Somehow got up at 10.45am after six hours’ sleep. The kids were up too. It wasn’t raining for a change so soon after breakfast I took them out for lunch at the jiao zi place. Then we drove to yi xiao to get more fake Lego before I dropped them off at A Xia’s shop as Tan had requested. I got home but 45 minutes later got a call to pick them up as Tan was going to her dance class. When I asked yesterday when her dance class was she said Monday and Tuesday 8pm-9.30pm. What she didn’t mention was that on Wednesday and Thursday she had classes from 3pm-4.30pm…. I won’t even try to get an explanation…. As I’d left the dian dong che charging I prepared to walk down by spraying some suntan lotion on myself for almost the first time in Pingguo, thinking the sun would make up for its lack of effort yesterday. However, after a couple of minutes the clouds took over again and I realised it was a bit of a waste.
Xixi in the foreground and Leilei in the background enjoying some jiao zi for lunch
It took a bit of an argument but I persuaded the kids not to take a san lun che for the three minute journey home, but walk instead. It nearly didn’t work out as it started to rain again, but we were near a supermarket and I needed a toothbrush so we went in and came out with a bit more than just a toothbrush; one thing I’ve still not worked out is the difference between shampoo, conditioner, washing liquid, and fabric conditioner, and I’m ashamed to admit I go by the brands that I recognise. So this time it was Dove shampoo (unless they do other stuff).
I’d promised the kids lasers as one does and re-justified not taking the san lun che by stopping off at the shenme dou you shop by our house where they were duly bought, along with a swimming costume for Xixi. I was very tempted to get a Chinese globe for 99 kuai but realised it wouldn’t fit in my suitcase.
Rain was promised for the afternoon and you could see it coming. That meant no going out for a while, so Tan ordered some takeaway duck which arrived 20 mins later and everyone ate decent portions. It’s the first time in years we’ve actually sat as four people around the dining table and actually dined.
After dinner Tan took the kids to see Waipo and I stayed at home as I remembered Li Kun said we were going to the guitar bar again at 8pm, but I wondered if that was really true. 8pm came around and he hadn’t contacted me so I thought I was let off the hook and grabbed a shower after a miserly 20 press-ups. But at 8.20 he messaged me to say he was coming to pick me up so that was that. I had a little practice of The Boxer as I had an inkling I might be asked to play later.
Indeed it was the same bar as late last night, and Li Kun’s wife and daughter and a friend were there. They offered me the stage and I told them to bugger off and “maybe later” and did a gan bei, realising that 2.8% was not going to offer much Dutch courage in half an hour or so. Li Kun’s mate then got up and tuned the guitar on the stage, before performing a pretty rendition of some Chinese ballad. I was offered the stage again but just pointed to my beer glass. So Li Kun got up and drummed his way through four songs very well. But I still hadn’t drummed up enough courage, so the original bloke got back up and did another Chinese ballad.
Li Kun's wife and charming daughter, Ava (as I named her a few years ago)
Ok, why should I need to have a bellyful of beer for knocking out a couple of tunes to an audience of no more than 15, half of whom were playing cai ma in the back table? I got up and grabbed the guitar gently. I noticed that without the capo it was slightly out of tune so spent a few seconds getting it up to scratch. I hadn’t got a plan, only I wanted to finish with Sound of Silence, as Paul Simon had done just the other week in his farewell concert in Hyde Park I had the great pleasure of attending. So I started with The Boxer...it’s quite well liked internationally I think due to the Lie la lie chorus.
Then I realised I was really getting into it...despite a bit of a shaky left knee, I was starting to enjoy being the focal point for most in the room and having four people filming me at the same time. I banged out my favourite Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard, followed by Mrs Robinson, before, a bit emotionally, finishing with Sound of Silence, and got a nice round of applause. The beer tasted much better afterwards than beforehand.
I was home at a relatively early 1am and it didn’t take long to get to sleep after that.
Somehow I awoke at 12.40, meaning I must have had 10 hours sleep and therefore that it was jetlag and nothing else that caused it. Man it rained stair rods all day, unlike it used to back in the day. I mean it used to piss down for 15 minutes and that was it. But maybe I’m remembering when we used to be here after summer.
Sadly, and it was really sad, I had to do my expenses. Nearly £6k of them that I absolutely needed to after the last trip to Toronto and the recent booking for a few days’ time. It bloody took me all day as there is a new system. It’s supposed to be “intelligent” as you take a picture of the receipt with your phone and it works out what it was you were paying for. Somehow it took 2018 for 2008 and underestimated one receipt by shedloads, and I realised what a load of bollocks having separate currencies per country is. Luckily I noticed this one and updated it by 10 years and saw how much more the Canadian dollar was now worth against the UK pound. And that’s another thing...for an “intelligent” application, how come after scanning umpteen CAD receipts it still “intelligently” thinks you're scanning USD? The whole palaver took until evening meal time….
The kids didn’t fancy going with me to get food and I didn’t blame them as it was still peeing down, so I took the umbrella and walked to the jiaozi place. Tan could have ordered some takeaway to be delivered for 70 kuai but there is always far too much and it gets chucked away and costs four times what we want. So I got the usual three portions of jiao zi for 15 kuai and the kids happily ate them up for what was around £1.70 all in.
While I was getting the jiao zi I met the water man next door, who said we should meet up at 9pm as you do. By 7.30pm I’d done what expenses I could be bothered to do and texted him to say I’d be up for it (partly as due to the rain I couldn’t really go much further). He said cool, we could meet up when I was ready at 9pm. So for a rare occasion I did a personal “7”, which consisted of 20 pressups, 1 min plank, 10 pressups, 20 squats, 10 pressups, 30 second plank, 10 pressups, then finally 20 squats. It actually takes it out of you in this climate and I was glad I finished it. That was the only reason I was 20 mins late. That and maybe pouring a quick drink before the last set of squats.
