Deformed man end place

Chengdu 090409 ©Ingrid Booz Morejohn

When I left to fly to Beijing on Thursday this was the sign that met me in the woman's bathroom at Shuangliu Airport here in Chengdu (handicap toilet). The Chinese is: cán jí rén zhuān wèi: cán jí rén = handicapped or disabled person (jí is sickness or disease) and zhuān (for a particular person) wèi (place or position). I didn't know whether I should cry or laugh.

What is a man doing in the woman's bathroom anyway?

Fog strands 13,000 in Chengdu airport

As posted earlier this month we have had incredibly grey, misty, foggy weather here in Chengdu. I read today that our local airport, Shuangliu International, had a four-hour traffic shutdown on Monday February 2nd. Visibility was less than 20 meters and 500 meters is the minimum for a safe take-off. 13,000 people were stranded and this was the third closure this month. Otherwise weather conditions are looking up, it's getting warmer every day. So warm that I am beginning to suspect that there might be some truth to the traditional Chinese calendar after all!