Haikou, Xiuying Fort, A Birthday & Visitors

How about this then, writing about September, in September. Wow! It’s a Monday today, shopping day, now too warm to go for a walk and we can’t go swimming, the pool hasn’t been cleaned since the typhoon. Might as well scribble down a few words.

September 2^nd Swimming again and looking for wildlife. We are certainly spoilt for butterflies here, Look at these two pics. I am not really sure if they are both of the same butterfly or not.

September 3^rd Shopping trip to Haikou. We were a little early arriving so went for a walk in the afternoon and stumbled across this place.

This is Xiuying Fort, an old defensive position. Before we went in, the ticket seller told us that it contained anti-aircraft guns so I thought, OK, let’s have a look. It only cost us ¥8 each to get in. Now, there isn’t an anti-aircraft gun in sight anywhere, but, it is still money well spent. The first thing you see is this, (not Huan, the gun!)

As you walk around you can see all the different gun emplacements, the ammunition stores, the barracks, the command post etc. You’ll find more pictures in my Xiuying Fort album here-
https://photos.app.goo.gl/sGW4qmvL4yWDJKfU8
Because of the way we went round, we found the information just before we left. If you want to read this first, then once you go inside, turn left and go up the stairs to go round anticlockwise.

All in all I really enjoyed this site. Make sure you take your own refreshments though. By the time we were finished I was gagging for something to drink and there seemed to be nothing close by!

We did find a roadside kiosk once we were back on the ‘main drag’ as it were, so sat awhile and then continued our walk towards ‘dinner’. We passed this dragon on the way. Perhaps it’s the camera angle, but he doesn’t look very fierce does he? In fact, he looks more startled!

September 4^th The main reason we go to Haikou is to buy sausages, (not English, in fact not even South Chinese) and bacon. These we buy from the wholesale market on Binhai da dao. We will also top up on other necessities if we need to, things that we would normally buy in Corners Deli in Sanya. (We go there because we can do the return trip in one day. We prefer to spend the night when we go to Haikou.) There is an added benefit in Haikou though; there is a Carrefour and an RT Supermarket. Any of you expats who haven’t found them yet, you should! This time we topped up with whipping cream, hard cheeses, Parmesan, dark chocolate, marmalade and these! Well, Christmas is on the way, fresh ones can’t be found anywhere, and unlike most Brits, I actually like them!

September 5^th to 13^th Lots more swimming, Huan is now doing 20 to 24 lengths and I am usually doing 30 although I did manage 40 before the typhoon came along and stopped us going.

September 14^th to 16^th Stuck in the house, listening to the wind and the rain. We can’t complain though, it is very unusual for us to be bothered by typhoons where we live. They usually manage to give us a wide berth. Even this one passed by to the south of Sanya but it was a wide, and powerful one.

September 17^th We tried going to the pool again only to find it full of vegetation. It may take them a day or two to clean it. I should have taken some pictures I suppose, but I didn’t think about it. We then took a drive up to the reservoir to check on our ‘precarious tree’. It still survives! Looking at the picture, when it does come down it’s going to bring a fair bit of the mountain with it.

Still on the same day, in the afternoon, Huan decided that she wanted to learn how to ride a bike. Contrary to stereotypes, not all Chinese people can ride bikes. In fact my students in Harbin who could were very much in the minority! Huan’s son will be visiting next month, he can’t ride a bike either and he wants to learn in the few days he is here. Huan hopes to be able to teach him. We scrounged a bike from one of our neighbours and off she went.

Eventually, I left her to it. I remember when I was a little lad, my father gave up trying to teach me and ten minutes later I was haring passed the house shouting “Look Dad, no hands!” I was rather hoping the same would happen here. Huan is a very determined woman when she sets her mind on something. Well, she hadn’t succeeded when she got home, but she had improved. Unfortunately, she had also come a cropper a few times! She’ll get there, I have faith in her. Here’s the result the following day, both legs. Needless to say, no practicing today, a very necessary ‘day of rest’ instead!

September 20^th Success. Not perfect yet but a lot better and a lot more confident.

While Huan was busy getting better I went walkies again. Do you ever wonder just how your memory works? I passed this ‘knocked down building’ which was demolished less than a month ago and now I can’t remember what it looked like before! We’re told that they will widen the road and beautify the riverside. I don’t believe them; I think it will end being another apartment block

Remember the villas with no people and nobody working on them because there are no house books, (title deeds)? Well I thought I’d give you a closer look. They could be OK if they ever get finished. They even have lifts inside for old codgers like me!

Carried on walking up the hill towards 21 Hotel but turned off at the bridge corner to come back down the scenic way. Quite a bit of typhoon damage, not enough to block the way though. However, with the fallen leaves being still wet it was still slippery in places, care was needed.

You can see where some trees were uprooted and others were snapped.