I was really glad to see the water man as some of his mates were there too who I recognised from last year. I felt a bit bad not bringing something but it wasn’t noticed. They were more interested in catching up with me. We don’t even speak that much about the difference between our cultures...it’s more men’s bollocksy chat that sometimes after a day’s work you just need.
The water man on the left, and four other mates I should really know the names of (as I should the water man)
I tried to get them all to say "Hello Andrew" so I could send him the video but it turned into Chinese Whispers....well Chinese Shouting anyway
As I was ready to go, Li Kun contacted me to go to a bar to play guitar. Well, what could I do? Well I could certainly say I wasn’t going to play the guitar, but after making my excuses with the water man and friends I rode over there anyway. Most of the people there were a little the worse for wear, but it was great fun to catch up with Li Kun and play some cai ma. The woman who seemed to run the place was in good spirits and despite the “No Smoking” signs in her establishment flagrantly ignored them, as did almost literally everyone else who was male at least. She also played cai ma with me, which I was a little uncomfortable with, as the sexist inside me doesn’t like beating women. Unbeknownst to me my sexist had to hide behind a gallstone as despite her apparent inebriatedness, she metaphorically swept the floor with me, and had I spent a few more rounds it might not have been metaphorically.
Being the sensible soul I sometimes can be, I realised when enough was enough, and performed another round of gan beis, which was effectively my leaving do for tonight. Lord knows I’m still jetlagged but when I got home after 3am it didn’t take much for me to realise that my promises of coming tomorrow to play the guitar were not going to get much practise before sleep set in. Shit. Did I really promise I’d come back tomorrow to perform??
Thanks to my relatively early night I woke at 6.30am, then 7.40am, and then properly at 11.30am. Nice. I ate a portion of local jiao zi for lunch, and hoped the boss of the place might be a little bit more excited to see me. But thinking more about it why would she? I represent maybe 10% of a year of her clientele, even including the kids. I suppose I’m sort of hoping my skin colour means something but of course it doesn’t; I get charged the same as any other person.
Anyway, as it was a Monday I had to go and do the yearly ritual of registering myself and the kids. You would have thought after years of doing this it would be down to a fine thing. But of course it wasn’t. I even brought last year’s papers with me to expedite the process to no avail. The “big mama” policewoman of the last couple of years wasn’t here this year, so it was left to a couple of younger ladies. Like previous years I was invited behind the desks where the common people don’t generally go, and was offered grapes as per before. But this time they pointed to a camera in the corner of the room trained on some of the desks and suggested I moved closer to the wall to be out of its view. I happily agreed but wondered what video they’d already taken of me. It took an hour, but eventually they registered us, and the girl confirmed she had my Wechat account from last year so she would get in contact with me in case of any problem (very official I’m sure, but she showed my out messages from last year).
Yang Haiwei rang me again to invite me out to eat with his family. He is really keen to get his 17 year old son talking better and to be fair over the last couple of years he’s really come on, hopefully thanks in some small part to me. So we had a great meal in an unceremonious place, which I always prefer. Haiwei and I ended up cai ma’ing, and then I did so with some others from another table, which is not unheard of.
I had to complain at one stage that my glass was much bigger than others' - only when I did this did they accept it
Tan had a dance class from 8-9.30pm, so I had to pick up the kids at 7.30, but they didn’t really want to come with me so I started to take them home, but on the way stopped off at Boss Huang’s Seafood place, as I’d not yet seen him. He was incredibly happy to see me, and at once laid out plates etc. For once the kids actually ate something, which made me happy, while they also wolfed down canned tea. By now Haiwei was calling me asking where I was, so I took the kids home as Tan had finished her dance class. I got back to Haiwei and he and others were in high spirits and I gan bei’d more than I might have done on a normal school night. Eventually I left but for some reason at 1amish whatever it was I went home via Boss Huang’s again and stopped off for a couple more gan bei’s. Bloody hell, I want to make the most of my short time away from work and this was doing it. I got home 2ish shattered and didn’t wait long for sleep to engulf me.
Jeez I just couldn’t sleep. Maybe it was the hard bed, but I didn’t even manage a couple of hours. At least I’m not working and I’m somewhere where there is plenty of stuff to do. I got out of bed at 7am to get some breakfast, so went across the road to Luwen’s place for beef soup. It was a filling and fitting breakfast, after which I decided to sit outside and he came to join me to chat. I told him about the lack of sleep and he seriously suggested a beer. I laughed it off but he went inside and came back with two cans of Snowflake beer. I know he gets up at 4am generally but it must have been the morning even for him. I thought “when in Rome…” knowing that probably no-one in Rome or Pingguo was having a beer at 7.30am, but joined him for a surprisingly refreshing glass or two. In fact he wouldn’t let me leave till we’d finished both cans, but at 2.5% I wasn’t worried.
This view literally grows on me (while waiting for the lift)
Luwen and I literally having a beer at 7.30am
I then popped in to the old people’s leisure centre to get a bit of practice, where I caught up with my friend Yangwen, and ended up staying till 10am by which time I was well and truly knackered. But after a shower I went and got the kids some breakfast. I wasn’t hungry for lunch and managed a patchy siesta from 1-5.30pm before going to see Waipo. For someone in her condition she seemed quite sprightly, even if she couldn’t get up by herself.
Waipo weak but with it and so happy to see grandkids
Afterwards Leilei went to get a haircut - I wonder where he gets his looks from
Yang Haiwei then invited me to go to bbq for a late evening meal and I couldn’t say no, as by now I was starving, so I left the kids with Tan and went for a slap up meal. Then A Wu called and I thought I should see him so Haiwei gave me a lift there around midnight. He was at some wine shop in the reception of a large new hotel with three other people all drinking brandy, except for A Wu who was on red wine. I fancied neither but they said there was nothing else. Then one of them grabbed some weak beer from the fridge and we chatted for a while. But only half an hour or so as I was flagging by now and they could see it, so A Wu gave me a lift back where I grabbed a relatively early night.
