Room with a view?

"Views from my apartment include a large roundabout with about 24 lanes of tree-lined roads - one big laugh is just watching the traffic using them!

"One thing you realise is that there are no real laws being obeyed. One way? Forget it! No u-turns? Forget it!

"Anything really is possible. Five on scooters, including babies, making cellphone calls - carry on. Have a bump? Stay exactly where you are, even if you are in the middle of the road - a policeman will appear in about 30 minutes."

Going underground and food

Kenneth says that he does his local shopping under the road! "There is a giant supermarket that sells everything from pins to motor scooters - all deep underground, well ventilated, air conditioned, a match in size for any Asda/Tesco," he said.

"Eating out starts at about 50 pence and can go as high as you need from open air barbeque to high class restaurants.

"Then one minute the other way is a big open market. Again you get most things. There is some illegal selling, but mainly very, very, fresh veg pulled that day, fruit, meat - yes, including dogs, which are bred for the table. Pet dogs here are spoilt like hell.

"A golden rules here for Westerners is 'Never do your own shopping'! However good you think you are at haggling - the locals are better and they will bite your hand off to save an extra 10 pence."

Kenneth says that eating out is like a religious experience. He said, "If you go to a family do it is mindblowing. There can be four, five, or six courses upwards of fish and meat, plus veg, fruit, rice and noodles. It can take two or more hours to eat.

"A deadly one to go for is 'All You Can Eat' at a price. We went to a St Patrick's night - £4 all in - the wife and her friend almost cleared the tables they were like a plague of locusts!

The Six Nations and the health service

Kenneth said there aren't many Western-type bars, and those that are tend to be frequented mostly by English teachers. He said, "One has a widescreen computer screen so soccer/six nations rugby are all live but there is an eight hours time difference.

"Local people are no problem at all. The kids love to try to talk to you in English - they are very, very, polite.

"The lifestyle, in many ways, is the same as the UK, lots of shopping. The shops here are a joy. From very, very, big department stores to little one-man shops - as many as you need. Whole streets are underground - you go down a subway to cross the road and thousands of shops are down there."

Kenneth said that there are lots of tv channels available and many are based on Western-style shows. He said, "We can get all the UK papers on computer, very little is prevented or censored to us.

In terms of a health service, Kenneth explained that he pays at 'the point of service'.

"Every area has a walk-in surgery and dentist. It is very cheap and available from 0800 to 2300 every day. Hospitals are very very modern and again affordable."

Read an earlier feature about Kenneth's life in China.