Big music meal with Nong and Huang Lei and Li Kun and many other friends

A couple of days ago my friend Nong had invited me to go to a "beat" meal, and even sent me a personalised invitation (well it was digital so not that special), and I knew it would be this evening. So I was pissed off to wake up early feeling pretty shite. I resolved that I would make it though so late morning I walked to the yumi tang place again to have a very early lunch. The walk did me good, though it's still bitterly cold here. I finished my meal with a bit of jing jiu which I've been told multiple times contains medicinal elements. But it also contains alcohol and I knew if I was going to be up for tonight I'd need a hefty siesta.

Personalised invitation to the music meal

So back home I got ready to sleep before realising I'd forgotten to get bin bags. Bin bags. What a trivial thing to have to get but here it's the chance of a conversation and indeed on the second shop I hit I showed the bloke the last bag I had and asked if he had any the same size and of course he danced to the back of the shop to return with exactly what I wanted for 12 kuai. Back home after a tad more jing jiu I did indeed manage to get some kip after confirming with Huang Lei that Xiao Nong had invited me...he kindly said that if I didn't have an invitation that he'd invite me.

The pathetic fun of buying bin bags

Up at a refreshing 5pm I grabbed a shower and at 5.50pm Nong sent me the location and I turned up around 6.15pm to an outside space with about 12 tables full of food and people and of course a stage at the back (or front depending on how you look at it). Oh dear...that stage meant they would want me on it later....

Well it was another cracking meal and I saw Huang Lei and Li Kun turn up. I'm slightly surprised Li Kun hadn't already invited me or at least told me about it. But he wasn't surprised to see me anyway. Looking around I saw faces I knew on nearly every table. I probably knew about 15% of those in attendance and it really made a big difference from those other anonymous meals I've attended. The 1513 beer was poured aplenty as was the bai jiu, and before long I was table-hopping as you do.

I guess because I'm not feeling too well I got a bit light-headed on the 2.5% brew, but when I was asked to get on stage I was sober enough to politely refuse. But then I thought about who pays for these meals. There must have been over 100 people, like a small wedding, and I was there enjoying myself at someone's expense. So after the live music started (another aspect of the entertainment), and after a few more ganbeis I refused to refuse when asked again.

Where we ate and drank and sang

Blimey I've picked up a guitar in front of people I don't know before, but it's always been a limited number of people and generally in a private room. Now I was outside with 100+ onlookers of whom I knew maybe 20. But sod it, I did The Boxer and Sound of Silence from memory, although I think I repeated one of the verses as my phone turned off its screen part way through the first one. I guess no-one noticed anyway. I think that's all I did but I'm not totally sure. I must have been rather tipsy to have got up in front of so many people in the first place but I guess I could see it as practice for the Bangxu "festival" in a couple of weeks.

I didn't spend too much more time socialising after that if my memory serves me correctly, and once home at getting on for 1am did the robotic thing of pouring myself a beer and not touching it.