ming’s musings

Early October - Swine Flu’ed?
After getting home from an evening jog around Sai Kung one night, I stepped from the humid and balmy night into my Gran’s freezing air-conditioned living room (Hong Kongers like to recreate arctic conditions indoors).
The sudden change in temperature caught my immune system unawares and one night later, I was lying [...]

May - The Summer Palace
In this month, I took my students on a field trip to the Summer Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage site and once back garden of emperors past.
‘Epic’ would be one word to describe this place, from the huge man-made Kunming Lake to the man-made Longevity Hill but I think ‘Imperial’ would [...]

March - Family Gathering in Hong Kong
In late March, after a year and a half, I saw my family again in Hong Kong. I flew to Hong Kong a few days before my family arrived from England and before J arrived from Korea. It was great to get everybody together and it was also the [...]

February - An “Inauspicious” Beginning
Spring Festival in China, or at least in Beijing anyway, is accompanied by 2 weeks of constant fireworks. During this period, fireworks can be heard from 8 am in the morning to 3 am the next day - for at 2 weeks straight. Though this creates an incomparable festive atmosphere in [...]