Our house

Woke up in the morning for the first time in a while. Leilei was noticeably better despite the nasty cough and quiet voice.

Lounged around the house most of the day. The houses here mostly follow a pretty simple design: a large room at the front and a smaller one at the back with a large staircase in the middle. The number of floors is a sort of indication of wealth. Xiao Li is quite rich so here we have 6 and a half floors (each about 13’ high), with a worryingly low banister on the spiral (well, square spiral) staircase that comes up to the bottom of my buttocks (I carry Leilei in my left arm when ascending and right arm when descending just in case).

There is a kitchen and a dining room, plus a sort of large bathroom where my toilet is. The rest of the rooms are bedrooms and spare rooms except for the ground floor, which is a sort of garage. Every room in the building without exception has a toilet/shower, and most have air conditioning. The roof is flat and is used for meals on special occasions and drying clothes.

The living room has a tv that is nearly always on, a computer and large, comfortable sofas that you regularly see people sleeping on. We eat in the kitchen when not eating out. Some photos below…

Leilei a bit better and "drink tea"

After a few more doses, Leilei was looking a bit better. He wanted to watch Peppa Pig (we’d brought some DVDs of his favourite program with us) although he still couldn’t talk.

About 9.30pm Xiao Li said we would go to drink tea. This is a bit of a loaded expression. It meant we went to a karaoke place where you and some friends have your own private room to drink beer, sing badly, eat snacks, and if you like drink tea served by some young beauty in traditional figure hugging dress.

I’d had a few beers before but this place sobered me up with its 3.1% beer and glasses you’d be embarrassed to serve spirits in. I couldn’t believe how drunk some of Xiao Li’s friends were (it can’t just have been this beer). They sung really badly and out of tune and time. Of course they wanted me to sing – Sound of Silence plus some Chinese song I’d been taught – “You are my rose, you are my flower, you are my lover, the thing I miss” (doesn’t sound much more romantic in Chinese). Got home 1.30am and went to bed.

Leilei tonsillitis

Leilei seemed a little better when standing up but had completely lost his voice and sicked up some nasty looking mucous. By the evening though I thought he was worse; he was really hot and whimpering all the time. I decided to take him to hospital again (this time a different one).

This time he was diagnosed with flu and tonsillitis, which sounded more likely. We were given some different medicine and told once again it wasn’t really serious and we should relax. That was one thing I found quite hard to do at the time. Back home again, Leilei managed to drink some cold water which made him look a lot more refreshed – he even managed a smile. However he wouldn’t have any of the brown concoction that was his medicine until we forced it down him. Unfortunately he then forced it and the rest of the contents of his stomach over his daddy…but I held onto him tightly and we managed to get a second lot of medicine to stay down a bit later.

Feeling a bit relieved I sat down and watched the football and had a couple of cool beers. Bed at 5am for the third day in a row. Must be the jetlag.

Leilei throat infection

Hmm. Woke up at 1pm again.

Was slightly cooler today than the usual mid-thirties.

In the evening Xiao Li and I went to the barbeque place, which is a car park during the day. This is a really special place – about the size of a car park that would fit 50 or so cars, where a number of people set up their tables and barbeques amidst many more eating tables surrounded by little plastic chairs and stools. The place is dimly lit by the stallholders’ own lights and electronic beer adverts.

And the food…well we normally go for duck tongues, duck intestines, chicken claws and pig penises, all served on wooden skewers. This time, however, we bumped into some friends (Xiao Li seems to know everyone) who invited us to sit with them and drink some beer which we did until Tan sent me a text saying Leilei was ill.

So we bought some bbq for the girls and went home. Leilei had a temperature and a very wheezy cough; when he lay down it sounded like he could barely breath. I decided we should take him to hospital, so we ordered a taxi and Tan, Xiao Wei and the baby and I went to one of the many hospitals in Pingguo.

