a fairy went to market and she bought herself......

well certainly not a chicken. lovely tawny chickens which were in tiny tiny cages, taken out to be admired and then slaughtered round the back.

Chinese market, have some pix.loads of vegetables and fruit piled up, carcasses covered in shiny red stuff, being carved up, butchers absolutely covered in blood, not like david Lishman or Stuart, great tables full of about 50 pork chops, for example, loads of pills, herbs and medicines, and fish trying to jump out of containers which were like filing shelves on a desk, they were flying fish too, well flying at some point. great racks of fish of all sorts, which I do not recognise, not surprising really. seafood everywhere, tied up in little woven baskets with handles in bamboo. lots of sea snails, whelks I think they are, in and out of their shells.

the most repulsive smell I have ever come across, the drains I can cope with, bit like France, but this was rancid fat and some sort of all pervasive fat or oil smell which hangs around the very poor areas. very interesting. lots of very old, thin, stooped people who are probably much younger than Nanna but are to a man or woman bent double and being escorted round by their 60 year old children, perhaps it's a dietary deficiency? very polite people in the street, always stop if you take a picture and were extremely pleased if I asked to take theirs (butchers etc) I think I should have been photographing the fashion shops, but couldn't face it.

This has been an amazing trip, I want to read Chris Patten's book East and West now. his name comes up all the time, I can't quite tell whether they approve or not but I suspect it is the former, as many of the bosses in these companies are now Chinese and people are careful of what they say. When I said two of my daughters had received their degrees from him Patten, there was much surprise and impressed noises!