Around Heng Yang

Well the journey was a bit tiring but I finally made it! The flight from Shanghai to Chang Sha landed at 10pm on Tuesday, then Bing's brother and cousin drove us to her brother's place in Heng Yang. I then pretty much passed out until 12 the next day. That was yesterday around lunchtime. We're staying at her brother's place for about a week before heading back up to Shanghai. Her brother is surpringly easy to get along with considering that we don't really speak the same language :)

The rest of the day was pretty eventful. We met her uncle and his family for lunch which was really excellent. Food was great and her family members are all fun to be around. Of course we couldn't understand each other but they were happy that I was enjoying the food! I was pretty stuffed afterwards and they really were extremely friendly and welcoming. Afterwards we went to her cousin's sister-in-law's flat to borrow a dress for a wedding. The flat was in a slightly run down area but very interesting to see - for me at least. When we pulled up near the block of flats a few old ladies were sitting at a table nearby, either gambling or just sitting and talking, and they just staaared at me when I walked past. A little unnerving, and they did the same on the way back. (Actually, this has been happening quite a bit since I got here - so far I'm the only non-Chinese person I've seen in this city) We also had to dodge a few free range chickens to get up to the flat and the whole block was little crumbly.

Once I got inside the flat Bing got on with trying on dresses, and since I had very little to say to her cousin I got busy with staring out the window. There was a path down below going past a little pond / lake, and some people were tending some crops on the other side. Right on the side of the path was a really wild looking homeless man, completely naked except for a button up shirt he was wearing loosely over his shoulders, unbuttoned of course. When I first spotted him he was busy drinking some very nasty looking water from the pond, then later a guy and two girls walked along the path and he emerged from under his bush and just stood there watching them. They found something VERY interesting far away to look at as they walked past. He just stood there with his hands on his hips, everything swaying in the wind. Pretty hilarious.

We also did a bit of shopping in a really fancy shopping centre near her brother's flat. Nice stuff but too expensive for me! Then it was back to her uncle's place for dinner, then me & Bing went to a clinic for a massage. 30 yuan for an hour! That's about 2 pounds! Incredible. Anyway I've never had one in my life so didn't know what to expect. It turned out to be one of the most painful experiences of my life. The guy was very good but I was so covered in knots, it was pretty heavy going. I'll no doubt have a few more before going back to London where it's too expensive to have it done.

This is quite a crazy city but I really like it so far - Bing doesn't believe me! It's very full of life with lots of shops open until the early hours, and people always coming and going. One thing that takes some getting used to - the traffic. I think I've pieced together the rules of the road in Heng Yang:
1) If the traffic lights are red, don't go (this is pretty much followed)
2) Try to stay on the right side of the road.
3) As long as you give the other guy time to react, pretty much anything goes.
4) Whenever you are near a pedestrian, bicycle or bike, honk the horn.
As you can imagine, crossing a road, even at the traffic lights, is pretty harrowing.

Anway that's it for day 1. So far it's been great so I'm starting to wish I had more time here!