Life and Travel in China

Yesterday I got married for the second time! During a performance at the Splendid China open-air museum, I was kidnapped from the crowd of spectators. I was dressed up in a straw hat, given a fur coat for my back and a shotgun. I was offered a glass of Chinese vodka, and when I grabbed the glass and shouted to the audience in Chinese: "Cheers - ganbei", everyone was happy. Later, my "guardian" and I ran from the stage to the back. There, I was introduced to a beautiful young girl in traditional Chinese clothing - "This is your wife." I was very happy, I couldn't complain. I was dressed up in a wedding outfit. We went out together, my wife was covered with a red scarf. They asked me to unveil it. She of course pushed my hand away. She repeated it again and I shouted in Chinese, "Why!? You don't love me." The audience burst into laughter. Eventually the advances were accepted and we danced together at my wedding. At the end, I was taken to the back room, given a small gift and taken away from the traditional newlyweds' clothes. I looked at my "chosen" once again and said, "You are my wife now." The young artist just smiled. It all happened in the show village of the Yi minority, the Splendid China open-air museum in Shenzhen. Unfortunately, the marriage certificate was not valid, but about fifty spectators had fun at my expense. And I did my best to get this wedding going and establish contact with the audience. It was happening, it was happening...

I was at the lingerie fair in Shenzhen. The fair was nothing special and nothing new in this industry, but it was more about the models and photos. However, it turned out that there would be few lingerie shows on the last day, but there were many photographers. Among the three models, there were about two hundred guests with cameras and photo phones :-). Unfortunately, I didn't have a flash, the photos turned out bad, I couldn't even look into the viewfinder, I did everything by feel, with my hand, over the heads of several people who were standing in front of me. The underwear was not very fashionable, some of the designs were really old-fashioned, but of course the Chinese pretended that it was a French or Italian collection (produced in China, of course). The prices of such underwear are usually half the salary of a Chinese worker. The quality is reasonable, but nothing special, and the designs probably date back to the interwar period. I regret that I wasn't there on the first day, because there were professional models, several different shows and even an actress from Hong Kong.

Radio ZET reported that the Chinese would boycott Carrefour stores because they support the Tibetans. They reportedly sent text messages to Chinese phones telling them not to shop there from May. I don't know how much truth there is in this, because me, my wife or my friends did not receive such a text message. Still, it's even better if they boycott it, I won't have to queue at the cash register! And Carrefour in China is quite decent, because there are a lot of imported products and quite decent prices.

Yesterday, after a long break, I went to Hong Kong. I bought a new Sigma 70-300 lens for Nikon, the same one I already use in the analog Pentax. I also bought a flash because I'm fed up with underexposed photos and raising the ISO to 800 and higher. As soon as I learn how to use the lamp, new photos will appear. I invested in a digital camera because I see that film development is getting worse and worse and is unfortunately becoming a thing of the past. But nothing can replace the sound of a film rewinding after the next frame, no digital camera will imitate it. I also wanted to buy a phone, but it turned out that in Hong Kong phones are not that cheap and the price is similar to Shenzhen, which is the same as in Poland, not much cheaper.

I laughed because I was checking risotto on the Internet and saw "CHINESE CUISINE - RISOTTO WITH VEGETABLES AND HAM". First of all, it's not a Chinese dish at all! Italian - of course. Secondly, in China there is no concept of ham or cold meat at all! The Chinese would call it "WEIRD, OVERCOOKED RICE WITH SOME UNKNOWN MEAT AND VEGETABLES." If Chinese dishes are YANGZHOU CHAO FAN. I recommend! It is rice (previously cooked loosely), then fried and mixed with peas, corn, carrots, shrimps or finely chopped meat, a bit of green vegetables (maybe lettuce), and a previously fried egg added. A typical Chinese dish, not risotto!