Xishuangbanna Part 2

Ok. I can't be bothered with writing about past events anymore especially when there is now so much happening in China. So I'll wrap up XSB.

Day 3 we went to the rain forest which was again beautiful. We suffered through a horrendous elephant show and my dad made me go sit on the elephant after for a photo op. Hi. My name is Nicole and I am 5. The humorous side story to go along with this is the group of women who came up to us after b/c they wanted to take a picture with us :) AND they even had a "professional" take it and they bought the picture after!!! We should sue for royalties! This would happen a lot on the trip though so we got used to being XSB celebrities.

We took a beautiful ride in a gondola suspended high above the rain forest. It was a 35 minute trip one way and we decided to make it a roundtrip since there wasn't much else to see on the other end. I was with Dianna, our guide and my parents were behind us. At the turnaround Diana hopped out to pay for our return trip leaving me alone. No prob. I'm a big girl. Not afraid of heights. Well that was all out the window when 7 minutes into the return trip the heavens opened up and dumped their fury on us in the form of rain, thunder and lightening. Thunder storms can really be enjoyable when you're in the comfort of your home snuggled up with a blanket and hot cocoa and Love Actually playing gaily in the background. Thunder and lightning storms are NOT pleasurable when you are suspended 100 feet above a forest in a gondola in a torrential downpour and the only thing shielding you from electrocution is a METAL roof!!! "Oh but Nicole you're in China and they have thought of this scenario. You must be safe" you say? Here is a good time to remind you all of my China mantra: There's no logic in China! Not only did I have to worry about death by lightning strike (this is when the saying "You have a better chance of getting struck by lightning... is NOT comforting) I was also getting drenched! I sat in the center of the tin box for a good 28 minutes longer praying to make it to safety. Be not afraid though my friends. I lived to blog another day.

That was all the excitement we could handle and so ended Day 3.

Day 4 didn't threaten rain but we stayed clear of metal objects. We went to another animal park complete with another animal show (this one more inhumane than the last) and dance show. And attended another village of a very small minority called the Hanny people. Not to be confused with the majority Han people. This group didn't even speak mandarin and our guide couldn't communicate with them so we had a special gov't appointed guide. You know what that means. Good, fun communist propaganda. You can see these pictures through my dad's album (link available on previous post). They are the ones with all the people in black. I don't know how much of this was for show but there were different people at different stations throughout our walk through the village and they would perform different cultural traditions. It almost made me feel kind of sick b/c the people seemed sedated and just there for show. Nonetheless it was still interesting to see and my dad even taught the boys how to do an old fashioned Philly handshake. I have a video of it that is quite amazing but it won't come off my camera :( I will keep trying b/c it is fantastic!

There were a few interesting night activities in the town we were staying in. It was a good sized "city" for the area. At the center there was a nice lake around which everyone gathered at night. In one spot a group of about 100-150 middle aged to older people gathered for dancing. They did the cha cha, tango, waltz, box step, you name it. My Dad and I joined for one dance but had much more fun watching. In another section about 30 people gathered around this other guy who was an honest-to-god snake oil salesman. He had the snake out there and everything. He kept pointing to his back and from what I could gather was talking about this oil being a cure. What?!?! Where are we?? In another corner was a game of poker or something and another section had a band playing music and a woman singing. The whole scene was so lively it entertained us for hours.

When all was said and done, we were ready to leave XSB and get back to the sanity of Shanghai (no way I just said that). It was a truly fabulous and unique trip and in the end our sketchy travel agency went above and beyond what we asked for.

Xishuangbanna

Say that 5 times really fast!

Well it’s been a while hasn’t it? My blog is now seriously suffering from procrastination and sharing everything I want to has turned into a Herculean task. I will give it my best shot but unfortunately it looks like details will suffer for the sake of time. Here is goes anyway- (you’ll have to forgive me though b/c a lot of the interesting details I had written down on small pieces of paper and put into my wallet which was stolen/lost the day before I left for Germany 2 weeks ago…more on that later though)

Here is the link to my pictures on Kodak Gallery. Unfortunately not all of them are downloading from my camera so these are just a few.
And here are my Dad's. His are of the whole China trip though

So. After tooling around Shanghai for about a week my parents and I decided to take a trip somewhere in the country. Collectively we had all been to the major attractions in China so a standard trip was not going to cut it. I had originally chosen Lijiang as our destination, which is in the Southern province of Yunnan, close to the Tibet border. However, due to my Mom’s asthma, which really hit hard in the sullied surroundings of Shanghai, we thought the altitude may be too high for her. So we headed south to the tropical region of Xishuangbanna (she-shwong-ban-Na), also in Yunnan province. It was a fantastic decision.

