Published November 1st, 2007 by Mliesie
Where strangers meet….
As Marcel and I were walking the streets of Beijing at the end of September, we ran into 2 students who kindly asked us if they could help us. Not really, but we started a nice conversation with them, there and then. After an hour or so (it had already turned dark) we decided to have dinner with the 4 of us. It turned out to be a very pleasant evening with many questions o both sides. The student’s English was very good and they seemed very ambitious. They were interested in becoming volunteers, both for the Olympics and after they had graduated from University. All in all it was a very pleasant evening with good and unexpected company as well as a good dinner and a good talk.
A month later Huo Miao and I are walking the steets of Yulin, as we suddenly see FOREIGNERS!!!!!!! Always a surprise to the both of us; Huo Miao is eager to meet foreigners, I am always curious what foreigners are doing in Yulin. As it seemed they were trying to get their bikes repaired and having trouble trying to do so, we decided to ask them if they could use some help. Guess what…they didn’t say no! It turned out that they were from Germany, so we felt like we were neighbours. Stephan and Bettinna had set out on their bikes from Russia, through Mongolia and were now in China for 3 months. They have taken a year off to bike their way through the East…. After having spend quite a long time helping them, we decided to ask them for dinner together with some students. They were delighted! A true opportunity to meet Chinese who could actually speak English and answer all the questions they had about China, culture and customs. We had homemade ‘huo guo’ (hot pot), a traditional Yulin meal, good company and again a wonderful evening with strangers we met on the street.
Why is it that we ‘pick up’ strangers in the street here and have a wonderful time, whereas back in Holland I would never, ever ask a stranger to have a meal together, let alone come to my house for a meal! Do I feel safer here, are the people I meet more thrustworthy, is it the environment, is it Chinese custom that is taking over or am I just desperate to meet people? I don’t know. All I can say is that both times it was a great experience and I won’t hestitate doing it again.
 Lou Xiangyang & Yin Dongxia
 Stefan, Bettina, Huo Miao & He Xiong