Wuhan

Wuhan is a centrally located city in the heartland of China.  It has alot of similarities to Chicago.

The Wuhan Experimental Foreign Language School where I am located is outside of the city center.  It is about a half hour drive to get into the more urban downtown.  There is alot of smog here, although less at my location than downtown.

The school is in an economic and technological development zone, meaning that there is alot of building going on.  There are alot of apartment buildings of more than 15 stories, a large three level shopping mall, and alot of miscellaneous shops.  The mall has a walmart in it, as well as such designer shops as a VANS, Nike, and various other mid to high end clothiers.  There is also a MacDonalds, a pizza hut and a starbucks there.  It is called Wanda Mall and is next door to a huge office building under construction named Wanda Place.  Wanda is the name of a department store in the mall, hence the name.  Wanda anchors the site.

I went to the MacDonalds and had a crispy chicken deluxe sandwich for about 4.00 with fries and a drink.  It made a good brunch fast for me.

While out walking, I came across a kind of interesting sight. Along a water canal there are what look almost like terraced farms.  It seems some locals still farm any arable strip of land.  Looking up the canal I saw small plots planted with a variety of produce.  It was very interesting to see agriculture, and I mean small scale subsistence agriculture, side by side with huge 20 story apartment complexes and shopping malls.  The produce is sold on the sidewalk right in front of the super market.  I will try and get some pictures of this, not because it may be interesting to you my gentle reader, but rather because it is of interest to me, your humble narrator.

I have alot of down time because I am waiting on the documents needed for my visa.  This has given me the chance to walk around a bit and check things out.

I  would dearly like to get a Chinese bird book.  No doubt an english language book of Chinese birds will be difficult to come by.   I have noticed alot of new birds in my perambulations and would like to identify them for my life birding list.

Today I hope to get my canteen card so I can dine with the faculty without mooching off other teachers.  I am desperate to not be more of a burden than I already am.