Guitar case and camping discount

Tan and the kids were taking the train to Li Jiang at 10.30 from Pingguo, which meant I was up at 8.30 to see them off, as apparently they need to be at the station an hour beforehand. From my personal experience, at least in Pingguo, you can turn up 20 minutes before your train and do security in 2 minutes but I was not in a mood to argue. I was a bit sad not to be going with them but also aware I’d need to be doing some work and maybe catching up on some socialising.

Sadly I am still keeping track of how many kms I am getting per charge

I skipped breakfast thinking I’d do lunch at Luwen’s as I was by myself, but he was closed for some reason and I realised I’d have to do something new. I found the next closest place and realised they didn’t have what I wanted (dumplings) but felt too embarrassed, as literally no-one else would here, to leave and find somewhere else. So I ordered something, and it wasn’t that bad but rather noodly, and the women at the other table spoke a little English to me. I wish I could change this. It’s not that I don’t like it (I don’t, but that’s my problem), it’s just it is almost without exception that the females less doted with physical beauty speak foreign languages better. And of course it’s not just here, but everywhere. I like to think of myself as being ok (for a Brit) at other languages, but I’d hate to think that meant I was worse looking than I am, but I guess the stats say otherwise.

Work took up the rest of the afternoon and I had no excuse as I was by myself. Yesterday I should have gone to meet Zhang Hua for the first time this year but work and stuff had got in the way. He had joked that he would be in the same place today and I didn’t think he would be but pinged him anyway. He said indeed he was going to the same place at 6pm, so I managed a 10 minute sleep and forced myself to get up to go soon after 6.

I’m really glad I did, and he was happy I came too. There were some football mates of his that came and after 20 minutes we had a full table comprising all blokes plus one woman as is often the case. They didn’t all know each other and the bloke to my left introduced himself as “Peng Dehuai de Peng”, meaning he had the same family name as a famous army general from the past. But that was how I was used to introducing myself. I thought for a moment, and wondered if he was actually introducing me, but by the way he was gan bei’ing with them he clearly wasn’t. So I asked him to repeat his surname, and when I was sure it was him I told him I was also “Peng Dehuai de Peng” and the whole place burst into laughter and applause. This was only the second Peng I’d met in the mainland, and the last was 10 years ago or so. Obviously this called for some sort of celebration, and although I was taking it really slowly on the beer as I had to get back to work, a few more gan bei’s were had to celebrate our mutual surname. I’m trying to think of what an equivalent surname would be in the UK. Something heard of, but definitely not common...like Burley maybe?

Cool meal with Zhang Hua (bottom left in blue) and mates

Anyway I did go pretty easy on the beer but soon after I got home Li Kun called me to say he had my guitar cover and that we were to go to his mate’s camping shop to buy discounted clothes. At least that’s what I understood. Even after 16 years I still find I misunderstand things more than I would like, but as he’d gone to the effort of getting the case I couldn’t not go, despite not having really done enough work. He turned up a few minutes later and I brought my new guitar down to make sure it fitted. It did - snug as a bug. Then I was whisked off, guitar in back of car, to his mate’s camping shop. I performed an in-memory fist pump as I realised I had understood our earlier conversation 100%. Indeed he was having a sale, if indeed there was absolutely no advertising about this fact.

I was a bit worried I’d be “forced” to buy stuff I didn’t want but in fact I found some really good stuff: a tee-shirt that was XXL yet still only just big enough, a pair of perfect zip-off trousers that were so light you barely knew you were wearing them (I’m so gutted I spent 35 quid on a heavy pair from Amazon last month), a pair of the lightest trainers imaginable, and a foldable cap I’d wanted since I saw Li Kun’s last week. All for about 200 kuai, which was a good 70% off the marked prices that I wouldn’t have paid anyway. All in all a good 20 minutes’ buying experience. Li Kun bought much more, and kept saying the prices were “loose change”, which is a very relative concept.

Bargain hunting at the camping shop

Li Kun's charming daughters

Eventually I got back home at 9ish to continue work, until I decided enough was enough; last year I was travelling around the globe and didn’t get much chance to chill, so I took advantage of my base now being Paris instead of London and the extra hour closer and finished at 10pm. I nipped out to get some bbq as a little treat but bumped into two blokes just outside our block. They invited me to eat with them and although my reaction was not to I thought “why not?” and as soon as I sat down one of them went to the fridge and brought out four new “Shuang Pi” Li Quan beer bottles. This was a new one for me and although I was told they were new and expensive I couldn’t tell the difference and they were still 2.8%, so ok for me.

I also found a bit of time to practise Bleecker Street, which has recently become a bit of a favourite of mine

It was very enjoyable to sit with them for 40 minutes or so, partly because of the randomness of it, or rather the unexpectedness. I insisted on actually buying six beers from them just to allow them something back from what they’d given me, and at least they allowed me to pay for them. Back home a minute later I thought I was knackered but still didn’t sleep till 4am...is jetlag still an excuse?