0
comments
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
The idea here was just to test some YouTube embedding widget, but this is a pretty good video with my brother in it, so I think it's worth having up long-term. Matthew took it last summer when said brother visited us in Chengdu and we took a jaunt around Sichuan. Although I've been told Chongqing isn't technically in Sichuan -- it's got its own special provincial municipality something or other.
First we were picking out ugly baby clothes (which abound in China) as a gag gift for my older sister. And after that is an Olympic pride parade (they're chanting "Go China!"). The clip-clop sound in the tunnel is Matthew's wooden sandals. Apparently the Mandarin for "wooden shoes" is hilariously close to some erection joke, or so our Chinese coworkers hinted (it was hard to get them to stop giggling long enough to explain it to us). I've looked it up just now: mùxié (木鞋) for "wooden shoes," and suddenly I'm suspicious that what they taught us to say was actually "mùjī", which I suppose would be written 木鸡 and translate as "wooden chicken," the "cock" double entendre translating precisely into Chinese (if my recollection of slang hasn't left me after these nine months). Er, thanks a lot, June and Shirley.
Anyway, Mr. Gruff Voice is some patriotic drunk guy who, when we asked him directions, escorted us on a questionable short-cut through a construction site. He kept telling Matthew I was a real Chinese person because he had somehow convinced himself I spoke fluent Mandarin, although the truth is Matthew speaks much better than I do. And then that's Sichuan chili-oil hot-pot on the boil. And I'm going to presume that the rest speaks for itself, because I can't be bothered to let it all load on YouTube in order to check what's there.
So, enjoy.
