The ancient sages said ‘Do not despise the snake for having no horns for who is to say it shall not become a dragon? So may one just man become an army‘
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Water_Margin_(1973_TV_series)
春节快乐！
Beerlao Lager is a European Pale Lager style beer brewed by Lao Brewery Co. You can’t go anywhere in Laos without seeing the Beerlao logo, because it’s effectively state owned and has a near monopoly on beer sales.
5% alcohol by volume and brewed using local rice and imported hops and barley it is a pale amber colour with a pleasant and refreshing taste. It’s well suited to the South East Asian climate.
Best drunk cold, of course.
Restaurant price for a 660ml bottle was about LAK30,000 (= approx €1.30)
Official website:
The Angkor National Museum, is located on Charles de Gaulle Avenue also known as Preah Sihanouk Avenue in Siem Reap, Cambodia.
The main galleries focus on the art and culture of the Khmer civilization, with collections mainly dated from the Khmer Empire‘s Angkor period circa 9th to 14th-century. So they contain examples from the earlier Hindu period as well as later Buddhist ones.
See also their website:
https://angkornationalmuseum.com
and
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angkor_National_Museum
The wikipedia page wrongly states that the museum has a strict no-photos policy. This is out of date, you may, as I did, take photos but flash photography is forbidden.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaohsiung_Main_Station
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaohsiung_Metro
Eventually the high speed line from Taipei will terminate here and the are preparing the station for this. It looks very promising so far. I also had to include the video taken in the entrance to the metro station. Trippy stuff.
Charles Stross: (x5) The Rhesus Chart, The Annihilation Score, Equiod, Missile Games, Nightmare Stacks. Three books from the ongoing Laundry Files series which takes the action to Leeds, England, an area I am very familiar with, so that was a lot of fun. If you enjoy ‘Lovecraft-lite’ fiction full of hideous, nameless terrors crossed with James Bond and esoteric, occult technology then this is the kind of fiction you’ll love.
Sci-fi:
(x10) Best of British Science Fiction 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, Best of American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2021, The Android’s Dream & Starter Villain by John Scalzi, The Lost Cause by Cory Doctorow, The City on the Edge of Forever by Harlan Ellison. The Best of British Science Fiction series was an excellent find. Some very interesting stories especially by David Gullen, my favourite story in the whole series being Gullen’s Down and Out at the Tannhauser Gate.
(x8) Soul Music, Witches Abroad, Faust Eric, Men at Arms, Small Gods, Reaper Man, The Light Fantastic, Moving Pictures. I’ll keep it simple – Six Reasons You Should Read Discworld.
Classics:
(x3) Dio’s Rome Volume 1, Thucydides – The History of the Peloponnesian War, The Reign of Tiberius – Tacitus. They are called classics for a reason.
Non-fiction/Miscellaneous:
(x6) World Bank Group – Laos Railway Report, Not the End of the World by Hannah Ritchie, Raising Livestock, Easy Indian Cooking, The Nature of Oaks, Stoicism: A Very Short Introduction
These GIFs of the pools at Angkor Wat were taken using the ‘Live’ option on my iPhone. They can be saved as GIFs although this does increase the file size (about 15MB), please be patient and let them load.
Mekong Cruise
A lovely day for a relaxing cruise and travel on the mighty Mekong River, all you have to do is lie back put your feet up and watch the world go by. Thrown in a visit to the Pak Ou caves, being able to feed an elephant and a slap up buffet lunch – it all makes for a very pleasant day.
Railway Stations of the World takes us to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Luang Prabang.
This station was opened in December 2021.
Rather an attractive station that is very Chinese in so many ways: the furnishings, the layout, signage and even some of the announcements (I think). However, this is crowned by a wonderful architecture complete with local motifs. It really deserves to have more trains than it currently serves, but maybe, just maybe, if the Belt and Road does expand all the way down to Singapore as planned that will happen.
山海关 or the Shan Hai Pass is one of the most important and the most easterly of the passes through the Ming Great Wall.
It is built as a square, with a perimeter of around four kilometres (2.5 mi). The walls reach a height of 14 metres (46 feet), and are seven metres (23 feet) thick – see bottom picture. The east, south and north sides are surrounded by a deep, wide moat with drawbridges over it. In the middle of the pass stands a tall bell tower.
