Below Belief

This morning it is raining gently again. I wish the sun would return – we have things to do. But we hit town anyway for a large Chinese lunch including a delightful dish of ‘toasted goat’s cheese’, a local speciality which tastes a little like my socks might after a month without washing.
I am unfortunately persuaded, while eating this meal, by a street-peddling shoe-cleaner that my worn boots need repairing. Once again, I am inextricably reminded of Istanbul and the last time I got ripped off by a shoe-cleaning peddler. I am clear this time to map out the cost first and then trade my sturdy boots for a pair of ridiculous flip-flops while the guy scampers off with mine. Later they are duly returned, fixed and quite neatly patched for around £1 after a little bargaining.
Bargaining is the name of the game later when we hit the marble-vase shops in search of souvenirs. Having decided between us that purchasing policy is presents for family, girlfriends and friends as well as the dog and almost everyone else we know, we have a bit of a task on, not only to buy the presents but also to get them all home in one piece. The choice in marble alone is unbelievable. That said, we do manage to come away with some nice, if rather heavy, purchases. While in the marble district we manage to catch a glorious bitch fight in the streets. Several market traders seem to gang up on a girl who has either stolen something or insulted them. Mind you, the girl does well for herself – screaming, kicking, biting and punching – all in the name of public entertainment. Street brawls are famed in China for their ferocity and this seems no exception. It’s great fun to watch until the PSB arrive to disperse the crowds. By 9pm and having shopped no more, we are ready for dinner – our now bizarrely synchronised body-clocks telling us it’s time to eat.
The Star Cafe with it’s “Best Brownie in Town” claim is happy to oblige and despite both our preferences for girl guides, Llew and I are not disappointed. We both manage filling meals of steak and garlic followed by two of the best brownies. We eat with two girls, Perdise an American and Kate, a Briton, who have arrived for a whistlestop tour of China from Japan where both have spent post-graduate years teaching English there. They have travelled by air so far and seem interested in our tales of ferries and trains. It is fun to off-load our array of recent anecdotes, which Llew and I can now tell in alternating sentences.
They tell us about Japan and life there. They are staying in No.5 Guesthouse and seem none to pleased when we tell them we heard there were rats in the dormitories.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 31st, 1997 at 1:59 pm and is filed under China. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.