Before I get to the trip though, lets discuss how we booked it. We felt more comfortable booking through an agency rather than doing it ourselves online. This was not as easy as it sounds though. I found an agency in a heavily frequented expat area and figured it had to cater to non-chinese. Have I not learned yet that there is no logic in China?!? We walked in and, like every establishment in China, there seemed to be oh five thousand people working there. Not one spoke English though. I could communicate that we wanted to buy flights to Xishuangbanna (XSB) but the buck stopped there. They called in a girl who could speak some English and after much half Chinese/half English explanations we got a 4 day itinerary for the region with a personal tour guide and driver. With fingers crossed that all would work out we set off for our adventure.

My first observation was that we were the only non-Chinese (or Asian at least) on the flight. Now normally I would be elated to be going somewhere non-touristy but we would soon find out that most places we were going to were anything but. And the only thing worse than obnoxious American tourists are obnoxious Chinese tourists. Not that they are overtly obnoxious in behavior but by virtue of the fact that there ARE SO MANY of them it becomes obnoxious and suffocating. And this was just the flight.

But alas we arrived. The air was warm and steamy and everywhere we turned our eyes were met with green mountains and terraced hills. It was already beautiful. Greeting us at the airport was our guide, Dianna, who, in all circumstances, was wonderful. Her English was fantastic and she had been born and raised in XSB so her knowledge was immense. Our driver, Mr Li, was a man of few words but still very friendly. Since it was the evening and nothing was planned they dropped us off at the hotel and told us about a Western restaurant, or California Sunshine Café, just around the corner for dinner. (This is where I tell my Dad to stop reading because he knows what is coming!) Hm…I am weary as it is about “western food” in Shanghai, let alone in this sleepy, rural town without a round eye as far as this round eye can see. Although it was a decent and clean place my reservations were justified just by glancing at the menu: Fruits Pizza, Mesican-style Chicken and American-style steak were just the highlights of the menu. I chose the safer route and went with Chinese noodles and my mom went w/ a vegetable salad that never came. My Dad though would not heed our warnings of disappointment and went with the American-style steak. Before I get to the steak, let me explain the setting: of the maybe 100 tables in the restaurant, only 3 were occupied besides us and they were all Chinese patrons. We still hadn’t seen a single non-Asian person since leaving Shanghai and they had fruits pizza on the menu for crying out loud. Would you have gone w/ the American-style steak?? NO. And so I ask: What’s brown and white and red all over? My dad’s steak. Not only did the fat and bone outnumber the meat but the thing was still mooing! It was about as rare as rare could be. Still strong in his convictions though my Dad sent it back to get it cooked more SO HE COULD STILL EAT IT! It came back and was still inedible and that was the end of our first “meal” in XSB. Looking forward to the next day.

Day2: We were met bright and early by Dianna and Mr. Li and set off immediately for a small village up in the rolling green, forested hills of XSB. We still had no idea what to expect of this trip as none of us knew too much about the region AND I may have forgotten to bring the Lonely Planet (oops!). We first stopped at a daily market. This in of itself deserves its own blog post. I guess you could call this place the Costco of rural China. Anything and everything you could want was here at mass quantities and low, low prices. Fruits & Vegetables (many I’ve never seen before), spices, fresh tofu, live and dead fish, live and dead chickens, live and dead ducks, hanging beef, baby chicks, dead bees (?!?!), cloth, nuts, and the crowd favorite- chicken plucking station for your viewing pleasure. However, even though we were the only white folk around we didn’t cause much of a stir. It was actually us staring and taking pictures this time rather than vice versa (take that China!). We could have spent hours there but Dianna ushered us off to our next adventure.

