Tuesday 23 June 2009

Melting...

The temperatures are going up, and even though we're maxing out at about 33 Celsius right now, the humidity makes walking home like walking through a hot, low-hanging cloud.  It's disgusting.  I finally gave in and started using the AC at home last week.  I put it off for as long as possible, because I knew I would do it all the time after I got used to it.  And even though I walk for short periods between air-conditioned buildings and vehicles, I still feel fairly gross, and extra showers are a necessity.

Today I saw a couple of men get off the bus carrying foldable fans, which made me happy (I own two and like to carry at least one around with me).

I also saw a man walking around trying to sell binoculars.   I'm sure he does a roaring trade.

Thursday 4 June 2009

20th anniversary of the Tiananmen Square massacre

Today marks 20 years since a peaceful protest turned into a slaughter
in Beijing.

Recently, China has blocked more sites from being accessed from within
the mainland, including a lot of MSN sites, Twitter, and the stuff
I've complained about before.

Yesterday, I arrived to work to find no internet available in the
office. I'd also left my phone at home, so was feeling weirdly cut off
from the world. Under the pretense of making sure my mum could call me
(she and my aunt are in town this week, which is great), I went home
to pick up my mobile. Not being able to check my email is scary.

The lack of internet continues today. I wonder if they've cut off
business service, or if I'm just being paranoid.

As I type this out on my phone so I can email it in to auto-post, I'd
just like for us to dwell on how much has changed in China in 20
years, and how much has sadly stayed the same.