Tales from the Dragon

[Moses]

Arsenal is in China. We don't know precisely where, but making an educated guess that he's somewhere inland of Shanghai, it is likely to be below freezing.
Unless you know more about his location

+15C in January is also China - Shenzhen for example. I was there at the end of December and it was +21 - +23C at day time. 9 months of swimming season. And there are even more southern cities.

[goji]

+15C in January is also China - Shenzhen for example. I was there at the end of December and it was +21 - +23C at day time. 9 months of swimming season. And there are even more southern cities.

It does rather depend on where in China Arsenal lives. If it's Harbin to the north, it might just get a bit colder (see graph).

Those paying attention will note he experiences low temperatures in winter & suspect it's a more central location. Therefore some plants might not survive the winter.

Harbin.JPG

[francois]

Arsenal is in China. We don't know precisely where, but making an educated guess that he's somewhere inland of Shanghai, it is likely to be below freezing.
Unless you know more about his location

One photo Arsenal posted appears to be from Yangzhou City, China about 275 km inland from Shanghai.

[arsenal]

Francois needs to put on both his glasses and his thinking cap. Mark Twain is a humorist, a subversive and an anti-establishment writer so not the sort the Chinese would have statues of.

Moses. 9 months of swimming weather means 9 months of Chinese mosquitos. The winter here is fucking freezing but usually dry and with dazzling bright sunshine. I really enjoy it..Of course it's normally served with plenty of Thailand to break it up.

Goji. They breed these plants specially with genetic modifications. Winter here is strawberry season as they're grown in huge poly tunnels. Most trees don't really lose their leaves until some time in the new year.

[arsenal]

Met these three young guys last night. They were playing guitar and singing on the boardwalk along the lake. Quite lovely. Then the one on the right performed a high scissor flip for my entertainment. I filmed it but with little success. They're there again tonight so I'll try again.

[Moses]

Moses. 9 months of swimming weather means 9 months of Chinese mosquitos.

No mosquitos, if you are living in the coastal city.

[arsenal]

Not true. Pattaya's a coastal city and that has mosquitos. These myths about mosquitos need to be nailed. They also get into apts on any floor.

[Moses]

Not true. Pattaya's a coastal city and that has mosquitos. These myths about mosquitos need to be nailed. They also get into apts on any floor.

Pattaya is in tropical zone. All China is laying more to North. There are some mosquitos in Shenzhen, but they are living in parks around ponds. Whole city is free of mosquitos - at least as per my impressions at time of few visits in different seasons: wind from ocean blows them.

By the way: in Pattaya I never met mosquitos at time when I had stay in hotels at first line near sea like Bondy, Rooms Club, Tui's, B&B - also wind blows them.

[arsenal]

The mosquitos you meet are much better behaved than the ones I come across. Maybe they don't think you taste good.

[arsenal]

Some tips from your man in the know.

You want a haircut. The salon looks lovely and is populated by young rather attractive guys and gals. In you go. Within seconds you are surrounded by six or seven, all of them shouting and laughing and giggling and you try to pretend this is OK but it doesn't stop and at some point you feel really quite abused and wish to be anywhere else and then when it gets too much you just leave and their behaviour stays with you all day and you feel you've experienced a new form of assault. And you have.
So. Trundle around until you find a small barber with one oldish guy, preferably asleep and absolutely no one else there. Go in. He will give you a haircut with no nonsense. Trust me.

You have a toothache. You go into the dentist and you can use your wechat to communicate. You have a choice of two dentists. One is a big bloke with huge eyebrows who looks a bit like Leonard Brezhnev and has fat sausage fingers. The other is a pretty youngish woman with a ponytail. For the love of God choose Leonard. He will be deft and calm and do a good job on your teeth. The woman will be harsh and uncaring and in dental terms really quite brutal. Trust me.

You wish to deposit a large amount of money in your account. In you go, take your ticket and when your turn comes sit down in front of the cashier. Within a minute she'll xall for help and then there's two discussing your account. Then another comes to 'help' and then another and another. There are now five tellers talking about your account and what not. Eventually you get the deposit paid in and you leave the bank but your head is all over the place and you're struggling to comprehend what just happened. Use the ATM, even at midnight depositing large amounts is no risk although in the depth of winter there might be a street cleaner in there but he's there to keep warm, not to Rob you. Trust me.