The new version of Li Quan beer this year - I'm happy to say it's really nice, and 2.8%
The new route to Chengdu was fine, despite, or because, I was behind the kids for the journey. Things went suspiciously well despite having to pick up luggage and re-check-in. I mentioned to the bloke we had two bottles of duty-free in our hand luggage and he said that was fine. Until we went to security. I mentioned to the lady that one of our bags had duty-free booze in it and she said not to take it out. Then after it was scanned they told me there were bottles in it (duh) but also that we’d have to check it in. I told them that it was sealed and that we never have to do this but they said the rules have changed. Well at least it felt like we were back in China. As everything else had already gone past security I decided to leave the kids on their phones with the rest of the carry-ons beyond security. Very annoyingly the free airport wifi didn’t work as you needed to receive an SMS with a code but none of us got a code. So I said I may be some time and went back downstairs to check in the carry-on bag that contained the bottles wondering what I’d have checked in had I not had a bag capable of carrying them. In fact that could have been a likely scenario as our only other bag was my laptop one. I can’t imagine them putting a baggage label around a plastic duty-free bag. Note for next time: always bring a sturdy carry-on bag with enough space for bottles.
Although we’d arrived nearly an hour late there was still time to go to the lounge at Chengdu. At least we thought so. Gate 170 ended up being travelator upon travelator along the sprawling mass that is Chengdu airport. It was quite modern and nice but I couldn’t help wondering if there was not a better way than simply walking in a straight line for what must have been over a mile. In fact I checked on Google Maps and it does appear to have been around 1300m, which after diversions for toilet breaks etc. was pretty much bang on a mile.
It was pretty much a mile
As Tan wasn’t with us and I could only get one “guest” in for free, I considered not visiting the lounge as we’d only be just over an hour. But the kids really wanted to even though there was little inside this, one of the numerous “First Class” lounges that were the size of a large living room and the only hot food they had was packs of instant noodles you had to put water on yourself. Still, Xixi had a whole pack, and they both munched their way through mini Oreos. Without much hope I asked the lady at the desk if there was any way around the wifi problem. She made a phone call, scribbled something down on a piece of paper, and handed it to me. I guessed it was the code that would have been sent to my phone, so asked if it would work for more than one device, and she answered in the affirmative. I thanked her profusely and went to our seats to try it out. The code was a simple “594” and of course it didn’t work. We all tried to no avail so I decided to put in Tan’s number and get the SMS sent to her and then turn on roaming data for her to send to me. As soon as I turned on data I got loads of messages asking where we were and if we were delayed. I could have asked why she didn’t look that up online but I didn’t, and messaged back to say we were fine and on time which is what she needed to hear. Then, within two minutes, I received a text telling me I’d reached 80% of my data for the month. Yikes. I turned off roaming data and went back to the woman at the desk who looked at me, then the paper, then proceeded to turn it upside-down to reveal the code “hb6”. I didn’t know whether to feel sheepish or annoyed it wasn’t clear, but laughed instead and was glad I hadn’t been in any way angry or accusative that the code wasn’t working before. We all got happily online afterwards and I’ll make a note of the code and the fact that we should not be too judgemental lest we be the ones at fault.
Surely it was 594??
At least it was Coca Cola Zero...
It was a pity there was nothing in the way of beer in the lounge, but I was too tired to worry after dealing with worrying about turbulence. Luckily this year the Chinese regulations appear to be less strict with the use of electronic devices in their skies so Leilei could 3DS while Xixi slept. Last year we couldn’t even charge such a device with a portable battery charger, let alone turn it on. This year airplane mode was actually acceptable. It makes total sense for international flights - what business person would choose a Chinese carrier for £100 cheaper if they couldn’t open their laptop for 12 hours? Hey, when I go to Canada in Air Canada I can even get wifi for the whole trip.
I did appreciate the western style toilet but only realised about the cover after I'd used it...
I managed a modicum of wakeful nodding off but never completely got there and was glad the flight was under two hours until we arrived in Nanning. Thankfully, after an eventless getting of luggage (including the duty-free) we were in two cars a few minutes later; Tan and the kids with Chuan Chuan in one, and A Heng, me, and the luggage in a Buick SUV. We stopped off for a “toilet break”, which was really a fag break, and as we’d been given bbq to eat in the vehicles I found a large can of Snowflake 2.5% in the shop and tried to pay for it but A Heng insisted. It was the perfect accompaniment to the bbq without any tipsiness. Despite the stop, A Heng said we’d be 20 minutes ahead of the ladies as we were going at a decent speed. Although we were 78km from home he said we’d be there in 30 mins whereas Google was saying 50, but I knew better than to comment on this. As soon as we’d paid the toll (40 kuai, the same as when it opened 12 years ago) we pulled over to wait for the girls. As I went for a wander I was told to get back in the car; apparently they’d already arrived at home and A Heng thought it was incredulous.
There was no going out for bbq at this late hour this year, so showers and straight to bed were on the cards. But I found a couple of cans of Snowflake beer I’d won last year and thoughtfully put in the fridge. Thankfully Tan hadn’t removed them so I had a couple of almost alcohol-free beers before setting up the phones and laptops with connectivity and hitting the sack at 3am.
We’d made the right decision to get a taxi all the way to Gatwick, despite Awl’s good idea of getting one to Croydon East then getting a train. That will be my plan next time I need to go alone though. Annoyingly we just got to the baggage drop-off queue in the middle of a group of secondary school kids, which meant we were delayed nearly an hour as even though we got to the end of the queue before half of them they were allowed to check in together. I couldn’t be too annoyed though, although I was when the gate in front of us, supposedly for first class only but had allowed loads of kids through, suddenly didn’t want us despite a dearth of first class passengers. I remonstrated with the woman a little and she didn’t seem impressed, but after her superior came over she reluctantly allowed us to check in there. Blimey it wasn’t a big deal. They could have saved time by allowing us to check in online but this is a new route to Chengdu so I gave them the benefit of the doubt.
