Mountains and mahjiang

I've just had a really good weekend, pretty much exactly the sort of weekend of I was hoping for before I came back to China - getting out and about and speaking lots of Chinese with Chinese friends.

Saturday, myself, a friend and 3 of her friends all went to the mountains about an hour or so from the Uni. The weather was great - blue skies and clean air, the difference from the city was huge. On the top was a smattering of village houses, made from mud and wood. There were a few other tourists around, but it really felt like a part of China that time is trying to forget. An old lady with no teeth and weather-beaten features still occupied one of the huts, and served us some noodles. This place was so remote, the only way to get to the town was walking, and that takes a fair few hours. It felt like if you stayed there long enough, the world would forget about you, living on top of a hill in the middle of China.

It was also nice to go with some other people, although there were a couple of problems. They talked ALL the time, barely pausing for breath, and incredibly quickly, even when talking to me. While I don't expect them to speak to each other slower, speaking a bit slower to me would aid conversation somewhat. But being Chinese and lacking in common sense, they did not.

Another thing, which is good-intentioned of them but annoying all the same, is constantly telling me to be careful, mind my step, etc, and pointing out really obvious things along the way. Whenever I cross the road with a Chinese person, they're constantly badgering me to look and be careful. How do they think I cross the road by myself? And this coming from people who have scant regard for safety. My friend in particular was shocking at this. We'd walk past a tree, she'd say 'Ay, Jia Ming [my Chinese name], look at this tree', 'Ay, Jia Ming, mind your head', 'Ay, Jia Ming, look at this view'. I thought to myself, she's going to point out a rubbish bin soon, and a few minutes later, she actually pointed out a rubbish bin. My eyes rolled so much they did a 360.
Today (Sunday), I had a lie-in and read 'The Hound of the Baskervilles'. After reading and not understanding basic Chinese, it's nice to know I can understand at least one language. Although it also makes me realise that I could live here forever and never be able to read or write 'normal' Chinese. Then I met my friend who works as a waitress in a small restuarant, and went to her flat. She lives with her sister and sister's boyfriend in a very basic 2 bedroom apartment. They are all graduates, and all work in jobs paying about 40 pounds a month. The joys of a huge labour market. She's actually going back to her province later this week. There are so many people from the countryside who go to cities to work, it's a huge divide in China. Personally, I'd rather go the other way to the country. It's poor as anything, but it has a lot of character that a lot of China has lost in the rush to make money.

They treated me to dinner, as is the custom, and then we played some mahjiang. It was good fun, they're all really nice and also great practice for the Chinese. If every weekend is similar to this, I'm sure my Chinese will be passable after a while.