Reflections: the government hostel, Tonghai

So we ended up in this hostel in Tonghai old town and very glorious it is - faded glory but real comfort is its watchword. You look out of your window across this pool to the temple of Confucius, over which the sun rises in a fuzzy red ball every morning round 6.30.

60 yuan a night for a double room with shower, and the friendly attention of the family who run it.

People walk up the paved street every morning, some with carrying poles, some with trolleys, some with hands, all with huge empty plastic containers to the well at the top where there is an inexhaustible spring of drinking water. In the morning the paved plaza around it is full of people doing their tai ji chuan and playing badminton.