For those of you who don’t live here in Xining, this post will likely be of no interest. 

For those of you who do live in Xining, but who don’t live in my apartment complex (what I call the Haiguan Duimian Xiao Qu) this post will probably be of little interest. 

Even for those fortunate souls who do live here in the Haiguan district, you may find this information a little (how shall we say) random.  But that’s typical of me so you should be used to it by now…

Here’s the exciting news:

• Our complex has basically shut down the roads leading beyond our apartment building (#2) to car/truck traffic.  They’ve done this by putting up two small posts (connected by a long chain) in the center road.  (That’s old news…but here’s the recent stuff).  They’ve also blocked the back road which leads behind and past building two and all the way to the back of the complex.  They did this (creatively) by cementing two large rocks in the middle of the thoroughfare.  Anna will be so happy when she sees these roundish sort of rocks decorating our road.
• They have now completed the road by the Haiguan market which leads from Ba Yi Lu all the way to the Kunlun expressway.  So technically, you can now take the expressway all the way down to where the market across from our apartment complex is.  I’m not sure how many drivers will utilize this shortcut because there are still vendors who have set up shop in the middle of this newly completed street…not that that will stop a taxi driver (as we all know.)
• The Bank of China now has turned on its "atm functionality"!  I used my Bank of America Visa check card and was actually able to withdraw (up to) 2500 RMB.  Maybe not a big deal to you, but convenient for me; especially when my "special American Express tellers" are away on a holiday or something.
• Xining has been having quite a few thunderstorms lately.  It’s very, very weird.  I sometimes feel as if I have entered the Twilight Zone.
• People in Xining don’t sweat.  Maybe this isn’t ground-breaking journalism, but today my suspicion was confirmed.  It was a scorcher today, probably 85 degrees or more…and you wouldn’t believe the number of people I saw around town wearing black suits, sport coats, and EVEN long trenchcoats.  Everyone was looking at me like I was some kind of freak in my (longer) cargo shorts.  (I think it was the hairy legs that was throwing them off, so I’ll give them some credit.)  The only conclusion I can come up with for this phenomenon is that people here in Xining do not feel the heat and therefore do not sweat.  I didn’t see much sweating.  If they are going to wear long sleaves/pants, my question is why in the world do they choose to wear black?
• This isn’t exactly NEWS, but I found a store today that was advertising the fact that it was MONOPOLISTIC.  Truth in advertising; gotta love it.  Maybe Microsoft should just take this marketing approach from the outset?
• Another Xining miracle: the Haiguan Duimian Apartment complex changed the nets on their new basketball hoops!  I couldn’t believe my eyes when I saw that today.  The original nets were torn up after only about a month of use.  I thought to myself at that time, "Oh well, one and done.  I’ll probaly have to buy replacement nets myself since I’m the one who uses the courts the most…"  And, lo and behold, there are already new nets installed.  So, for the next few weeks, you’ll know where you can find me…
• If you’re curious, the picture of Sarah above was taken at the Wu Tai Gongyuanr in Xining.  It’s a pretty interesting place to visit for a few kuai.  Not much to see, but I like the big statues.