things with a floor of statues and paintings, ancient warfare and armour, displays of handguns, machine guns, rifles, knives, marine warfare, nuclear warfare, and the vehicle hall in the basement.  Everything was well laid out and labelled, but it’s a bit mixed up and no particular pattern in how different nationalities and eras are grouped.

The vehicle hall was the most interest to me.  A huge number of artillery pieces and field guns, but also a solid armour collection with vehicles from WW2 to the current day.  Displays are labelled in Chinese but the WeChat app can offer effective enough translation to understand them

After a few hours at the museum I left to see Tiananmen Square.  First I left a note in the visitors book, a quick flick through didn’t show any sign of any other tourists leaving comments in English.

I couldn’t work out distances from my mapping app so I tried to walk to Tiananmen Square from the museum but it was a hot day and I gave up after a bit and went in the next metro station to go the rest of the way.  The metro skipped West Tiananmen station, for reasons I would find out later, and went to East Tiananmen, meaning the 3rmb I had paid wasn’t enough.  When I put my card in the machine on the barrier it flashed up that the ticket price wasn’t enough and spat my ticket out the slot and about 10 feet across the hall!  Once I’d picked that up there was a booth to go to and top it up.  I had to add a single yuan, about 10p, to complete my journey.

A long walk down the street and many barriers, there are preparations for the 70ᵗʰ anniversary of the PRC and a vast military parade is planned. Much of the area around Tiananmen Square was being closed off, barriers appearing and passport/ID checks made.  This was a bit disappointing but I was now getting short for time and a walk around the edge of the Forbidden City would have to suffice.  Still, I’m seeing things I never thought I ever would, and now they are within an hour’s travel of my flat.  In a few weeks when the celebrations are over I will return, probably with some friends from work.

I headed across to West Tiananmen station but found it closed, which was why the Metro had skipped it earlier.  Instead I had to keep walking on to the next station which was a good 15 minutes.  The metro is very cheap, and you have to use it as to more more than a couple of stops by foot are quite a trek in the heat.

Back on the train home, had a bit of a difficultly finding the platform as it wasn’t signposted at the station but again, I now know for next time. I made it to my flat by 6.30, and after freshening up went over to friend’s flat for more of the LotR board game.  A long day, probably going to have a quiet Sunday in...