22:20

Another good day. Even better than yesterday. I went to the Great Wall. On the bus I met (or, rather I was met by) a young Chinese man, Tao Tao. He spoke a little bit of English and seeing that I am foreign and that I do not understand what is going on, he tried to help me out. Soon we started talking. I also got to know his girlfriend, Fang Fang, who spoke some English, too. On the way back from the trip, I suggested that we go for a dinner together and they agreed. I intended to pay but, to my embarrassment, Tao Tao paid. They really took very good care of me. I hope I can somehow show my gratitude to them. I might even have a chance because they live in a city 300 km away from Chengdu so I might visit them. If I ever go there, I will definitely make sure I get to pay the bill.

Curious things Hello! It has come to my attention that the word "Hello" has, in a sense, different meaning in China than it has, say, in the U.S. In China, the word "Hello" is primarily spoken by totally random people who happen to pass by a foreigner and happen to be in the right kind of mood. I guess it translates into, "Oh boy, look, it's a foreigner!" It's rarely spoken to the foreigner -- it is difficult, in fact, to establish who it is actually said to. The second major use of the word "Hello" is to advertise to a foreigner whatever one has to sell and to assure the foreigner that he or she is dealing with a professional. One can hear for example: "Hello T-shirt!" which translates into "Hey you, the strange looking, I have some T-shirts to sell and my language skills are sufficient for us to bargain!". "Hello certificates!" "Hello water!" all work the same way. "Hello" is also a universal name for foreigners. You can hear (and see, as most of the communication is non verbal) "Hello" in contexts like "Come here, Hello, and have a picture taken with us. No, it is not a problem, Hello, that we do not know one another: we still want a picture with you, Hello!"

The ride to the Great Wall took 8 hours because we stopped at several places on the way: some parks, Ming dynasty tombs, miniature Beijing, "film factory", jade jewelry factory, etc. The Great Wall was a little bit of a disappointment. It's totally commercialized, which, I guess, was to be expected. But I never realized that only a few hundred meters of the wall are open to tourists. In that area the pavement is good and everything looks like on pictures. But very quickly one gets to the end and there is grass growing between pieces of stones and the stones themselves are eroded and cracked. Towers smell of urine, etc, etc.

Of course, the whole place is filled with stalls and sellers of "certificates" that "certify" that one has climbed the Great Wall. I had to hurry through the areas where anything was sold because immediately from all directions I heard "Hello T-shirt", "Hello certificate", "Hello postcard". It seems that "Hello" is a universal word for getting foreigner's attention or for addressing a foreigner here. Wherever I go I hear hello hello around me.