FWC kung fu competition, Clapham

Last weekend was a busy one for me. Kung fu all the way, we had our interclub competition on Saturday, and on Sunday (first time I remember it not being also a Saturday) was the Chinese New Year dinner at Joy King Lau.

FWC Christmas Dinner at Joy King Lau

Once again, at the weekend, my kung fu club, Fujian White Crane, took over the whole of Joy King Lau restaurant in Chinatown for our annual Christmas meal. This is not turkey with all the trimmings, you understand. Oh, no. This is full-on Chinese and you can see the set menu below.

Xin nian kuai le! (Or ‘Gung hei fat choi!’ in Cantonese.)

This is the Chinese Year of the Tiger. Also, it’s my year, so I’m going to make it count. My kung fu will get better, my writing will take more of a precedence again and I’ll generally be more motivated.

Respect, humility and bridge-building

I have just been on the phone with one of the most amazing women on the planet.  Xinran, author of several books including  The Good Women of China – which truly changed my life – and China Witness, has agreed to meet me (not for the first time) to talk about the book I’m in the process of editing based equally between London and Beijing.