I also made a video while I was coming down; you can check that out on my YouTube channel it’s here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtRpCcjiOF8&list=PLrm74YBD3qG5g0eyBM4Rmz3jmW7dZNYBx&index=15&t=0s

September 21^st Back in the pool again. Huan decided to rescue the wildlife and fished this chap out of the pool. There was a baby too. I did lots of blowing on them to try and dry them off before moving them both to a sunnier spot away from the pool. They were definitely alive when we left although I’m not sure how they really felt! They had gone by the next day but whether that was because they had flown off or because we had more rain I can’t really say. I like to think we made a difference!

September 23^rd Once again at the pool, where else? I didn’t swim though, the sun was hiding and I thought the water was a little dirty too. Every cloud has a silver lining though. While Huan was doing her dutiful 20 lengths of the pool I had a visitor. There were two but I had to disturb them to fetch my phone. Only one returned but it stayed for quite some time. This is probably the best picture I got.

September 25^th Huan’s birthday. It’s not nice to mention a lady’s age so let’s just say that in Roman times she would have been LV. Of course that means she’s still a spring chicken compared to my LXVII! I had all these wonderful plans for our evening but as is often the case, they went awry. This was Huan’s birthday dinner. I shouldn’t complain, hers was probably only £1 and the total was only £3. I had more ‘real’ food and no rice.

September 26^th We had a visit from CCTV Beijing and CCTV Hainan. They were doing a recce prior to coming back next month to shoot part of a video showing Hainan. I wonder if anyone knows why the director liked to take so many black and white photos.

They were a good group of visitors though, brought us a lot of fruit which I didn’t see until they had gone. We’re still eating it four days later! They stayed quite a while, we chatted about all sorts, why I chose Wuzhishan, etc. Some questions were more difficult, but that’s just me. I have no favourite food, no favourite music, etc. They even wanted me to sing for them! I politely refused especially as I haven’t sung properly for over 10 years now. Anyway, they seemed to enjoy their stay, some of them even tried some of Huan’s Quiche Lorraine! I’ll be letting you know more about the filming next month. Here’s the group with Huan, it’s a better picture than the group with me!

September 30^th The day Huan has been looking forward to, the day, (or night), that her son arrives from Shanghai. Of course we had to book into our usual place, the Pearl Hotel.

We had a very long evening ahead of us, the plane wasn’t due until 1 o’clock in the morning so we went for a walk along the beach at Dadonghai starting from the Pearl and finishing at the Marriott. Quite a pleasant walk.

We’ll leave you this month with a much different view of the Pearl Hotel. It is the curved building you can see across the bay.

And that’s it for September. Stay tuned for #2 son’s short visit and whatever else may come up in October!

Swimming, Visitors and Beans

Lots of rain here this week, consequence of Typhoon DOKSURI, so I thought I may as well try and finish August. I was slightly wrong last month, this month is not so different but at least it’s not all ‘walkies’!

August 3^rd During the week we often have to go for a drive just to make sure that the battery doesn’t go flat. For some reason, we can’t go a week without using the car. I don’t believe it’s a battery problem myself, I think it’s more like the car’s ‘control unit’. All cars have them these days, that’s what stops guys like me doing more maintenance! Anyway, today we took a trip we have taken before. On our previous trip, we couldn’t see anything at all once we were out of Wuzhishan, we were in the clouds all the way. This time was better. The drive took us out of Wuzhishan to Fulicun, then on to Baolongcun, and finally to Maolong before dropping back down onto the Haikou road and coming back to Wuzhishan. Real windy roads and big hills!

August 4th A solo walk up through Wuzhishan Park and lo and behold, they had begun farming the rubber trees again. First saw rubber trees when I was 9 or 10 years old and what I remember most is the trip to the factory after and the overwhelming smell of ammonia. Maybe I could find the factory here and take Huan for a visit!

August 10^th Because I had been having some problems with my Achilles tendon, I injured it trying a little running, down the road from the 21 hotel, we couldn’t do any more walking. We decided instead to try a little swimming. We had tried before in a pool in the city in one of the hotels but both of us had problems after, probably due to it not being clean enough. As a result we had avoided all pools. That was a mistake. The pool at 21 Hotel is a ‘mountain water pool’. It is filled from the stream coming down from the reservoir.

The water then flows into this pool,

And is then drained away the other side.

As you can see, it is beautiful as are its surroundings which are mostly rain forest. We had it mostly to ourselves, as in fact we have had nearly every visit since. Here’s Huan, trying not to get brown! She does swim as well, honest!

And here’s me, trying to get brown!

We weren’t completely alone though, there were a lot of dragonflies. Anyone know why they stand like this?

August 12^th We were back in the pool again, and being a Saturday, there were a few more people, well maybe five or six. Some of our flying friends had learnt to their cost that they couldn’t swim. Poor babies. . .

August 18^th Guess where? You’re right, swimming again. I love the water especially if there is sun to go with it! This time we saw these two. I think the first one may have wanted to eat the second one! Unfortunately the great big scary monster that is me brought an end to the proceedings.

August 13th Swimming yet again, and also yet again, another species of caterpillar. Huan warned me that because this one was ‘hairy’ I shouldn’t touch it! Strange, because I'm hairy and she touches me!

And on the way home, we passed something I really don’t like, the dentist! I had to take a picture to send to the family, it seems I have relatives who are almost as bad as me. Having said that, I have visited this one and he treated me fairly well.

