Kanghan YUAN - One Who Moved Out to Get Rich

“ Tangyuan ”, a dumpling of sticky rice flour with a sweet filling, for the Lantern Festival. Time is slowly melting away as we are waiting for Li Gengnan to prepare dinner. Hong and I use this opportunity to go for a quick jog. On the way, she reminds me about our earlier times; and how we met. I nod with a smile.

“Back in the days of strong cultural traditions, women from wealthy families were not allowed to leave their houses for some time. The culture imposed tiny shoes on women. It was because those days, men believed that if women wore small shoes, it would make them feel uncomfortable to walk, and so they would stay at home and remain faithful to their loved ones. It was only during the Lantern Festival when wealthy parents would allow their daughters to walk in the streets with their feet tied in little shoes. They believed that it was the only day of the year when these girls would flirt with men. This tradition is said to have been in practice, during the Qing Dynasty in 1919. The Lantern Festival, however, is still used for Bridal Shoes and Marriage Foundation. It is still common for only men and women from the same social class, to be allowed to get married.”

This year’s Valentine Day falls on a Friday. At this day, I am not good at timekeeping and arrives late. Now that we are all hungry, we go out to eat together, to eat “ huoguo ”, the Chinese firepot.

Before heading for our holiday. The food there is cheap. It costs fifty Renmibi per person, which is about 6.50 euros. We could eat and drink as much as we wanted for three hours. While eating, Hong reminds me about the gifts one would consider presenting in China.

“There are three gifts that you must avoid here in China, and these are umbrellas, grandfather clocks, and pears” she warns. When she mentions about not giving an umbrella as a gift, it makes me nervous. So, I am asking “why?”

After realising that I was a bit confused about all this, Hong gets out a small paper and draws illustrations of each of these forbidden gifts with an explanation of each of them one by one. She explains:

“Let me start with the long case clock when it sounds in Chinese like ‘stops’ and it is easy to confuse it with the ‘end’. As for pear, the word sounds like ‘divorce’ in the Chinese language, and the pronunciation of the word ‘umbrella’ in the Chinese language is the same as ‘separate’. Oh God, my precious gift to Hong was not very romantic. However, my in-laws ignored that they excused me for not understanding the symbolism of these gifts. They did not see it as being intended. Hong continued to explain that apples as gifts are different because the syllable somehow sounds like “peace”, so many lovers prefer giving apples as gifts to their loved ones. Woow!

The whole of these illustrations and resemblance of images, objects and their interpretations to be honest with you seem to me as being more of superstitions than nothing else. As a foreigner here I must think twice to even consult locals before giving out gifts.

IF YOU HAVE A LADYBOY IN YOUR POCKETS, YOU ALWAYS HAVE SOMETHING TO SNACK ON

We are on our way to the airport for a holiday destination in Pattaya, Thailand. Hong's cough is not getting any better; a holiday in a warm-clean air environment is much timely. Perhaps this would help her to recover quickly. I must admit I am not passionately relaxed and interested in this holiday, because I was still waiting for the developer and financial adviser to update me about the construction project. The whole process started well. All I have done is to transfer money into my Thai bank through HSBC bank in Hong Kong, and then the funds were transferred into my account in Thailand. Regarding the construction project, also received confirmation of the signed contract through the post. What is remaining now is getting a photo of myself.

We are in Bangkok, but Hong is so used to the saving culture.

She booked a low-cost flight package, with no lounge or food facilities, which is why we have arrived here late. On the way to our destination, the coach continues its journey towards the south.

Compared to the flight we came with; the coach is a lot more comfortable, with air-conditioning system. The temperature outside is 27 degrees, inside the coach, it is a pleasantly cool 17 degrees.

Hong is still coughing because of the air-conditioning in the coach.

What the travel agency told us about the coach staying at the hotel was a complete hoax. Chinese travel agencies usually promise their customers "heaven and skies", to convince them to part with their money to make bookings. Hong threatens to complain to the travel agency through which we had booked the holiday, about the coach staying at the hotel. After a very long journey of travelling for hours, I cannot wait to arrive at the hotel, to have something to eat.

Hong gets listened to when she complains about the travel agency. I hope she gets compensation for it. The coach has been stopping to load and unload passengers on our way to the hotel. We were hungry. We have no choice but to look for something to eat.

Luckily, there is a restaurant next to the coach station. We are going there to help ourselves with something to eat and drink. Since the coach is working on a planned schedule, we cannot tell the driver to hurry up even though we need to arrive at the hotel early. The coach is likely to spend a long time here, and our hotel is still a long-distance away. So, Hong and I decide to take a cab.

The owner of the restaurant knows the taxi driver. We have to wait for another hour before driving to our destination. We finally arrive at the hotel in North Pattaya in the evening. After spending here a few days, we move to another hotel in the south, to explore the magnificent city. The hotel we have moved to is more expensive than the first one, but it is worth it because, from our balcony, we have a beautiful view of the entire beach. Hong loves travelling; she is a great travel planner. The morning after is different because the nightly tides have swallowed up the beach, killing our planned chances of jogging along the shoreline.

We also realise that the water in the sea is dirty because of a container port nearby. Therefore, we take advantage of using the hotel swimming pool where we enjoy every morning and evening throughout the holiday. While going around the hotel, I see a pool table in the garden. I think about teaching Hong how to play billiards because she has always shown interest in doing so. I have one problem though because Hong insists that if she is to learn plating the game, she does not want to lose it. I have to make sure that I teach her how to hold the queue and adequately aim at the target.

After a few second down the lesson, Hong becomes too much impatient; she does not want to continue. She quickly jumps off the table and goes to her WeChat. While scrolling, Hong comes across information that the British car manufacturer Aston Martin has made some losses in China. She passes the news clip to me; it reads as follows.

"Buyers wanted to put the purchase costs for certain parts from RMB 800, to RMB 200, but it did not materialise, so the British company had to effect a recall".

When I see this advert, I think buyers possibly didn't check it properly. They could have relied on the supplier's information.

In China, such serious mistakes are common from my own experience. Hong tells me that many foreign workers in Chinese companies here mostly fail because of cultural differences, which, in a way, is simply leadership, based on cultural values. She reminds me that China is a Confucian country where the importance of authority and respect for superiors are highly regarded and protected. I have personally come to learn that when dealing with Chinese bosses, you should behave inconspicuously, and do your best to listen to them.