Nearing the end of a slightly annoying queue
At least we had a couple of hours to spare, and Tan was already in China so we didn’t have the stress of a travelling woman. The kids had queued ok as they were promised the lounge and it didn’t disappoint as there were plenty of cake-like delicacies there. I satisfied myself with some soup and a bar service G&T. This has changed since the last time I was here; I suppose too many people had been pouring themselves quadruples in a sort of “last orders” mentality when their flights were at “Go to gate” status. But at least the kids got fed, Xixi stating that “airplane food is horrid”. I said “what?” and she just said she didn’t like it, but she knew what I meant...so she slyly said “aeroplane food is horrid”. I honestly don’t know if the kids’ Americanisations are from the media they consume or simply to rile me
Up at 7 and couldn't get back to sleep except for when I had slight hallucinations around 10am, after which I got up. I couldn't close my eyes without seeing spider-like shapes from the corner of a window behind lace curtains and it wasn't a nice experience. I'd semi-packed but wasn't too fussed...I had enough to take back and I could leave whatever I wanted here.
But now my leg was really hurting for the first time and I found it hard to walk. I manned up enough to take a shower and take off the bandage, but needed to lie down on the sofa in my office before I could face re-dressing it. By then it was nearly lunchtime and I was mindful that we were to be given a lift at 3pm to be in good time for our flight at 8.10pm from Nanning. So it was off to Waipo's for the last time and although there was no rice there, there were wan tuns that the kids ate. That meant I had leave to find something for myself...it would have been nice to have a final friend meal but I was knackered after four hours sleep and also needed the time to pack.
I got some bottles of pop for the car journey, and probably the last zero sugar shui bi I'd have here this year. I did find Luwen and said goodbye to him as he wasn't able to come last night due to being asleep. Then Tan rang to say she needed a belt for her 27k check-in luggage. 27k? You could have asked what the limits were. The kids and I did have a look in the luggage shop for such a belt but there was nothing forthcoming so for once we came back empty-handed on a shopping trip.
A Heng took us to the airport in an uneventful journey in the large Buick, and we had a thankfully little-turbulent one hour flight to Guangzhou. As we weren’t delayed we were able to take advantage of the decent grub and drink at the lounge there. I’m normally quite sad at this time but life moves quickly and each year it seems quicker that summer comes around and we’re back. Maybe it’s because each passing year is a smaller percentage of our lives so we just perceive it so, or maybe it’s just with the kids growing up so fast there’s always so much to do you don’t notice the time go by. A good incentive to keep busy if ever one was needed.
Leaving Pingguo for the last time in 2017
Some weird pinky hallway in Guangzhou that for some reason Xixi liked
Got up at a reasonable 2pm considering last night. Then moved to the study for a tad more until the kids went out. I felt a bit crap and couldn’t face looking at my dressing but did have a shower. Tan was out with the kids so I decided to go and meet them but I was advised to go to a chemist to remove my bandage first of all, and I took this advice. I went to the chemist across from our house and explained what had happened and they insisted on first removing the bandage. That proved to be a painful experience and I nearly fainted during the process and when I actually glanced at the wound. Then she started doing something weird and I wasn’t sure what, I jerked my leg away and nearly jumped the length of the room. The woman was simply laughing at me but I felt sick. I wouldn’t let her near my leg for a bit until she convinced me she wasn’t going to do anything painful. In the end she got a capsule, then opened it and poured the powder from it over some of the wound. I had no idea if this was valid medicine or quackery and I didn’t have the vocabulary to get understandable information. I let her re-dress the wound softly while she told me not to use the cream the hospital gave me. I didn’t even bother to argue, but bought some more bandage and tape for later. Then she said I should come back later for some milli-wave treatment...what?
Applying a capsule of powder on my wound
Lunch was a buffet, but I wasn’t really in the mood for food. So I took the kids afterwards and I thought I’d go to the pharmacy again just for the purposes of finding out what this milli-wave crap was. You put some apparatus around the place that needs treatment and apparently millimetre waves are output and this heals things. Some boy was already there with his mum and had his hand in some contraption that was doing the waves. I was told to hold some walkie-talkie sized thing close to my wound, but didn’t feel a thing. I let this go on for two minutes, while looking at the milli-wave advertisements (with a white doctor of course). Then I put the stuff down as the kids were getting a bit bored. We were about to go when the nurse caught us and told me I hadn’t had enough time. I was polite enough to lie and say we needed to go somewhere, and was glad she didn’t charge us for the “treatment”. I can only imagine the waves might have some heating effect but I didn’t feel it.
Back home I suddenly remembered I’d recently got a lot of cash out of the bank. I’d had over 3000 kuai on me if I remembered correctly, but didn’t now. I looked in the obvious places but it was nowhere to be seen. So then I called Tan to ask her but she’d not seen it. I then thought the worst and realised it could have got lost in the shenanigans of early this morning. But it was so much it was worth not giving up. I must have had the money in my trouser pocket at some stage, so I looked in the washing machine, in the hanging washing but they weren’t there. Once again I called Tan who told me she’d thrown them out. Thrown them out! How was she supposed to know I suppose…. Without much hope I went downstairs to see if perchance they were in the bin. Normally old women go combing these bins at regular intervals to pick out anything recyclable, and money certainly is. But lo and behold after less than a minute’s rummaging, during which any passers-by must have thought I was completely mad, I found a blood-stained plastic bag, which on further inspection I found contained my trousers and a pair of now-red shoes. What a relief to find the cash still there in the back pocket! I even thought of rescuing the shoes, but in the context they were not that important, and I wouldn’t have time to get them cleaned anyway.
