Went to The Hump (驼峰客栈), a popular backpacker guesthouse and bar, tonight with some reading. I like to read in public places. If I meet some interesting people I can set the reading aside and join the conversation. If I don't I can still get some reading done.
Most of the customers at The Hump are foreign backpackers. But there are also Chinese - both locals who go for the bar, and travelers who go for the guesthouse.
This evening I met two Chinese tourists. Just so happens they both work for foreign beverage companies. The girl works for Evian in Shanghai. The guy works for Coca Cola in Shenzhen. Both were traveling this Spring Festival instead of spending it with their families, as is the tradition in China. The Evian girl will travel on to Luang Prabang, Laos (as I did a couple months ago). The guy will take the tried and true tourist route to Dali and Lijiang and Tiger Leaping Gorge. Interesting is that I got to play the part of the "Yunnan local", giving them travel tips about their upcoming journeys.
We had a long, sprawling conversation. I enjoyed it because our common medium was Mandarin. Sometimes when I'm out with a group of Kunming friends I'm frustrated that they all speak in dialect and I can't understand. But when you take an American, a Shanghainese, and a Shenzhenese, Mandarin is the natural language.
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