They still take temperature by putting a thermometer under your arm, which isn’t very easy when you’re a screaming child. Leilei was diagnosed as having a throat infection and we were given some antibiotics (so much for Chinese medicine). They said it was just the change in the weather and that it was very common. Interestingly this is what just about everyone said.

Couldn’t really sleep so watched the Liverpool Champions League match.

Staying up till 5am to see us lose to Reading

Woke up at 1pm and had some food in the house.

I think we went for a meal at Xiao Wei’s parents’ house. There was a fantastic tropical storm that only I seemed to be interested in.

I stayed up till 3am to watch the Man City match at Reading. There was another bloke watching the footy with me. He lives here too with his girlfriend at the moment; his parents don’t like her so won’t agree on them getting married. What’s more is that she’s pregnant. Apparently if the child is a boy the bloke’s parents will probably be ok about it – she is going for a scan to check this soon, something that is actually illegal in China though is obviously commonplace. And if the child’s a girl? Who knows? But I feel sorry for the glut of young Chinese men of marriageable age who can’t find mates (not that I have helped the situation at all).

Unfortunately it was a crap match that we lost and really wasn’t worth staying up till 5am for.

Rough morning

Felt a bit rough in the morning. In the evening we went to a cousin’s house, where Tan’s mum had arrived earlier in the day. We had a nice evening meal there (with a couple of beers for the men of course). Felt sorry for some of the young girls who had to go back to school that evening (it was a Sunday after all).

I also caught wind that one of the blokes at the meal last night had to go to the hospital to get his stomach pumped as a result of drinking too much. Oh no now I feel even more guilty as I wasn't aware that they were drinking whole glasses for every sip I took. I hope I've learnt a lesson...or he has...

First game of cai ma this year

Had some of Xiao Li’s friends around for dinner; us blokes cooked and ate in the kitchen while the ladies and kids ate in the living room. We had chicken and duck plus various other delights, including the famous Li Quan beer – it’s only 3.6% so you can drink a bit with your meal and not feel drunk. However when you start playing drinking games you can start to feel the effects. Basically two people show any number of fingers on one hand in a manner similar to scissors, paper, stone, except that instead of trying to beat the other you shout out what you think the total number of fingers shown will be (not allowing 5). This game is called "cai ma" (guess number) and traditionally played in Cantonese so I had to learn a few words first and needless to say I mostly lost (although with such weak beer that can be quite refreshing).

The male contingent of the evening's meal

Although this is my third time in Guangxi I hadn't realised something quite important about the drinking culture here: it is customary (for men at least) to drink together - and this doesn't mean sitting around the table together but literally synchronised drinking of each sup (usually a glassful). But tonight unbeknownst to me I was sipping away as I would (not downing a glass each time), and apparently every time I raised my glass, every other bloke did too. They must have thought I was some sort of drinking Titan but each time was literally only a sip unless one of the other blokes had shouted "gan bei!". Only well into the meal did it dawn on me that people were synchronising their drinking with me and I felt rather embarrassed. I hope I will never make this mistake again. Well I suppose it explained how pissed some of the men looked.

By about midnight the guests had gone but I fancied another beer so I told Xiao Li I’d go and get some but he said no, he had something upstairs. Unfortunately that thing was Chinese red wine. You can tell it’s going to be bad when they put it in the fridge before they open it. Well we managed to finish the bottle while watching the Saturday evening Premiership game between Spurs and Man Utd, though I had to check the next day for the final score (1 – 0 Utd).

Brilliant storm (for me)

Ate some pigs intestines for lunch at some place in Pingguo.

In the evening we went to Xiao Wei’s parent’s house for a meal. It was very humid and we ate on the roof of their five floor building as dark clouds gathered o’er the mountains. Sure enough half an hour later we were in the middle of a brilliant storm that turned dusk to darkness and deluged the area giving off a special lightning performance to great effect. At least that is how I saw it. No one else was in the slight bit interested and must have thought it weird behaviour jumping up to the window to watch the display.

