It was another week devoted to decorating, though before I even began to put paint to the white walls of the apartment on Monday, I was forced to take a hard look at myself. I had watched the film ‘Bliz’ the night before and as the story unfolded, I started to feel some discomfort about the world it was portraying. Even though I hadn’t lived through the war in London, my Mother, Grandmother and others had and the picture the film was presenting bore scant relation to their descriptions or photographs, nor did it bear much resemblance to the countless war films about the blitz that I had seen. There I was, watching, shaking my head and telling my Chinese partner, “of course it wasn’t like that”, “That would not have been acceptable then”, “This is well before Windrush”, “inter racial relationships, they would have been stoned”. I couldn’t, though, shake the feeling that this wasn’t history be rewritten to suit modern sensibilities and it was with surprise, shame and some anger that when I searched online for ‘the presence of blacks in London during World War Two the pages of google offered me an image of history that differed totally from the films made then and since.

I have always considered myself to be liberal, accepting and totally in tune with the multi racial society we in the UK have the privilege to live in. I have always enjoyed mocking and celebrating the differences in race and I do like to push the boundaries of what is and isn’t acceptable with my multi racial friends but finding in myself the reluctance to accept the story I had been told uncovered for me a really questionable outlook. To my mind Steve McQueen’s film highlighted just how deep in English society’s roots racism penetrates. I tried to think of a single book I had read, television series I had seen, movie I had watched that had shown the world as it actually was. I couldn’t think of anything. Of course, when the Americans joined the war effort and their troops were stationed in the UK, it was a different story and they were Americans. My question to myself then was, have we been fed a picture of society during the war that isn’t true and has been whitewashed by the film makers, the writers, the producers, or am I just unbelievably dense? In which case my discomfort with the veracity of the film highlights in me a streak of racism I thought didn’t exist in my bones.

With these thoughts whirling in my head I attacked the vestibules of the apartment. Monday afternoon I headed to a Mall next to the the Beijing West Railway station where there was another cheap cinema I had not encountered before to see ‘Her Story’, a Chinese feminist comedy, that momentarily assuaged my ruffled political feathers.

I arranged to meet former colleague Stuart on Tuesday to see the China Railway museum, There are two locations for the museum, one is located in the North East in the Wanjing area and actually displays former rolling stock. Initially I had thought it would be fun to ride out to the remote location however the due to the temperature dropping significantly and was lingering around 1 to 2 degrees, I was not sure I could deal with the bleakness of the landscape in the chill air and as the original museum was located at Qianmen and a mere 25 minute cycle I opted for the closer spot. I knew I was going to have to wear something a lot warmer than the clothes I had been used to. Long-johns, vests, gloves were in order. It was so cold when I arrived and Stuart was going to be another 10 to 15 minutes so I went into the closest cafe which happened to be a KFC located in the basement of the gift shop next door to the museum. When Stuart arrived we did a bit of catching up over my coffee and then went to the museum. I had to cast away any snobbery over train spotting and embrace the nerd in me which is never too dormant. It was a fascinating history and I loved seeing the development from its introduction to China in 1876 to the almost faultless network I had navigated throughout the country on many occasions. It was impossible to single out the highlights but i loved the photographs of building railroads through some of the immense mountain ranges. This visit of course came in a week when the announcement that the rail network on the Uk would be re nationalised lifted my spirits.

Despite the cold weather, I felt it was important to get out and get fresh air after my work on the apartment and on Wednesday we manufactured an excuse for me to get out and I took the subway to Hopson one to get a newly introduced black sesame Roll from The Roll’ing. I also spotted a potential Christmas present of a jigsaw puzzle of ancient Chinese paintings.

Thursday was so cold I stayed in doors and finished the painting. Peng’s parents were away on holiday and wanted him to go and air the apartment, water the plants and drop off some items for them that had been delivered and it would have been an ideal day to do this but unfortunately Peng is not allowed to drive his car on a Thursday. Beijing operates a splendid environmental traffic control system for city driving that prevents all cars with number plates that start with a specific group of letters from driving on a corresponding day. This is a rolling 3 month ban and the letters and assigned day change accordingly. Naturally the task would have to wait till the next day.

I had stalled on painting further as we needed new tins of paint. These arrived on Friday and with them complimentary paint rollers. In fact every time we have ordered paint the delivery has come with accessories connected to doing a paint job. I took a moment to consider this customer service. The day though was spent on going to Fengtai to do the indoor gardening and it was paired with a trip to Sam’s Club, a wholesale store, which was relatively close by. It was meagre entertainment but it got me out of the apartment.

It was now the 30th of November, heralding the beginning of advent and the Christmas countdown the next day, It seemed a fitting activity to put up the Christmas tree and get the decorations ready. I had a trip to Taiwan planned for next week and making sure I was packed and ready for the journey was also high on my agenda for the day.

The 1st of December arrived and we were able to open the Fortnum and Mason Advent calendars we had purchased in Hong Kong, this was in conjunction with a scented candles calendar I had bought with me from the UK and an online one gifted by my sister. As it was the day before I departed we consulted a Bite of Beijing and its random page was the restaurant Tonghe Ju, a time honoured establishment, Michelin recommended, with a history stretching from 1872. It was one of the eight renowned and intimate restaurants, denoted by Ju, which also means shared harmony and joy. and was inscribed by the last Emperor’s brother Pujie. This high status meant it was frequented by many historical figures, including the writers Lu Xun and Lao She as well as the painter Qi Baishi. Its Shangdong province cuisine and its signature dish, a desert, Sanbuzhan, (3 non sticky, it does not stick to the plate, utensils, or teeth ) made from egg was delicious. Back at home, we ended the week making a Lego Christmas wreath. The season of joy and goodwill was upon us and the troubled state of mind I started the week with had evaporated into a lesson learned and fresh outlook on historical race issues.