Hit the Road Jack.....

O.K, I have just said good-bye to my host family for three weeks and am off travelling. I will return to Xingtai for a couple of days mid June. I have got the process to alter my visa underway and today have made it up to Beijing. I must alter my plane ticket and will visit two friends here. I caught the train this am after hunkering down with an American, Scot and Australian at an apartment the agency New Times maintains in Shijiazhuang. Yesterday I did the patriotic thing and visited the Revolutionary Martyrs Mausoleum where Norman (Sleeps Here) sleeps permanently. I have caught a newspaper out and apologise to the readers of this blog. Bethune is not the only foreigner to have a statue in China. Kontis, also a doctor, left India to help the Chinese against the Japanese and likewise his statue is ensconced in the memorial park. Yesterday two young ladies picked me up, dropped me at one point then came back on their bikes and arranged to take me to lunch, which they paid for. Heck I just go with the flow. Today I had to stand for an hour but unlike the double decker train the last time this train had higher windows so I could still see out. In the country side if you look far enough in any direction you always eventually run into a brick wall so encroachment is obvious. There are lots of trees in straight lines and virtually no wild or untamed areas, at least on the plain in this province. To-morrow it is off to visit Helen, at uni here in Beijing. Remember how we met at the airport?
She has just been told she must rethink her thesis so she may be a bit grumpy. To-night was sublime. Mild temperatures and a beautiful walk in the downtown area. The music on the train, Moon River, seems to have set a soft summer breeze tone for the next while. I am tempted to go into the government travel head office and ask to teach them tourism English. Must go. Time is up. Hope to have photos soon (I've taken enough). Colin