Today We Ended Up In A Small Town And Walked Around Like Celebrities

We’re in our fourth and final province, Yunnan. Tonight we’re staying in Shizi and what a warm and friendly place it is. Probably the warmest place we’ve visited in China.

In many Chinese towns for the last 2000 miles we’ve had people snapping pictures at us while we’re cycling, walking through a town or even eating with a mouth full of noodles! Seeing a white face is fascinating to the Chinese. Children stop in their tracks and pull on their parents coats to point us out and people stare with their mouths wide open. It can feel a bit weird!

One time in Xinjiang I had a particularly uncomfortable experience when I asked a woman to help with a hotel, but rather than helping or communicating she just lifted her phone to my face and recorded it or took a picture. That felt very weird – do you know that episode of Black Mirror when no one will help the main character and they record her instead!? I felt very uncomfortable and thought of that episode instantly.

This town, Shizi was very unique because it was incredibly friendly! Many people actually came out and spoke to us before they snapped a picture. The entire town was very very fascinated with us – extra fascinated. I’m not exaggerating when I say that as we walked past shops people came out, we took many pictures walking down the street. One young girl saw our faces and ran to a shop, I looked back and she was pointing at us excitedly. We took at least 5 pictures through dinner and played “say hello and run away” with the children. It was very sweet.

We’re pretty sure they were sending messages to each other – something like “they’re coming your way!” because some people were poised and ready for us.

Earlier today a woman on a scooter stopped on a blind corner with no regard for the traffic behind her (as they do!) and pointed at us to her daughter who was sat on the front. We couldn’t believe it. I’d love to know what they’re saying! “Look a white person!” “Look Europeans/English people” – actually we suspect they think we’re American.

This picture was taken in a little shop, we were asked to visit after dinner and we happily agreed. This group did assume

We were American. We were given 6 oranges while we were there. Good timing because a few days ago someone stopped us on the road and gave us 14, but we’ve almost eaten those now.

It’s such a weird experience. It’s quite a joy to watch people be fascinated with something. True fascination – they lose themselves in the sight of something new. I feel like I’ve never had that experience, or maybe I did – the only thing that comes to mind is visiting Santa as a child!

My nan once told me about the time she saw a television for the first time. She and her friends ran to the shop to watch it through the window. If memory serves me well, at the time she referred to it as a “wireless with pictures”. I also remember a school teacher telling me she could remember the first time she saw a banana.

It’s weird, because cool things come out all the time, but none of it truly fascinates me. In recent years the banks made it possible to pay in a cheque from your mobile phone. Stew’s granny saw us pay in our cheques this way and couldn’t believe her eyes! I, on the other hand probably thought “Finally! It’s about time I don’t have to walk to the bank!” There’s something very significant here. A generational shift. Are we losing fascination in expectation?

Even on a trip like this I don’t think I’ve had a moment of true true fascination. I say I’m fascinated by things, but my fascination is not like I’ve witnessed today. I feel like I’m too old for it, but a woman I spoke to today was 32. We know so much in the western world. We live in an incredibly diverse culture, our news is world news. We can get our hands on anything we want from anywhere in the world. It feels like we see everything.

Someone tell me I’m wrong, please!

Or, tell me the last time you were truly fascinated with something.