Getting Lost with a Friend

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Rachel and I decided that we were going to have one more fun day together in GZ before we both leave at the end of the term. We started with a fabulous lunch and then set out across town to one of the walking streets in the older part of the city, near Changshou Lu.

We started on the main road and then decided to duck down an interesting side street. There's always better things to see where we don't normally tread. We saw little homes, sewing businesses, children hunched over their homework. There were lots of little shops and markets selling cigarettes, alcohol, fruit and even snakes (for eating). At one point, a fish managed to escape his bucket, only to flop about on the road; I suspect he wished he hadn't made a leap for it. We even several restaurants and at one the woman chatted with us and kindly invited us in; I was glad I could politely tell her in Chinese, "Thank you, but we are already full." She smiled and laughed.

Not sure which way to turn at a tiny intersection, a passing man on a bike pointed and we were suddenly back out on the main road. Not quite where we'd hoped to end up, but for most people that would have been a correct assumption.

We walked a bit further east and stopped for some Vietnamese coffee with milk. (That means sweetened condensed milk, so you know.) It was nice to sit outside and enjoy the weather; rain had been forecast, as had heat, and we managed to escape both. With both of us leaving PZ it was fun to talk about what the future might hold and what we might be able to do.

After finishing our coffees and people watching for a while (including watching the coffeeshop worker yell at and insult a non-paying customer who was occupying one of the tables), we set off again. More side streets, more little shops, more things we didn't recognize. It's amazing what you see when you get off the beaten path. Well, off the path we usually tread.

Eventually we ended up at a different metro stop than from which we started. Time to head back to the bus and ride home.

It was another good China day with a dear friend.

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Photos

Liquor and ice cream
Sounds like a plan to me.