Disgusting trousers in disgusting bin, but the contents were not so
Phew
Relieved, we went out to the funfair and it was deserted, but I let the kids have a couple of goes on the bumper cars, by which time a couple more people had arrived and joined us. Then for the last time this year we went to the exercise park by the stadium till it was time for me to start my Last Supper for this year.
Once again, invitation messages were sent out the same evening and nearly every bloke could make it; Luwen, who starts at 4am, was a little tired. Tan was out so I had to take the kids, and they both sopped over Li Kun’s new baby daughter, who was incredibly cute. I got a call from Tan to take the kids back quickly as it was late (it was 10.30pm) and we had to leave tomorrow (not till late afternoon and everything was packed). I didn’t argue though, and popped them home before coming back. It was a nice meal with mates, though partly due to yesterday a bit more subdued than usual, but at least this year we got to eat outside. Another call from Tan before midnight to tell me the same information about tomorrow was equally unnecessary but I used it as an excuse to wind down the evening and say goodnight to my mates for another year. I did stay up a little too late when I got back though.
For some reason I was convinced we were going back on Thursday and I'd been telling people that. But it just dawned on me that the 30th is Wednesday and I felt like a day had cruelly been taken away from me. More than just a day in fact; 33% of our remaining time. It meant I would somehow have to merge my last night meal with my mates and the music party we'd arranged at the music shop. I guess it will be food first then music.
Ma Laoban has been really busy the last month so we haven't yet had our yearly lunch catch-up, but he called me at 9am to arrange it. Three hours’ preparation time is about as good as it gets here. I was still knackered as had had sketchy sleep last night . I sort of drifted off a little while reading the news later in the morning only to find that the electricity had gone when I roused again.
I could have done with a lot more sleep but there was no way I was going to let down Ma Laoban. We met at his shop and then he drove me to the place to eat. Two blokes came, and we only drank tea, which was a first with him even though he is practically tee-total. I could actually have done with some sleep-inducing beer but decided that it was better to be non-alcoholic, though when I got home at 3pm I still couldn’t sleep despite knowing my body wanted to. So I got up from my non-slumber and went to the local Guan Mart supermarket to see if they could improve on other supermarkets’ poor sugar-free ware. Indeed they could and I found sugar-free Sprite!
Uncle Yellow called to go to Boss Zhou’s again at 6pm, and as I had the time I thought why not? I got there on time but it was clearly too early, as is not normally the case here. I knew I’d have to meet up with Ma Laoban again later as he’d absolutely insisted on it, so I knew I’d have to pace myself. I actually offered to help Boss Zhou and was allowed to serve dishes to the tables rather than actually cook, but at least I was of use more for than just my nationality. Some of the blokes from yesterday turned up and I refused the bai jiu but had a few beers bearing in mind I was pacing myself..Soon after 8pm I made my excuses to go to Ma Laoban's and this was accepted more easily than it might have been, but Uncle Yellow is a bit more understanding than most.
Boss Zhou getting ready to cook up a nice surprise
At Boss Zhou's - they are bulls' ball in the foreground..actually ok
Before going to Ma Laoban’s I went to check if the electricity was back and of course it wasn’t. After checking with a neighbour I confirmed it wasn’t a building issue.which struck me with a little concern. I went downstairs to ask the management and they told me to call someone and I did but didn’t quite understand the problem but apparently someone will come to the house to check it out. Ten minutes later in the pitch dark a bloke came and after a bit of a kerfuffle said it was to do with not having paid the bill, even though I’d asked him that specific question when he arrived. Apparently it was irresolveable until tomorrow as it was already gone 8pm. So Tan and the kids would go to Waipo’s to sleep and I would stay and hope it wasn’t too hot. To be fair I've not used the air-con for sleeping over the last few days, at least until 8am when the sun suggests otherwise.
I got to Ma Laoban's at about 8.30pm but no-one else was there. For someone who doesn't drink he didn’t do a great job of not drinking. He opened a bottle of Australian red wine and put it into an aerator which took a minute to decant it and it was actually really nice. I remembered that in 2008 after three plus months living here the only thing I really missed was a decent glass of rouge but even that is now available here. And he didn't add ice, or lemon, or lemonade.
Aerating red wine at Ma Laoban's
But then I got a call from Tan to provide the electricity book's number so I had to excuse myself from Ma Laoban’s for a few minutes to go home again. I'd been told to look for a red book in the key drawer and had found only a blue one, but from my limited Chinese I understood it was to do with electricity, and guessed the colour I'd been told was wrong. For a change I was right, and took a picture of the appropriate ID page and sent it to Tan on Weixin. Except for an annoying reason despite being connected to the wifi it didn't send. This led to another phone call asking why it hadn't been sent...and I guessed it was the incoming phone call that could have interfered with the sending. This happens a lot in some sort of way; people ring you to hurry up, then ring you again when you're on your way and you have to stop to answer the phone, which is inevitably to tell you to hurry up, which you would have been doing if they hadn't called you to do so....
Anyway eventually it got sent and I went back to Ma Laoban’s, but then 10 minutes later I got another call to go back home and see if the electricity was working. Although before I'd been told explicitly it would not be I decided not to argue and explained I'd be back in a bit. Interestingly we most certainly did have leccy so I told Tan they could all come back here.
Back at Ma Laoban's (again) a couple more people had arrived, plus the female classmates from lunchtime, then a rather drunk bloke who'd also been with us at lunchtime. It was a pleasant evening but I knew I had to see another friend at around 10.30 so I started to make my excuses. Of course no-one was having any of it, unlike Uncle Yellow, and they started gan-bei'ing the wine, which I wasn't too happy about. Finally, Ma Laoban poured what I estimate to be 250ml of the stuff in my glass and said I wasn't to leave until it was gone. So I managed it in a more pronto fashion than I would have liked, but was allowed to leave after several handshakes.
