Cool road!

Arrived in Guiyang in the evening after a 10 hour flight to Beijing and then another 3 hour domestic flight. Guiyang is in Guizhou province in the southwest of China close to the Thai and Burmese border. Flew over a lot of mountains on the way here. Look at the number of hairpin bends on that road. Didn't see it when I took the photo from the air. Wow, I want to know where that is!



Location 27°N 107°E

Harry Potter

Pretty cold today but no snow in Worcester as it is further south than Sheffield. The snow had mostly melted by evening in Sheffield yesterday anyway. Drove down to Gloucester for a look round. Amazing that we have never been to Gloucester as it is about 25 miles downriver from Worcester, nearly at the point where the River Severn widens into the sea. It has a cathedral just like Worcester but not as old. The cathedral cloister is reknown for its intricate ceiling. Indeed it was used in the Harry Potter movies (The main hall of Hogwarts is actually in Christchurch College in Oxford).


Ceiling and stained glass windows in cloister

Location 52°N 2°W

Running in a winter wonderland

There was some snow yesterday. Started off as sleet as I left work, the sort where thin flakes float down from the sky. Got heavier as I drove towards the club for the evening run. The club is down by one of the little rivers in a very hilly city. There was a bit of snow on the ground when I got there but really more like Slurpy ice cream rather than real snow.

It was fairly cold with the snow coming down hard now. Fewer people from the usual group turned up and we decided to go for a shorter than usual run just in case it got too hairy. Going up a hill, contour around for a bit and back down again. Pretty simple run for around 45 minutes.

A bit cold for the first few minutes despite the windtop with hood over a long sleeve jersey. Luckily it wasn't very slippery as it was just above freezing. Felt much better as we started climbing. Unconsciously one would go harder than normal to keep the body temperature up but I had to make sure that no one got left behind. The temperature dropped as we went higher. The snow was now crunching under our shoes, big snowflakes reflecting the streetlights like sparkling falling leaves and each breath was a puff of white smoke.

One great thing about running in December is the Christmas lights some people put up on their houses. Yes this is still November but there are "kiasu" people who already have decorations on. No extravagant affairs with hundreds of lights yet tonight, still too early in the season.

Soon it was time to start the descend into the "warmth" of the valley below. There was a significant change in the conditions underfoot from fresh hard snow into slush again. This has been a good real life demonstration of how temperature drops as you go up in altitude. The freezing level must have been just above the altitude down below the valley to give such a difference in just a few miles.

Finished the run, get changed, back into the car and off to where I often stay in Sheffield, a nice little B&B down the Rivelin Valley...


Next morning at Quarry House

Location 53°N 1°W

Along the river

Shafts of sunlight shining through gaps in the cloud. A nice autumn's day. Went down by the river to take a few photos. The river puts on it's smartest clothes when it flows past the town centre, just like people do when they go into town for a night out, all manicured and smart. Totally unlike its usual self just a couple of miles upstream and downstream of here where it flows past open fields with cows or just clumpy grass. I love running along the river, from the countryside into civilisation and back into the countryside again. Haven't done that recently as I've been up north during the week and lazy to go for long runs on weekends...


River Severn, swans and Worcester Cathedral


A bird, a plane... No it's just a train

Location 52°N 2°W

Shanghai after 4 years

Landed in Shanghai today after a good flight on Virgin Atlantic where I was upgraded to Upper Class. Mmmmm nice seats which nearly lie flat to sleep in - had my best ever sleeping experience on a flight. Horrendous queues at immigration. Looks like everyone is trying to get into Shanghai today. Could also be due to 4 large planes which landed at about the same time. Took about 1 hour to get through to collect my luggage. 1st time I have been to Shanghai since 2000 - lets see how the city of nearly 20 million people has changed.

Always wanted to try the Maglev from Shanghai airport. Basically its a "train" that floats over a track through magnetism and gets to a maximum speed of 420kph, making a 30km journey in 7-8 minutes. Amazing experience seeing the world go by at that speed on the ground. Unfortunately it does not get you to the centre of the city but instead ends at Longyang Road metro station. Changed over to the clean and efficient metro and got to the Renmin (People's) Square station in about 15 minutes. There are now 3 metro lines in operation with another 4-5 in construction / planned.

Went out for dinner with a couple of friends on mine to what they say is a restaurant serving typical Shanghainese dishes. Nice food with a few interesting bits - goose's feet, for example.


Shanghai by night from hotel window

Location 31°N 121°E