Nicholas Quirke was concentrating on developing his social media presence on 19 April 2020 and started to use the YouTube channel he had set up some 8 years previously to post the short films from his travel blog which he was also updating with a photograph of the look he felt resembled a chimp. After his foot massage he was going to have to look after the infection in his heels and to aid yet another recovery of his physic, Peng gave him an Asian foot mask to use, which was like putting on wet socks. It all seemed like a good use of his time on a lazy Sunday morning. They had decided to eat at an Indian restaurant which of course catered for the vegan diet and then they would go to see the Fox Tower, the most southwestern point of old Beijing’s wall and an ancient monument where in 1937 a grisly murder of a westerner took place. Despite the modest amount of food, it felt like they had eaten a lot and Nicholas felt very bloated. It was a short ride to a tea house which was so crowded inside, they had to sit on the wall outside. It was a reflection of how much Beijing was returning to a new normality. Checks and Face masks and still closed businesses but it was very evident that the people of the city now possessed a new found confidence and it would really look like a different place again. It gave him pause and he was glad that he had stuck it out in China rather than return to UK, where everyone’s life had been reduced to lockdown. He was glad of the 6km cycle ride to Fox Tower as it gave his swollen stomach a chance to settle and they passed through a tree lined street in full blossom which looked utterly beautiful. He realised, of course, that although he saw it from a different angle, that he had already seen The fortress which formed the end of the Ming Dynasty relic wall, which was also another sight of Beijing which Peng had never stopped at. As they walked through the gardens Nicholas spotted a tree which had both white and pink blossoms and he wondered if it was some kind of hybrid, and what had caused this phenomenon. The sky had got very dark and heralded a storm which they managed to avoid, arriving back at the apartment just before the thunder and lightening broke. The night finished with both suffering with stomach ache from the curry and watching a quaint animation, ‘Where We Are’.



















Some of the scenes had a distinct boulevard feel and look especially with trees in blossom. The French sounding music fitted nicely
It did feel a strangely European day Patrick. Especially with having a Cury.
Lovely blossom! Nice ears… Not tooooo Simian. X
I think a role in Planet of the apes would not go amiss
That blossom is so beautiful. Nice ears! xx
Chimp chimp chimp!