Next stop was a KTV place where I met advertising friend and various other friends thereof. It was busy and boozy and I had to gan bei a few times but at least it wasn’t wine. After a bit, advertising friend suggested it was too noisy there (which I agreed with), so we went to Bar 3000 Degrees at getting on for midnight for a bit of bbq. Then around 1am Li Kun called me to go to Lao Tong Fried Chicken place to eat and drink, so I told him I might pop over in a bit.
The picture in the men's toilet at Bar 3000 Degrees
As it was getting late and advertising friend had to work the next day we bade farewell and I thought “sod it” and told Li Kun I was on my way. He was with some mates and they’d had a fair few already. Stupidly I joined in with them until gone 3am. That’s where it gets a little fuzzy. Li Kun had insisted on someone else driving the bike home while I went with him, which in retrospect was a good idea, although I wholeheartedly disagreed with it at the time. We got home ok though but the bloke had parked the bike by the wrong door. At this moment of my life I should have just accepted that and gone to bed. But being a twit I insisted on moving it to our door. With predictable results. I drove shin-first into the bumper of a car parked in the way not two yards away and came off the worse. Well actually, due to the drink I didn’t feel it as much as I normally would have, but as I walked into our building and into the lift I noticed a trail of blood behind me. I tried to ignore it while I got into the house but Li Kun had seen it too and was following me. Inside, I noticed that the lower nine inches of my right trouser leg were sopping wet with the red stuff, and I don't mean the wine from Ma Laoban’s. Li Kun said we had to go to the hospital but I laughed it off saying it was only a scratch, but knew that really this wasn’t a Monty Python sketch. Li Kun said we definitely had to go and in a moment of sobriety I realised he was right and acquiesced.
Li Kun had called A Wu, who for some reason was up, and we all drove to the hospital. By this time it was getting light, and it all felt a bit weird. I removed my trousers to reveal what turned out to be about a four inch gash after the nurses had washed away most of the blood with a yellow liquid I think was iodine. Then came the bit that sobered me up the most - someone with a white overall came with a needle. I lay back and closed my eyes, knowing that I would not be able to avoid being pierced. I suppose it wasn’t as bad as it might have been, but I should have known why they were injecting me...worse was to come. A couple of minutes later they came with literally a needle and thread, and I realised I was about to be stitched up. For the fourth time tonight, despite the booze, I made the correct decision of not jumping off the bed and refusing this as I might have done another day, but I certainly didn’t watch what happened next, even if I did feel it a bit.
Doing something horrible to my leg
Ghastly stitching
Before...
...and after...I suppose I should be grateful
I was tired and ready to go home after that ordeal, and felt bad for Li Kun and A Wu, who were both still with me taking photos and joking all the time (sometimes that’s just what you need with mates). But no. The next thing was the standard Chinese panacea of giving you a drip, presumably of saline solution. But this was going to require another injection. I refused flatly, but then as Li Kun said “no!” for the fifth time I let them do what they thought was best. Being tired is the second best thing for dealing with irrational fears, and I’d had too much of the best thing previously anyway so a mix of the two made it less fearful and painful than it otherwise would have been. Of course without the beer I wouldn’t have been here in the first place.
So I spent the next hour being drip fed while reclining on a wooden chair that wasn’t quite comfortable enough to fall asleep on, much as I would have liked to. Finally we left around 8.30am and I was wearing my blue sports shorts that Li Kun had thoughtfully advised me to bring. On the way home we stopped off at Luwen’s for breakfast of beef soup which I felt did me better than the drip, but like most things today, I was probably wrong.
What a drip
The hospital receipt - I'll use it for a more advanced Chinese lesson
Finally got home at 9am to go to bed. I had hoped Tan would be asleep but she was up and aware of where I’d been this morning so tail firmly between my legs I grabbed a bottle of water, apologised, and got some kip.
Up lateish but not too late to meet up with Haiwei at 11am as arranged last night. But by 10.45 I still hadn’t received a call from him which is strange, so I called him and clearly woke him up. It transpires that we’ll go to his son’s school at 3pm instead…. Well I’d missed breakfast and didn’t fancy doing much for lunch so I snacked on some dried fish, which I usually have in stock for these times. And anyway Uncle Yellow had invited me to a meal this evening which wouldn’t be later than 6pm so there wouldn't be long to wait.
Some boss, I don’t recall his name, invited me to drink tea after lunchtime, which I did until Haiwei called to say he was picking me up. So I left the dian dong che by the tea boss and five minutes later we arrived at the school. It was a bit of a sweaty walk up the five storeys but I duly did my inspection and said it looked very tidy. The term hadn’t started but there were a couple of teachers there drinking tea so I restarted that. Sometimes I think that the ritual of drinking tea is just something to make it look like you’re doing something instead of nothing while waiting for the next meal. At least it always involves conversation, so if nothing else I’m improving my Chinese a fraction.
I’d got in contact with Steve but at 3.15 he still hadn’t turned up. I’d sent him the location on a map so he shouldn’t have a problem, but for some reason he wasn’t there. I told him to look for a black car before realising he could almost be anywhere in Pingguo and see a black car. But WeChat has the option of letting people know where you are, and once Haiwei explained how to use it I told Steve and we found out he was by the guangchang, literally nearly a mile away so it took him a good 20 minutes to get here as this is not a place for quick walking.
Inside we talked a bit about schooling but didn’t go as specific as offering him a job. Luckily he speaks a little Mandarin so I didn’t have to translate everything. Then we were kindly invited to a meal with Haiwei’s family, but I already had my evening plans so Steve would go without me. But I still needed my dian dong che so Haiwei took us there as it was on the way to his house. On the way Haiwei was asking about Ghana. It was a little tricky to converse and semi-translate at the same time especially with words I wasn’t sure about, but it came down to Ghana being colder than here, and with lower storey houses. I could well have missed something. Also, apparently Ghana is relatively rich due to its natural resources such as bauxite and gold. Ah gold, the natural basis for an abstraction of value due to its scarcity, durability, portability (to some extent), fungibility (to some extent), divisibility (to some extent). But imagine what would happen if they found massive reserves of the stuff under the sea in some Ghanaian port (actually it wouldn’t necessarily have to be in Ghana, it just got me thinking). If they found as much gold in one place as has already been mined the value would plummet. It’s not like its value as jewellry or in electronics justifies its value alone. No wonder people have been trying to emulate this in a digital fashion for years...but it took the solving of the double-spend problem before we finally got a workable digital currency that people can trust due to its trustlessness of a central authority. People will look back and wonder how we managed previously.
