Quarantine in Yiwu (义乌) 【Zhejiang province 浙江省】

       I have plenty of time to write these days! A virus appeared on the scene about a month and a half ago and people were not sure how serious it was.When I started my travels for the Spring holiday festival , it did not appear too serious so everyone just went about their business as per usual. But gradually word filtered out about of the seriousness of the situation and people started to buy masks to protect themselves from this ugly fiend!
       Anyway , I spent a week in Chengdu followed by another one in Leishan and then back to Chengdu before heading back to the east coast. On my return to Yiwu , I took a plane to Shanghai , then a metro and finally another high speed train back to Yiwu.
      Many years ago , I worked in a Fab plant in Intel and I had to wear masks but I was allowed out of the clean room every 4 hours to breathe.Not so much luck in this situation!  Unfortunately , I had to wear masks all the way from Chengdu to Yiwu so this is was a 'trying' occasion!
       So, I am now back in my dorm room at the school that I work at. Government rules stipulate that  have to quarantine for 14 days before I can head out to the big bad world again ,which (SOMETIMES) is a blessing as the weather seems to have taken a turn for the worse over here. So , I have to spray down the place with alcohol to keep the pesky virus at bay.

   All surfaces need to washed down with this Italian beauty or else the virus might rear its head


        I also have to take note of my temperature twice a day (using an underarm thermometer.) It took me AGES to be able to see the mercury in the thermometer but FINALLY I can read it. I never knew that using an underarm thermometer reading might underestimate ones temperature by up to 1 degree! Some things you do learn through experience!

This is an old school underarm thermometer. Please use with your glasses (ideally). Otherwise , the mercury might be a tad difficult to spot.

Aha , I see the light (or in this case the mercury line)

         When I got back to my dorm (which is inside the school grounds )  , the security guard put a couple of signs indicating that I am quarantined on the door. He also put a nice good fortune sign there (which is generously sponsored by a local bank. (Note to self:  Banks truly do know their customers.))

The red picture (福) means good fortune or luck.

Here's hoping.

So what did I have to eat in this place?
 Well, initially I had some leftover biscuits with peanut butter (i.e: Not a big tradition here in China) but I needed to figure out how to order stuff from outside the building.

The ALWAYS reliable 早餐饼干 (breakfast biscuits).

Even in an emergency , they are a treat with peanut butter.

One of the Chinese teachers mentioned eleme (饿了么) (a Chinese food app that I could order from) so I have tried a few of the delicacies to be found nearby.

Here is one of the dishes that I bought that in NO WAY describes the fact that I am missing Irish food. *cough*

红烧土豆片 and 酸辣白菜..... Otherwise known as  spud slices (braised in soy sauce) and sour and spicy cabaist...I mean cabbage

           It can be quite interesting just browsing through the app. just to see the various things that can be bought online. I wonder how many people order the ducks head?

Ducks head , anyone? ......anyone?

Pig's blood and tofu 

(To be honest , that does look a bit tasty.)

           but the good thing about the app is the fact that it tells you where the motorcyclist is located in real time!

The map with the guy on the bike is quite handy!

           Anyway , the fun in using the app in the current climate lies in the fact that I have to tell the motorcyclist (when he has reached the school) to hand over the food to the guard and then tell him  to tell the guard to deliver the food to my dorm room. The motorcyclists always end up in a state of confusion about what to do next!
I need to brush up on the Chinese language!
           So the guard brings it to my door and leaves it on the chair which is conveniently placed outside the door (such that no bugs can crawl into the grub). It feels a bit like a cuisine covert operation!

I like to call it..... "The magical food chair"

Anyway , that's where I am at the moment. I have to stay indoors for 14 days so the boredom might set in. To combat this  , I have cleared the length of the apartment of clutter and I can walk (pedestrian free) from one end of the apartment to the other to my hearts content. Failing this excitement , I might post a few more posts of the beauty of China in the coming weeks.
Now, how do I turn on an electric stove.....hmmmm

There is an on button somewhere. but it doesn't work.....d'argh!

Wait.... what's this plug for?

d'oh!