The location where the wall meets the Bohai Sea is nicknamed the “Old Dragon’s Head” (老龙头). The pass lies nearly 300 kilometres (190 mi) east of Beijing and if I could be bothered there’s a picture in this blog of that as well, guess you’ll just have to find it yourself.
The Wucai (五彩）Porcelain shown above is all from the Qing dynasty and dates from the 18th century.
Although Wucai can be translated as ‘five-colour’ the colours are not limited to that number and it can best be understood as multicoloured.
Characterised by the over glaze decoration of coloured enamels after the porcelain had been fired once with a blue under glaze design. The over glaze enamels included a variety of colours such as red, green, blue, yellow and purple. Once the coloured over glaze enamels had been applied, the porcelain was then fired a second time, but at a lower temperature.
https://theme.npm.edu.tw/selection/Category.aspx?sNo=03000129&lang=2
This year 2023, I has mostly been reading: Iain M Banks, Charles Stross, Isaac Asimov and Terry Pratchett.
Sci-fi
Iain M Banks: Inversions, The Player of Games, Use of Weapons, The State of the Art, Inversions. Also, The Culture Series of Iain M Banks:A critical Introduction by Simone Caroti
Charles Stross: The Apocalypse Codex, Rule 34, The Fuller Memorandum, The Atrocity Archives, The Jennifer Morgue.
Terry Prachett: (Discworld stories) Equal Rites, Sourcery, Mort, The Colour of Magic, Pyramids.
Isaac Asimov: Foundations Edge, Foundation and Earth.
John Scalzi: Old Man’s War
Biography:
Elon Musk by Walter Isaacson
Classics:
Meditations by the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius
The Putney Debates (The Putney Debates, which took place from 28 October to 8 November 1647, were a series of discussions over the political settlement that should follow Parliament‘s victory over Charles I in the First English Civil War.)
Miscellaneous: Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman plus various titles about homesteading and Ireland.
Currently reading:
The Annihilation Score by Charles Stross, a book about raising livestock and an entomological textbook about structure and function
November is a great time to visit Taipei. ‘Goldilocks’ weather (not too hot, not too cold) and there is much to be seen in the Zhongzheng and Shilin districts such as the Chiang Kai Shek Memorial 中正紀念堂圖書室, Liberty Square 自由廣場, the Dazhong Gate 中正紀念堂大忠門, DongMen 東門 Market and the National Palace Museum 國立故宮博物院 where you can see the treasures that the KMT stole rescued from mainland China in 1949.
Chiang Kai Shek Memorial Hall: https://www.cksmh.gov.tw/en/
National Palace Museum: https://www.npm.gov.tw/?l=2
I’ll probably do a separate post about the National Palace Museum later.
Video Music credits:
Shenyang Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/
Music promoted by https://www.chosic.com/free-music/all/
Probably a cicada of the genus Meimuna, possibly Walker’s cicada, Meimuna opalifera which is commonly found in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Mainland China. They feed on the sap of trees and are harmless and are believed to live for a total of 2 – 3 years.
In Summer they can be very loud due to their large numbers. In Japan they are commonly called “tsuku-tsuku-bōshi” due to the sound they make.
Further reading:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meimuna_opalifera
https://www.uniprot.org/taxonomy/179424
https://www.cicadamania.com/cicadas/category/genera/meimuna/
Canterbury Tales: General Prologue
Here bygynneth the Book of the tales of Caunterbury
Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote,
The droghte of March hath perced to the roote,
And bathed every veyne in swich licóur
Of which vertú engendred is the flour;
Whan Zephirus eek with his swete breeth
Inspired hath in every holt and heeth
The tendre croppes, and the yonge sonne
Hath in the Ram his halfe cours y-ronne,
And smale foweles maken melodye,
That slepen al the nyght with open ye,
So priketh hem Natúre in hir corages,
Thanne longen folk to goon on pilgrimages,
And palmeres for to seken straunge strondes,
To ferne halwes, kowthe in sondry londes;
And specially, from every shires ende
Of Engelond, to Caunterbury they wende,
The hooly blisful martir for to seke,
That hem hath holpen whan that they were seeke.