The meal was a typically matey-one with the usual suspects from Uncle Yellow’s band of brothers. They were explaining how they each got through two bottles of red wine and three glasses of rice wine (56%) last night, then straight away ordered beer. We stayed there till 11.30pm and that was all I could manage.
Gorgeous grubs on the left, and gorgeous grub in general
For the first time this year we had a meal at Li Jia He Xin as we’d been invited by Lao Lin and Lao Pan. This was a place we’d gone to something like twice a week in previous years but I think the economy here may have peaked and it’s not so common to spend so much any more.
Meal with Lao Pan at Li Jia He Xin
After the meal I took my laptop to the handwriting place I’d taken the kids before as I really wanted to watch the second half of the City match vs Bournemouth outside the house so I just turned up with my laptop and asked if it would be ok and of course it was. We managed a couple of drinks but I was firmly focused on the game...it was 1-1 and into injury time and the bloody stream went...no amount of coaxing it would bring it back so checked on Flashscores...90+5 and still 1-1...shit. But Sterling performed a miracle at 90+7 and I shouted out much to their bemusement. Gosh we really needed those three points...but please don’t leave it so late again.
The other day in the supermarket my ongoing nightmare literally came true; I met a foreigner - Steve, from Ghana and his mate. They stuck out even more so than me due to their hue, and I felt I needed to introduce myself as I’d actually heard about their existence. It turns out Steve is based in Pingguo and his mate Max is in Baise. We had swapped WeChat IDs and agreed to meet and tonight was to be the time. I called up Haiwei and he was in his office so I told Steve where it was. Apparently Max was back in Baise but his girlfriend is a local lass so there wouldn’t be a problem finding the place. They turned up and we had an enjoyable few beers and bits to eat. Haiwei was interested in his salary and when he found out what it was he was disgusted. He said foreigners should be paid more as it’s expensive to come here and they make better English teachers. I considered questioning that but thought the better of it.
It transpired that the next day we would take Steve to where Haiwei’s younger son goes to school to see if we could get him a better deal. But tonight was to drink beer and Steve and his girlfriend had obviously had some practice.
Tan was out all morning so I took the kids. We went to the sweetcorn soup place for lunch where I’m at least guaranteed they’ll have a decent amount of egg fried rice and gorgeous soup. A Wu had called to play ping pong so after lunch so we went to Boss Zhou’s place for a sweaty practice session before making the predictable ride to A Xia’s for a bit. Later it was time to go to Ling Ming’s new place for a family meal which he cooked himself. Even Waipo made it, which made it a bit more special. Luckily, despite buying two cases of beer we barely got through five cans (well...ish). They have a lovely flat at the top floor of a new complex that overlooks the river but I bet it cost a bomb. The last time I saw him working it was in a clothes shop. I guess the money comes from somewhere else.
Enjoying the sweetcorn soup while waiting for dan chao fan
We went for a walk after lunch and happened upon this dilapidated, yet prettyish, house that looks abandoned - but please No Nearing
Panoramic view from Ling Ming's new flat
Waipo at Ling Ming's lovely meal
Eating again at Boss Zhou's place
Next it was on to A Wu’s office where more than five beers were consumed. But at least I managed to fit in a head wash later on….very comfy. Then Uncle Yellow contacted me again and I went to the music shop for more musical goodness to finish off the day. Man those kids could play the guitar really well and I felt quite lowly doing a couple of S&G numbers compared to their Hotel California. Then the girlfriend of the bloke who did the solo to Hotel California came around and they did a duet of some English song I really should have known but didn't.
Yeah finally a day without work. We were all up reasonably late so had a brunch of dian xin, or dim sum in English. I got the kids to A Xia’s shop just before a typhoon arrived to knock out the electricity in this area of town. So the kids went in A Xia’s car to Waipo’s and I had the opportunity to wear the cover-all blue top that goes over the front of the bike too to get on the dian dong che to go home. Despite the covering I was nearly soaked by the time I got there - perhaps I had it on wrong. But it didn’t matter as we had electricity there still.
Li Kun called me to go to his business and I had no excuse or reason not to so said I’d be downstairs in a few minutes where he was duly waiting for me in his nice 4x4. We drove for 10-15 minutes outside of Pingguo during which time I was trying to understand what his business was. I know he works for the local council - something about housing - but this appeared to be something on the side.
I was none the wiser when we arrived. There was a large shed/factory building, a few people wandering around in blue overalls, and a nasty stench. I felt like I could be in a scene from the Chinese version of Breaking Bad. We got out and walked inside the building and I saw it was mostly empty except for a pile of wheat-sized bags (the size of bags filled with wheat rather than the size of wheat). With the help of Pleco on my phone I came to learn that this was a silk producing factory, or rather, a place that produced the raw material from which silk is made. The idea is that the silkworm cocoons are picked from wherever they originate from, then they are gently cooked so as to kill the silkworms but preserve the silk. The resulting white balls are then distributed to a distribution centre in Nanning which sends them to the world (notably Italy).
Where you kill the silkworms
Pre-burning cocoons
I think this is a "good" one
Silk cocoons to be distributed
It was a satisfying afternoon, seeing something new and learning something new. Then Li Kun somehow got onto the subject of soil-less growing, a subject close to my heart, and we exchanged opinions on how it was the future of food production, though in his case the interests was more spurred on by “money, money!” than mine as a potential way of helping developing countries and those not blessed with an abundance of water grow the stuff they need. In fact I’m fascinated by the potential for anywhere to grow anything, just given the appropriate amounts of heat, water, pH, light, etc. Potentially we wouldn’t have to import exotic fruit vast distances or keep them frozen for months at a time. It’s got to happen….
