Basket case
We stopped for ice cream at a local store and Arlene found a local bicycle fruit seller selling strawberries outside the store. She really wanted the basket they were in so the bargaining began. After we agreed to buy all the strawberries in it, he would agree to sell her the basket. Someone tried to bargain for his bicycle but his pride of ownership was too great to even consider selling. We learned though our Chinese tour guide that he had had the bike for 30 years and it was really a treasure. He was really happy though as he was a celebrity in the town for dealing so well with the crowd of foreigners. Everyone won on this transaction.
For centuries China stood as a leading civilization, outpacing the rest of the world in the arts and sciences, but in the 19th and early 20th centuries, the country was beset by civil unrest, major famines, military defeats, and foreign occupation. A... ... read more 