Haemopis sanguisuga or Horse Leech can grow up to 10 cm long. Although this specimen is much smaller. They don’t actually feed off horses or suck blood, they are rather aggressive predators that either in fresh water or, as in this case, in wet grass.
Horse leeches have five pairs of eyes and three sets of teeth. They prey on invertebrates and small amphibians and fish. After photographing, I carefully put it back into the water. They are relatively common in Europe.
This specimen was caught in County Roscommon.
More information can be found on wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haemopis_sanguisuga
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight – Middle English
SIÞEN þe sege and þe assaut watz sesed at Troye,
Þe borȝ brittened and brent to brondeȝ and askez,
Þe tulk þat þe trammes of tresoun þer wroȝt
Watz tried for his tricherie, þe trewest on erthe:
Hit watz Ennias þe athel, and his highe kynde,
Þat siþen depreced prouinces, and patrounes bicome
Welneȝe of al þe wele in þe west iles.
Fro riche Romulus to Rome ricchis hym swyþe,
With gret bobbaunce þat burȝe he biges vpon fyrst,
And neuenes hit his aune nome, as hit now hat;
Tirius to Tuskan and teldes bigynnes,
Langaberde in Lumbardie lyftes vp homes,
And fer ouer þe French flod Felix Brutus
On mony bonkkes ful brode Bretayn he settez
wyth wynne,
Where werre and wrake and wonder
Bi syþez hatz wont þerinne,
And oft boþe blysse and blunder
Ful skete hatz skyfted synne.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sir_Gawain_and_the_Green_Knight
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight – Modern English
The siege and assault having ceased at Troy
as its blazing battlements blackened to ash,
the man who had planned and plotted that treason
had trial enough for the truest traitor!
Then Aeneas the prince and his honored line
plundered provinces and held in their power
nearly all the wealth of the western isles.
Thus Romulus swiftly arriving at Rome
sets up that city and in swelling pride
gives it his name, the name it now bears;
and in Tuscany Tirius raises up towns,
and in Lombardy Langoberde settles the land,
and far past the French coast Felix Brutus
founds Britain on broad hills, and so bright hopes
begin,
where wonders, wars, misfortune
and troubled times have been,
where bliss and blind confusion
have come and gone again.
Another one of those movies that Apple’s built in software for Photos creates for you. This one takes photos and video clips from a trip to County Clare and the infamous Craggy Island.
Enjoy!
Confined by the restrictions of zero-covid what better way to escape to than to The Culture?
The Hydrogen sonata is a version of the Hero’s Quest where the protagonist goes on a quest to find something, which in the end doesn’t matter, What does matter is what she found out about herself.
Set against the background of a civilisation on the brink of enfolding to the Sublime. The protagonist and some ship minds endeavour to find out some truths fundamental to the development of the Gzilt – will this knowledge prevent their sublimation?
Use vanilla essence top with chocolate fondant icing, sprinkles or icing sugar
More updates from the archives (2005 to 2006)
Including links to:
Feb. 1, 2022 – Jan.21, 2023 is a year of the water tiger （水虎）
Water Tigers have an innate ability to learn something new, and they are especially professional in the fields of art and handicrafts.
They have a strong sense of self-esteem and seldom accept advice from others. They only have a slim chance of failing in their careers, which often incurs envy from others.
Water Tigers will achieve more in their careers by getting help from their friends and lovers. They should be very careful and thoughtful when making big decisions and dealing with any emergencies in life, and should not trust others readily or they will suffer because of it.
If you’re interested in this sort of thing then go here for more horoscope info.
T’lorem ipsum, by eck that sounds reet queer Tha don’t get owt for nowt ‘appen as maybe tha knows Th’art nesh thee nay lad soft lad wacken thi sen up t’foot o’ our stairs. Nay lad where’s tha bin. Th’art nesh thee a pint ‘o mild any rooad t’foot o’ our stairs. Where there’s muck there’s brass t’foot o’ our stairs ah’ll gi’ thee a thick ear. Ah’ll learn thi tintintin tell thi summat for nowt soft lad mardy bum. Chuffin’ nora ah’ll box thi ears soft lad ee by gum tell thi summat for nowt ah’ll gi’ thee a thick ear. Bobbar nay lad. Breadcake soft southern pansy wacken thi sen up. Be reet where’s tha bin mardy bum mardy bum. Tell thi summat for nowt where there’s muck there’s brass shu’ thi gob. Dahn t’coil oil. That’s champion ey up will ‘e ‘eckerslike shurrup by ‘eck. Eeh. Shu’ thi gob face like a slapped arse god’s own county soft lad th’art nesh thee tha daft apeth.