We met Li Kun's beautiful little daughter too
Back in Pingguo I met the kids at Waip’s for a meal before being invited to another meal with A Wu and bosses, before finally picking up the kids again and getting home.
More work than should have done. Boss meal with kids and ping pong. Knackered as not really eaten. Bumped into Uncle Yellow again? Music! then Huang late night for chat.
I’d done more work than I need have so guiltlessly went for a meal at Boss Zhou’s where I also played some ping pong as you do. As I’d not spent too much time with the kids recently we went on a Magical Mystery Tour that was none of the first two words as we went straight to the funfair where we tested out the wheel things that you pedal inside. I’ve still got a few kuai on our card so hope to be back soon...
The gaudy big wheel that I've not yet summoned up enough courage to go on
After a full day of work I took the kids out to the guangchang where we did some shooting and kept them amused for 12 minutes. We then went for a drive for a bit until we almost literally bumped into Uncle Yellow, who invited us to eat bbq in the music shop. But the kids wanted to ride some more so we compromised somewhat and came back a bit later to after doing some shopping.
We came across some memorial with interesting writing that I'm hoping to understand soon
The government building in all its gaudy glory at night at the guangchang
At the music shop the kids ate a little but were still as shy as coconuts, so I wasn’t too displeased when Tan said she was going home so I dumped them off home and came back to some beer and cai ma. But of course they wanted me to play too. I spied an electric piano and asked if I could try that and knew it was a stupid question straightaway. Very unfortunately it didn’t have a sustain pedal so my renditions of Gladiolus Rag and Maple Leaf Rag didn’t sound as full as I would have liked, but it was really appreciated. Uncle Yellow told me he’d know me for 12 years and never knew I could play a bit of piano. I guess why would he?
But I spent more time with the guitar as I suppose it’s more of a social instrument. I was accompanied by bongo drums and some thing with hanging metal pipes that occasionally someone would brush to make a pleasant sound though I’m not sure how much it embellished The Boxer. Then Uncle Yellow was asking me about some Chinese songs and showing me the music and lyrics on his phone as though I’d just be able to leap into it...sorry mate!
Anyway it was a very fun evening and I said I’d come back. As I was in the mood I decided to go to Huang’s Beihai place for a last beer and chat. He was in fine fettle, greeting me like a long lost friend and constantly referring to me as “nalouzhan”, which is a local term for xiong di.
It was a day of boring work until 10.30pm. Actually given that most of the time I’m working from home here I don’t finish till around 1am I shouldn’t moan, but I had been working well over 12 hours...anyway...First World problems in this context. I got the kids showered after their foray to the Guangchang where they got well and truly soaked with sweat, yet this didn’t help them sleep. But anyway I managed to go out to have a bite to eat with a couple of friends, and managed a late beer with A Wu later.
Then for what I really was aiming for...I wanted to watch the City match but it didn’t start till 3am. What to do? It was 1am and I had no intention of drinking till then, so I hit on the idea of having a Cola. It was quite disgusting, so I ended up putting a tad of vodka in it which didn’t really help in terms of taste or not drinking, but I managed to get through it with the help of a crypto-based conversation with Andge in the early hours. Yes, managed to stay up till 3am then found a stream of our match, only to be faced with a rather ordinary performance at home, coming back from a Rooney goal to draw 1-1 - I hope this is not a sign of things to come. It was well gone 5am at the end and I don’t think anyone minded me sleeping the study.
I didn't get a call from Haiwei at 10.30 so I called him at 11 and he said to come over to his office in 40 minutes. 23 minutes later he called to come over again. Then on the way he called to tell me to hurry up. At the office we just chatted, waiting for people to turn up. His son hadn't eaten breakfast and neither had I, but that didn’t seem to be the spur for anything. Eventually an hour later enough people had turned up and I found out they were all ex-schoolmates. That was the precursor of a long meal that I hadn’t really expected.
It was a nice meal and good to have a reunion even if it was not one for me; it was at least a change from bosses’ meals. Haiwei had brought a guitar and bongo drums but it took some time before I accepted the former. I’m still rather out of practice but played out a few Simon and Garfunkel tunes to the delight (I hope) of the others. Eventually at about 3pm I used the kids as an excuse to leave to take them out. I really really tried to get a siesta but got no more than 20 minutes.
At the reunion meal prior to getting the guitar out
Haiwei rang me a bit later to say they were going for a couple of drinks but I chose to tell him “not now, but a bit later”. Earlier than a bit later he called again to insist that he pick me up in his car and we went to one of his friend’s place, where they were all eating (well by this time it was gone 6pm). I did manage a bit of beer and some cai ma but then had the (genuine) excuse of having to pick up the kids again. Not having the dian dong che it took me a good 15 minutes to walk back home but it was quite refreshing and I realised that here I actually make well under half as many paces per day compared to London except when I jog or do ping pong. Well worth noting that the exercise is that much more important here.
Once home we picked up the dian dong che and I allowed the kids to go to Yi Xiao to pick up some cheap toys. Ok it wasn’t the same shop we’ve been going to since Leilei was two but it’s the same area. They got two packs of fake Lego for 5 kuai each so that at least kept them entertained while we went to Haiwei’s friend’s house to continue the reunion festivities. By this time there were still people eating and drinking, but Haiwei was doing his clever job of being totally asleep on a hard, high-backed chair, oblivious to the rest of us.
A tad later A Wu called me to drink beer. I wasn’t really in the mood but as I’d left and got the kids to bed I went to this new German beer place for half an hour or so. The beer there was quite strong so I didn’t really fancy cai ma-ing, and managed a relatively civilised departure before 1am, and was asleep at home not long after.