Along the way we came across an old pagoda from the days before communism and Dianna let us get out and take some pictures. Normally this wouldn’t be so interesting- any one who’s traveled in Asia knows: you’ve seen one pagoda, you’ve seen em all!- but the greater significance, at least to me, was the setting. Here was this Pagoda, clearly run down and no longer worshipped nestled among acres and acres of rubber trees. XSB is very close to the Tibetan, Thai, Laos and Burmese borders and thus Buddhism, at least at one time, was very strong. Rubber trees, however, are not indigenous to this area but were brought in by the Han Chinese after Mao “encouraged” Han people in the 60’s to move to the region and utilize the fertile land to produce much needed rubber. The Han Chinese are the ethnic majority in China at nearly 80% but had never lived in this area before the 60’s. Apparently, Mao thought the indigenous people, called the Dai (pronounced die) people, were not capable of handling such a task (I’m not going to pull the R-A-C-E card here but it sounds fishy to me). Most farms were co-owned by the government and Han individuals, as are most businesses in China today (similar scenario in Tibet). So here at this Pagoda was the clash of old vs new. Indutrialized China triumphs leaving cultural traditions to decay. It was an interesting setting to observe for many reasons.

Onward ho! Ah, just when I was getting used to the peace and quite of rural China we were sucked back into the fray of never-ending Chinese tourists. Dianna took us to what would be the first of 8 scheduled “traditional dance shows”. YES 8!!! We cut her off after 3 but that was 3 too many. At this water dance show on the Mekong river (which starts in this area) we were made VIP since Westerners rarely make it out that way. VIP means we got chosen with about 15 other tourists to participate in a Dragon boat race. This is only worth mentioning b/c of my Dad. He is looking slimmer than he’s been in years but he still could put 3 of these Dai men in his pocket. Normally the Chinese fit 2 to a seat on these boats but he got his own…and looks of paralyzed fear filled their faces as he climbed into the tiny boat. He made it though and miraculously we won the race (see it pays to have the white people w/ you) and were treated to a chair ride around the stage after the race. I have no idea of any significance this may hold but we did get some good pineapple.

Next, we went to another Dai village. This was hands down my favorite part of the trip. We had lunch in a large hut that a family had set up next to their own hut/home and watched the women cook our meal using only a wood fire for barbecuing. I still dream of this meal. It was so fresh and tasty with the highlight being the pineapple rice served in a carved out pineapple. Mmmmm. After a quick tour of the family’s home (Dianna knew them well) we were off to see dance show #2 where I fell into a food coma and asleep. Yep. I slept straight through the entire thing. I think Dianna got the picture after that and we skipped the “Water Splashing Festival”, which was next on the agenda and headed home. Not before stopping to take some pics on the Mekong and sharing sour papaya dipped in salt and pepper with nearby villagers.

This day would be our most unique for the whole trip and couldn’t have been a better way to start the adventure.

The Ayi Experience

I am in Germany now and have a great story to share but I still need to catch up on a few events first. Here is my lunch w/ my Ayi.

I have talked about my Ayi (cleaning woman) briefly before but she really deserves a proper introduction because she is quite possibly one of the most magnanimous individuals I have ever met. She is never without a smile and is always bringing me gifts: snacks her mom made, face mask treatments, drinks, etc. But the greatest gift has been her friendship. Although she speaks no English whatsoever we have developed a wonderful relationship and while she is terrible in the cleaning department (I’m not buying the windex for my health sista) I always look forward to her coming. Without fail, she bounces into my apartment, sits down at my table and asks how I’m doing and wants to know all the gossip of the other int'l students she cleans for. Match made in heaven! She told me about Elin and how black she was after her 2 weeks in Thailand. Elin told me later that she had brought her whitening masks from the store (whitening in China is as common as using anti-wrinkle cream since it is thought that the whiter you are the prettier you are). Ha!

When I told her my parents were coming to Shanghai to visit without hesitation she invited us and Elin and her boyfriend to lunch. Always open to new experiences I of course said yes (with her understanding that I am a vegetarian, naturally). Prior to our lunch date she must have called and text about 4 times making sure we were still meeting and the day of she arrived an hour early to my apartment but since we were downtown she went to Elin’s and hung out there for a bit all the while calling to see when I would be back.
I could only appreciate her giddiness and pure excitement. I knew we were in for a real treat.

