Milton Friedman and beer

Up at 5am as the electricity, and therefore A/C went again. I switched it back on then went to turn on the kids’ A/C and then got moaned at for turning on AC in main bedroom because I woke Tan up. You just can’t win. I wasn’t in the mood to get up just yet so put on a Youtube video of Milton Friedman and although I found him interesting I also found the subject had a slightly soporific effect. I mainly dozed for the next four hours as Youtube auto-played several Friedman videos. I woke up properly when I heard him say he hated the Federal Reserve and wished the system could be replaced by a computer. What a pity he wasn’t around to witness the birth of Bitcoin - I’m sure he would have loved it.

Xixi was also up so the two of us went to register ourselves at the police station. This time they just said to leave our passports as all the details were the same as last year, and they’d call me when it was ready or if there was a problem. We’d been expecting to wait there for up to an hour as per previous years so we took advantage of the time to get provisions from the supermarket before picking up Leilei and going to the underground shopping centre to see if we could find A Xia who moved there three months previously. Boringly we guessed the right entrance (no. 32) and found her shop within a minute, something that could have taken loads more. But A Xia wasn’t there, so as it was getting on for midday we went to the Yumi tang place for lunch, where the woman stopped me in mid-order and finished it for me - she remembered our usual from last year.

As we got back home after sweetcorn soup and fried egg and egg fried rice I received a picture text from Li Kun that appeared to be for some sort of concert for tomorrow...I possibly could have translated it if I’d had a spare hour but that wasn’t happening, so I left it. It was more important to take the kids out to have a drink of watermelon juice and zhen zhu nai cha. And even more important to get a siesta….

A Xia's new shop in the underground mall

I put on Milton Friedman again and dozed from 1.15pm to 3pm. At first I was listening, then two out of every 10 words I wouldn’t hear, this increased gradually until I only recognised a noise in the background. Oh how I wish hypnopaedia worked - I would be on the way to being an economist by now. Whether I knew any more about fractional lending or not, I was certainly refreshed.

Tan told me about a mate who was in debt and shamed by being on a public website. I’d heard about how a number of citizens had been blacklisted, and how they were not allowed to travel by train or plane, and now I knew one. It’s sad in multiple ways. Being in debt itself, but being publicly shamed seems a little old-fashioned though our media does it all the time for different offences. But also from an institutional perspective how did banks make so many “bad” loans? Especially after the 2008 crisis - did they not ensure people had collateral? What will happen if they don’t get the money back? Government bailouts I expect, like in the West, and the banks will get a slight slap on the wrist.

Waterman had invited me out for 9pm. I didn’t really want to eat but met a friend for eight jiaozi for 6 kuai before picking up the bottle of Jim Beam Red Stag I’d bought in duty free for him and waited until he contacted me at 9.02pm to say he was there. I had some memories of being there last year, and certainly remembered the “English” beer with the Union Flag on it that was probably brewed a few miles away. Still, as I’d had a little rest in the afternoon it was more than doable and although I got back around midnight I still didn’t sleep till 3.15.

At the bar with Waterman - a "friendly" between Spurs and Man U

Nice bar food

First full day in Pingguo - meals and getting dian dong che back, and the ladies

Jeepers I woke up at 3am sharp, and couldn’t get back to sleep due to excitement about being home, so I did some unpacking and put some clothes on to wash before putting on some Youtube video about money and falling asleep again at 5.30 until 9, though Leilei was not getting up at that time.

We needed SIM cards and Li Kun had kindly offered to sort us out as these days you need an ID to get one. In fact we needed three as Tan had already sorted hers out. This meant the best part of an hour in a China Mobile shop, including choosing our numbers. I chose one that ended in the year of my birth and then the date of my birth, while choosing the kids’ ones which would be next to each other. Not that it matters these days - almost everyone uses WeChat so numbers need not apply. The good thing is that apparently my number won’t change again so for those that do the old-fashioned thing of calling a number it should be more convenient. I noticed that for each of our new numbers Li Kun had to do a face ID in front of a screen while touching his ID card. It’s really happening, though I guess not too different from e-passports where they scan your face.

Happily we now have two lifts working in out building, but it means less time for taking pics of the view that I rather like...

Li Kun showing his face ID to help us get SIM cards for this year (and hopefully the future) - who's the person in the background with the Bengals teeshirt?

Happy to be online outside of wifi, I went to deliver a few presents from the UK while Leilei stayed inside. Yang Haiwei knew I was in town and video called me to drink tea so of course I said I would. And it genuinely was only tea, which was a good thing. On the way back I stopped at Lu Wen’s to say hello. Although I was only 30 seconds from home the heavens opened and I was “forced” to stay for a few beers with him. I did explain to Leilei and he was fine as he had food and A/C. But it was nice to get back an hour later and grab an hour’s shuteye even if Leilei didn’t.

Good to meet up with Lu Wen again but wasn't expecting a beer so early...at least it was to help a siesta

I woke up at 5pm to a call from Xixi as they were in Hong Kong and about to board their flight to Nanning. They’d originally told me they would be arriving in Pingguo after 10pm but I worked out it would be nearer 8pm as A Heng was picking them up. So I made sure the house was reasonable but most of that had already been done. Just a question of washing some clothes from last year that smelled a bit really. Then I realised Leilei and I only really had a couple of hours of proper freedom left in Pingguo.

So I contacted Chuan Chuan about the dian dong che and she said it was sorted and was at Jiuma’s place (previously Waipo’s - a bit sad). So we walked over and picked it up and were not too surprised to find it had little dian, but it got us back home and our card still had space for the security to sign with the date and give us electricity. This is probably the longest running electricity card in Pingguo, having been going strong for three years now, but will run out after another 10 or so charges and I dread to think how much the next one will be.

Our dian dong che has an official number plate, and not a bad one IMO

I'll have to work out how many km it's done since we've been away...hopefully it has been used...

My friend Chen then pinged me to ask me to go out to eat. Well why not? We had nothing planned so went to the place not far from home, and thankfully Leilei ate very well. He is coming out of his shell a bit more this year and talking to people in Mandarin in a way he’s been very reluctant to in the last few years. But even he was bored after two hours so excused himself and I took him home.

Shortly afterwards I got a call from Er Jie. She invited me to drink alcohol, which I found slightly surprising, until I found out she really wanted to be with Leilei. So I explained the that he was not with me but I ended up needing to pick him up and walk to meet her at some bbq place where she was eating. On the way there we met Ghanian Steve, and promised to meet up soon for a drink. Almost as soon as we met Er Jie, we left with her and what may be her new boyfriend, and got the second san lun che this year to Tian Yang Po’s bbq place where we met Tan and Xixi, and A Heng, gouging themselves on delicious wares.

So much for being tired - we got home and the ladies showered and then annoyingly as three A/Cs were turned on the electricity went. It happened at 1am so I turned it back on, but had to go where the ladies were sleeping to turn on the A/C again, but it went again at nearly 3am too. This time I also turned the A/C back on. But when it went again at 5am I just accepted I would sleep in the beer bedroom and suffer the heat, but still went to turn on the A/C for Tan and Xixi (and Leilei’s room). Did I get any thanks for it? No, I got told off for waking them up! What justice is there when you do your utmost to make others comfortable and get criticised for it? I can imagine the criticism if I’d not bothered...you can’t win sometimes….