Nanning

Today is Friday the 13th, marking the start of my final week in China. Nanning will be my last stop on the Chinese mainland. A big, modern city (pop. 2 million), about half the size of Kunming, but much nicer. Immediately upon arrival it felt like a nice place. Lots of trees, and lots of people sitting under them, playing chess, playing cards, or sleeping. We are clearly in the tropics here. The air is hot, heavy and humid. People move slowly (though not as slow as in Jinghong, the slowest town I've seen in China). Nanning is not too far from the sea, so there is a lot of seafood here. I stumbled upon a street full of food stalls serving loads of seafood: crab, prawns, oysters, different kinds of fish, but also snails, apparently a local specialty. Another local specialty, according to Lonely Planet, is dog meat. There is a whole street where only dog meat is served. Better avoid that area...
Since this will also be my last hotel in China (on Hainan next week I will be the guest of the Wu family), I splurged on a 150 Yuan room, which normally costs Y350. I must say, totally worth the 15 Euros! For the first time a hotel room where everything works. Proper plumbing, no broken lights, Western toilet with a friction-damped toilet seat that lands without a sounds even if you just drop it, and a very comfy queen-sized bed, with soft turn-on bedside lamps, and curtains that leave the room in absolute pitch-black darkness when drawn. Curiously though, no mini-bar, which you would expect in a room like this (eventhough I never use it). In the bathroom on a shelf a whole array of supplies, including condoms, massage oil, and men's underwear (also didn't use any of those).