I have been in China several times, the first time in 1983, to Hong Kong, and then Shenzen when it still was a big sleepy town. Then at the end of the nineties to Shanghai, Nanjing, Suzhou, Hangzhou, Yangzhou. This time, I visited Beijing and the ancient capital cities of Kaifeng, Luoyang and Xi'an in September before spending October in Thailand and Lao. Now I am in Hanoi for some days or weeks, I don't know yet, as the Tonkin weather in this part of the year is paradise, and I am in no rush to leave. I take advantage of this pause to put down notes taken in China, Thailand and Laos in September and October. My next destinations are Kunming, Dali, Chengdu and back to Beijing by the end of November.
But the purpose of this tour around East-Asia, as hygiene and safety conditions in India and Nepal begin to worry me, is not only to find alternative landing pads for my yearly winter migration but also to evaluate where this part of the world stands with regard to Islam and Muslims, as well as whereto it is trending. Of special interest to me, as news and data from China are scarcer on this subject, is to get a feel of how the Chinese interact with their Muslim minorities, collect opinions of some resident expats, and of the possible impact of intensifying economic relations between China, oil producing middle-eastern countries ,AfPak and Africa on Chinese "public opinion".
Hereafter I will post travel diary entries that, as I had trouble connecting to Blogger in China, I have already sent by mail to a selection of correspondents. Those entries are in French.
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