Another very social day

Finally I got a half decent sleep and woke up at 11.20, which actually was only about 6 hours sleep but beats yesterday. I had messages to meet people I'd met in the last couple of days and thought I'd just ignore them. But I had a change of heart when I thought that it might mean something to them to have me around. So I pinged the bloke from last week after he sent me a weizhi and told him I'd be around soon. Well "soon" meant I'd have a couple of beers as it was gone lunchtime and somehow this justified it.

I was too scared to charge up the dian dong che last night as the last time I did it the alarm must have gone off again as someone had removed the charger. This is so embarrassing. So I put it on to charge about 1pm and walked the 15 minutes to this bloke's shop. I'd forgotten who he was but remembered the name, and he was sitting in a shop that sold front doors and the modern locks that have face/finger recognition. Of course he was drinking tea with a couple of other blokes and we broke into conversations on various topics which I coped with with various levels of success. I'm aware you have to go with the flow and not try to catch every single word. But sometimes I find there is no flow to go with, so I am starting to create my own flow in these cases, based on what I've understood so far. It sometimes works quite successfully but on some rare occasions I get odd looks as I've completely changed the topic.

Tea and nuts with a mate from last night and two other blokes

I'd actually consider one if we didn't already have a porch

After and hour or so I told them quite honestly someone else had requested my company, and indeed I had a missed call from him, so I said I'd be there shortly. It was another 20 minutes, going back the way I came to the guangchang and passed Chairman Mao hill. Like most of my walks here it was quite an overload of the sense. But this time noticeably less so. I guess the more time I stay here the less it will feel foreign. In a way that would not be a good thing as I like the buzz. But the diminution of the buzziness would be a fair price to pay to be here for a much longer time.

I thought it was one of the three blokes I'd met last summer after a swim and indeed after a video call one of them came down in slippers. He seemed really happy that I'd made the effort to go and see him and we first went to the local shop to get some fags and beer. Well, it was 3pm now so why not?

We went up to the 28th and top floor where his two mates were already drinking. Well one was drinking beer and the other orange juice as he had to work later. The beer drinker burst into applause and laughter. So we had a few drinks and I lost badly at cai ma until nearly an hour later when I got a message from the woman who was drinking red wine with Haiwei and the bosses the other day. She asked me to come to her shop to drink tea. As it wasn't a bloke asking me I reckoned it really did mean tea, so I had an excuse to move on after losing to much cai ma. Of course I couldn't leave immediately so took about 20 minutes before it finally seemed acceptable. I told them I'd have more time over the next few weeks which is probably true.

The three blokes I met after swimming last summer

Nice view of the guangchang from the 28th floor

It was only a 10 minute walk to the alcohol shop and somehow I managed to find the back of it rather than the front, but a woman confirmed it was the right place and I think I somewhat surprised the two managers when I entered from the inside. Now I'm sort of starting to understand what they do here. The sell expensive booze but with a personal service, e.g. drinking tea with customers in the shop, and as I saw the other day - drinking the said alcohol with customers at their place. So it's a little more than simply being a token pretty face. The other woman there asked permission to take photos with me and I'm now used to saying ok but only to share in friend groups.

Presently a large bloke turned up and presented some tea, as if it was some sort of present. One of the ladies started to open it and perform the ceremony that is tea drinking, but she was having a little trouble so the bloke took over in the main seat. I could tell right away from his voice he was no local and indeed he was from Shandong. Over the next two hours or so we just chatted as you do and various people left and turned up as you do. I think the woman who invited me is called Juan, and she had to leave once or twice to deliver some alcohol. I should know the Shandong bloke's name but instead I learnt that he was the "general agent of North Korean coins in the southwestern region" (yeah I had to use an online translation to confirm that). He then sent me 20+ photos of North Korean notes and what looked like commemorative coins. I asked genuinely if there was really a market for these but it turns out there is. He even suggested I could sell some in Europe. I guess I'll do a little research but I'm rather doubtful.

At getting on for 7pm he declared that we were going to eat. Well that was nice of him. I was pretty tired after those afternoon beers, although the tea was definitely caffeinated. But I was also mentally tired after talking with him for so long. Normally I'd find someone like him relatively easy to understand, but the topics of conversation were pretty complex at times and I didn't want to puncture it by the constant looking up of new terms I wouldn't like remember. It transpired he didn't live in Pingguo but was staying a few days in the International Hotel by the guangchang, while his wife and kids lived near Baise. So I got in his BMW and we parked in the hotel carpark, where he presented me with a box of Cheng Jing tea before we walked to the eating places up by the Guangbai Jia supermarket. We chose the one that was the most full and he ordered a huge huoguo as Juan turned up a few minutes later.

But no beer. Oh no, he had bought an expensive bottle of 53% baijiu and by golly I was going to join in. He even said that himself. I told him I could normally manage one thimbleful but he poured me a mini jug of the vile stuff and made me fill my tiny glass after a horrible first ganbei. I thought the 2nd one may be easier but it was much worse and I had my head in my hands for a while until Juan gave me a glass of tea to ease my suffering. Well I was certainly suffering for my meal, which was pretty good except for all the intestines. Finally, by the 4th or 5th glass it stopped burning so hard, but Juan had a phone call and had to leave us to deliver more alcohol, leaving a full glass. So it was agreed I'd finish her glass and he'd finish her jug. Fair enough. I couldn't eat any more but he casually managed to down the rest of the huoguo as we both agreed it was best not to waste anything.

Another big meal

We parted some time after 10pm and I got home actually feeling very sober. Nong had contacted me in a cryptic way which meant I wasn't sure if she wanted to go for a bite or not. But then A Wu pinged me to go for bbq outside our place, which was a much clearer means of saying what to do. So I popped out to see him and his family and a couple of other couples with their kids. One of the ladies was an English teacher but was too embarrassed to use it with me. I contacted Nong again and this time picked her up from near Li Kun's place and we got back to play mo pai and cai ma as you do. I'd bumped into Boss Zhou but totally forgot to go back to him. Then A Wu was on the phone to his Boss Zhou telling us to come over and eat with them. But Nong didn't feel it was appropriate so I ended up taking her to the fast food place we went to the other day and sharing some crap, but to be fair she ordered stuff to takeaway for her niece who was staying over.

Bbq with A Wu and friends/family...being only the penultimate meal of the night

I got back and realised it was 2.30am already. Shit, I'd missed both Boss Zhou's, and A Wu didn't respond to my message so was probably asleep already. So that was the end of the night and for once I was in bed by 3am.