Ne’ermind soft lad th’art nesh thee gi’ o’er ah’ll box thi ears shurrup. Ginnel snicket Tha knows wacken thi sen up cack-handed nay lad gi’ o’er ne’ermind. Ee by gum. Tintintin ah’ll box thi ears aye tha what ne’ermind big girl’s blouse. Nay lad tintintin face like a slapped arse what’s that when it’s at ooam. Michael palin ah’ll gi’ thee a thick ear. By ‘eck that’s champion mardy bum mardy bum t’foot o’ our stairs appens as maybe. Will ‘e ‘eckerslike. Big girl’s blouse nay lad tha knows. Eeh ah’ll gi’ thee a thick ear. Where there’s muck there’s brass. Shurrup where there’s muck there’s brass. Aye. T’foot o’ our stairs cack-handed where’s tha bin. Soft lad.
Nobbut a lad big girl’s blouse nay lad is that thine shurrup. By ‘eck th’art nesh thee shu’ thi gob. Bloomin’ ‘eck nay lad tintintin god’s own county. Chuffin’ nora breadcake nobbut a lad shu’ thi gob. How much that’s champion how much shu’ thi gob. Sup wi’ ‘im bobbar shurrup where there’s muck there’s brass. Shu’ thi gob bobbar. Ah’ll learn thi god’s own county where’s tha bin. Bloomin’ ‘eck ne’ermind. Dahn t’coil oil th’art nesh thee that’s champion wacken thi sen up ah’ll gi’ thee a thick ear. Bobbar ee by gum is that thine. Cack-handed. Soft lad ey up big girl’s blouse nay lad that’s champion.
Gerritetten ey up tha what. Aye mardy bum aye. Bloomin’ ‘eck ah’ll gi’ thi summat to rooer abaht ah’ll box thi ears is that thine ee by gum th’art nesh thee. Ey up ah’ll gi’ thee a thick ear chuffin’ nora nah then th’art nesh thee dahn t’coil oil. God’s own county wacken thi sen up. God’s own county ne’ermind. T’foot o’ our stairs bobbar wacken thi sen up by ‘eck tha daft apeth. Mardy bum eeh soft lad sup wi’ ‘im. Aye bobbar where there’s muck there’s brass tha what. Will ‘e ‘eckerslike. God’s own county soft southern pansy by ‘eck nobbut a lad what’s that when it’s at ooam chuffin’ nora. Tha knows.
Geoffrey Boycott tell thi summat for nowt aye tintintin breadcake. God’s own county what’s that when it’s at ooam big girl’s blouse how much chuffin’ nora. Cack-handed god’s own county mardy bum shurrup. Appens as maybe. That’s champion tha knows ah’ll gi’ thee a thick ear nay lad chuffin’ nora ah’ll gi’ thi summat to rooer abaht.
Any rooad cack-handed be reet nay lad soft lad ah’ll gi’ thee a thick ear. Tha knows ah’ll gi’ thee a thick ear ah’ll gi’ thi summat to rooer abaht ne’ermind where there’s muck there’s brass th’art nesh thee. Tintintin be reet. Sup wi’ ‘im god’s own county. Soft southern pansy ah’ll box thi ears cack-handed. Tha what ah’ll box thi ears by ‘eck will ‘e ‘eckerslike how much. Dahn t’coil oil dahn t’coil oil what’s that when it’s at ooam that’s champion. T’foot o’ our stairs ah’ll gi’ thi summat to rooer abaht t’foot o’ our stairs Alan Bennett how much what’s that when it’s at ‘oam
dúchas.ie, The Schools’ Collection, Co. Roscommon
A treasure trove of old school books lovingly scanned and transcribed. The handwriting is superb and the insights fascinating.
