Zhang hua meal and Lu zong ye xiao

Bloody last full day again in Pingguo and I felt shit for so many reasons. The clothes shop woman pinged me at 11am to say the footy top was there and I said I'd collect it in the afternoon. I managed to pull myself out of bed late morning and go for a last jiaozi at 12.30, then popped to the clothes shop. The woman said she thought I'd be coming in the afternoon, so I checked my phone and asked her if nearly 10 to one wasn't the afternoon? She seemed genuinely surprised that it indeed was so late so I told her I guessed she hadn't eaten yet. It's almost like "afternoon" means "after lunch" here, especially given that they generally eat so early. She only wanted 50 kuai for the top as the season was over and there would be a new top next season, but for some reason Weixin wasn't letting me pay. She told me the reception wasn't good here and I could send a red envelope when home.

Indeed when I got home I found that mobile data was turned off on my phone. Yesterday I'd needed to put in my UK SIM to receive an authorisation SMS, but recalled how in 2019 I'd left it in as we crossed to mainland China and within a minute had my data allowance used up. So this time I'd remembered to turn off mobile data while switching SIMs but I'd not remembered to turn it back on. For getting on for 24 hours I'd not noticed as I've connected to so many wifi hotspots here I was probably covered most of the time.

I still felt shit but had to force myself to pack what I could at least. Tan had asked me to give the boxes of covid tests to A Xia so I decided to walk to and from her shop in case it made me feel better. I took the scenic route back and met Lu zong for a couple of glasses of tea at his water shop. Then, just past Guanmart, Lin Hong saw me and almost forced a huge cup of tea with stuff in upon me. She was with a Bangxu friend and a dance teacher who most definitely wasn't a local. Most of the chat was in Mandarin but sometimes when the Bangxu friend and Lin Hong chatted together they fell back to Bangxuhua. I asked the dance teacher if she understood and she most definitely didn't as she was from Yunnan. I know how she felt.

Back home I realised my shirt for tomorrow was dreadfully crinkled so asked A Xia if there was an iron in her shop I could use. Of course there was, so for the second time today I was there, and the lady took my shirt and hung it up on the vertical iron. I'm not really sure it's called an iron as she mainly steamed it for 10 minutes or so. I don't think it's the most efficient way to remove creases but it did the job.

"Ironing" my shirt for tomorrow

One person I hadn't seen this month was Zhang Hua, but we'd been in contact and he'd invited me for a bite tonight. I went to the place he'd had his birthday meal back in August and it was more of a family affair with his wife and two kids and a couple of blokes, one of whom was drinking 52% white alcohol. Of course a couple more people turned up during the meal and I sadly realised this would be my last time. Well, second-to-last as Lu zong had pinged me to say he was going to his bar in Jiang Bing Lu and I was invited. Earlier today I'd told him I didn't think I'd be out in the evening and he'd said he wasn't either, unless I told him I was up for it.

Simple meal with Zhang Hua

So at 9pm I made my excuses with Zhuang Hua and we had a little hug goodbye. But I couldn't go to Jiang Bing Lu just yet; it was the last day of the month and there was not enough money in the bank to pay the mortgage. I spent a frustrating half an hour or so at home shifting some stables, and having to receive another SMS to my UK SIM. Of course this time I forgot to switch off mobile data and received an SMS telling me my data was used up before the authorisation SMS was received. But come on? I was at home attached to wifi wasn't I? Why would I be using up mobile data? But finally thanks to Metamask and Moonpay I'd sent some fiat to a UK bank account, so told Lu zong I was on my way.

For once he wasn't sitting the private room, but with a few blokes I didn't know. He had to order beer as all were on white alcohol but eventually many ganbeis were made. He ordered a load of bbq and food was thrust into my hands. Ok, this time was definitely the last meal in China this year. It was quite fun, but I had to make my excuses around 11.30pm as I had stuff to pack and clothes to wash. So much for being in bed by midnight.

Final meal at Lu zong's bar in Jiang Bing Lu

I put the clothes on at 1am then faffed about trying to work out whether I should cancel the hotel in Shekou and find one nearer the train station. Or stay at the airport and get a ferry from there but it would be a really early one. Trying to book a ticket from Shekou didn't work either as you had to put in your airline but they didn't have China Southern. I know it's convenient to be able to check in your luggage if your airline has an agreement, but if it doesn't you can still manually take your luggage and check it in at the airport. So why is airline mandatory on the form? I guess I could have chosen a different airline but feared that could go horribly wrong. Hopefully I'll be able to do it from the port.

Had a chat with Mat after putting out the clothes to dry at 1.45am. Not that I'll be able to take them back with me. Tan's clothes and the mushrooms mean I've been able to fit some football tops and a couple of pairs of socks along with the noodle bowl I got because it came free with a pack of four pao mian. Other than that I could just about fit my supplements and the two packs of tea Ma Laoban gave me. The other clothes I have are for the trip and are in the hand luggage. So I was pretty much ready by 3am and put on the alarm for 8am. That should be well enough time to do any last minute stuff.