We arrived at her apartment building, which, like 95% of the apartments in Shanghai, has all the character and charm of a cement block, and was built for the masses. I thought I knew what to expect since Elin had been unwillingly housed in a “local apartment” when she first arrived. Although that apartment was barely livable by our standards, for a low-income couple (I think she has a boyfriend- could be a husband but at the time of that convo I was at a smile and nod Chinese level) it was very comfortable. Oh how my naive Western mind was skewed. Elin’s apartment was for more of the upper middle-class type. The apartment of my Ayi was barely bigger than my dorm room at UCLA. You have to walk through a small area where there is a cooking station w/ 2 burners and a sink then into her bedroom, which fits a double bed, table, TV and small plastic cabinet for clothes. There must have been a bathroom somewhere but I have no idea where it was b/c there was just one other door, which I found out later was her brother and his pregnant fiancé’s room. I would have been shocked and taken aback had it not been for the beaming face of my Ayi when we arrived. She was SO happy to have us in her home and to cook for us. Never before have I seen a greater example of pride in oneself. Despite her lack of “things” she was the wealthiest person in the room that day. Her willingness to share with us enriched all our lives for the better. I for one feel extremely lucky to have met this special soul.

Anyway, this lunch was my Ayi’s equivalent to a Manhattan dinner party. Ensuring her guests were well taken care of she went to Wal-mart and bought new chopsticks, paper cups, bottles of water and beer and enough food to feed an army. She even bought a package of plastic forks for the non-chopstick savvy guests. The menu consisted of:
Starters: Pickled something vegetable-like, fried chicken legs and (shriek!) chicken feet
Mains: Spicy tofu (I had mentioned to her that it was my favorite Chinese dish), sautéed mushrooms and bok choy, fried tofu and vegetable and some unorthodox mini-shrimp dish that, based on user reviews, was un-edible.

Luckily my early proclamations of vegetarianism saved me from having to eat the chicken feet. She even said she made the tofu and veggie dishes for me since I don’t eat meat (grin). My Dad however, was not so lucky because he was nominated by the rest of us to be the one to eat the feet. Growing up I always heard about his Peace Corps days in Venezuela and the unusual dishes he was forced to eat. Well, it was time for the big guy to not just talk the talk but walk the walk. Not to be outdone though, Jostein, Elin’s boyfriend, sucked it up and chomped into one too and Elin even took an adventurous nibble. The consensus?? It tasted like chicken.

We stayed there for over 2 hours talking with my Ayi and her pregnant sister-in-law who was also joined the feast. We did our best to eat everything up but just couldn’t possibly finish it. Besides, in China it is polite to leave some food uneaten so it doesn’t appear that your host didn’t make enough food and you are leaving hungry. I also served as interpreter for the entire afternoon. Let’s just say we weren’t discussing the classics. Still I enjoyed myself tremendously and this will be an afternoon I will never forget thanks to the generosity of one humble woman.

Dave and Andrea take on China

I am sitting at Pudong Airport waiting for my flight to leave for Berlin and being the cautious traveler that I am, I have nearly 2 hours to go POST-security. That just means plenty of time to catch up on what's been going on the last few weeks. I'll break it up into several posts since there's been a lot.

Ok. So my parents arrived April 16th and we hit the ground running. First priority? The fabric market of course. No not the choice of my mother, in fact she probably thought spending 2 hours in a 3 story cement building packed with wall to wall fabric stalls borderlined on torture (George Bush take note, new method!). No my friends, this outing was the sole pleasure of my Father's (mine too but that goes w/o saying). My Dad was a machine, churning out orders for a sport coat (many pockets , no flaps, good buttons), 5 shirts and 2 pairs of khaki pants. He even managed to get in an order for my mom and me in meantime for a Chinese style jacket. Being a seasoned market-goer and bargainer I managed to get them to their breaking point and even got compliments in my bargaining skills. I wasn't buying the "Your Dad big, more fabric" line. That would be 1 of 3 visits to the market after revisions but in the end I have to say my Dad was looking pretty smart in his new digs. My mom also looked very snappy in her new jacket and I even sensed a little regret that she hadn't been a more willing participant on the first day. Next time!