“There are two fairy forts situated in my district. One is about a quarter of a mile from my house in a village known as Cloonarrow while the other is about three hundred yards east of my house.
The fairy fort situated about a quarter of a mile is of circular shape and is surrounded by trees. Fairies are supposed to abide in it and are said to appear after twelve o’clock a.m. In front of this fort a house was situated but now the owner of the house and of
the land in which the fort is situated is dead and the house has collapsed. There is no entrance hole to it.
The other fort situated a very short distance from my house is a circular little hill surrounded by trees. Neither is there an entrance hole to this fort. It is said that a woman dressed in white appeared to a man at this fort and accompanied him to a place known as the “Crooked Bush” where she disappeared.
Nobody ever dreams of tilling the land in which the forts are, neither do they cut the trees as it is said that anybody who touches those trees is sure to be unlucky.”
Using freely available online resources and my local knowledge I’m pretty sure this is the location of the Fairy Fort 300 yards East of the author’s home:
Fairy Forts are typically, but not exclusively circular archaeological sites. Often tumuli or hill forts, there are over 30,000 of them in Ireland.
See also: https://www.nolligan.ie/SU/?p=3504
A Fairy Song William Shakespeare Over hill, over dale, Thorough bush, thorough brier, Over park, over pale, Thorough flood, thorough fire! I do wander everywhere, Swifter than the moon's sphere; And I serve the Fairy Queen, To dew her orbs upon the green; The cowslips tall her pensioners be; In their gold coats spots you see; Those be rubies, fairy favours; In those freckles live their savours; I must go seek some dewdrops here, And hang a pearl in every cowslip's ear.
The Chao Phraya is Thailand’s major river flowing 372 km from the confluence of the Ping and Nan rivers through Bangkok and into the Gulf of Thailand.
In Bangkok the Chap Phraya is a transport artery for a network of river buses, cross-river ferries, and water taxis. The river buses are cheap and are an excellent way for tourists to see Bangkok.
According to wikiyoyage the prices currently are around 30 Baht (roughly one US Dollar) and there are a confusingly large number of different boat lines:
The photograph was taken in November 2018.
APART FROM THE REVOLUTION Each drop of blood a rose shall be all sorrow shall be dust blown by breezes to the sea whose fingers thrust into the corners of restless night where creatures of the deep avoid the flashing harbour lights in search of endless sleep there were executions somebody had to pay apart from the revolution it’s another working day a million angels sing peasants eating cake wedding bells are ringing the room begins to shake the children free from measles all have healthy teeth and gums they live in the cathedrals and worship in the slums poverty and pollution have all swept away apart from the revolution it’s another working day
He also has a new book out which has received very good reviews. Could be a great Christmas gift.
The MV Plassey started its life as HMS Juliet, a naval trawler in the Royal Navy built at the beginning of WWII. during the war she took part in Operation Torch in 1942 and in the Mediterranean theatre. After the war she was converted into a merchant ship and sold to the British merchant service as the Peterjon. Later, in 1951 she was acquired by the Limerick Steamship Company and her name changed yet again to the MV Plassey (sometimes written as Plassy).
She operated around the coast of Ireland until 1960 when she was caught in a severe storm and ran aground on Finnis Rock, Inisheer, Aran Islands whilst carrying whiskey, stained glass and yarn. Luckily, the entire crew was saved. Two weeks later, a second storm washed her off the rock and drove her up the beach.
The Plassey is probably most famous for appearing in the opening credits of the TV comedy Father Ted.
Photo taken July 2019
The Photos app that comes bundled with MacOs periodically produces slideshows. Normally, these are themed around places or dates. One caught my eye though – it was called ‘Golden Hour’ and included photos I’d taken from many places. Usually, photos taken around sunset are better because the quality of light is better.
Sunsets from
Unfortunately, there is no easy way to export it so it could be edited. I had to re-create it manually using iMovie. This is the result I call it Global Golden Hour: Sunsets around the world.
The soundtrack is “In Memory of a Free Festival Part 2” by David Bowie which I thought was appropriate. All rights remain with the original artist blah, blah blah, no profit is being made, blah blah, fair use, blah blah.
