Chinese words can be written in our alphabet (pinyin writing). The trick is, although many words look exactly the same to our eye, the word can be pronounced with five tones. For example the word "ma" can mean mother, horse, hemp, scold or it can be the word you say at the end of a sentence to turn it into a question, all depending on the tone. Tones can be high, high rising, low falling-rising, high falling or a neutral tone. The effect is a sing-song way of talking, more in the high registers than I am used to. It has taken me quite a while to first actually hear the difference between the different tones, and second to get my voice under enough control to make myself understood, at least sometimes. If you don't say the correct tone for a word, you will be genuinely incomprehensible. As I have found it doesn't matter if I think I am saying exactly the right word; if I use a low falling-rising tone instead of a high tone it Just Won't Work. I am also learning to read and write Chinese which, as the characters are stylised pictographs and need to be rote memorised, adds another layer of complexity to the whole deal. All that said learning Chinese is challenging but hugely enjoyable and, as with learning any language, gives a great insight into the culture of the country.
I'll post a picture another day of my teacher, Dong Xu, also known variously as Liu Liu or Winnie. The polite way of addressing her is Laoshi (Teacher) Winnie. She's a lively 24 year old who looks ten years younger, is very enterprising and is a talented, encouraging and patient teacher.
I walk to class along a street that is very ordinary to Beijingers, but very interesting to me. The walk takes about 20 minutes. When I leave for class it is about 9.30. This appears to be the time when the old people in the neighbourhood take their grandchildren and their dogs for a walk. The size of dogs is government-regulated within Beijing to (my interpretation) no bigger than a breadbox. Small as they are, both children and dogs are dressed warmly and extremely quirkily. Children wear bright padded clothes. Their hats often have ears and cartoon faces on them, coats often have a cute animal tail. 
Dogs likewise get along dressed in smart little coats, jumpers, dresses, and once - marvellously - I even spotted a wee canine superman. Occasionally I see dogs with shoes. Walking along I need to be very conscious of where I put my feet. Both children and dogs relieve themselves unselfconsciously wherever they are. Strangely when I walk home from class the pavements are relatively clean again.
At the end of the walk back home to the apartment there is a busy intersection at the corner of Jiangtai Xilu and Fangyuan Nanli. About a week ago a stall sprouted up on the corner of this intersection, which operates during the morning. The stall sells fireworks for the upcoming Chinese New Year. The fireworks on sale here to the general public put our fireworks in New Zealand to shame. I guess this is why they are only allowed to be sold at this time of year.
My Chinese language isn't good enough to read the names on the boxes which are no doubt wonderfully poetic and descriptive. If I could give names based on the size of the boxes and the lurid pictures, they would be "Big Boy Boomeroo", "Frighten Your Grandmother", "Deafen all Past Generations", "Dazzle Future Generations with Awe and Splendour", and "Keep Whole City Blocks Awake Far into the Night".
Ian is away for the week on business in the Sudan, and I go to sleep listening to the sound of gigantic explosions and flashes of light from the people who can't resist setting off a few fireworks in advance of the prescribed time during new year next week.
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