I also participated in my first running event. The Jinqiao 8K run. While it was by no means an event warranting months of training or feelings of great accomplishment once finished, it certainly was an experience. Most runs of this length in the US have minimal fanfare and are quick arrive-run-go home events. Well the brochure listed "Opening Ceremonies" at 8:30am and the run to start at 10. Opening ceremonies?? How big was this going to be? We got to the starting area around 9 and already there were about 300-400
people lined up in orderly fashion in front of a huge stage doing group stretches and all wearing the exact same shirt and hat and waving flags. Hm...the competition? Not exactly. There were two events that day, an 8k and a 2k. Yes 2 kilometers which is about 1 mile. And it wasn't a walk. For the most part people ran this. They called for that run to start at 9:30 and the entire mass of people left for the start line and were back in about 10 minutes. There were then maybe 200 of us left for the 8k including my 3 friends below. Everything else was pretty much standard besides dealing with the pushers and shovers and people trying to get to the very very front or the people running with the big flags and no regard for those who may be behind them getting whipped as the pass them by. Nonetheless it was a good run around Pudong which is across the river and more of the suburban area of Shanghai. I finished 18th out of 200 females and 270th overall at a time of 38:12. Nowhere near my marathon days but still a fun event to be part of.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

The last couple weeks have been such a whirlwind! My parents have been here since April 15th and we have been going non-stop. I have LOTS to blog about but have no time! I will try to get updated in the next few days. I leave for Germany for a friend's wedding on Saturday so will hopefully have a lot of time on the plane to write. Here are some highlights though:

Group lunch with my Ayi (housekeeper)- menu features include Chicken feet (!), some sort of crunchy, mini lake-shrimp and questionable tofu. Nonetheless it was wonderful and I served as interpreter for our group of 5. Hmm....

Hangzhou- beautiful lakes outside of Shanghai but sadly interrupted when our minivan driver hit a woman in the street (she ended up just having minor injuries). That brings my car accident total while in China to 3 in less than 3 months!

Xishuangbanna (Yunnan Province, Southern China)- Quite possibly one of the most diverse and interesting places I have ever been. Xishuangbanna (she-shwang-ban-Na) is in the southern province of Yunnan near the Thai, Laos and Burmese borders. The region is home to many minority people of China and, like Tibet, is an Autonomous region but that is where the similarities end.

Much more to come!!

-Nicole

Back from Spring Break

I never thought I'd ever see another Spring Break again but so goes my life as a born-again student. For the holiday last week, a few friends and I went to Sanya on Hainan Island off the coast of Southern China. This may be the most beautiful place you've never heard of. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Resort in the pristine Yalong Bay (The Ritz isn't completed yet otherwise I would have been there ;) and had the place almost to ourselves. It actually was a really nice resort right on the water with beautifully landscaped grounds and a fantastic pool. I was immensely satisfied.

Many call Sanya the Hawaii of China and while it is just as beautiful it still lacks the development and amenities of Hawaii. I'd equate it more to Cabo although surprisingly it doesn't seem to be inundated with development. I guess that's a good thing and quite unusual for China but basically there is NOTHING to do besides lay out on the beach during the day and eat at night. Which suited me juuuust fine for the first 3 days but after that I started to get island fever. There was a street of clubs that we tried out as the only non-Chinese patrons. It was interesting but definitely a different scene than we are used to and we weren't in the mood for a loud club nor the clown in the corner behind us constantly blowing a whistle and making balloon animals (I kid you not!). So each night we ended up at Rainbow Bar (a rainbow apparently has no significance here); a nice enough bar w/ a pool table as its saving grace but nonetheless a knock off of TGIFridays. The owner, American of course, even went so far as to copy the menu verbatim complete with a Jack Daniel's Grill section. I love that I couldn't even tell you where a Fridays is in LA or SF but I've now been to 3 in China (NOT by my choice). So anyway, Sanya was nice but I recommend 3 days max. My parents (who arrive today!!) want to go so I am going to strategically plan a quick trip right before I go to Germany in early May for the wedding to maximize my tan :)

I was able to catch CNN while in Sanya which happened to be the same time the Olympic torch was going through Europe and on its way to San Francisco. I don't get CNN at home in Shanghai so I was an eager viewer at all hours. What was interesting was the contrast in CNN's reporting to The China Daily, China's national English language paper and supported by the government. All CNN reported was the turmoil the protesters were causing for the torch procession while the China Daily's headline read, "Olympic Torch Receives Warm Reception in Chilly London" (London had near zero temps that week). There was one line about protesters trying to disrupt the relay but it was handled swiftly by Olympic organizers. CNN even did a clip about The China Daily trying to sugarcoat the protests. It was quite humorous to read. I will write a separate post about the Olympics, Tibet, etc and the sentiment here in China since quite a few people have been asking me about it.