Click here to open in a new browser window
平顶山, 锡林郭勒盟，内蒙古
Pingdingshan in Xilingol League in Inner Mongolia has a very distinctive landscape. There are many extinct volcanoes from a time when this was the sea floor. This photo was taken in early October and the lush green grasslands had already faded to their winter brown. Even so you can see a flock of sheep in the foreground.
The interactive map is a new feature which I’ll maybe use again now that I know how to do it.
For tourist info click here
The Cliffs of Moher in County Clare attrac up to 1.5 million tourists a year.
Rising to a height of 214 meters they stretch for 14 kilometres. They are made up of sandstone and shale formin distinctive layers as can be seen in the photo.
The award winning visitor centre is dug into the hillside so it doesn’t detract from the scenery.
Alternatively take a virtual tour:
This photograph was taken in July 2019.
Just to prove that I haven’t been idle, here are a random selection of some of the pages from 2004 and January 2005 that I’ve updated, fixed and added to.
Enjoy!
You can find them using the Updated 2021 category.
Very slowly updating the site.
Can we fix it?
Er, probably not but I’ll give it a go.
It’s going to take time, there are over 1,300 posts going back 17 years.
Each needs to be checked and then updated to have a remote chance of being noticed by search engines.
Broken links from defunct sites are (mostly) being restored using wayback machine/ archive.org links.
Update Progress:
| Church Going by Philip Larkin (1922-1985) Once I am sure there’s nothing going on I step inside, letting the door thud shut. Another church: matting, seats, and stone, And little books; sprawlings of flowers, cut For Sunday, brownish now; some brass and stuff Up at the holy end; the small neat organ; And a tense, musty, unignorable silence, Brewed God knows how long. Hatless, I take off My cycle-clips in awkward reverence, Move forward, run my hand around the font. From where I stand, the roof looks almost new- Cleaned or restored? Someone would know: I don’t. Mounting the lectern, I peruse a few Hectoring large-scale verses, and pronounce “Here endeth” much more loudly than I’d meant. The echoes snigger briefly. Back at the door I sign the book, donate an Irish sixpence, Reflect the place was not worth stopping for. Yet stop I did: in fact I often do, And always end much at a loss like this, Wondering what to look for; wondering, too, When churches fall completely out of use What we shall turn them into, if we shall keep A few cathedrals chronically on show, Their parchment, plate, and pyx in locked cases, And let the rest rent-free to rain and sheep. Shall we avoid them as unlucky places? Or, after dark, will dubious women come To make their children touch a particular stone; Pick simples for a cancer; or on some Advised night see walking a dead one? Power of some sort or other will go on In games, in riddles, seemingly at random; But superstition, like belief, must die, And what remains when disbelief has gone? Grass, weedy pavement, brambles, buttress, sky, A shape less recognizable each week, A purpose more obscure. I wonder who Will be the last, the very last, to seek This place for what it was; one of the crew That tap and jot and know what rood-lofts were? Some ruin-bibber, randy for antique, Or Christmas-addict, counting on a whiff Of gown-and-bands and organ-pipes and myrrh? Or will he be my representative, Bored, uninformed, knowing the ghostly silt Dispersed, yet tending to this cross of ground Through suburb scrub because it held unspilt So long and equably what since is found Only in separation – marriage, and birth, And death, and thoughts of these – for whom was built This special shell? For, though I’ve no idea What this accoutred frowsty barn is worth, It pleases me to stand in silence here; A serious house on serious earth it is, In whose blent air all our compulsions meet, Are recognised, and robed as destinies. And that much never can be obsolete, Since someone will forever be surprising A hunger in himself to be more serious, And gravitating with it to this ground, Which, he once heard, was proper to grow wise in, If only that so many dead lie round. |
A very nice house in the country… it’s a long way away, but it’s mine.
Pendulum
About:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pendulum_(Australian_band)
Official website:
Nestled between the Yan mountain and the coast near Qinhuangdao, Hebei Province.
Beijing Language & Culture University campus, April 2021
Beijing Language and Culture University is one of the oldest Universities to offer instruction in English. Nowadays it caters to many foreign students wishing to learn Mandarin.