Xiao Wei’s father was in the army and their house is adorned with posters of ex-leaders of China; as you walk in you see a cheerful Mao Zedeng (Tsedung?) watching over you with various cronies on either side. Imagine having a large poster of Tony Blair in your hallway and Margaret Thatcher in your living room and you sort of get the idea.

Xiao Wei's dad with Chairman Mao on the wall

Prawns and fish with Zhang Yong before flight to Nanning

Met Zhang Yong for an early lunch with fantastic prawns and fish. He drove us to the airport just in time to check in luggage and we were the last people on board the plane to Nanning. Unfortunately it seems that China Eastern do not offer beer or wine on their domestic flights (nor do they allow you to take any on). Anyway, the flight was ok despite my dislike of flying.

Arrived at Nanning ahead of schedule, although Lin Hong (cousin, woman), Xiao Wei (Tan’s best friend), Xiao Li (her husband) and Li Mingda (their son) were already there to meet us. Xiao Li had commandeered a nice 4x4 to take us to Pingguo, the town that we’ll be staying at for most of our visit.

Went for a meal on the outskirts of Pingguo where we met Lin Hong’s daughter Tian Tian (about 6) and Leilei had a great time with his two new found cousins running about and pointing at dogs and shouting “wow wow!” which isn’t Chinese for anything – it’s what he calls dogs.

Got to Xiao Li’s house (where we’ll be staying) and went to bed a bit later.

iQue

Took Leilei out for a walk in what was our local park when we lived in Shanghai. Felt really happy to be there playing with my son, yet sad we were soon be leaving and that we weren’t going back to our old house later. Met a Spanish mother and her son in the park and played with them for a bit. Apparently her son (who is 2 years) wakes up at least three times a night, which made me feel grateful.

After the park we walked up to our old road, and paid a quick visit to our old house – nothing has really changed and I could have easily walked through the front door, sat on the sofa and watched some football on the telly, but I had to meet Tan up the road a bit for a bite to eat.

Outside our old house with a handsome chappie

Met the wife and went for a bit to eat near the market we used to frequent. Everyone loves Leilei, women and men alike, makes me very proud – it is very genuine, there’s no animosity towards me as a “lao wei” (foreigner) having married a Chinese (despite the fact that these days so many Chinese men are having problems finding mates dues to the one-child policy and the suspicious statistics that there have been many more men born since that policy than women).

Found that the market that was famous for selling “Lorex” watches and dodgy dvds has been razed to the ground, the only noticeable change I noticed in Shanghai.

Took a couple of photos at our old house with Tan and the baby. Then we arranged to meet Chin (our ex-live-in-English student in London who is now working in Shanghai) for an evening meal.

Met Chin and her colleague in Xu Jia Hui. I really wanted to buy a Nintendo DS lite so her mate helped me get a good deal in the electrics department – I got the Chinese version (iQue) which means I can play Chinese games too!

Had a nice meal with Chin and colleague, although Leilei was irritable, which meant I spent most of the time taking him outside the restaurant. One of the things about having a kid is that you either have a babysitter or you rarely have a civilised meal.

Crabs with Zhang Yong

One interesting thing about the motel room is that one part of the bathroom is visible to the bedroom, and that part is one wall of the shower, which is fine if you’re a couple, but I wouldn’t want that if I was sharing with a mate (coming to think of it I wouldn’t be sharing a bed either so perhaps they assume a certain intimacy) – Leilei thought it was funny anyway!

Met Zhang Yong again for lunch. He has a Buick. It’s a big American car with leather seats and air-conditioning, although made in Shanghai. I couldn’t see much through the blacked-out windows but I knew we were travelling in style. We went to a restaurant that specialised in crabs, and Leilei enjoyed watching them in their aquarium although didn’t eat any. In fact he hasn’t eaten much since we arrived – Tan is a bit worried; I told her not to worry unless he doesn’t eat for five days – anyway, he has been drinking his milk and that’s got a good deal of his vitamin needs inside.