So that was my Spring Break. I'm really embracing this student life and think I may try to make a career out of it :)

A girl can dream can't she??

Assimilation Day

I've been living a good life here in Shanghai and not missing too many of the conveniences from home besides maybe breathable air. This status quo lifestyle has been enabled by good (Western) restaurants, good (Western) shopping and good (Western) friends. I even managed to meet a couple former Bruins -one of whom lives 2 blocks from where I used to live in SF!- in my quest to find the UCLA game live of which I was successful (much like UCLA :). So life is good. Great actually. But after a 60 Yuan ($8.50) sub-par latte and a disappointing shopping trip to H&M I decided it was time to shed my Western dependencies and get down and dirty with the Chinese way (to a certain degree of course). It didn't help that my former, not old, boss (he doesn't like the word "old" and I know he reads this) was in Shanghai this week and berated me for not hanging out with more Chinese friends and practicing mandarin with them.

"I didn't learn English by hanging out with German friends when I went to college in the in the US"
-Tom

So today became ASSIMILATION DAY!
After class I took public transportation, well a cab to get to the metro first but beside the point, to the fabric market (LA's fashion district- in one building- on crack) to get a dress I have been eying in Vogue for some time made. After picking out the most gorgeous deep purple silk I bartered with my tailor to get the dress down to just under $50 by telling her I live in Shanghai and will tell all my friends to come to her if she gives me a fair price. AND I did everything in Chinese. Even when they tried speaking English I responded in Chinese. Yay me! Unfortunately, by the time you read this it will probably be just over $50 with the way the dollar is sinking.

I then headed back to my 'hood for some lunch. On the way I realized I should probably get my shoes re-heeled. Why not just buy new shoes?? Well any rational person would have brought comfortable walking shoes when moving to a foreign country right? Being the often irrational person that I am I only brought heels, running shoes and flip-flops and this particular pair are my absolute favorite b/c they are just the right amount of broken in and comfy. And I think sneakers make me look like a man. Anyway, I digress. So where do you got to get your heels re-heeled? On the street of course. Many quick services are performed on the street here such as key cutting, bike repair, shoe repair, etc. So I sat down, gave the man my shoe and he was off. My friend Steven walked by with a look of concern and asked what I was doing. When I explained he asked if they were any good. They're the best. I figured these are basically the same guys I went to in SF without the overhead costs of Embarcadero Center or Union Street rent. All in all it took about 7 minutes and $1.50 and my heels are as good as new.

Feeling pretty hungry by now I headed to a fantastic wonton place my language partner Fang Fang had taken me to the week earlier. The place is about the size of a walk-in closet with only 12 seats and is the Chinese version of "fast-food" sans trans fat, sugar and super-size options. There is, however, a dish of MSG on the table should you be so inclined. Not necessary. The woman remembered me from last time (for obvious reasons) and immediately started my order only because last time Fang Fang told her I am a vegetarian and they only have one vegetarian dumpling filled with 3 different kinds of mushrooms and something green on the menu out of about 40 options. They came out a few minutes later in a delicious broth and I sat in the shop by myself happily slurping away the yumminess. That's right slurping. The thing about China is that they are free from the confinements of tact and manners. So slurp away I did and chatted , kind of , with the shop owners (I really was the only one in there). I'm pretty proud of myself today I must say :)



BTW: in honor of Assimilation Day I was also in my first Chinese car accident. More of a fender bender really. I'm actually surprised it's taken this long to happen since it's rare that I drive on the highway and not see an accident. I'm not sure what happened b/c I was reading my magazine in the backseat when my head surged into the back of the front seat. Naturally there was a tv in the back of the seat, to NOT cushion the impact, (the Chinese never miss an opportunity for advertisements) and my forehead got intimate with it. But again it was just a little bump. I couldn't help but think, "Where's Larry H. Parker when you need him?" JK :) (I hope those outside of LA know who I'm talking about). My driver got out and, clearly being the one at fault, tried to assure the other taxi driver we hit that there was no damage and all was ok. He kept patting him on the back and smiling and after about 2 mins we were back on our way. No exchange of numbers or insurance info just in case. He, I believe, is the Chinese version of a Smooth Talker.