Plans and schemes

This blog exists for the benefit of anyone interested in following my slow decline into a subject of cryogenic experimentation as I wander aimlessly around China in the middle of winter. I'll be there thanks to the very generous offer of an old student and friend of mine, Laura Wang, who has volunteered to be my guide. I'll be away from Jan. 11 to Feb18 2009 and the plans involve going to:

Beijing. First mission; find Laura at the airport. Second; visit the ancient sites, the Wall, Forbidden City etc, and the new, the Olympic stadia etc. Meet up with old students if I can find their email addresses in time :-/

Harbin. We want to see the ice sculpture festival. I expect to get really cold in Harbin . . .

Nanjing. Morbidly, I'd like to visit the museum to the Japanese atrocities committed there in the 1930s.

Xi'an. Home to the terracotta army of the first Qin (Ch'in) Emperor, Qin Shi Huang and my awesome guide Laura. highlights will include getting to spend Chinese New Year with Laura's family and getting whipped in Ma Jong by her parents. I'm keen to see the old Muslim quarter there too, where the food s supposed to be really yummy.

Possibly head down south to thaw out for a bit some time during the trip.

We're keen to travel around by train rather than fly about, so I should get a better sense of the country and get a small glimpse of what China is like for the locals. Of course, having a "native guide" will be a huge help; in fact if it weren't for her, I wouldn't have been able to do this.