My university in Beijing had a buddy program and I was lucky to have the delightful Xiaoyu (潇语) as my buddy. Her family lives in a southern province in China. One day she told me that her father was visiting Beijing and had invited all her friends to lunch. Oh and her father was a policeman. Of course, I had to accept.
Lunch started at 10.30am. Xiaoyu’s father was impeccably dressed. He seemed excited (and so was I). Two things emerged: The first was a large flask of his home-brewed rice wine. The second was the fact he spoke almost no English (and I no Chinese).
My seat at the table had been marked out. Xiaoyu’s father insisted I sit next to him. He poured himself and me glasses of wine. Xiaoyu warned me just to have a sip at a time, but the warning came too late as a strong burning sensation attacked my nostrils.
Holding back the pain, I smiled and said: “hen hao” (i.e. very good). My mastery of the Chinese language seemed to encourage Xiaoyu’s father to try out some of his school-day English.
“I AM VERY HAPPY” he said slowly and loudly.
“YOU ARE VERY BEAUTIFUL” he then announced.
Xiaoyu blushed. “This is the first time he’s had a meal with a foreigner. He is very excited” she quickly explained.
For the next few hours, we dined on Peking duck, drank ridiculously strong rice wine and traded compliments. As lunch finished up, we exchanged gifts – a boomerang for him and a box of Chinese tea for me.
I returned to my room after midday, light-headed and wondering whether I would ever be called beautiful by the Chinese authorities again.