After residing in China for the past twelve years, I still dread the arrival of summer due to the fact that I am having an endless struggle with the smart yet aggravating Chinese mosquitoes.

Regardless of my efforts, I seem to fail in persuading them to leave me alone in order to accomplish the impossible task of having a peaceful night sleep. My struggle with them began as soon as I arrived in China in 2003.

My first night in China was spent playing a game of hide and seek with the Chinese mosquitoes. Despite the fact that I was exhausted after traveling for more than 20 hours on a flight from Montreal to Beijing to Hohhot, my eyes did not catch any sleep.

After getting ready for bed, I hit the sack to rest after suffering from jet lag. However, as soon as I closed the light, the buzzing started and I was surrounded by an aura of little creatures flying on top of my face.

To unravel the mystery, I got up to switch the lights on to identify those annoying creatures. I searched my room in vain. Those smart mosquitoes found invisible places to hide. In an attempt to solve the problem, I kept the bedside lights on. Nonetheless, the problem remained unsolved due to being used to sleep with all lights off.

By early morning, I discovered that my attempts to get few moments of sleep were unsuccessful which prompted me to give up on fighting and allowing them to feast on my full of cholesterol blood as long as they would be generous enough to leave some blood in my veins.

The following day, as I was taking a shower, I noticed that my body was covered with red spots each the size of a lentil. It seemed that those smart yet starving mosquitoes had a party where my blood was the main dish served at their gathering.
To avoid the horrendous experience of the previous night, I bought all anti-mosquitoes chemicals available in the nearby supermarket. However, they seemed to minimize the problem but not to eradicate it.

After several days of fighting with them and attempting to kill them, I noticed that their number seemed to increase. I came to the conclusion that they are too smart for me and I would be fighting a losing battle if I continued with my attempt to exterminate them.

As time went by, I accepted the fact that mosquitoes are here to stay especially during the summer and fall months. If I wish to lead a reasonably happy life, I must come to terms with the idea that I have no other option but to share my blood with those smart yet irritating Chinese mosquitoes.

Author's Bio: 

Sava Hassan is a Canadian Egyptian author/writer/poet/educator. He was fortunate enough to publish three books and a countless number of articles, essays and poems. Few years ago, he was writing an advice column for a Beijing English magazine for a year. He won several writing awards including three from China. Now, he, occasionally, writes articles for China Daily and Global Times, the two major English Newspapers in China