November 1 – On Monday I went shopping to look for more jade and to see how the bracelet I had bought Sunday at the tourist trap compares to those at the local jewelry stores, which I had scoped out last week. I had the help of two locals, the factory manager and an engineer. Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately for my wife, I liked the store bracelets much better and so with their help we bargained for another one, this time getting one priced at 5200 RMB for 2080 RMB. One of the other ladies in the family will have to settle for the first one.

We had dinner that evening in another steamboat place, this one further across town. Exotic things included shredded cow innards (awful with a capital A) and bamboo, a little tasteless and a lot stringy. I don’t understand why pandas fuss about it, but the rest of the meal was great.

As dinner was nearing an end there was a table of young folks nearby, about 8 guys and only 2 girls, who had obviously drank too much beer, so we turned to watch the action unfold. Unbeknownst to me they had probably been keeping an eye on our table, which of course had the only westerner in sight. All of a sudden one of the young ladies smiled at me and came over to our table and offered a toast, at which point I had to chug my beer. Soon after two or three others came over and did likewise. So I bought their table (my hosts wouldn’t actually let me buy) a six pack, which they accepted with glee. On the way out of the restaurant the manager commented to my friends that I was very unusual, that most westerners don’t like the food and don’t want to mingle.

Yesterday and today have been a little quiet at the factory, they seem to have a lull in their schedule. So the factory manager drove me back to the hotel this afternoon at about 2 pm, the only time this has occurred during my stay here.