My cousins Michelle and David are here for two weeks, getting their name on the Visitors Point Tally with 1 and 2 points, respectively (David gets and extra point because it's his first ever trip outside the United States). While any trip to China is sure to include some unexpected events, David and Michelle have had a lot of "only here" moments. To name a few:
- received counterfeit 50 RMB bill; found out when they tried to pay for something with it
- saw a car on fire, Chinese firefighters put it out (a real Chinese fire drill!)
- received counterfeit 50 RMB bill (again!)
- their taxi slammed into a pedestrian and sent her flying; driver yelled at victim
- a vendor reached into Michelle's wallet to take money from her at Great Wall; 1 fake 50 RMB note disposed of
Of course, this is on top of the bajillion taxi close calls with their life, a 4-hour hike up an almost vertical mountain; the usual bargaining adventures; watching me fight (unsuccessfully) with an Air China Duty Manager after our flight's check-in closed early so we couldn't get on it; sleeping on a traditional "kang" bed in one of the dirtiest supposed tourist sites I've seen in China (more on Pingyao in a later post); a Cultural Revolution restaurant experience where they denied us food while we were in a VIP room and forbid us to take pictures.
Suffice to say, this is a trip that is going to make even more stories than the usual China jaunt. Also, Michelle is now expertly trained in identifying fake Chinese bills.
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