August 19^th In our never ending quest for alien life we found this in the lift. I don’t think I’ve ever seen such a big “Daddy Long Legs’. (I have no idea what they are really called. When I was a boy they were ‘Daddy Long Legs’ so that is what they remain.)

August 20^th This day brought us visitors from afar! We had Patrick and Flora, their son Podrig and their travelling companion Jake. They had a ‘stop-off’ here during their ‘round Hainan trip’. They will no doubt be uploading many, many pictures and videos so look out for them. Here they are arriving.

And here are the boys, and me, smoking and drinking (coffee) on the balcony.

After we had filled them up with sandwiches, real corned beef, (not tineed), with cheese and salad and of course some HP Brown Sauce, we took them off to the 21 Hotel pool/ I guess they may have been a little sweaty after their long drive so a ‘bath’ in the pool will have refreshed them!

They did go for a swim!

In the evening we had a little walk around Wuzhishan before taking our guests to the ‘Do & Me’ restaurant. Not a bad place, a variety of Chinese and Western food, something to please everyone. No pics unfortunately.

Later on, Patrick, Jake and I sat on the balcony drinking a few beers and telling tall tales. Well, I guess that would have been mostly me! Surprisingly, considering the fact that I hardly ever drink these days, we were there a long time. Patrick went off around 2:30 AM and Jake and I followed around 3:30. Unfortunately (?) there is no photographic evidence of these hours!

The following morning we gave them a traditional English fry-up, well as traditional as we could make it, before sending them on their way towards Sanya.

It was great seeing them here, both Huan and I really enjoyed their visit despite the fact it was a very short one.

August 24^th Received one of our regular Taobao deliveries, 24 cans of Heinz Baked beans. We only use one can at weekends, so that’s quite a stash we have there.

August 30^th Our last trip to the pool this month. We were nice and early. Here’s Huan, already dried at 11 o’clock.

Here’s another view of the surroundings. Beautiful, isn't it?

And another.

And finally, one of our little friends again, with the end of my finger for good measure (pun intended!)

And that’s it for August which means we are very nearly right up to date. Stay tuned for more, we’ll be back!

July in Wuzhishan

 We’re getting there, could be up to date before too long!

July 2^nd. (Approximately 2½ hours). We often try and walk to Chong Hao village. The road has a few hills but nothing too steep. It’s about 7 kms there and then the same back of course. Here we are at Chang Hao (1¼ Hours) having a break before starting the return journey. Don’t look too bad do we?

July 4^th Sometimes I like to just have a walk around Wuzhishan itself, taking the long way to the riverside and then back along the river. There are some amusing property signs along the way.

I Would Like To Knock On The Door Of My House In The Sun, A Guest Of The Mountain Wind

I Want To Green Grass In The Four Seasons, To Be A Good Old Urchin

I Want To Up The Mountain (?) I can’t read this one very well.

I Want To Breathe The Air Every Day, Can Increase Longevity

July 6^th A trip up the reservoir road. Now I know that birds like trees, but I never thought I’d see a tree ‘giving me the bird’!

And here’s one hanging on for grim death. Everytime we’ve had some wind and rain we go and see if he’s still there! Poor fellow. . .

July 11^th Sometimes I give Huan a bunch of recipes and ask her what she’d like me to cook, or try to cook, as the case may be. I was quite proud of this one, brought back some memories of my time in Germany. Frikadellen Mit Kartoffel Salat

July 14^th I was back up the reservoir road again, well we both were, but I was going fast trying to get into the clouds while Huan came along a little slower behind me. The photos show the clouds but unfortunately, every time I got closer they had moved! I guess the only way is to get up very early in the morning.

On the way back down we spotted some workers at the side of the road with a small problem. This little chap kept trying to get in their way. As they were repairing the road with loads of wet concrete around I found a stick and managed to pick hi up and move him to the other side. He was a long way from the sea, or a river come to that! I wonder what he was thinking here?

A little further down we spotted this guy. No idea what he is. Didn’t bother trying to pick him up, just in case . . .

July 16^th Our anniversary and I had all these plans. Nature intervened, there was a typhoon passing by and the weather was atrocious. Instead of taking Huan to a better class of restaurant (not many of them here) I made her a Bailey’s Cheesecake and we had Bailey’s Coffees with it. One of my favourite cheesecakes!

July 17^th The result of the rain, water coming through the wall. I wouldn’t mind but we had only recently paid nearly 3,000 RMB to avoid just this!

July 21^st Another nice long walk, Shifen – Hongyacun – Fuguancun, and yet another variety of caterpillar.

July 26^th Another round trip to Chong Hao. I’m sure you don’t need a topless selfie of me, so here’s Huan wearing my shirt as a sunshade. Taken as we returned to our gate.

Same day, accidental ‘still life’. I have no idea how I took this. My phone is getting on a bit now and the camera button sometimes gets stuck and keeps taking pictures after I stop.

And there we are; the end of July. I’ll be back soon with August, something a little different there, for a change.