Yesterday Zhang Yong invited us to more meals but we wanted some time together so although we met him this afternoon for lunch we went our own way to the Xu Jia Hui shopping centre to get Leilei some milk powder and nappies and I went to the book shop to get a couple of parallel text books. On the basement floor of this centre is a great eating-place. It’s actually not different from most English eating places in shopping centres where you choose where to buy your food from and eat in a central eating area, except that the food is fantastic and the choice overwhelming. I had pork with mushrooms on a bed of rice with soup and something else and Tan had something equally appetising, although Leilei didn’t eat his portion. I also had what is probably the most expensive beer I’ll drink this year in China - £1 for a 600ml of Tiger beer.

Leilei's 2nd visit to second home

Arrived in Shanghai Pudong airport at about 3.45pm local time after an uneventful flight thankfully although I was annoyed that China Eastern Airlines didn’t provide Gin and Tonic, nor anything more than beer and wine (and small measures at that). Leilei behaved well on the flight and we pretended he weighed 11kg so he could be put in the baby bed they stick onto the wall in front of you (he’s actually about 14kg) – that really helped – 11 hours with a baby on your lap is not going to give you a comfortable flight.

I had to queue with Leilei for an hour to get our passports stamped – we were in the ‘foreigners’ queue, whereas Tan was in the quicker Chinese queue. By then he was getting adventurous which is not what you want when you have most of the hand luggage (including 6 bottles of alcohol), but we got through eventually without any hassle. Except we couldn’t find mummy at the baggage reclaim place – she arrived later after having had to re-queue due to not having filled in the right papers….ha! I had.

Anyway, we got the no.3 bus, as we had three years’ previously when we first met, and made our way to Xu Jia Hui, which is where we used to live in Shanghai, and where our motel was situated. When we got there we found the rudest taxi driver in Shanghai to take us to the motel – you’d think that giving an address would be good enough, but when he found out it was on a one-way street he wanted to know from which street to enter and complained when we didn’t know, really rudely according to Tan. So anyway I took a mental note of his number (215261) and intend to report him; Shanghai taxi drivers should adhere to a strict behaviour code and get disciplined strongly if they veer from that path.

Finally got to the motel which was clean and simple and all the Xiao Jie (maids) loved Leilei. Tan’s ex-boss Zhang Yong arrived a bit later to take us for a meal in some hotel, which was very nice although we were very tired and I can’t even remember what we ate.

Back to UK via missed connection in Paris

We pretended Leilei hadn't grown in the last few weeks and that he was still 11kg. How it worked I don't know but we managed to get bulkhead seats for him for definitely the last time. The flight was not as easy as coming over here but could have been a lot worse.

But a couple of hours sleep does not put you in good stead to be told you have 40 minutes to get your connection from Paris to London. Why the heck do they sell such tickets when your only chance of making the connection is if you arrive an hour early? As much as we were rushed we clearly missed our connection and had to wait a couple of hours till the next. Boo. But anyway this is a first world problem. We got back to London ok and got home. And had enjoyed a wonderful, albeit far too short, trip back home to get married there and show the fruit of our UK marriage to all the family over there. I can't wait to get back and spend a bit more time there....

Last day in Guangxi

I don't think I woke up early and I had no time to moan if I did as it was our last day and Tan was stressed about stuff. I think Venky went off to Vietnam or somewhere so we had loads of time to go for our flight but somehow it always seems that I am to blame for something.

But our entourage got us to Nanning in good time for our flight to Guangzhou, and we had the happy/sad matter of saying goodbye among photographs that will be treasured.

Tan, me, Lao Ma, A Ni, A Wu, Leilei, and A Ni's little sister

I guess the flight was fairly ok as we got to Guangzhou in one piece and took the shuttle bus to the hotel. Leilei had his last Chinese bath in the sink and looked happy enough doing so.

Probably the last ever sink-bath Leilei will have