Day 39 - November 12th

Shopping!!!

I leave my Uncle and Mr Jin at 2 to catch my train back to Hangzhou. I decide to take a motorbike taxi back to the hotel with a box of stuff which my uncle needs to take back to UK. We get stopped by police! He asks for my ID, so I give him my British Passport. The police officer is dumbfound! He doesn’t know what to do or where to look at it! After studying my passport for a while, he gives up and gives it back to me. On hearing that I’m from England, the motor cab driver decides to quiz me! “are English girls pretty?... I would like to get with one... Chinese girls are like tigers” Then he asks me, “How do you say; I want to make love to you?”, so I translate, and tell him that I’m not that way inclined!

I get my stuff and head to the train station. I go to the toilet with my pack on my back and daybag in front. It’s at these times which I am glad I am not travelling with Eamonn and I would be prime for a pushing over, and with one hand holding my cock and the other holding my day bag to one side, I would not be getting up!

I am glad about spending the last few days with my unlce in Yiwu. It was a reality check and helped me sort a lot out. And I got a good hotel and good food!

People are selling torches on the train journey again.

Arrive at Hangzhou again and book into a different hostel; closer to the station. It seems okay and I meet a Japanese guy, Tatsu, who has been cycling from Vietnam all the way to Shanghai! It seems amazing... I want to do it! It’s all unplanned, he just gets to a province, buys a street map and then rides to the next province! He turns out to be a right laugh and we have a few beers.

Can’t decide on where to go next, as my intended place, Huangshan seems to be cloudy and will rain later. Seems a bit pointless going if its shit weather and won’t get to see the sun rise! But still can’t decide.

Miles walked: 266.047m

Day 38 - November 11th

Shopping!!!

Miles walked: 259.519m

Day 37 - November 10th

Shopping!!!

Nothing special.

Miles walked: 251.415m

Day 36 - November 9th

Shopping!!!

We have hotpot for dinner; service was awful, but there was a bollock-load of food! I decide that I hate Hong Kongers. One of our employees, Mr Jin is from Shanghai and had been working for us in London for 2 years before moving back to China. When Mummy Ma tried to talk to Mr Jin, she couldn’t, as her Mandarin was shit! So she asks him, why can’t you speak Cantonese? Hong Kongers are soo fucking up themselves and ignorant sometimes! They blamed the situation on my uncle for speaking Mandarin to him and not Cantonese!

They go for a massage with my uncle and both me and Mr Jin opt out. He goes to bed and I go to the internet bar.

Miles walked: 243.057m

Day 35 - November 8th

As most of what I did in Yiwu is for work, I will skip out the day-to-day action! Basically, I am with my uncle, buying stock (as in goods) to import and sell in UK. Yiwu was built about 10 years ago in the middle of nowhere, but all the factories in all of China have a showroom there. It’s basically where everyone goes to buy ‘commodities’ (it’s called the Commodities City) and it’s full of Chinese and Arabs! Was pretty fun going into a store and saying.. “yes, I’ll have 200 units of this, 100 units of this and 50 oh these, if they sell well, I’ll take another 200!” I was the big boss!

Shopping!!!

We meet up with the Ma family who are some sort of distant relative who decide to come visit Yiwu. God knows why? There’s nothing to do here! We go have dinner with them but have the misfortune of turning up to a restaurant which was hosting a wedding banquet! It was noisy as hell! The host of the banquet (as Chinese banquets usually have) was also the entertainment as he sang numerous love songs. Was pretty mental.

Miles walked: 235.693m

Day 34 - November 7th

Wake up and check out. No internet!!! I get a taxi to the train station, and listen to some real funny radio ads. Both were selling apartments, “In London, you have the Thames lifestyle. In Hangzhou, you have the West Lake lifestyle!” and “I’m always first to the football pitch because I live at the Cambridge Complex”. I leave my backpack at the left luggage place at the train station and then jump into a mini van to the long-distance bus station. The driver was actually mad!

I get on a bus for Wuzhen, another water town which my mother suggested I go to! It takes a good hour to get there and then I jump into a rickshaw and he takes me on a tour for Y30... it was pretty shit! Haha! He took me to the old crappy part of town and to a wine wholesaler as I said I wanted to buy some! Cost me Y30 for 2 bottles and they look pretty nice! Tasted it... not too nice! He then took me to some old woman's house and I gave her Y1 for her to talk to me about her house. Apparently it was about 500 years old and there was these wooden panels which were supposed to be important. He then took me to some other back streets which were pretty crappy, though I did see a lot of local workshops with old folk making stuff!

He then took me to the main touristy area where he said it’s not really worth going to see. I look around the outside and like it so decide to pay the Y100 to get in. It was like the old town, but renovated and more pretty! Walked around the ‘scenic spot’, but a lot of the shows were not on as it is off season! Looked at all the sites inside, was okay, but the things that stuck out were the opera in the main square and the puppet show!

On the bus ride home, I sit next to a Chongqing University graduate and we get chatting. He tells me that there is another place nearby which is also a river town, but it is much much better and is free. On my return to Hangzhou, the traffic is chock-a-block. I manage to get on a taxi back to the train station, but the next train was in an hour and 45mins. It seems that Hangzhou has always got it in for me for travelling! I decide to spend my time in a Internet cafe/massage parlour/brothel! Strange combo place next to the station! Funny as I see a guy and his g/f, where his g/f is saying "let's go" but he’s saying back to her "let me play a little longer"! This goes on for a while. I have a little titter!

I have an urge for KFC so I go, but I was running out of time so run out of the place to catch my train. I think I actually forgot the chicken wings, but i don’t really know what I ordered! I get the usual stares on the train and can smell Bai Jiu everywhere. I don’t know if it’s me or what? I’m getting a real disliking of it now! I spend the rest of the train journey brainstorming what I need to do when at Yiwu (my next destination where I meet my uncle for work). The sweets in my pocket melt.

I arrive at Yiwu earlier then intended and jump in a cab. I share it with some other woman; cabs here are soo retarded! I get to my hotel and tell the receptionist that my uncle has booked me in and such. They take me up to the room and no one is there. I tip the bellhop; I was staying at a nice hotel, what can I do? Meet my uncle and eat dinner, then go to the street market and buy some more socks!

Miles walked: 231.078m